Fanboys Anonymous

Welcome to another edition of 6 Flicks Picks, wherein I list all of the upcoming films that are scheduled to be released in the United States for the month which is about to begin and break down which ones I'll be watching in theaters, which ones I'll wait to rent at home, and which ones I'll be skipping out on entirely. After going through the list, I'll choose which six films stand out to me as the ones I want to see the most, even if there are more or less than six that interest me.

Note: The list below is based primarily off the expanded nationwide USA release dates on IMDB as well as some other random outlets if possible, so some information may be different. If I am missing some of the limited releases or the dates conflict in some fashion, please let me know in the comments below and any adjustments and corrections will be made!

Without further ado, another new month means another new set of films, so what's coming soon to theaters in December 2016?



Jackie

Synopsis: Following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy fights through grief and trauma to regain her faith, console her children, and define her husband's historic legacy.

Will I watch? = Maybe

Incarnate

Synopsis: A scientist with the ability to enter the subconscious minds of the possessed must save a young boy from the grips of a demon with powers never seen before, while facing the horrors of his past.

Will I watch? = No

The Eyes of My Mother

Synopsis: A young, lonely woman is consumed by her deepest and darkest desires after tragedy strikes her quiet country life.

Will I watch? = No

Things to Come

Synopsis: A philosophy teacher soldiers through the death of her mother, getting fired from her job, and dealing with a husband who is cheating on her.

Will I watch? = No


La La Land

Synopsis: A jazz pianist falls for an aspiring actress in Los Angeles.

Will I watch? = Maybe

Office Christmas Party

Synopsis: When his uptight CEO sister threatens to shut down his branch, the branch manager throws an epic Christmas party in order to land a big client and save the day, but the party gets way out of hand...

Will I watch? = Maybe

Carefree

Synopsis: Set in Paris, Befikre is a free spirited, contemporary love story of Dharam and Shyra, who find love in an impulsive, engaging series of experiences. Doused in the spirit of Paris, it celebrates love- sensual, carefree and focused on living life to the fullest.

Will I watch? = No

Friend Request

Synopsis: When a college student unfriends a mysterious girl online, she finds herself fighting a demonic presence that wants to make her lonely by killing her closest friends.

Will I watch? = No

Harry Benson: Shoot First

Synopsis: What we know today about many famous musicians, politicians, and actresses is due to the famous work of photographer Harry Benson. He captured vibrant and intimate photos of the most famous band in history;The Beatles. His extensive portfolio grew to include iconic photos of Muhammad Ali, Michael Jackson, and Dr. Martin Luther King. His wide-ranging work has appeared in publications including Life, Vanity Fair and The New Yorker. Benson, now 86, is still taking photos and has no intentions of stopping.

Will I watch? = No


Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Synopsis: The Rebellion makes a risky move to steal the plans to the Death Star, setting up the epic saga to follow.

Will I watch? = Yes

The Space Between Us

Synopsis: The first human born on Mars travels to Earth for the first time, experiencing the wonders of the planet through fresh eyes. He embarks on an adventure with a street smart girl to discover how he came to be.

Will I watch? = Maybe

Collateral Beauty

Synopsis: Retreating from life after a tragedy, a man questions the universe by writing to Love, Time and Death. Receiving unexpected answers, he begins to see how these things interlock and how even loss can reveal moments of meaning and beauty.

Will I watch? = Yes

A Kind of Murder

Synopsis: In 1960s New York, Walter Stackhouse is a successful architect married to the beautiful Clara who leads a seemingly perfect life. But his fascination with an unsolved murder leads him into a spiral of chaos as he is forced to play cat-and-mouse with a clever killer and an overambitious detective, while at the same time lusting after another woman.

Will I watch? = Maybe

Neruda

Synopsis: An inspector hunts down Nobel Prize-winning Chilean poet, Pablo Neruda, who becomes a fugitive in his home country in the late 1940s for joining the Communist Party.

Will I watch? = No

Solace

Synopsis: A psychic works with the FBI in order to hunt down a serial killer.

Will I watch? = Yes


Sing

Synopsis: A koala named Buster Moon has one final chance to restore his theater to its former glory by producing the world's greatest singing competition.

Will I watch? = No

Passengers

Synopsis: A spacecraft traveling to a distant colony planet and transporting thousands of people has a malfunction in its sleep chambers. As a result, two passengers are awakened 90 years early.

Will I watch? = Yes

A Monster Calls

Synopsis: A boy seeks the help of a tree monster to cope with his single mom's terminal illness.

Will I watch? = Maybe

Assassin's Creed

Synopsis: When Callum Lynch explores the memories of his ancestor Aguilar and gains the skills of a Master Assassin, he discovers he is a descendant of the secret Assassins society.

Will I watch? = Maybe

Patriots Day

Synopsis: An account of Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis's actions in the events leading up to the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing and the aftermath, which includes the city-wide manhunt to find the terrorists behind it.

Will I watch? = No

Why Him?

Synopsis: A dad forms a bitter rivalry with his daughter's young rich boyfriend.

Will I watch? = Maybe

Silence

Synopsis: In the seventeenth century, two Jesuit priests face violence and persecution when they travel to Japan to locate their mentor and propagate Christianity.

Will I watch? = Maybe

Julieta

Synopsis: After a casual encounter, a brokenhearted woman decides to confront her life and the most important events about her stranded daughter.

Will I watch? = No


Live by Night

Synopsis: A story set in the Prohibition Era and centered around a group of individuals and their dealings in the world of organized crime.

Will I watch? = Yes

Hidden Figures

Synopsis: A team of African-American women provide NASA with important mathematical data needed to launch the program's first successful space missions.

Will I watch? = Maybe

Fences

Synopsis: An African-American father struggles with race relations in the United States while trying to raise his family in the 1950s and coming to terms with the events of his life.

Will I watch? = Maybe

Gold

Synopsis: An unlikely pair venture to the Indonesian jungle in search of gold.

Will I watch? = Maybe

20th Century Women

Synopsis: The story of three women who explore love and freedom in Southern California during the late 1970s.

Will I watch? = No

Paterson

Synopsis: Set in the present in Paterson, New Jersey, this is a tale about a bus driver and poet.

Will I watch? = No

Toni Erdmann

Synopsis: A father tries to reconnect with his adult daughter.

Will I watch? = No


Which films make the cut?

HONORABLE MENTIONS: This is the start of Oscars season, which means there's a ton of movies that have a LOT of potential. I counted well over a dozen films that could have made the list on a weaker month, but since this results in some heavy competition, I needed to narrow things down to the ones that stood out to me the most as the ones I'd actually pay to see as opposed to those that I think I might need to eventually watch before the Academy Awards. This is why you won't see Gold, Fences, Jackie, Silence, Hidden Figures, or A Kind of Murder on the list even though all seemed like they could be great. I've heard nothing but amazing things about La La Land but I tend to dislike period pieces as well as musicals, so it doesn't stand a chance compared to some other films on this list. Then, you have your stupid comedies which will offset all the dramas and probably make a lot of money since there don't seem to be that many this year, which means despite Office Christmas Party and Why Him? looking very "by the numbers" basic, they could make some bank. Finally, Assassin's Creed is going to be on a lot of lists, but I've never played the games, I don't trust the track record of video game movies, and the trailers haven't won me over yet, although I'm still interested. All of these films are ones that I could be checking out somewhere down the line.

6. [TIE] A Monster Calls / The Space Between Us — I literally cannot pick between these two. I tried, in the interest of keeping this the standard 6 picks, but after several days thinking on it, I couldn't decide. Both of them are similar in how they're the coming of age tale of a young boy with some other-worldly element added into the mix. Both look endearing, both look to be a refreshing change of pace to some of the other things coming out, and I'm equally interested in them to the point where there's no deciding factor to distinguish which one wins out to make the list.

5. Solace — Anthony Hopkins is awesome and when you basically do a reverse Hannibal where he's the one tracking down a serial killer, but you also add in that he has psychic powers, that's got me hooked.

4. Live by Night — While I think Argo is overrated, I thought The Town was great and this trailer gave me the impression that it could be the next awesome crime drama. Ben Affleck has really turned his career around, which is awesome to see. I'm expecting this to be one of those films that gets a lot of buzz but doesn't actually take home a bunch of Academy Awards in a "close, but no cigar" type fashion.

3. Passengers — I've been interested in this since I first heard the description about it and the more I get to see, the less I want to see, because I don't want it to be spoiled. This could be one of those sleeper films I end up loving the most out of the year.

2. Collateral Beauty — Will Smith is fantastic and he's joined by one hell of a supporting cast. I loved Seven Pounds and this seems like a similar tale but amped up with even more things that interest me. If you can talk to the personification and embodiment of Death and other more intangible concepts like that, how would that go down? I'm utterly fascinated by it and the first time I saw a preview for this film, I immediately whipped out my phone and wrote down a note to remember to see it.

1. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story — Come on. It's Star Wars, baby. It has Darth fucking Vader in it. There's no contest, if I had to see only one film this December, it would be this.