Most Anticipated Movies of 2021 (Part V)
PART V (60-51)
Director: Ben Wheatley (A Field in England, Kill List) Cast: Joel Fry, Ellora Torchia, Hayley Squires, and Reece Shearsmith.
In the previous entry, I mentioned how it wasn't uncommon for directors to shoot projects in secret and that one such project was even included on this list. That would be the latest horror film from avant-garde auteur, Ben Wheatley, which was picked up by Neon before debuting last month at the Sundance Film Festival. Set during a global pandemic as the world searches for a cure to an unnamed virus, In the Earth follows a scientist and park ranger who venture into the woods on a routine equipment run, getting much more than they bargained for as they find themselves in the middle of a clash between human nature and mother nature. Based on the plot description, it's easy to believe that Wheatley wrote the script for this during last year's lockdown (which he then shot over the course of 15 days), and it's clearly his attempt at materializing some of his own existential thoughts and anxieties during this crisis we've all been collectively going through. After the derivatively disastrous results of his remake of Rebecca (which was released less than a year ago), I wasn't sure I was ready for more Ben Wheatley this soon, but I'm very intrigued by the concept for this and even more excited by the fact that he managed to film it under such a tight veil of secrecy. Hopefully this will be a worthy nod to his earlier work in the genre.
Release: Had its premiere at Sundance on January 29th last month, and has a theatrical release on April 30th.
NOTE: I technically wrote this particular entry a few months ago, and since then I have seen the aforementioned film, which I streamed through the Sundance Film Festival's virtual event. A review is coming soon.
59) Everything Everywhere All At Once
Directors: Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert aka "Daniels" (Swiss Army Man) Cast: Michelle Yeoh, Stephanie Hsu, James Hong, Jonathan Ke Quan, and Jamie Lee Curtis.
To this day, I'm still not entirely sure what to make of Swiss Army Man, the debut joint collaboration of directors Dan Kwan and Daniel Schienert aka "Daniels." No one could ever say the film was boring, predictable, or lacked imagination and originality, and yet the story of a friendship between a man and a mute, immobilized corpse- whose only bodily function is flatulence (utilized in a variety of ways that toe the line between jaw-dropping and ridiculous)- may be too "out there" for most audiences. That being said, it's still such a uniquely striking feature that I'm excited to see what these two filmmakers have been cooking up next. While plot details regarding their follow-up film have been scarce, the directors have disclosed that the film is an interdimensional action film about a 55-year old woman (Michelle Yeoh) trying to finish her taxes. Hmm very interesting and very peculiar-sounding, but if Swiss Army Man was any indicator, we know the final product will be far more wild and bizarre than any brief plot descriptions could ever properly convey. A24 is once again backing, with the Russo Bros (of Marvel fame) and Academy Award-nominees Scott Rudin and Eli Bush producing. However this ends up turning out, the talent involved already makes this a far more exciting and promising feature than Swiss Army Man!
Release: TBA.
58) The Sky is Everywhere
Director: Josephine Decker (Madeline's Madeline, Shirley) Cast: Grace Kaufman, Jason Segel, Cherry Jones, Jacques Colimon, Tyler Lofton, and Ji-young Yoo.
I'll be quite frank, I am absolutely not a fan of movies adapted from YA novels. It's become such a predictable and cloyingly cliched genre that seems purposefully designed to cater to one particular audience. However, when you have the likes of Josephine Decker involved at the helm of such a project, it completely changes the potential and possibilities of what it can offer, and so exceptions have to be made. Decker has proven that her approach to the material she is given is anything but ordinary, and she's been very selective about the projects she chooses. From Madeline's Madeline, which saw her deliver a daring and avant-garde exploration of a teenage girl's fractured psyche, to last summer's Shirley, which gave audiences a very cerebral and unconventional biopic about famed horror author, Shirley Jackson (showcasing a spectacular and underrated performance from Elisabeth Moss), Decker has become one of the strongest and most singular new voices to emerge in the last decade. For a director whose works carry echoes of David Lynch, Ingmar Bergman, and Terrence Malick, as well as influences of her performance art background, it's almost puzzling that she would choose to adapt Jandy Nelson's novel for her next project, which centers on a teenage musician struggling to cope with her sister's death while choosing between two love interests in her life. Upon further review though, Jansen's novel is a lot more than meets the eye, and tackles themes such as nature, love, death, and the transformative power of music in a way that could prove to be very exciting and visionary in Decker's hands. A24 is also backing the project, so that's another promising sign of its potential, and if Decker manages to knock this out of the park, she may completely reconceptualize how these kinds of novels are adapted in the future.
Release: TBA.
57) Nine Days
Director: Edson Oda Cast: Winston Duke, Zazie Beetz, Bill Skarsgård, Benedict Wong, Tony Hale, David Rysdahl, Arianna Ortiz, Geraldine Hughes, Erika Vasquez, and Perry Smith.
Nine Days may be the first feature-length film from director Edson Oda, but after its splashy debut at Sundance last year, everyone will soon come to know the director's name (especially before the end of this year.) Refusing to play it safe, Oda took ambitious risks with his debut, which takes place in the middle of an ethereal dessert where human souls are interviewed for a chance to be born into a life on Earth. While it's sure to draw comparison's to last year's Soul, it should be noted that Oda's film technically came out first, and I'm personally far more excited to see his mature, adult-focused approach to the concept than I was for Pixar's film (which was a solid take, but also had a few issues of its own.) His exploration of such rich philosophical ideas garnered huge praise at the festival, where he won a screenwriting award for his work and immediately made a name for himself as a major new talent to watch. Of course, Sundance has always been a launchpad for exciting and original new voices in cinema, but I'm still surprised by how bold Oda went for his debut, and I can't wait to finally check out his breakout film that's been building so much strong buzz.
Release: July 30th.
56) Peter Pan & Wendy
Director: David Lowery (Pete's Dragon, A Ghost Story) Cast: Alexander Molony, Ever Anderson, Jude Law, Yara Shahidi, Jim Gaffigan, and Alyssa Wapanatâhk.
When I attended the screening for A Ghost Story at the Seattle International Film Festival in 2017, I asked David Lowery what stage of production he was in for Disney's new live-action remake of Peter Pan. His response was very excited (almost a little nervous) as he told me that he was still in the early phases of screenwriting with frequent collaborator Toby Halbrooks, explaining how it was a project that was very close to his heart and there was so much pressure to get it right since it had been done so many times already. Clearly, his meticulous attention to the details was no exaggeration, because that conversation was almost four years ago. Indeed, the director disclosed in an interview more than a year ago that he and Halbrooks had already gone through many drafts of the screenplay, and they were expected to go through at least a few more before production finally commenced. Of course, the pressure is completely understandable. J.M. Barrie's timeless tale has been adapted for film, stage, and television more times than anyone can count, including three narrative features in the last decade alone. Yet, despite the bold and earnest efforts of acclaimed directors such as Benh Zeitlin and Joe Wright, there still has yet to be a truly great Peter Pan film that remains faithful to the spirit of Barrie's work and holds up to Disney's original animated film (which already has problematic issues of its own.) However, Lowery may hold the key to finally cracking that formula and possibly delivering the most definitive live-action take of the material thus far. The acclaimed auteur has developed a unique signature style in his work, creating gorgeous minimalist gems with a poetic lyricism that feel like American folktales wrought to waking-dream life. His spirited and joyous remake of Pete's Dragon proved he could effectively translate his voice to fit comfortably within the Disney brand while still staying true to his aesthetic, and I'm very excited to see how well he's able to navigate this material, which will be far more challenging and ambitious than honestly anything he's done before. So far, Disney's live-action remakes of their animated classics have mostly proven to be soulless cash grabs to capitalize on their most beloved and familiar stories, using a heavy-handed combination of nostalgia and the best effects money can buy to beat their audience into submission. Hopefully, Lowery's film will be able to rise above such formula, and deliver something truly exceptional.
Release: TBA (The movie is currently filming now, and is slated to premiere exclusively on Disney+, which is certainly not where I would prefer to see it, but oh well. However, the upside to premiering on the streaming platform is that the studio could easily surprise us with it earlier than expected, so a December release for the holiday season is not entirely out of the question.)
55) Ghostbusters: Afterlife
Director: Jason Reitman (Juno, Thank You for Smoking) Cast: Mckenna Grace, Finn Wolfhard, Carrie Coon, Paul Rudd, Logan Kim, Celeste O'Connor, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Sigourney Weaver, Annie Potts, Oliver Cooper, Bokeem Woodbine, Marlon Kazadi, and Sydney Mae Diaz.
Well, it's been about five years, but here we are again with another Ghostbusters film on the horizon. After Paul Feig's female-centric reboot of the property was unable to fully deliver on the expectation of its beloved legacy, as well as a talented group of veteran SNL funny ladies, it's honestly a little surprising that the studio was willing to greenlight a second attempt so soon (especially when you consider the shortcomings of the last picture's performance at the box office.) However, that decision becomes less surprising, if not completely obvious, when you consider that the upcoming reboot was helmed by Jason Reitman. That would be the son of Ivan Reitman, the very same Ivan Reitman that directed the original first two Ghostbusters films. For many years now, the younger Reitman has been able to carve out his own personal filmmaking aesthetic that's fully distinguishable from the brand his father created as a director, making a name for himself with very adult-themed comedies and dramas such as Thank-You For Smoking, Up in the Air, Young Adult, and Tully. That aesthetic is so polarizingly different in comparison to Reitman Snr's, that it almost feels out of character that Jason would want to direct a family-friendly sci-fi/fantasy adventure that's inspired by his dad's original films. But the director has had both the support and blessing of his father from the very beginning, when he first began developing the film's screenplay with Gil Kenan (of Monster House fame.) A sequel as well as a reboot, the upcoming film takes places decades after Ghostbusters II, when a single mom and her two kids move to a rural small town after inheriting a farm with connections to the original Ghostbusters squad. Many fans have speculated that the two kids are the grandchildren of Dr. Egon Spengler (who was played by the late Harold Ramis in the original films), and Reitman has said that Afterlife represents a sort of "passing of the torch" to a new generation of Ghostbusters. The trailer gave off very Spielbergian vibes with a dash of Stranger Things, and I'm very excited by the direction Reitman has chosen to go with the story. It was recently reported a few months ago that he had given his dad a private screening of the finished film, which elicited such an emotional and positive reaction from the veteran director, it allegedly involved tears! For me, this is probably the most encouraging endorsement of the film thus far, while diehard fans are more likely to be excited by the return of beloved characters played by Murray, Weaver, Aykroyd, Hudson, and Potts (regardless of what capacity they're involved.) But regardless of what reason you're most excited for the new movie, it's already shaping up to be far more promising than the 2016 version.
Release: November 11th.
54) The Brutalist
Director: Brady Corbet (The Childhood of a Leader, Vox Lux) Cast: Joel Edgerton, Marion Cotillard, Vanessa Kirby, Sebastian Stan, Mark Rylance, Alessandro Nivola, Raffey Cassidy, Stacy Martin, and Isaach De Bankolé.
Actor-turned-director Brady Corbet has turned out to be a much more captivating voice behind the camera than any of his performances on screen could've ever suggested. In fact, most people might only remember him as one of the two sadist killers in Michael Haneke's Funny Games, and even then people wouldn't recognize him by name alone. But if Funny Games showcased a dark side to the actor-director, then his two features (Childhood of a Leader and Vox Lux) definitely explore that darkness in other fascinating dimensions. While some may have found them a tad too nihilistic (no exaggeration there), he's certainly proven to be a visionary and audacious talent whose work has echoes of Lars Von Trier and Nicolas Winding Refn, and it wouldn't surprise me if one day he made a truly phenomenal film (even if that moment hasn't quite happened yet.) Perhaps The Brutalist could end up being that film, which has been building a lot of excitement for a few years since Corbet first announced it as his next project. Apart from an A-list cast that is sure to deliver the goods, The Brutalist also sounds like it may reveal a more compelling side to the auteur than we've seen so far, and he's already calling it his most personal film to date. Set in 1947, the story follows a visionary architect and his wife who emigrate to the United States after fleeing a post-war Europe, tracing his 30-year journey to restore his legacy and achieve his monolithic masterpiece while struggling to find his place as an immigrant during the dawn of a new American civilization. Definitely getting echoes of The Fountainhead, but with an emphasis on the immigration experience and hopefully minus Ayn Rand's pretentious philosophical musings on individualism. Just like the character at the center of his story, Corbet has also been trying to craft a career-defining masterpiece that will solidify him as one of today's strongest singular voices in cinema. If this turns out as spectacular as it sounds, he may finally achieve that.
Release: TBA.
53) A Head Full of Ghosts
Director: Scott Cooper (Out of the Furnace, Hostiles) Cast: Margaret Qualley
Perhaps I'm going a bit out on a limb including this on my list, but when I first added it (which was back in December) there was still a solid chance they could start filming in the first quarter. While those odds have certainly dimmed, I will say that stranger things have happened regarding movie release schedules. Margaret Qualley has been hard at work in Canada filming the Netflix series Maid, which is already having a much longer production than anticipated. Regardless of those details though, my excitement for this project hasn't dimmed one bit. Based on the acclaimed best-selling novel by Paul G. Tremblay, A Head Full of Ghosts presents a fresh spin on the classic ghost story genre, told mostly through the flashbacks of its twenty-something-year old protagonist as she recounts the terrifying events of her sister's possession that tore their family apart. Last year was supposed to see the release of Scott Cooper's debut in the horror genre, Antlers, which has sadly been repeatedly postponed due to COVID, so it's still hard to say at this point how well the director does in this territory. However, between this film and the recent announcement that he would be helming a horror-lite project centered on Edgar Allen Poe, it may be fair to say that the director could be a terrifying new force in the genre. The latter project isn't expected to start rolling cameras until this fall, so perhaps this shoots this summer? My fingers are crossed, but I suppose we'll just have to wait and see.
Release: TBA.
52) Benedetta
Director: Paul Verhoeven (Elle, Black Book) Cast: Virginie Efira, Charlotte Rampling, Lambert Wilson, Daphne Patakia, Oliver Rabourdin, Clotilde Courau, Hervé Pierre, Louise Chevillotte, and Guilaine Londez.
Paul Verhoeven is no stranger to controversy. The boundary-pushing director has always approached sex and violence with a bold hand, and explored taboo topics with an almost unrestrained provocativeness, so it makes perfect sense he would tackle Judith C. Brown's non-fiction book about a lesbian relationship between two nuns. Set during the 17th century, the story follows the rise and fall of Benedetta Carlini, an abbess whose religious and erotic visions prompted the assistance of a female companion, with whom she had a romantic affair. While the film seems destined to draw the kind of outrage and damnation from the Catholic church that Verhoeven would only be delighted by, it should be noted that the director's intentions with Benedetta are far more diverse and philosophical than just mere titillation and visceral provocation. Brown has described the director's script (which he wrote with David Birke) as "imaginative and spellbinding" in how it "explores the intersection of religion, sexuality, and human ambition," and Cannes director Thierry Fremaux said the film "delivers an erotic and mischievous, [but] also political, vision of the Middle Ages in a grandiose production" when he confirmed its selection for the upcoming festival this July (which was cancelled last year due to COVID.) The historical aspect alone- which also marks the earliest documentation of lesbianism in modern Western history- makes this a fascinating subject for a film, but even more intriguing is Verhoeven's approach to the material, which sounds like an utterly magnetic cross between Joachim Trier's Thelma and Ken Russell's The Devils. Yeah, I can't wait for this!
Release: Premieres at Cannes this July. After that, is still yet to be determined.
51) Gunpowder Milkshake
Director: Navot Papushado (Big Bad Wolves) Cast: Karen Gillan, Carla Gugino, Lena Headey, Michelle Yeoh, Angela Bassett, Freya Allan, Paul Giamatti, Adam Nagaitis, Ralph Ineson, Chloe Coleman, Michael Smiley, and Ivan Kaye.
If you told me there was film in the works about a hired gun who enlists the help of her mother and her secret sisterhood of assassins to protect an 8-year old girl and take down a ruthless crime syndicate, and that the aforementioned ladies would be played by Karen Gillan, Lena Headey, Michelle Yeoh, Angela Bassett and Carla Gugino, I would not need any further incentive to sign up. That being said, it certainly helps even more that the film is also directed by Israeli breakout, Navot Papushado, whose return to the film scene is a welcome surprise following an eight-year hiatus. The director made a huge splash back in 2013 with Big Bad Wolves, a twistedly dark neo-noir black comedy-thriller with Grimm fairytale echoes that earned widespread critical acclaim, including from Quentin Tarantino, who called it "the best film of the year." It's been so long since his last feature that I was beginning to wonder if Papushado would ever put out a new film, but based on the exciting premise of Gunpowder Milkshake, I have a feeling this will definitely be worth the wait!
Release: Will be released through Netflix sometime in July.
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