Despite the 'Rona causing serious upheaval in the theatrical release schedule that saw a flood of titles either getting pushed to 2021 (Fast and Furious 9, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Jungle Cruise), sold off to a streaming service (The Lovebirds, An American Pickle, My Spy) or pivoting to a video on demand release (Trolls World Tour, Scoob!, The King of Staten Island), 2020 has managed to deliver a very solid slate of movies. Everybody from the streaming services to the major studios to the tiny indie distributors that already predominantly operated in the VOD world before all this shit happened have stepped up to deliver consistent quality entertainment that have made these awful times just a little bit more bearable.
As we enter the final four months of the year, movie fans will hope that this standard of quality persists for the titles that hit screens of all sizes as they get to dig into Netflix's robust annual slate of awards contenders (Mank, The Trial of the Chicago 7, Hillbilly Elegy, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, The Boys in the Band), the unexpected Disney+ rollout of Mulan and whatever ends up hitting theaters as they slowly start to reopen across the country. Here are the 10 films I'm most excited to (hopefully) see this fall.
Note: Due to the fluid nature of the release calendar and the pandemic itself, all of the titles below that are currently slated to be exclusively released in theaters as of this writing (with the exception of Tenet- which is releasing in most US markets this week) will have an asterisk next to them.
10.The Nest (9/18):
Martha Marcy May Marlene was a disturbing yet fascinating psychological drama and Sean Durkin's long-awaited follow-up about an American family (Jude Law, Carrie Coon, Charlie Shotwell, Oona Roche( that starts to unravel upon relocating to a rural home in England seems like it could occupy similar territory with comparable results.
9.Candyman* (10/16):
While I've never seen the 1992 original, an excellent trailer, Jordan Peele's involvement as a co-writer/producer and Nia DeCosta's-whose 2019 effort Little Woods is among the most impressive debut movies I've seen in the last few years-presence in the director's chair has me very intrigued by this present day version of the socially-charged slasher flick.
8.Run Sweetheart Run (TBD):
Adding a supernatural element to a movie about a single mom (Ella Balinska) that is terrorized by a man (Pilou Asbek) she goes on a date with sounds like an interesting way to heighten the very real terrors of abuse/stalking and with the backing of horror powerhouse Blumhouse, there's a real chance this ends up being excellent.
7.Mank (TBD October/November):
A movie that centers around the writer of Citizen Kane fighting for screenplay credit during the production of the 1941 classic wouldn't interest me at all if David Fincher wasn't behind it. There's still a real chance I'm bored as all hell watching this, but Fincher is one of the few directors on the planet that could breathe life into such a seemingly dry premise for a biopic.
6.Antebellum (9/18):
There's a refreshing ambiguity that's surrounded Antebellum since the release of its first teaser trailer last November. Even as new teasers have been unveiled in recent months, the only thing that's clear about Antebellum is that it's a horror project that features Janelle Monae as a prominent author that gets struck by some kind of curse that transports her back into the era of the Antebellum-south. That vague hook paired with the opportunity to see Monae tackle her first leading movie role after shining in multiple supporting turns (Moonlight, Hidden Figures) is enough to sell me on this project.
5.No Time to Die* (11/20):
With a creative filmmaker in Cary Joji Funkunaga calling the shots, Rami Malek stepping into the villain role and an impressive collection of both new (Ana de Armas, Lashana Lynch, Billy Magnuessen) and old faces (Naomie Harris, Lea Seydoux, Jeffrey Wright, Ben Whishaw, Ralph Fiennes) to the series rounding out the supporting cast, Daniel Craig's farewell to James Bond appears like it has a good chance of being a proper swan song that erases the memories (or lackthereof) delivered by the middling Spectre.
4.The Devil All the Time (9/16):
Between its loaded ensemble cast (Tom Holland, Bill Skarsgard, Jason Clarke, Riley Keough, Robert Pattinson, Sebastian Stan, Haley Bennett, Eliza Scanlen, Mia Wasikowska), fascinating yet vague premise (a group of people with mysterious pasts converge in post-WWII Ohio) and a trailer that hinted at a tense, engrossing project, The Devil All the Time has a sales pitch that's as strong as any project set for release during this period. In fact, the only thing preventing me from putting it even higher is a lack of familiarity with the work of writer/director Antonio Campos (Simon Killer, Christine). If it does indeed end up living up to its pedigree, a spot on my best movies of 2020 list feels all but guaranteed.
3.Black Widow* (11/6):
With a 10 year/22 film storyline finally wrapped up, the question of where Marvel is going to go next remains unclear. A huge spy action flick that just happens to serve as kind of a origin story for the lone fallen Avenger that the audience doesn't know a lot about could be the perfect way to bridge the gap in between the narrative that just concluded and a new era where more standalone titles that somewhat subvert their established relentless worldbuilding formula take precedent.
2.The Trial of the Chicago 7(10/16):
Aaron Sorkin is back in the director's chair to deliver a depressing reminder that peaceful protestors have been treated like terrorists for decades! In all seriousness, telling the story of the seven men (played in the film by Sacha Baron Cohen, Eddie Redmayne, Jeremy Strong, Alex Sharp, John Carroll Lynch and Noah Robbins) that were charged with conspiracy and inciting riots for their involvement in the Anti-Vietnam protests that occurred outside of the 1968 Democratic National Convention has a remarkable timeliness to it considering the stakes present in this year's Presidential Election. Considering Sorkin's wizardry as a writer and the abundance of brilliant actors present (in the addition to the aforementioned members, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Mark Rylance, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Frank Langella, Michael Keaton and William Hurt round out the main cast) to bring his words to life, I'm very hopeful that this will be something special.
1.Tenet (9/3):
This has been my most anticipated movie of 2020 since the first full trailer dropped last December and I'm thrilled to get the opportunity to see it before year's end. With its mysterious mind-fuckery espionage plot, seemingly huge action setpieces and a cast anchored by a few of the industry's brightest rising stars (John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki) sounds like as good of a recipe for a return to top form after back-to-back underwhelming efforts as possible. Fingers crossed that he can actually pull it off.
Also Excited For:
Critical Thinking (9/4)
Mulan (9/4)
The Babysitter: Killer Queen (9/10)
Unpregnant (9/10)
Lost Girls & Love Hotels (9/18)
Enola Holmes (9/23)
Ava (9/25)
Greenland* (9/25)
Kajillionaire* (9/25)
Saint Maud* (9/25)
Welcome to Sudden Death (9/29)
The Boys in the Band (9/30)
Save Yourselves! (10/2)
Spontaneous (10/2)
Wonder Woman 1984* (10/2)
Black Box (10/6)
The Lie (10/6)
The 40-Year Old Version (10/9)
Honest Thief (10/9)
Evil Eye (10/13)
Nocturne (10/13)
Love and Monsters (10/16)
Connected* (10/23)
Death on the Nile* (10/23)
Let Him Go* (11/6)
Ammonite* (11/13)
Deep Water* (11/13)
Soul* (11/20)
Happiest Season* (11/25)
Voyagers* (11/25)
Free Guy* (12/11)
Coming 2 America* (12/18)
Dune* (12/18)
Hubie Halloween (TBD October)
On the Rocks (TBD October)
Hillbilly Elegy (TBD November)
Black Bear (TBD)
Charm City Kings (TBD)
Friendsgiving (TBD)
His House (TBD)
Let Them All Talk (TBD)
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (TBD)
The Midnight Sky (TBD)
One Night in Miami (TBD)
Sound of Metal (TBD)
No comments:
Post a Comment