2017 is here and we are in the thick of winter doldrums. To pick up the mood we’ve canvassed the most guy worthy movies to see this year. Trust us ‘LLERO’s, the big screen looks to entertain, educate and inspire us red-blooded males in 2017.
January
Live by Night
It opened nation-wide on January 13th and is directed by and starring Ben Affleck. It tells the tale of prohibition era gangster Joe Coughlin, the son of a Boston Police superintendent intent on making his own name. The action travels from Boston to the Cuban culture in Southern Florida as Coughlin crosses a powerful mob boss by stealing his money and his girl. It also, stars our favorite Latina starlet Zoe Saldana and marks the film debut of Latino crooner Miguel.
Why It’s Guy worthy – Another addition to the gangster genre. A look at 20’s era Cuban culture and Affleck definitely knows how to direct.
xXx: The Return of Xander Cage
Vin Diesel makes a return to the xXx franchise in xXx: The Return of Xander Cage. For you extreme sports junkies the action looks right up your alley. Diesel has a crew alongside him this time in the form of Ruby Rose, Nina Dobrev and Tony Gonzalez. Even Neymar makes an appearance. Most impressive is that former xXx operative Ice Cube gets in on the act. How the studio kept that under wraps for so long is impressive.
Why It’s Guy worthy – Diesel is back as Xander Cage. Extreme sports action sequences. Nina Dobrev and Ruby Rose wielding firearms – duh!
February
I Am Not Your Negro
If there ever were a time for all men of color in the United States to watch a documentary – this is it. I Am Not Your Negro is a docu-essay narrated by Samuel L. Jackson. Based on an unfinished assignment that famed author James Baldwin turned down in the late ’70’s. The vision for the unfinished work was a look back at the lives and deaths of Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King based on Baldwin’s personal experiences with them. The documentary incorporates old speeches, news clippings and interviews by Baldwin. Trust us, this is required viewing for any man of color.
Why It’s Guy worthy – No great leap to say race relations in the U.S. are tenuous at best. If you don’t know your past you are bound to repeat it.
John Wick, Chapter 2
Were psyched about this one. Keanu Reeves returns as titular anti-hero, now retired assassin John Wick. The first film was a sleeper hit, achieving cult-status among the fanboy crowd. Although no one was clamoring for sequel, the second looks like the franchise is just about to hit its stride (think how Rambo: First Blood Part II, was better than First Blood). With Lawrence Fishburne joining in for a little Neo and Morpheus reunion, how can you resist.
Why It’s Guy worthy – Good old channel five karate/kung-fu fun. Plus, Neo and Morpheus are back together.
March
Logan
Wow, talk about a different take on a superhero film. Logan is the last in the Wolverine trilogy. Based on the comic series “Old Man Logan” we find Wolverine in in senior citizen phase, slower to recover, susceptible to injury and wanting out of the superhero business only to be dragged back in. The tone is seriously gritty and noir like. Like you are watching an Oliver Stone film rather than comic book fare.
Why It’s Guy worthy – By the looks of it, the superhero movie grows up.
April
The Fate of the Furious
Gearheads rejoice. The Fast and the Furious franchise drops its latest installment in April. While it’s the first film without Paul Walker, the rest of the major cast members are returning. This go around Dominic Toretto has gone rogue, seemingly betraying his family by teaming up with a new baddie in the form of Charlize Theron. The action is once again off the charts as they go from New York, to Cuba to Iceland.
Why It’s Guy worthy – Vin Diesel, the Rock, crazy vehicles, action and locations. Our adrenal glands are already in overdrive.
May
Lowriders
Delving into the L.A. car culture, Lowriders focuses on a teenage graffiti artist (Gabriel Chavarria) who paints murals on the hoods of lowrider cars to help his older brother (Theo Rossi – Sons of Anarchy) win an upcoming competition.
Why It’s Guy worthy – With all the tent pole action and superhero fare, it’s nice to take in an indie that focuses on the L.A. car and Latino culture. Plus, it’s got some Latino heavyweight talent in the form of Demián Bichir and Eva Longoria.
Baywatch
The jiggle fest 90’s tv show which spawned the careers of Pamela Anderson and countless other California blondes makes it feature film debut. If the trailer is any indication, it looks like they are taking the 21 Jump Street approach to this film, but not forgetting what made it successful – the jiggle factor. To ensure testosterone is represented, none other than Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson will be playing Mitch Buchanan.
Why It’s Guy worthy – Can a film be any more guy worthy than Baywatch?
Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. II
They blew up the spot in August of 2014 with their throwback soundtrack and one-liners. That and over $700 million at the box office guaranteed this rag tag group of superheroes a return to the big screen. Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. II reunites our motley crew. This time they weave in Starlord’s origin story in the form of an appearances by Kurt Russell and Sylvester Stallone. Zoe Saldana returns as Gamora, as does Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer, Bradley Cooper as the voice of Rocket Raccoon and Vin Diesel as the voice of Baby Groot.
Why It’s Guy worthy – Zoe in green.
June
Wonder Woman
Diana Prince makes her feature film debut. Gal Gadot takes up the lasso and crown. Having made an appearance in Batman V Superman, and being one of the universally positive things about that film, we’ve got high hopes. It set in the past much like Captain America: The First Avenger was. It also seems to have channeled some Game of Thrones mojo, both are positives.
Why It’s Guy worthy – Did you think a film like Wonder Woman would be on this list? Us neither, but Gadot is sexy as hell. Her Batman V Superman appearance was dope. And the action looks solid.
July
War for the Planet of Apes
Presumably the final chapter of the reboot trilogy. War for the Planet of the Apes finds Caesar (played brilliantly by Andy Serkis) and his apes are forced into a deadly conflict with an army of humans led by a ruthless colonel played by Woody Harrelson. After the apes suffer unimaginable losses, Caesar wrestles with his darker instincts and begins his own mythic quest to avenge his kind.
Why It’s Guy worthy: The first two chapters of this trilogy were fantastic, here’s hoping they can accomplish the trifecta!
October
Blade Runner 2049
Ridley Scott’s sci-fi classic Blade Runner, starring Harrison Ford gets a sequel. This time out Officer K (Ryan Gosling), a new blade runner for the Los Angeles Police Department, unearths a long-buried secret that has the potential to plunge what’s left of society into chaos. His discovery leads him on a quest to find Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), a former blade runner who’s been missing for 30 years.
Why It’s Guy worthy – A sci-fi classic gets a reboot, plus Ana de Armas is in it. Can’t be mad at that.
November
Justice League
DC’s answer to the Avengers, sees Batman, Wonder Women, Aquaman, the Flash, Cyborg and Superman will all finally appear together in this superhero mashup. As you’ve probably gleaned from the blogs, Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck), is inspired by Superman’s selfless acts from the events of Batman V Superman, with new ally Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) he assembles a team to fight a new threat to the world. Said threat to be Darkseid. Once again directed by Zach Snyder. Early indications are it will have a lighter tone than previous DC films.
Why It’s Guy worthy – Win, lose or draw it will be a blast to see all these heroes share the same screen for the first time.
December
Star Wars: Episode VIII
The granddaddy of all fanboy films. Star Wars – Episode VIII drops in December. The penultimate episode will focus on Luke Skywalker. Little is known about the story as Disney and Lucasfilm have gone to superhuman efforts to keep things under wrap. However, we have a new hope!!! That it will answer why Luke went into hiding? Why Luke will train his newest Jedi apprentice Rey? Who Supreme Leader Snoke is? If this film weren’t special enough, it will also mark the last performance of Carrie Fisher as Princess/General Leia since her untimely passing in December of 2016.
Why It’s Guy worthy – Do we really need to answer this question?
