Top Movies of Winter 2017

[JasonEvans]

I'm going to post the Winter poll very soon but I wanted to ask a question first.

Like always, the contest will start with the first movies of November (Thor: Ragnarok). My question is, when should we end it? Sometimes we say it ends with movies released in January, but last year we allowed films through the middle of February so we could include a couple strong contenders in that month (Fifty Shades 2 and Lego Batman). Early February again gives us a couple contenders this year with Cloverfield 3, Fifty Shades 3, and Black Panther. Plus, January seems kinda weak with contenders (The Post is the only film I would consider that month).

So, I am thinking I will include Mid-Feb films in the contest. Any other opinions?

-Jason "feel free to PM me or post your response here" Evans

[wilson]

I'm going to post the Winter poll very soon but I wanted to ask a question first.

Like always, the contest will start with the first movies of November (Thor: Ragnarok). My question is, when should we end it? Sometimes we say it ends with movies released in January, but last year we allowed films through the middle of February so we could include a couple strong contenders in that month (Fifty Shades 2 and Lego Batman). Early February again gives us a couple contenders this year with Cloverfield 3, Fifty Shades 3, and Black Panther. Plus, January seems kinda weak with contenders (The Post is the only film I would consider that month).

So, I am thinking I will include Mid-Feb films in the contest. Any other opinions?

-Jason "feel free to PM me or post your response here" Evans

I will vote and lose either way.

[bjornolf]

I say include early February. Winter doesn't end until March, right?

[brevity]

Death Wish has been pushed to March. Here is a list of wide releases by month:

11/01 A Bad Moms Christmas
11/03 Thor: Ragnarok
11/10 Daddy's Home 2
11/10 Murder on the Orient Express
11/17 Justice League
11/17 The Star
11/17 Wonder
11/23 Chappaquiddick
11/23 Coco
11/23 Molly's Game
11/23 Polaroid

12/08 Just Getting Started
12/15 Ferdinand
12/15 Star Wars: The Last Jedi
12/20 Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle
12/22 Downsizing
12/22 Father Figures
12/22 Pitch Perfect 3
12/27 The Greatest Showman

01/05 Insidious: The Last Key
01/12 The Commuter
01/12 Paddington 2
01/12 Proud Mary
01/19 Den of Thieves
01/19 Horse Soldiers
01/26 Extinction
01/26 Forever My Girl
01/26 Maze Runner: The Death Cure
01/26 White Boy Rick

02/02 [Untitled Cloverfield Sequel]
02/09 Fifty Shades Freed
02/09 The Hurricane Heist
02/09 Peter Rabbit
02/16 Black Panther
02/16 Early Man
02/16 Samson
02/23 Annihilation
02/23 The War with Grandpa
02/23 Winchester

I see at least 12 solid poll choices in November and December, and maybe another 6 in January and February. You could go either way: a tight 2-month contest with no Field option, or a sprawling 4-month contest with a Field option (like last summer).

[El_Diablo]

So, I am thinking I will include Mid-Feb films in the contest.

Sounds good to me.

[LasVegas]

3 of these films look like absolute locks to me.

[JasonEvans]

Here is a list of wide releases by month:

11/01 A Bad Moms Christmas
11/03 Thor: Ragnarok
11/10 Daddy's Home 2
11/10 Murder on the Orient Express
11/17 Justice League
11/17 The Star
11/17 Wonder
11/23 Chappaquiddick
11/23 Coco
11/23 Molly's Game
11/23 Polaroid

12/08 Just Getting Started
12/15 Ferdinand
12/15 Star Wars: The Last Jedi
12/20 Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle
12/22 Downsizing
12/22 Father Figures
12/22 Pitch Perfect 3
12/27 The Greatest Showman

01/05 Insidious: The Last Key
01/12 The Commuter
01/12 Paddington 2
01/12 Proud Mary
01/19 Den of Thieves
01/19 Horse Soldiers
01/26 Extinction
01/26 Forever My Girl
01/26 Maze Runner: The Death Cure
01/26 White Boy Rick

02/02 [Untitled Cloverfield Sequel]
02/09 Fifty Shades Freed
02/09 The Hurricane Heist
02/09 Peter Rabbit
02/16 Black Panther
02/16 Early Man
02/16 Samson
02/23 Annihilation
02/23 The War with Grandpa
02/23 Winchester

I see at least 12 solid poll choices in November and December, and maybe another 6 in January and February. You could go either way: a tight 2-month contest with no Field option, or a sprawling 4-month contest with a Field option (like last summer).

Good research and a good list, but you left a few out.

11/17 Roman J. Israel Esq. which stars Denzel Washington (limited release on 11/3 with wide release on 11/17)
11/24 The Current War is supposed to start with a limited release, but will certainly go wide at some point. Some Oscar buzz on this film.
12/8 All The Money in the World with Mark Whalberg, Kevin Spacey, and directed by Ridley Scott. It is the story of the kidnapping of J Paul Getty III.
12/8 The Shape of Water from Guillermo del Toro, a fantasy film that is getting a lot of Oscar buzz and it being called del Toro's best film since Pan Labyrinth
12/8 The Disaster Artist with Dave Franco, Seth Rogen, Zac Effron, and directed by James Franco. It starts out limited but goes wide on 12/8.
1/12 The Post with Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep and directed by Stephen Spielberg (ummm, WOW!!) gets a wide release after a limited run to qualify for the Oscars
2/16 Show Dogs which features the voices of Ludacris, Stanley Tucci, Alan Cumming, Gabriel Iglesias, and Shaquille O’Neal as the dogs. 'Nuf said.

Oh, and the Untitled Cloverfield Sequel is supposedly going to the called The God Particle.

-Jason "I think The Post has a non-zero chance of being a contender in our contest" Evans

[JasonEvans]

Ok, so I have opened the poll for the winter contest. It will end in 18 days, so your picks must be in a week before the first films open.

Here are the films, sorted by release date:
11/01 A Bad Moms Christmas
11/03 Thor: Ragnarok
11/10 Daddy's Home 2
11/10 Murder on the Orient Express
11/17 Justice League
11/23 Coco
12/15 Ferdinand
12/15 Star Wars: The Last Jedi
12/20 Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle
12/22 Downsizing
12/22 Pitch Perfect 3
02/16 Black Panther

Worth noting, I tried to limit the number of named films to make the field seem more attractive. There are some really good films in the field including The Post, The Greatest Showman, Molly's Game, Fifty Shades 3, Cloverfield 3, and several others.

-Jason "vote away and, as alwsys, post your picks so we can discuss them" Evans

[PackMan97]

There are some really good films in the field including ... Fifty Shades 3

Did you just call Fifty Shades 3 a really good film?

[YmoBeThere]

I think this is a case of first mover disadvantage...

[stevoflurane]

I know Ready Player One is coming out in March. I’m personally very excited for that film, but was wondering if it’s too late for this poll or if you don’t think it will be that big of a money maker to put it on the poll.

Wondering if anyone had any opinions about this one.

[JasonEvans]

I think this is a case of first mover disadvantage...

Can you clarify what you mean by this comment?

[left_hook_lacey]

I'm going to post the Winter poll very soon but I wanted to ask a question first.

Like always, the contest will start with the first movies of November (Thor: Ragnarok). My question is, when should we end it? Sometimes we say it ends with movies released in January, but last year we allowed films through the middle of February so we could include a couple strong contenders in that month (Fifty Shades 2 and Lego Batman). Early February again gives us a couple contenders this year with Cloverfield 3, Fifty Shades 3, and Black Panther. Plus, January seems kinda weak with contenders (The Post is the only film I would consider that month).

So, I am thinking I will include Mid-Feb films in the contest. Any other opinions?

-Jason "feel free to PM me or post your response here" Evans

How did I miss Cloverfield 2? I really enjoyed the first one, but had no idea there was a 2nd and about to be a 3rd.

[JasonEvans]

I know Ready Player One is coming out in March. I’m personally very excited for that film, but was wondering if it’s too late for this poll or if you don’t think it will be that big of a money maker to put it on the poll.

Wondering if anyone had any opinions about this one.

Yeah, I already had a bit of a debate about including a couple February films in the contest. March is certainly too far out to be a part of the poll. If we were including March, then films like A Wrinkle in Time, Red Sparrow, and perhaps even Tomb Raider and Pacific Rim 2 would be under legitimate consideration for the contest, in addition to Ready Player One.

-Jason "I too am excited for Ready Player One, though I bet the movie is very different from the book due to the challenges getting the rights to all those 1980s pop icons" Evans

[JasonEvans]

How did I miss Cloverfield 2? I really enjoyed the first one, but had no idea there was a 2nd and about to be a 3rd.

You didn't hear about 10 Cloverfield Lane? It wasn't really a sequel to Cloverfield other than the fact that it is set in the same universe. I think 10 Cloverfield Lane is a better film than the original.

[left_hook_lacey]

How did I miss Cloverfield 2? I really enjoyed the first one, but had no idea there was a 2nd and about to be a 3rd.

Nevermind, I remember now, they weren't called "cloverfield" but something else. They weren't direct sequels but supposed to have taken place in the same realm, with the promise of Abrams potentially one day connecting them all. Is this the one that is supposed to connect all the movies? Or just more clever marketing by Abrams?

[JasonEvans]

Ok, so I have opened the poll for the winter contest. It will end in 18 days, so your picks must be in a week before the first films open.

Here are the films, sorted by release date:
11/01 A Bad Moms Christmas
11/03 Thor: Ragnarok
11/10 Daddy's Home 2
11/10 Murder on the Orient Express
11/17 Justice League
11/23 Coco
12/15 Ferdinand
12/15 Star Wars: The Last Jedi
12/20 Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle
12/22 Downsizing
12/22 Pitch Perfect 3
02/16 Black Panther

Worth noting, I tried to limit the number of named films to make the field seem more attractive. There are some really good films in the field including The Post, The Greatest Showman, Molly's Game, Fifty Shades 3, Cloverfield 3, and several others.

-Jason "vote away and, as alwsys, post your picks so we can discuss them" Evans

So, I forgot to clarify about the rules.

• You may pick any film is the poll. If you pick field, then you are picking any unnamed film released between 11/1 and 2/28.
• The contest will close as soon as it is clear which films will be the top 5 boxoffice winners. I am betting things will be clear by early March.
• Make sure you vote for 5 films in the poll. Going 4-for-4 is no better than going 4-for-5. Don't pick 6. Even if you go 6-for-6, you will not be eligible for consideration as the winner.
• Domestic boxoffice is the only metric we are counting.

-Jason "I think that's all you need to know. If you have any questions, feel free to post them and I will answer" Evans

[stevoflurane]

-Jason "I too am excited for Ready Player One, though I bet the movie is very different from the book due to the challenges getting the rights to all those 1980s pop icons" Evans

I watched a breakdown of the trailer the other day, and was actually encouraged about the amount of references. No idea about some of the big ones that weren’t in the trailer, but the attention to detail in what was shown was impressive.

And for the record, while the trailer did a decent job of showing the different references, if you haven’t read the book, you would have absolutely no clue what that movie is about.

...sorry to derail the topic.

[CameronBornAndBred]

How did I miss Cloverfield 2? I really enjoyed the first one, but had no idea there was a 2nd and about to be a 3rd.

You didn't hear about 10 Cloverfield Lane? It wasn't really a sequel to Cloverfield other than the fact that it is set in the same universe. I think 10 Cloverfield Lane is a better film than the original.

Odd timing for this conversation since I just watched it last night on Prime for the first time. I liked it a lot, even though it is literally a confined film. (Good way to keep your budget small!) John Goodman was excellent.
After I watched it, I did some looking into #3 (God Particle), and it seems that is also not a sequel but set in the Cloververse. It looks like it has its roots in a video game that has been transcribed to the big screen. We'll see how it fares, but since it isn't a sequel to either #1 or #2, then like #2, I don't expect it to make enough of a show to impact our poll.
Not sure which I'd rather see a sequel to first, Cloverfield or 10 Cloverfield Lane. Both are deserving.

[CameronBornAndBred]

I've got confidence in three movies.
Last Jedi, Thor, and Justice League, in that order.
I can't bank on Pixar anymore, and I while I am excited about the look of the Jumanji reboot, it is right on the heels of Star Wars, and right in front of Pitch Perfect 3. It won't win its opening weekend, and may not come in 2nd in its second weekend. That's a hard spot to fill.
Still, those last two would be my leans to round out the top 5. (Jumanji and PP3, or PP3 and the field.)