All release and air dates correct at time of going to press.
We’ve been doing a lot of looking back this week on Set the Tape. That’s how mid-year retrospectives work, after all, allowing us to take stock on all that’s come before and which might otherwise be lost in the stampede come actual End of Year List-Making time. But the time for wistfully reminiscing on the prior six months of our lives is now over! Yesterday is for squares, daddy-o! Today, we’re all about The Future! There’s still six months left before we get to discard 2018 to the trash, and there’s a lot of media on the horizon looking to brighten our existentially nightmarish lives. So, I put the call out to the entire Set the Tape staff and asked them to share brief thoughts on the films/television/whatever that’s most exciting them between now and Boxing Day! Many answered that call. If we missed something that you’re most hyped for, why not let us know in the comments so we can all become hyped together? After all: Stronger Together, as the unfortunately losing motto of 2016 once said!
The Sisters Brothers
A film with Joaquin Phoenix, John C. Reilly and Jake Gyllenhaal you say? The Sisters Brothers really isn’t to be missed! Patrick deWitt’s darkly comic western novel is such a fantastic read, full of twists and turns, action, tension and some truly memorable characters. Jacques Audiard is tasked with bringing this book to life and coming off the back of the fantastic prison drama A Prophet and the hard-hitting Dheepan, it is going to be interesting how he handles the lighter tone, but from the trailer it seems we are in extremely good hands. – Gavin McHugh (In Cinemas TBD)
Ant-Man and the Wasp
Three years after he brought Earth’s mightiest and smallest hero to our screens, director Peyton Reed returns with Ant-Man and the Wasp. Paul Rudd dons the incredible shrinking suit once more, this time with Evangeline Lilly in a more prominent and eponymous role. Two questions wait to be answered: Can the writing team maintain the level of action and fun, now there’s a greater expectation from audiences familiar with the characters? And how does the 50% calamitous ending of Avengers: Infinity War affect what we’ll see between the opening and closing credits? One way to find out… – Ian Paterson (In Cinemas from 2nd August)
(Ed Note: Yes, this has already opened in America, but here in the UK it’s been delayed a full month because of the football. Really.)
Mission: Impossible – Fallout
There’s something about the Mission: Impossible series. Whether it’s Tom Cruise’s charisma, the balls-to-the-wall action, or the opening bars of that spine-tingling score, millions of punters cannot help but part with hundreds of millions of dollars to see Ethan Hunt save the world by launching himself off another car/motorcycle/train/building. As the series’ sixth instalment – Fallout – approaches, it looks as though everyone should rightly be firing up those excitement metres once again. Does it matter what the story will be? No. Does it matter that the idea of Ving Rhames resembling anything remotely ‘secret’ is completely ridiculous? Of course not. That’s Tom Cruise stunt-flying a helicopter. Now shut up and take my money. – Nicholas Lay (In Cinemas from 25th July)
Halloween
Two months ago, most horror fans will have gotten all angry and elitist and tell you there’s no need for a new Halloween film. All of those fans, myself included – a flag waving, t-shirt wearing disciple of the Rob Zombie reinvention – will admit to being sceptical of The Shape’s return right up until John Carpenter’s iconic theme made its trailer debut. Then Every. Single. One of us. Was sold. Blumhouse have been on a roll, recently, and I can’t think of anyone better to bring Nick Castle and Jamie Lee Curtis back to Haddonfield for one final showdown. – Andrew Brooker (In Cinemas from 17th October)
Widows
Steve McQueen’s got a new film coming out, you say? It’s an adaptation of the 1980s Lynda La Plante series Widows, you say? Co-scripted by Gillian Flynn of Gone Girl, my favourite film of 2014, you say? With a cast featuring Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debicki, Liam Neeson, Daniel Kaluuya, Carrie Coon, Brian Tyree Henry, Jon Bernthal, Robert Duval, and Colin Farrell, you say? And it’s got arguably the best trailer of 2018 so far, you say? Well, then, sign me up for ALL OF THE TICKETS, thank you please! – Callum Petch (In Cinemas from 9th November)
Mirai
Mirai of the Future is the latest Japanese animated tale from celebrated writer, director and all round anime powerhouse, Mamoru Hosoda. Premiering at this year’s Cannes, to great critical acclaim, the film tells the story of a little boy whose world is turned upside down by the arrival of his baby sister, and the subsequent arrival of a grownup version of her from the future. In comparison to Hosoda’s previous films, particularly Wolf Children and Summer Wars, this may seem a bit thin plot-wise, but it looks just as enchanting. – Becca Andrews (In Cinemas, theoretically, from 2nd November)
Shameless, Season 9
Eight seasons in and the Gallaghers are still doing the best they can to keep their heads above water. With the end of season eight, we saw Fiona look to becoming a respectable building owner, Lip trying to stay sober, Debbie struggling with being a teenage mom and Frank… well Frank is still Frank – conning, robbing, scheming and drinking. Season nine, premiering this October on Showtime, promises more outrageousness, hilarity, heartbreak, struggles and other Gallagher shenanigans. Most everybody is returning, however Isidora Goreshter, who plays fan favourite Svetlana will not be. Вы будете пропущены, Svetlana. That’s Russian for ‘you’ll be missed.’ – Jason Sheppard (Returns to Showtime in October, UK air date TBD)
Bad Times at the El Royale
This movie deserves a spot on the list just for assembling a cast like Jon Hamm, Dakota Johnson and Chris Hemsworth, a bunch of charming and interesting actors who often outshine their source material. But, for once, it looks like the material might also be up to snuff. Bad Times at the El Royale is a mystery-thriller set in a bizarre motel where everyone has a secret, from the guests and the staff that spy on them, to the enigmatic cult leader who shows up (Hemsworth). Written and directed by Drew Goddard (Cabin in the Woods), you know the El Royale’s going to have a lot more than meets the eye. – Jenn Reid (In Cinemas from 12th October)
The Predator
Original Predator cast member Shane Black returns to his old stomping grounds in an attempt to revive the horror/sci-fi/action series with The Predator, which the Nice Guys and Iron Man 3 helmer (amongst many others) is writing and directing. When the deadly alien hunters return to Earth, inadvertently called by a young boy (Jacob Tremblay), a rag-tag group of ex-soldiers – consisting of Boyd Holbrook, Trevante Rhodes, Keegan Michael-Key, Thomas Jane, and even more prolific character actors – get caught in a deadly fight between the Predators and a hunter that has been experimenting on itself, using the DNA of other species to make itself the perfect hunter. – Amy Walker (In Cinemas from September 12th)
Suspiria
While there hasn’t been any survey, I’m sure nobody asked for Suspiria to be remade. Except that nobody cares what any of us thinks which, by the looks of Luca Guadagnino’s recent trailer, is a very good thing. Replacing Jessica Harper with a red-haired Dakota Johnson and Goblin with Thom Yorke, the Dario Argento remake is looking primed to titillate many and infuriate many more. Removing the saturated colour palette that many embrace as sheer art, Suspiria (pronounced with a chubby S, indicated by the latest poster) has quickly become the cherry on this year’s box-office surprises, and despite hesitations, I’m wholly on-board for every bit of change. – Gregory Mucci (In US Theatres from 2nd November, UK release TBD)