A Peek Through the Hatch: Robert's Most Anticipated Films of 2017

We have left 2016 behind. 2016, a figurative dumpster fire, but almost as if it were some alternate reality where the Grand Canyon was turned into a giant landfill through some sort of federal legislation. That big of a dumpster fire. 2017 is upon us. Let us look ahead and dream. Like last year, superhero films have been excluded and I've only gone "in depth" on my Top 5. Without further ado, here are the 10 upcoming films I'm most looking forward to.

10. Dunkirk (July 21)

'Nuff said: Christopher Nolan's first feature-length film since 2014's Interstellar.

9. War for the Planet of the Apes (July 14)

'Nuff said: Ape shenanigans are always great.

8. The Masterpiece (?)

'Nuff said: Adaptation of "The Disaster Artist", which is a behind the scenes look at The Room.

7. The Girl with All the Gifts (?)

'Nuff said: Fresh zombie flick.

6. Kong: Skull Island (March 10)

'Nuff said: Ape shenanigans are always great.

5. Alien: Covenant (May 19)

Let me get this out of the way: Prometheus sucked. Here's my review. Covenant could be the proper Alien prequel we've been wanting. Plus, while Prometheus did fall short of expectations, it at least left off on an interesting note, and I'm wondering what's become of David the android (Michael Fassbender) and Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace). Oh, and I recently completed the video game Alien: Isolation, and it's seriously renewed my interest in the Alien mythos and franchise.




4. Ghost in the Shell (March 31)

I haven't seen the original but I'm hoping to fix that. Despite the uproar surrounding ScarJo's casting (and that whole weird digital yellow face controversy) I'm definitely excited for this. It looks amazing.




3. Blade Runner 2049 (October 6)

I'm a huge fan of the original Blade Runner. Here's hoping they can recapture that film's look and tone. Harrison Ford's last two revival projects were a miss (Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull) and a hit (Star Wars: The Force Awakens) respectively, so it'll be in interesting to see what this turns out to be.




2. Baby Driver (August 11)

Edgar Wright is one of my favorite directors. It's always hard waiting for one of his projects, and we've been waiting oh so long after he pulled out of Marvel's Ant-Man. But we don't have to wait much longer for Baby Driver, which will be more of a thriller compared to his other films, from what I've heard. Sounds like the trailer and the movie are gonna be awesome.




1. Star Wars: The Last Jedi (December 15)

I'm surprised this is my #1 but there ya go. The Star Wars renaissance has been going great and I'm not immune to its spell. That said, The Force Awakens was basically a remake of A New Hope, so I'm hoping this is a truly original film with some unexpected surprises.

Favorite Scene Friday! Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: Escaping Castle Brunwald

We've done over 150 Favorite Scene Fridays, and somehow, I've never done one on my favorite franchise of all time. That changes today! The Indiana Jones films have always held a special place in my heart. Someday I'll tell you all the story about how I shadowed an actual archaeologist in high school (it basically crushed my dreams of being a real-life Indiana Jones - let's just say actual archaeology is very boring).

To set the scene for today's...scene, Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) has gotten swept up in a search for his father and his diary, which contains clues to the location of the fabled Holy Grail. It's led him and Dr. Elsa Schneider (Alison Doody) to a castle in Germany, a Nazi occupied castle I might add. Here Indy finds his dad (played perfectly by Sean Connery), but the two are quickly captured by the Nazis - and the double crossing Dr. Schneider.

While trying to escape, the Joneses accidentally set the castle on fire, and so begins our scene. And I have to say straight away, I absolutely love the "'Dad?' 'What?' 'Dad?' 'What?' 'DAD!' 'WHAT?!?'" exchange at the beginning. It’s really what I was looking for in the first place, but I found this longer version instead (but why not, right?).  I could probably make an argument that this brief exchange is the funniest bit in all of the Indy films (unless you count unintentional comedy, then that might be any number of moments from Kingdom of the Crystal Skull). I feel a bit silly focusing so much on one simple line of dialogue, but Connery's "WHAT?!?" is perfect.

I think that's why Last Crusade is my favorite of the Indiana Jones films - Connery. Not only is it awesome that he's playing Indy's dad - Spielberg took inspiration from James Bond when he came up with the adventurer - he completely nails the role of the elder Jones. Connery could have easily just played an older Bond, but he made Henry more of a scholar and someone who couldn't quite be bothered with adventures and his own son's heroics.

But back to the scene. Of course this castle has a secret fireplace passage. But it leads to more Nazis and an "out of the frying pan and into the fire” situation, except in this case, the frying pan was literally fire. I really love the little exchange the Joneses have with the Nazi leader as well, trying vainly to smile their way out of trouble.

Dave Perillo via GeekTyrant

After tricking the Nazis into thinking they'd escaped via the river ("We're not going on the boat?!"), The Joneses eventually abscond on a tandem bike. While Professor Jones isn't impressed with the escape, it leads to one of the best action sequences in the entire franchise. Indy's improvised battering ram moment is great, and elicits a rare smile from Henry. This whole sequence proves you don’t need millions of dollars and endless green screens for a good action scene. The action culminates with Indy flipping the remaining biker, but his dad still isn't amused. I wish I had a pocket watch to wind whenever I disapprove of something.

I also love how this scene wraps up. There's some genuine emotion when our two heroes discuss Indy's mom, and the zoom in on the road signs - the sounds of goose stepping and a Nazi book burning building in the background - is perfectly ominous.

What's your favorite scene in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade?

What's the funniest moment in the Indiana Jones franchise?