I'm Probably White (Oscars Predictions! and Winners!)

That's a clickbait title. I'm not. It's just my annual Academy Awards prediction for this year. It's a joke okay? OscarsSoWhite, so if I'm watching it and actually excited about it, I'm probably white? Get it? Anyway, I have accomplished to watch six out of eight films this year, leaving probably the frontrunners The Revenant and The Big Short. I like this year's nominations, with The Martian and Mad Max: Fury Road, the barrier between mainstream and art films are blurred. It's great. Let's just get on with the predictions shall we? I'm trying something new here. Official predictions are made based on how the film fared at other awards and also the film itself. Personal predictions are made solely by how I think about the film. This post will be updated by winners later. [updated with winners Feb 29, with scores! (my personal predictions are worth 0.5 *wink)]

Best Picture
Favors go for another Inarritu this year with The Revenant, but apart from the awards season and Leonardo DiCaprio, the film didn't create much buzz. This year's race is pretty much open. The possible top three for winners are The Revenant, The Big Short and Spotlight. It won't be surprising if suddenly Mad Max or Room came out on top though. Especially Room, it hasn't created much buzz mostly because it remains underseen. Without Carol in the mix, Room is the best out of the bunch by a long shot (that's a bold statement but I stand by it).
Official prediction: Spotlight
Personal prediction: Room
Winner: Spotlight (1/1)

Best Actor in a Leading Role
All signs lead to Leo. Obviously. But instead let's mentioned the snubbed actors who deserved this nom more than I don't know, say, Bryan Cranston as (who?) Trumbo: Johnny Depp for Black Mass, Michael B. Jordan for Creed and Jacob Tremblay for Room. I haven't seen Concussion so don't get mad at me Jada Pinkett-Smith.
Official prediction: Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant
Personal prediction: Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant
Winner: Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant (2/2)

Best Actress in a Leading Role
Brie Larson! YES. It's great to see Jennifer Lawrence nominated once again, but yes for Brie Larson. She's in it to win it. At this point, you'll realize how I'm obsessed with Room.
Official prediction: Brie Larson, Room
Personal prediction: Brie Larson, Room
Winner: Brie Larson, Room (3/3)

Best Actor in a Supporting Role
I'd love to see Idris Elba in this category for his role in Beasts of No Nation. I really do. But let's talk facts. Based on nods and performance, I would give the statue to Mark Rylance in Bridge of Spies. He's been consistent in every awards show. Then again Mark Ruffalo's performance in Spotlight was also spotlight-stealing. Supporting actors and actresses are always the hardest to pick. Then again, the Academy might go for Sylvester Stallone.
Official prediction: Sylvester Stallone, Creed
Personal prediction: Mark Ruffalo, Spotlight
Winner: Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies (3/4)
Note: I was heavily hoping that The Academy relied on nostalgia rather than sheer brilliance, they did that a lot. But I was wrong.

Best Actress in a Supporting Role
I would give the Oscar straightaway to Alicia Vikander if it's for Ex Machina. But then again, I would gladly give any award to Alicia. The Danish Girl is an empty film, especially after you watch it last in a marathon of great films starting from Room, Brooklyn, and Carol. The film works for the performances of the actors. Nevertheless, I could see Rooney Mara stealing the trophy from her.
Official prediction: Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl
Personal prediction: Rooney Mara, Carol
Winner: Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl (4/5)


Best Director
This category has too much snub. I'd pick Todd Haynes, Steven Spielberg, Ridley Scott, Cary Fukunaga and more to be nominated here. Despite Inarritu's DGA win, I only see two men who deserves this the most: George Miller for Mad Max: Fury Road or Lenny Abrahamson for Room. I haven't seen The Revenant so I couldn't actually say anything.
Official prediction: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, The Revenant
Personal prediction: George Miller, Mad Max: Fury Road
Winner: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, The Revenant (5/6)

Best Original Screenplay
Despite it being 'original', most of the screenplays here are based on real stories, so they have their work half done at least. I'd say the most deserving here is either Inside Out or Ex Machina because they are truly original. Nevertheless, this one's Spotlight to win.
Official prediction: Spotlight
Personal prediction: Ex Machina
Winner: Spotlight (6/7)

Best Adapted Screenplay
Out of the nominees, I only haven't seen The Big Short, which is probably the one most likely to win. If it's a fair game, I have my money on The Martian. Oh scratch that, Room should win.
Official prediction: The Big Short
Personal prediction: The Martian (or Room)
Winner: The Big Short (7/8)

Best Animated Feature
Bing Bong.
Official prediction: Inside Out
Personal prediction: Inside Out
Winner: Inside Out (8/9)

Best Cinematography
The heavyweights are here. I don't know who to pick. I really don't. All are great-looking films. I don't know if Chivo should win. He got two already. How about give it to a man who came out of retirement to do a magnificent work?
Official prediction: John Seale, Mad Max: Fury Road
Personal prediction: Edward Lachman, Carol
Winner: Emmanuel Lubezki, The Revenant (8/10)
Note: I know he's going to win, but I was hoping for a shocking Mad Max upset.

Best Production Design
The Martian boasts a great production itself so that should win, right?
Official prediction: The Martian
Personal prediction: Mad Max: Fury Road
Winner: Mad Max: Fury Road (8.5/11)

Best Costume Design
Sandy Powell is a double nominee this year. It's her vs her and Carol is the most beautiful film I've seen of 2015.
Official prediction: Carol
Personal prediction: Carol
Winner: Mad Max: Fury Road (8.5/12)

Best Make-Up
Why isn't Black Mass here? Why?
Official prediction: Mad Max: Fury Road
Personal prediction: Mad Max: Fury Road
Winner: Mad Max: Fury Road (9.5/13)

Best Editing
Those frenetic sequences in Mad Max must be fucking hard to edit.
Official prediction: Mad Max: Fury Road
Personal prediction: Mad Max: Fury Road
Winner: Mad Max: Fury Road (10.5/14)

Best Original Score
Quentin's smug acceptance speech in the Globes must have boosted Ennio Morricone's chance of winning a bit in an already (what I've heard) a standout score. I wouldn't be surprised to see Carter Burwell snag that gold though
Official prediction: Ennio Morricone, The Hateful Eight
Personal prediction: Carter Burwell, Carol
Winner: Ennio Morricone, The Hateful Eight (11.5/15)

Best Song
This year's nominees are pretty shit. I'd be happy to see anyone win but Fifty Shades of Grey
Official prediction: Writing's On The Wall, Spectre
Winner: Writing's On The Wall, Spectre (12.5/16)

Best Visual Effects
If The Revenant wins we'll riot. It's just a BEAR. But given The Academy, I won't be surprised to see The Revenant wins. But I'm not picking that film.
Official prediction: The Martian
Personal prediction: Ex Machina
Winner: Ex Machina (13/17)

Pretty good on me to have that quite accurate predictions. The only I didn't see coming is the Best Costume Design. My money's all the way for Carol. Anyway, for the first time in five years, I didn't watch the Oscars live, instead I was going to my part-time job. Is that a sign of maturity? I will watch it soon but for now I have to leave it here. Will update this as soon as I finish watching.

It was an entertaining telecast. But honestly I have enough of the OscarsSoWhite protest. Chris Rock's monologue, while on point on that matter, lacked nods or jokes about the nominees themselves. Then came that random girl. Or the shockingly bad intro for Room by Sacha Baron Cohen. The Black History Minute was funny though. The black people inclusion mashup of this year's films was also funny. The cookie thing? Not so much.

Recap
Mad Max: Fury Road 6 wins
The Revenant 3 wins
Spotlight 2 wins
Room, The Big Short, Ex Machina, Bridge of Spies, The Danish Girl, Spectre, Inside Out, The Hateful Eight 1 win
Carol 0 *gasps in surprise

Companion Piece to 'Coin Laundry'

So, last year around late November-early December we shot our new short movie titled 'Coin Laundry', which is set in (surprise!) a coin laundry. This is the third short movie we made in Japan. The movie is divided into three segments, as I like to call it. The first and the third segments, spiritually titled 'Two for One' and 'The Hang Out' respectively, are pretty much straightforward. But the second segment, or 'The Book Club' as the screenplay titled it, is pretty reference-heavy. Therefore this blogpost is dedicated to put things in place and help you with all the references made by Angga (Anshar Safri), our main guy in the second segment.

1. 'Moskva River' (04:29)
Nandi, Angga's customer, read the last verse of the poem entitled 'Moskva River' by the legendary Indonesian poet WS Rendra as the password to meet Angga. It has five verses which, in my opinion, is about this Russian girl Valya who walks down the Moskva with her lover during the end of winter. This is the last two verses of that poem translated by yours truly.

"Upon the green water
we glide
followed by blurry shadows.
Passing the bridge's arch
like passing the arch of emptiness.
Spring has arrived.

Valya laughs.
Her chest trembles 
inside her sweater.
Spring has arrived"

I would not go as far to translate the whole thing fearing I would diminish the original text. If you'd like to read the original Indonesian version of the poem, click here. You can google translate it, so if it's weird you can blame google instead of me. I'm the Pontius Pilate in this matter.

2. Scorpions (04:40)
Scorpions is a German rock band who gained spotlight because of their iconic song that symbolized Europe during the late 80s and early 90s, around the fall of the Berlin Wall. Their iconic song, Wind of Change was mentioned by Angga as it was created when the band visited Moscow, making it somehow relevant to 'Moskva River'. The river itself is mentioned in the opening lyrics of the song.

"I follow the Moskva. Down to the Gorky Park. Listening to the wind of change"

Also mentioned, another memorable song by the band, Rock You Like A Hurricane. This one is frequently used in TV ads, montage videos, and many more. I personally became familiar with this song after watching Rock of Ages where Tom Cruise covered the song with Julianne Hough.

3. Lost Generation (05:02)
This refers to Ernest Hemingway and friends. I first read the French word of this term (generation perdue) when I read Hemingway's Paris memoirs 'A Moveable Feast'. Then I researched it and found that Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, William Faulkner, Aldous Huxley, James Joyce and Franz Kafka belonged to this generation, a generation after the World War I. Basically the people you see in Midnight in Paris belonged to the Lost Generation. That's why Nandi lend Angga a Fitzgerald book titled 'Tender is the Night', a lesser known work (but still very good) from the author of 'The Great Gatsby'.

4. Anna Karenina (06:05)
Angga found it fitting to lend Nandi his copy of Leo Tolstoy's 'Anna Karenina' because of its Russian origins and setting, once again linking it to 'Moskva River'. It is also true that Tolstoy regarded 'Anna Karenina' as his true novel because his other masterpiece, 'War and Peace' (now turned into a BBC limited series with Lily James starring), was deemed too history book-ish rather than a novel.

5. Metamorphosis (06:29)
This is a landmark book by Franz Kafka, a Czech writer (also one of the Lost Generation people). People said it is really good. I haven't read it myself. I first heard about this during an English lesson back in elementary school, and my teacher described the story of this book as follows: it's about a man who suddenly and disgustingly turned into a moth. That imagery is so strong it's still etched in my brain. I will try to give it a go sometime.

6. Paris & Tokyo (08:44)
This reference was made when Angga advertised his stuff to Abel, the guy who frequents the coin laundry. He mentioned Ernest Hemingway and his mentor Gertrude Stein as the gateways to Paris. Also mentioned, an American cook who most of the time cooks French cuisine, Julia Child. You might know her from Meryl Streep's portrayal in the delightful film Julie & Julia. As for Tokyo, he mentioned famous Japanese author known for his work like 'Norwegian Wood', Haruki Murakami's Tokyo-set novel 'After Dark'.

Also important in this film is this elementary school-level mathematics on HCF and LCM (07:37). If those abbreviations seemed unfamiliar to you, HCF stands for highest common factor while LCM stands for lowest common multiple. (In Indonesian it is FPB and KPK, faktor pembilang terbesar & kelipatan persekutuan terkecil). This was actually a very interesting lesson which had nothing to do with real life. The usual questions that came up during my exams were either making me a stalker or a weirdo who tries to count when would those traffic lights turn red at the same time, which is illogical because they have a special algorithm for that. If this doesn't recall familiar lessons, this stuff has to do with factor tree and prime numbers (I'm obsessed with this particular lesson, please understand, I was so good at it that it frustrated me that it had no real life application. Like I was really good at logarithm and integrals too. Sooooo, sequel?).


I hope this could make you understand the references made by the characters. So you can get the full 'Coin Laundry' experience. Please laugh at that last sentence. Because what is a coin laundry experience. This movie is okay at best, but still am very proud, like I'm proud of my so-so life right now. Now there's too much self-deprecation that it borders on depression. Just kidding, I'm very happy with everything. I'm very happy with the hard work that we poured to create this film. I'm very happy that this film turned out like this. I'm very proud with my new skill in color grading consistency! Okay, this calls for another post. Anyway, thank you for reading and watching the film! I love you for doing so. Like really love you, I-could-hug-you-until-you-suffocate love you, even if you hate this film, I'll still love you for hate-watching it. If you love it, I will love you until oblivion (I'm copyrighting this line, btw. I've had it since forever to use it in one of my future films).


PS. try re-watching it again and see the color of the costumes each character has when they are interacting with the other. And also the background actions while the main story is going. (I'm not tricking you to waste another 16 minutes on my movie--or maybe I am)

Be True - Part I

I decided to turn this blog into a very personal one. I ripped off one of Empire's episode title to do so. But don't fear, this will still be relevant to movies--but my short movies (What a narcissistic bastard!). I'm not accomplished enough to actually dignify this post, but you gotta think big to be big right? Then you can go big or go home. Anyway, putting this to context, I always love creating stories and in each story that I wrote, there's a sliver of my personal self inserted in it. For this first part of the big 'Marcel-Tell-All', let me take you back to 2013, to my first ambitious short film, titled Cops/Thieves (read it as Cops and Thieves rather than Cops or Thieves). Yes, the slash is just for show. It's my first film cut me some slack.




Despite the shortcomings that are clearly visible in this film, I am still very proud of this baby. The story came from a very rough idea my friend (who is now studying film in England!) and I had, although whenever I told her this, she recalled nothing of sorts but I remember vividly that we talked about this idea. It came from us making two separate horror films that were set in our school which allegedly was built on a cemetery complex (a complete bullshit by the way, once you're old enough you realized it). Our school was really scary at night though. I made a movie titled The Classroom and she made one called 100 Ghost Stories (I still remember her phenomenal camerawork and premise). We sort of brainstormed more ideas, and then I came up with the idea of making a real slasher based on the card game cops and thieves (or police and killers who cares). We talked about it but never took it seriously. I loved sharing ideas with her because we kind of speaking in the same frequency and we ended up co-directing a play together, which I am also still proud to be a part of. She now specializes in sound department or art directing, my memory is stupid about this, but I know whichever is it, she's doing better than I do. Her latest film, which was short but superbly meaningful, won an award at a festival film. She being in any film school is already better than me, stuck in nowhere city with no foreseeable future in sight.

I revisited the cops and thieves idea after enrolling in college. I didn't know how the third act should be though, like who the killer is and why is he/she doing it-stuff, until several days before shooting. What I want to discuss here is not that big twist at the end though. It's more like how the film represented a certain moment in my life (ew, who do you think you are bitch). When I revisited this movie, I always see a pretty high amount of angst in it. This trait in the film might be attributed to the fact that I loathe going here to Japan for university. It shows a lot in this film through the atmosphere of the film, the violence, the mood, the colors. The one I draw upon from myself the most was the basic human action and reaction on the leading girl's character, which put her in a new situation with a new person she's not comfortable with. That's basically me in Japan, being reluctant to do anything, to learn anything.

The violence in the film was born not out of my masochistic/sadistic potential, fortunately. I was developing another angst-filled script just before this and was planning to do it Inarritu-style with the film being a very long tracking shot (this was 2012-2013, way before Birdman, btw). That script was titled 407, a room--much like the one in Cops/Thieves--which became a very haunted place for the main character. This main character is put in the same situation as Ella's character: new place, new people. 407 was the base for Cops/Thieves so there are many things in common. The main character in 407, found all the new people he met commit suicide in his room, only to find out he's the one who has killed himself at the end, not those people. The suicides were 'creatively' done, in some ways similar to the killings in Cops/Thieves. One hanged himself with some hangers, one poisoned herself by drinking soap and bleach, one jumped from the window, and the other one slashed her wrists with a scissor or a kitchen knife. I loved the idea of killing with hangers that I actually 'tried' whether it could work logically (I don't want to go into details but I can safely say it was not an attempt at suicide). You get the idea, 407 is the embryo for Cops/Thieves. 


I like that this film represented a certain moment in my life. Like it was when I really really was in love with Cliff Martinez's music from most of his work. The entirety of the score in this film are all Martinez's music, from the soundtrack of the modern classic Drive to modern cult Spring Breakers. Even for the trailer I used one of his tracks for The Company You Keep. I feel that his music really fit the mood of the movie. I couldn't find a suitable moment, or a moment that deserved to be scored with his master track from Only God Forgives but I'm pretty content with the way it turned out. It was also when I was really really addicted to Metric. I still find them awesome but I don't listen to them religiously like I used to. Fun fact, instead of using 'Raw Sugar' for the ending, I wanted to use 'Synthetica' which is the other side of the pole from the former. 'Synthetica' has this energy that I wanted to show for my leading character but 'Raw Sugar', suggested by one of my DoPs, is the sensible choice to end the movie. When I'm successful, I'm gonna license all these songs so it could be legit used in the movie. I still get copyright infringement from YouTube, you know.


Next up:
Bridge of Spies review
also to come Part II of this Tell-All

Fighting Harder

I decided to have a very exciting day yesterday. Woke up and spontaneously planned to see Creed. I caught the bus right on time, caught the train right on time, and went to the movie right on time (literally when I sat down, the film started!). Didn't waste any time at all yesterday. Creed is the first spinoff from the Rocky franchise and it stars Michael B. Jordan and Rocky Balboa himself, Sylvester Stallone and directed by Ryan Coogler of Fruitvale Station fame. Honestly, I only watched the first Rocky film so I'm not actually the right person to talk about Rocky franchise in detail like Rocky's turtle or even Rocky's secret match with Apollo Creed. But bro, the movie is too awesome.

The spotlight is now on Apollo Creed's illegitimate son, Adonis Creed. Apollo Creed was Rocky's rival-turned-friend who was killed in a brutal boxing match against a Russian boxer, Ivan Drago. Adonis had a boxer's blood in him and he's called to the ring by destiny. However, he opted to use his mother's last name and not the famous Creed surname. He tried to find a trainer and found it in his father's friend, Rocky Balboa. With Rocky, he trained and paved his own way as a great boxer and making his own legacy.

The movie is phenomenal. It's an amazing feat to have a great reboot like this especially in the year when so many franchises tried to reignite their spark. Plot-wise, it is inspiring and mature. The cast is great. Michael B. Jordan is super committed to the role. Tessa Thompson delivered a complex character like it was nothing, and she has a killer track titled Grip which everyone should give a listen. And Sylvester Stallone in a form we haven't seen for a long time. In this film Rocky is vulnerable and he presented it just right, while still being the tough guy Rocky is. Directed greatly by Ryan Coogler who I think is just too damn good for Black Panther. Be very afraid Alfonso Cuaron, Ryan Coogler and his DoP Maryse Alberti presented us with an unbelievable tracking shot of a fucking boxing match! A boxing match! Without any cuts! Soundtrack and score by Ludwig Goransson are very much on point. It's hard to believe this is the work of a guy who did Zooey Deschanel's New Girl. The score is hands-down the best of the year for me. It has a very distinguishable quality and it improved an already 100% film to 120%. Definitely one of 2015's best and I hope to see more of this film in the awards' season. Creed: 4/4


Check out these stand out tracks in both soundtrack and score: Waiting for My Moment, Lord Knows/Fighting Harder, Grip, You're a Creed and Creed Suite. Either these gonna be the tracks that will motivate you or be in your workout playlist (it's the former for me, cos what is workout?)

Twenty Sixteen

Happy New Year! I was away for Christmas holidays in Seoul. Walked around. Ate a lot. Saw a lot. Veni Vidi Manducavi(?). I ended my moviegoing year with Justin Kurzel's stylish adap of Macbeth starring Michael Fassbender which is basically the extremely hard level of English listening exam: Scottish accent combined with Shakespearian vocab. I understand the gist of every sentence (or paragraph) but if I were to recite one perfectly, I'll give up. Then I started this year with an unfinished Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation while on a 1 hour flight and went on a successive viewings of Sicario and Sherlock's Christmas Special (more on that later!). So, as the annual ritual (rhyming point!), every year must be opened with a preview of what's to come. 2015 was big but 2016 has films to match 2015. You know the drill: bold titles mean must-watches and unmarked means negotiable. I just copied and pasted that last sentence, because plagiarizing your own work is totally acceptable.

JANUARY
- The Hateful Eight with Samuel L. Jackson and director Quentin Tarantino
- The Finest Hours with Chris Pine and director Craig Gillespie
- Kung Fu Panda 3 with Jack Black (voice) and director Jennifer Yuh Nelson
- Jane Got A Gun with Natalie Portman and director Gavin O'Connor

FEBRUARY
- Hail Caesar! with George Clooney and directors The Coen Brothers
- Pride and Prejudice and Zombies with Lily James and director Burr Steers
- Deadpool with Ryan Reynolds and director Tim Miller
- Zoolander No. 2 with actor director Ben Stiller
- Eddie the Eagle with Taron Egerton and director Dexter Fletcher
- Triple 9 with Aaron Paul and director John Hillcoat

MARCH
- Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice with Ben Affleck and director Zack Snyder
- London Has Fallen with Gerard Butler and director Babak Najafi
- Allegiant with Shailene Woodley and director Robert Schwentke
- Midnight Special with Michael Shannon and director Jeff Nichols
- Whiskey Tango Foxtrot with Tina Fey and directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa
- The Brothers Grimsby with Sacha Baron Cohen and director Louis Letterier

APRIL
- The Huntsman: Winter's War with Charlize Theron and director Cedric Nicolas-Troyan
- The Jungle Book with Neel Sethi and director Jon Favreau
- Collide with Felicity Jones and director Eran Creevy
- Before I Wake with Kate Bosworth and director Mike Flanagan
- Demolition with Jake Gyllenhaal and director Jean Marc Vallee

MAY
- Captain America: Civil War with Chris Evans and director Russo Brothers
- X-Men: Apocalypse with Michael Fassbender and director Bryan Singer
- Neighbors 2 with Seth Rogen and director Nicholas Stoller
- Alice Through The Looking Glass with Johnny Depp and director James Bobin
- Money Monster with George Clooney and director Jodie Foster
- The Nice Guys with Ryan Gosling and director Shane Black
- The Free State of Jones with Matthew McConaughey and director Gary Ross
- Snowden with Joseph Gordon-Levitt and director Oliver Stone

JUNE
- Independence Day: Resurgence with Jeff Goldblum and director Roland Emmerich
- Finding Dory with Ellen DeGeneres (voice) and director Andrew Stanton
- The Conjuring: Enfield Poltergeist with Patrick Wilson and director James Wan
- Now You See Me 2 with Jesse Eisenberg and director John M. Chu
- Warcraft with Travis Fimmel and director Duncan Jones
- Central Intelligence with Dwayne Johnson and director Rawson Thurber
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows with Megan Fox and director Dave Green

JULY
- The Legend of Tarzan with Margot Robbie and director David Yates
- The BFG with Mark Rylance and director Steven Spielberg
- The Purge 3 with Frank Grillo and director James DeMonaco
- Star Trek Beyond with Chris Pine and director Justin Lin
- Bourne 5 with Matt Damon and director Paul Greengrass
- Ghostbusters with Kristen Wiig and director Paul Feig
- La La Land with Ryan Gosling and director Damien Chazelle
- Genius with Colin Firth and director Michael Grandage

AUGUST
- Suicide Squad with Will Smith and director David Ayer
- Ben Hur with Jack Huston and director Timur Bekmambetov
- Sausage Party with Seth Rogen and directors Conrad Vernon and Greg Tiernan
- Spectral with James Badge Dale and director Nic Mathieu
- Arms and the Dudes with Jonah Hill and director Todd Phillips

SEPTEMBER
- The Magnificent Seven with Chris Pratt and director Antoine Fuqua
- Sully with Tom Hanks and director Clint Eastwood
- Deepwater Horizon with Mark Wahlberg and director Peter Berg

OCTOBER
- Inferno with Tom Hanks and director Ron Howard
- The Girl on the Train with Emily Blunt and director Tate Taylor
- Jack Reacher: Never Go Back with Tom Cruise and director Edward Zwick
- Gambit with Channing Tatum and Lea Seydoux
- The Accountant with Ben Affleck and director Gavin O'Connor

NOVEMBER
- Doctor Strange with Benedict Cumberbatch and director Scott Derrickson
- Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them with Eddie Redmayne and director David Yates
- The Great Wall with Matt Damon and director Zhang Yimou
- Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk with Garrett Hedlund and director Ang Lee
- Moana with Dwayne Johnson (voice) and director Ron Clements

DECEMBER
- Passengers with Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence, director Morten Tyldum
- Rogue One: A Star Wars Story with Felicity Jones and director Gareth Edwards
- Assassin's Creed with Michael Fassbender and director Justin Kurzel
- Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children with Eva Green and director Tim Burton


There are currently undated films like Denis Villenueve's scifi Story of Your Life and Martin Scorsese's Silence. But it is shaping to be another solid year for movies. Like every other year there are unnecessary remakes like Ben Hur or The Magnificent Seven but their cast is solid so I'm actually excited for both. The blockbusters are crazy exciting. Also new films from Scorsese and Eastwood pretty much made the year strong. Jodie Foster's Money Monster is looking good too. Here are my top 10 anticipated films for next year!

10. Passengers - Chris Pratt x Jennifer Lawrence!
9. The BFG - Spielberg!
8. Fantastic Beasts - still not sold but magic
7. Bourne 5 - Damon is backk
6. Assassin's Creed - still got that Macbeth hype
5. X-Men Apocalypse - just gettin that Fassy-love and Olivia Munn
4. The Legend of Tarzan - I loved the trailer too much
3. Suicide Squad - Margot Robbie!
2. Civil War - looks great
1. Batman v Superman - looks awesome

NYResolution: I want to write more posts here. 2015 was a new low for posts number since 2012. I have five drafts and all were unfinished because a) I got bored b) I postponed it too long it lost it relevance. And also Imma do more work. But still watch a lot of movies.