Most Anticipated Films of 2021 (PART III)
PART III (80-71)
Director: David O. Russell (American Hustle, The Fighter) Cast: Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, John David Washington, Zoe Saldana, Rami Malek, Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Rock, Robert De Niro, Timothy Olyphant, Michael Shannon, Andrea Riseborough, Mike Myers, Matthias Schoenaerts, Alessandro Nivola, and Leland Orser.
It's been five years since David O. Russell's last movie, Joy, the inspiring-true-story, Oscar-hopeful about the "Miracle Mop" lady that nobody had asked for. The film was an encapsulation of everything that was starting to feel wearisome about David O. Russell's work- the familiarity of the top-billed stars he would repeatedly use, the familiarity of the characters he would constantly cast them as, his growing emphasis of style and artifice over substance (especially in terms of dialogue, which felt more artificial with each new film)- so perhaps it was good that he went on a break when he did. In fact, I'll admit that his absence from the Hollywood limelight may have been what I needed before I could entertain the idea of warming up to a new project from him again. While the plot of his upcoming film is being kept under very tight wraps, he has definitely attracted a host of talent in what may be described as the most star-studded ensemble of 2021, its only clear rival being Adam McKay's Don't Look Up. And although the cast includes a few of his regular faces like Bale and De Niro, I was genuinely surprised by the eclectic range of talent he brought on board, so let's just say that at this point I'm intrigued...VERY intrigued. I would definitely love it if I was able to get excited about his work again.
Release: TBA.
Director: Ridley Scott Cast: Matt Damon, Adam Driver, Jodie Comer, Ben Affleck, Harriet Walter, Nathaniel Parker, Sam Hazeldine, and Michael McElhatton.
Let's face it, Ridley Scott is a legendry filmmaker. His work requires no introduction. However, like Spielberg (another director on this list), his newer body of work mostly pales in comparison to the likes of his earlier, groundbreaking films, such as Alien and Blade Runner. Which brings us to his upcoming movie, The Last Duel, a film that sounds just as exciting as it does problematic. On one hand, you have a thrilling historical drama of revenge and truth-on-trial set in 14th-century France that has echoes of Scott's Oscar-winning behemoth, Gladiator. The story is based on the non-fictional book by Eric Jager, The Last Duel: A True Story of Trial by Combat in Medieval France, and recounts the last officially recognized "judicial duel" fought in the country, in which Norman knight Jean de Carrouges (Matt Damon) had to challenge his best friend and squire, Jacques Le Gris (Adam Driver), to a court-mandated fight to the death after his wife, Marguerite de Carrouges (Jodie Comer), accused him of raping her. King Charles VI (Ben Affleck) declared that the surviving victor would be a testament of God's will, and if Jean de Carrouges were to lose, Marguerite would then be burned at the stake for perjury. This is of course where we get to the other hand in this equation- the more problematic optics surrounding the film. In the past ten years, there have been a lot of important conversations and much political discourse that has mushroomed from the topic of rape and believing women, and how that's presented in film and television; an awareness that has only become more heightened and timely in the wake of the #MeToo movement. So naturally, exploring a story and chapter of history that's been documented and told primarily from the perspective of men, in a movie that's directed by a man, was always going to cue at least a few red flags in regards to how they ultimately handle the film's issue of rape as a plot device. However, there is probable reason to assume that the story is in fact in capable and trustworthy hands, which may quell some of the concerns surrounding its provocative subplot. In addition to starring in two of the film's primary roles, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck also penned the first draft of the screenplay- their first collaborative writing effort since Good Will Hunting (a film that also sensitively handled the rape and abuse of one of its characters.) Nicole Holofcener (Enough Said, Please Give) was later brought on to touch up and revise parts of the screenplay, including serving as one of the film's producers alongside Jennifer Fox, so I'm hoping that the involvement of some female voices behind the camera will smooth out any rough edges that audiences may be worried about. Let's also not forget that this is the same director behind Thelma & Louise (a film that incorporated a similar plot device, yet managed to execute it in a way that never felt gratuitous or tactless), and Scott has an encouraging track record of showcasing some of the most resilient and fully realized female characters to grace the screen.
Release: October 15th.
Director: Janicza Bravo (Lemon) Cast: Taylour Paige, Riley Keough, Colman Domingo, Nicholas Braun, Ari'el Stachel, Jason Mitchell, and Ts Madison.
In a year that saw a record number of films directed by women, including a record number of which that were nominated and honored (and are still being nominated and honored) throughout the annual "awards season," it's a shame that most of us weren't able to see Janicza Bravo's Sundance hit, Zola, which had made its premiere earlier last year at the festival before COVID reared its ugly head. Hopefully, its upcoming summer release stays on track, because 2021 is already shaping up to be an equally promising year for female talent behind the camera, and Zola definitely sounds like it could be a wildly fun addition to that canon. Based on a non-fiction book by David Kushner, which in turn was based on a 148-tweet thread on Twitter by the film's title character, Aziah "Zola" King, the movie recounts one of those classic "so-crazy-it-had-to-be-true" kind of stories that people sometimes tell to their friends at a bar over drinks or around a campfire on a weekend trip. It begins with a chance encounter between Zola (Taylour Paige) and a sex worker named Stefani (Riley Keough), who meet at the restaurant and strip club where Zola waitresses and immediately forge a bond over pole dancing. Within a day, Stefani invites Zola to accompany her on a cross-country road trip with her boyfriend, Derek, and her violent and unpredictable pimp, X. What followed next was an insanely chaotic and outrageously rambunctious two-day escapade, and the rest is social media history. Although I know almost nothing about this wild tale that apparently broke the internet, I figure that the less I know going into it, the more fun it will be, and if it does turn out to be that fun, it could easily be one of surest crowdpleasers of the summer!
Release: June 30th.
77) The Beatles: Get Back
Director: Peter Jackson (They Shall Not Grow Old, The Lord of the Rings) Cast: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr.
It seems that Peter Jackson has decided to take a break from narrative blockbuster features for a while, which only makes perfect sense when you consider that the last time he made one, we ended up with THREE overstuffed and mostly soulless Hobbit films. As for his new foray into documentaries, I'm certainly not complaining. They Shall Not Grow Old was a gorgeous, heart-rending wartime epic, and honestly the best thing from the director since his Lord of the Rings trilogy. That's why I'm very excited for his upcoming Beatles doc, which employs the same cutting edge technology he used to restore World War I footage in They Shall Not Grow Old to polish and revamp Michael Lindsay-Hogg's 1969 documentary, Let It Be. If the aforementioned film sounds unfamiliar, that's probably because it was pulled from circulation back in the 80s, and the only copies still shown are bootleg versions you might catch at underground "secret" film festivals. The musical doc, which covered the production of the Beatles' twelfth studio album and culminated with the famous rooftop concert that would mark their last public appearance together, has not held up well in the years since its initial release. Aside from the grainy, scattered footage, the film is also very one dimensional and utterly joyous, focusing more on backstage quarrels and drama between the band, and less on the monumental music they made that helped shape a generation. With the assistance of Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and the surviving widows of John Lennon and George Harrison (Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison), Jackson pulled from 55 hours of unseen footage and 140 hours of archival audio from the original Let It Be production, and created an entirely new experience that revealed a wealth of dimensions that were never explored in the 1969 documentary. Both McCartney and Starr have expressed enthusiastic praise about the new project, and if Jackson's film manages to encapsulate the legacy and joy of their music with the same love and attention to detail he brought to They Shall Not Grow Old, he might want to think about leaving lush fantasy worlds like Middle Earth and Skull Island for good.
Release: August 27th.
76) Bullet Train
Director: David Leitch (Atomic Blonde, Deadpool 2) Cast: Brad Pitt, Joey King, Andrew Koji, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Brian Tyree Henry, Zazie Beetz, Masi Oka, Michael Shannon, Sandra Bullock, Lady Gaga, Logan Lerman, Hiroyuki Sanada, Karen Fukuhara, and Bad Bunny.
If you're paying to see pure, outrageously insane action spectacle, then David Leitch is your showman. And if you enjoy genre filmmaking as much as I do, then you can understand how refreshing it is to be marveled and entertained by a director whose films truly understand the art and the science of action choreography- a symphony of movement captured on camera that plays like an intricate and carefully calibrated dance routine. This is not a talent that many filmmakers have a natural knack for, despite their level of skill in other respects- but it is one that David Leitch possesses. Adapted from the book by Kōtarō Isaka, Maria Beetle, the story takes place aboard a Japanese bullet train (a bit obvious from the title) where five assassins discover that their individual assignments are not unrelated to the other. Based on what I've read about the original novel, it sounds like the kind of premise that Tarantino would've drooled over to adapt, and he probably might have if he hadn't already made Kill Bill about twenty years ago. Hopefully, Leitch manages to pull off something that feels uniquely fresh in its own right, and I'm also curious to see if he [in any way] pushes the technology that's often available to blockbuster films of this type to deliver something we haven't yet quite seen.
Release: TBA
75) Luca
Director: Enrico Casarosa (La Luna)
For a period of time, Pixar was the dominant heavyweight studio in the field of animated storytelling. With 20 Academy Awards under their belt, their films were often categorized as "the one to beat" when other studios vied for the genre's annual top prizes and accolades. These days, however, they no longer quite have the same presence and pull that had made them a true force to be reckoned with. Although still considered stiff competition, other studios such as Laika and GKIDS have arrived to prove that Pixar isn't the only studio with the monopoly on sophisticated animation, and Walt Disney Animation Studios (which operates under the same Disney umbrella that Pixar works under) has also shown up with their own recent stream of dazzling, Oscar-friendly hits to keep the competition interesting (creating a fun, almost sibling-like rivalry within the Mouse House.) But aside from the strong competition, Pixar's chief obstacle has actually been itself. As a matter of fact, their footprint in 2020 was perfectly emblematic of how their content has ranked in the last 9 years. You had Onward, which brought the studio's signature level of heart, but was also very basic and derivative in every conceptual way, and then you had Soul, which was gorgeous and thoughtful, but also [overall] "safe" and nowhere within the pantheon of the studio's greatest work. And that's about how I would rank the studio's current trajectory of films: OK to great. That all being said, I have a feeling the studio may be about to experience a Renaissance of sorts; or at least, that's what I'm hoping. Which brings us to this summer's Luca, a coming-of-age story about friendship and the relationships that impact our lives, and Pixar's 24th full-length animated feature. Set against the Italian Riviera, the story follows the budding friendship between two young boys, one of whom is actually a sea monster disguised as a human. First of all, I love this concept. Based on first impressions, this feels like the platonic, kid-friendly love child of Call Me By Your Name and The Shape of Water, and I find that both very fascinating and imaginative. Secondly, as a person of Italian descent myself, I adore the idea of any story that takes place in my ancestral homeland, especially if it happens to be a lush animated fantasy from Pixar. Director Enrico Casarosa delivered exceptionally strong work with his Oscar-nominated short, La Luna, and I'm hoping that his first full-length feature will mark him has a major new voice in the next decade of animated storytellers.
Release: Streams exclusively through Disney+ on June 18th.
74) Apollo 10½: A Space Age Adventure
Director: Richard Linklater (Boyhood, A Scanner Darkly) Cast: Glen Powell, Jack Black, Zachary Levi, Josh Wiggins, Milo Coy, Lee Eddy, Bill Wise, Natalie L'Amoreaux, Jessica Brynn Cohen, Sam Chipman, and Danielle Guilbot.
When I think about the films of Richard Linklater, the first word that comes to mind is "evolution." His stories are all about the concept of becoming and capturing the emotional and personal growth of his characters on screen, even if we only see that transformation in subtle nuances for a brief moment. It's that delicate and intimate approach that he brings that makes his work so admirable and warm, so when I heard he was directing a coming-of-age family film that utilizes the same animation techniques he employed in A Scanner Darkly, I was immediately hooked by the idea. Drawing from his own personal childhood experiences, the story takes place in Houston, TX during the days leading up to the infamous Apollo 11 mission, where a young boy's lively imagination succumbs to the zeitgeist and excitement of the era's infatuation with space travel and NASA. The film captures this pivotal moment in American history through the eyes of its child protagonist, who daydreams of being recruited for a covert mission to the moon. Linklater has frequently worked with younger actors in the past and he's always possessed a knack for bringing out strong performances from them, imbuing his work with a youthful spirit and energy that instantly resonates with his audience, which is another reason to be excited about his upcoming film. His experience with child actors in previous works such as Boyhood and School of Rock specifically makes the premise of Apollo 10½ all the more promising.
Release: TBA.
73) Don't Worry Darling
Director: Olivia Wilde (Booksmart) Cast: Florence Pugh, Harry Styles, Chris Pine, Olivia Wilde, Gemma Chan, KiKi Layne, Sydney Chandler, Nick Kroll, Douglas Smith, Kate Berlant, Asif Ali, Timothy Simons, Ari'el Stachel, and Dita Von Teese.
As far as debuts go from actors-turned-directors, you could do a whole lot worse than Olivia Wilde's Booksmart. While it didn't exactly revolutionize the teen/high school-comedy, it brought a female perspective and flamboyant energy to the genre that felt like a breath of fresh air, and the charisma and comedic timing of Wilde's two game leads ultimately shines through the most. With a concept that's often been dominated by horny, dim-witted frat boys that just want to party and meet girls, Wilde's film felt just different enough to stand out among the pack. Directing a horror/psychological thriller, however, is very different from directing a comedy. Sure, both genres depend heavily on perfectly calibrated timing (any miscalculation could be the difference between an audience laughing or jumping out of their seat at just the right moment), but the mood and atmosphere are drastically different, which is why Don't Worry Darling- which centers on an unhappy housewife in the 1950s who slowly uncovers a disturbing truth behind the utopian illusion of her suburban desert community- will be a true test of how extensive and flexible Wilde's talents are behind the camera. Florence Pugh is exceptionally gifted at finding that sweet spot between compelling drama and visceral horror, as seen in previous films Midsommar and Lady Macbeth, so her casting is probably the most exciting and reassuring aspect about this project. She also has a knack for picking great scripts. Hopefully the rest of the talent involved will be just as up to the task, because the premise- which reads like a darker, more serious-minded spin on The Stepford Wives- sounds fantastic.
Release: TBA
72) Run Rabbit Run
Director: Dana Reid (The Handmaid's Tale) Cast: Elisabeth Moss
Elisabeth Moss has been one of the most exciting actresses working in the last decade. From her acclaimed (and more familiar) work on hit television series like The Handmaid's Tale and Top of the Lake, to her collaboration with indie auteurs such as Alex Ross Perry, Ruben Östlund, and Josephine Decker that's produced some her more daring and edgy performances, Moss is an extremely gifted actress who is renowned for the depth and complexity she brings to dark and tortured characters. So when I read the premise of her upcoming project, Run Rabbit Run- a horror film where Moss is set to play a fertility doctor whose ideas about life and death become challenged by the strange behavior of her daughter, forcing her to confront painful ghosts from her past- I was immediately on board and overwhelmed with excitement for the idea. Dana Reid will make her feature-length debut, who previously worked with Moss on four episodes of the The Handmaid's Tale, one of which earned the director an Emmy nod. Television has always worked as an effective launch pad for new and unique voices in cinema, and I'm hoping Reid's debut makes her one of the breakout talents of the next decade.
Release: TBA.
71) Matrix
Director: Lana Wachowski (The Matrix, Cloud Atlas) Cast: Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Jada Pinkett Smith, Lambert Wilson, Daniel Bernhardt, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Neil Patrick Harris, Priyanka Chopra, Jessica Henwick, Jonathan Groff, Toby Onwumere, Max Riemelt, Eréndira Ibarra, Andrew Caldwell, Brian J. Smith, Ian Pirie, and Ellen Hollman.
It all started in 1999 with one of the greatest and most groundbreaking science-fiction films to ever enthrall a mainstream audience, and even if the Wachowski's two subsequent installments failed to live up to the bar that their original predecessor had set, the first Matrix will always stand as the directors' career-defining work. After 17 years since the last two chapters of the Matrix trilogy were released, Lana Wachowski (minus Lilly Wachowski, who decided to sit this one out) returns to the franchise in hopes of giving it the epic conclusion it always deserved but never quite had. The new installment, which as been described as both a sequel and a reboot of sorts, was written by Wachowski with David Mitchell and Aleksandar Hemon. Their collaboration for this film is perhaps the most exciting aspect of this project, as the three also worked together on the phenomenal finale for the Wachowski's Sense8. On top of that, they've assembled a stacked cast that not only boasts the return of original characters played by Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Jada Pinkett Smith, but also new characters played by the likes of Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Priyanka Chopra, Neil Patrick Harris, and Jonathan Groff. If their new film is anything as great as the finale of Sense8, this could easily end up being the best blockbuster of 2021.
Release: December 22nd.
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