9. Ocean’s 8
45 Points
Director: Gary Ross
Cast: Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Mindy Kaling, Sarah Paulson, Awkwafina, Rihanna, Helena Bonham Carter
Release Date: June 8, 2018
Listen, do I even need to explain why this is a must-see? Look at that cast! Cate Blanchett and Rihanna are in a movie together! Don’t even try to tell me you’re not interested in Ocean’s 8. Gary Ross’ film will serve as both a reboot and a sequel to Steven Soderbergh’s Ocean’s 11 reboot, with a team of female thieves banding together to pull off the ultimate heist. I have no idea how Ocean’s 8 is going to turn out, but I know that on the basis of the cast alone, I’m dying to see it. (Chris Evangelista)
8. A Wrinkle in Time
Director: Ava Duvernay
Cast: Storm Reid, Reese Witherspoon, Chris Pine, Oprah Winfrey, Mindy Kaling, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Zach Galifianakis.
Release Date: March 9, 2018
If Ava Duvernay’s lush vision of Madeleine L’Engle’s sci-fi children’s classic wasn’t enough to stir up excitement, it’s the star-studded cast of actors including Chris Pine, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Reese Witherspoon, Oprah Winfrey, and Mindy Kaling. And if not that, it’s the inspired color-blind casting of newcomer Storm Reid as the young lead Meg Murray. Still not convinced? A Wrinkle in Time is a mind-bending science-fiction story that deals with follows a young girl’s search for her missing scientist father through time and space, a gripping adventure story that turns cerebral once it starts dealing with concepts like wormholes and mind control. Madeleine L’Engle’s book is a sci-fi classic that many kids (including me) devoured for its sheer ambition and imagination. And Ava Duvernay promises to take that story to the stars and beyond. (Hoai-Tran Bui)
7. Isle of Dogs
49 Points
Director: Wes Anderson
Cast: Bryan Cranston, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum, Kunichi Nomura, Ken Watanabe, Greta Gerwig, Frances McDormand, Courtney B. Vance, Fisher Stevens, Nijiro Murakami, Harvey Keitel, Koyu Rankin, Liev Schreiber, Bob Balaban, Scarlett Johansson, Tilda Swinton, Akira Ito, Akira Takayama, F. Murray Abraham, Yojiro Noda, Mari Natsuki, Yoko Ono, and Frank Wood
Release Date: March 23, 2018
First of all: just look at that cast! Second of all: it’s the newest movie from director Wes Anderson! Third of all: it’s second stop-motion animated film from Wes Anderson, whose Fantastic Mr. Fox is a masterpiece and one of the most entertaining and beautiful films of its kind to ever be released! So Isle of Dogs has a lot going for it, which means it also has some mighty expectations to overcome. No pressure. But I couldn’t be more excited to see what Anderson does with a tale about and island full of quarantined canines and the human boy that falls into their midst. (Jacob Hall)
6. Halloween
51 Points
Director: David Gordon Green
Cast: Jamie Lee Curtis, Judy Greer, and Andi Matichak
Release Date: October 19, 2018
John Carpenter’s original 1978 Halloween is a horror masterpiece. The bulk of the many, many sequels that followed are not. So call it cowardly or call it brave, but director David Gordon Green is simply ignoring the sequels with the latest film in the series, returning Jamie Lee Curtis’ Laurie Strode to life and making a direct sequel to the classic first film. That’s bold and weird and exciting, especially since Green is such a unique choice for a horror film in the first place (and especially since Danny McBride of Eastbound & Down fame co-wrote the script with him). The fact that Carpenter himself approves of this new film after famously badmouthing the direction of the series is another point in this one’s favor. This could be the coolest thing to happen to Halloween in decades. (Jacob Hall)
5. Solo: A Star Wars Story
51 Points
Director: Ron Howard
Cast: Alden Ehrenreich, Donald Glover, Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Thandie Newton
Release Date: May 25, 2018
Most of the headlines surrounding Solo: A Star Wars Story have been about the film’s troubled production, which saw directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller fired and replaced with Ron Howard. That’s more than enough to raise some eyebrows. But we have faith. The past few Star Wars movies have ranged from good to excellent and the cast assembled to bring young Han and his friends and enemies to life is second-to-none. This could fail spectacularly, but we’re choosing to believe that Solo will follow in the footsteps of Rogue One and prove that these Star Wars spin-offs can be something special. (Jacob Hall)
4. The Incredibles 2
59 Points
Director: Brad Bird
Cast: Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Sarah Vowell, Huck Milner, Samuel L. Jackson, Bob Odenkirk, Catherine Keener
Release Date: June 15, 2018
It only took 14 years, but Pixar is finally making a sequel to one of their best movies. Released during the early days of the comic book move boom, The Incredibles remains a high watermark for films about superheroes. Managing to blend winking humor about masked do-gooders with genuinely compelling characters in a rich, vibrant world, the first movie screams for a follow-up. And while we know very little about what the new film entails, its mere existence is enough to propel it to the very top of this list. That’s how hungry we are to see the Parr family go on more adventures. (Jacob Hall)
3. Avengers: Infinity War
80 Points
Director: Anthony & Joe Russo
Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Anthony Mackie, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Holland, Chadwick Boseman, Josh Brolin, Don Cheadle, Sebastian Stan, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff and more
Release Date: May 4, 2018
This is the movie that Marvel fans have been waiting for ever since Thanos appeared in the mid-credits scene after The Avengers in 2012. Now here we are, six years later, and it’s finally time for the Mad Titan to wreak havoc across the galaxy and take on Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. But the Avengers won’t be alone, since this movie will also see them teaming up with the Guardians of the Galaxy. Even though other movies may have edged out Infinity War for the top spots on this list (mostly due to the balloting system we used), this is probably the most anticipated movie of 2018 for a majority of the movie-going public. Personally, I can’t wait to see Anthony & Joe Russo tear the Avengers apart and deliver one of the most iconic comic book arcs on the big screen for the first time. (Ethan Anderton)
2. Black Panther
82 Points
Director: Ryan Coogler
Cast: Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman, Daniel Kaluuya, Andy Serkis, Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker.
Release Date: February 16, 2018.
There’s no overstating the enormity of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s first film featuring a solo black superhero. With Chadwick Boseman in the title role as Black Panther/T’Challa and Creed‘s Ryan Coogler behind the camera, Black Panther already feels like nothing the MCU has ever done before. Hell, it feels like nothing that Hollywood has ever done before. Boasting a majority-black cast donning some gorgeous Afrofuturistic get-ups, as well as a complex plot rife with political machinations and betrayal, Black Panther promises to have an epic scope that remains unrivaled in comic book films. The rich visuals, the fierce diverse characters, Lupita Nyong’o finally showing her face in a major blockbuster — I’m ready for all of it. (Hoai-Tran Bui)
1. Annihilation
96 Points
Director: Alex Garland
Cast: Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Gina Rodriguez, Tessa Thompson, Tuva Novotny, Oscar Isaac
Release Date: February 23, 2018
Ex-Machina director Alex Garland tackles the first book in Jeff VanderMeer’s puzzling, inventive Southern Reach trilogy with a killer cast and some trippy visuals. The first teaser for Annihilation was promising, filled with haunting, mysterious imagery. The second trailer? Not so much. That trailer was filled with over-expository moments and scenes that made the film look like a remake of Predator rather than an adaptation of VanderMeer’s work. Is this indicative of the film as a whole? I’m hoping not. There have been rumors of behind-the-scenes tensions about the film, with producers worrying that Garland’s adaptation is too cerebral and too weird for general audiences. It’s my hope and belief that the second lackluster trailer was deliberately deceptive to better draw a “normal” audience in, and that the final film will be more reflective of VanderMeer’s work. Either way, I’m excited to see the film, which deals with a expedition into a strange, otherworldly zone where all is not what it seems. (Chris Evangelista)
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