Now that cold weather is slowly but steadily replacing the summer vibes and any potential leftovers, a seasonal shift is also occurring in the world of films. Lazy, action-heavy blockbusters perfect for a hot summer evening are giving way to the first wave of quality films of the year. In order to help you keep tabs on what’s coming out, we compiled a somewhat larger list, and split it in two. Today, we’ll analyse the first half, and in two-weeks time, the second half will show up as well.
1. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (Joel and Ethan Coen)
The announcement of every Coen brothers films is reason to celebrate – that’s one of the most important life principles that I abide to. No matter the setting, the subject and the actors involved, you can rest assured that the two directors will make a masterpiece out of every project. Having said that, I also do believe that True Grit, their last western, was their weakest film in quite a while – so it’s up to them to prove me wrong that a return to the western genre will be triumphant.
2. Widows (Steve McQueen)
Directed by the great Steve McQueen, and featuring a star-studded cast that includes Viola Davis, Carrie Coon, Liam Neeson, Colin Farrell and Robert Duvall, Widows has all the elements to become a real hit. A crime story set in present-day Chicago, it holds plenty of promise on the story front – and while it might be way to early for such talk, it has been regarded as one of the favourites for the award season.
3. Sunset (László Nemes)
Now, perhaps you are wondering why I included László Nemes in this top of great director productions. Despite the excellent Son of Saul, he is indeed nowhere near the status of the other names on this list. And still, his style and no-nonsense take on serious subjects has more or less cemented his status as a great director. We’ll see how his newest production, set in WWI Budapest, will fare with regard to the high expectations.
4. Roma (Alfonso Cuarón)
The two-Academy Award winner might have not done much at all since Gravity back in 2013, but his newest project seems to be worth the wait. It also seems to hit closer to home for the Mexican director, who abandons outer space in favour of his hometown of New Mexico back in the 1970s, as he chronicles the life of a middle-class family over the space of a year.
5. Radegund (Terrence Malick)
Just as we don’t know much about the extremely private, enigmatic director, we have very few available details on his latest film. Apart from the WWII subject and the encouraging fact that it’s shot entirely in German. Malick was always a man of few compromises, so we’re very much looking forward to seeing how his latest project will end up.
6. The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (Terry Gilliam)
The Monty Python member has pendulated between outrageous comedies and dark dystopian projects throughout his entire director career. After the latter theme was applied in his previous film, The Zero Theorem, the time for a comedy was upon us, and it came in the form of a Don Quixote film, which had been in development for more than a decade. As a side note, the film has been out in a variety of European nations for a while, however, the UK premiere is on 16 October – which means it could still be safely included on the list.
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Ulysses
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