WEEKEND SPECIAL: The 50 Most Anticipated Movies Of 2025

And A Look Ahead At Our Principles

Well, it’s the beginning of a new year, and I’m several months into this goofy Substack experiment. I’m so glad you all came on this adventure with me. This is all very special. I was locked up for over eight years, and I emerged from all of that with several wounds and scars. At the same time, I realized, wow, I missed so many great movies, and now I get to experience them all!

I can tell you, I try to write as much as I can every day, even though I have a full time job. But as far as the movies I’ve seen for this Substack, I’ve seen enough that I already have a backlog of at least two more years of reviews. I watch so much, and I can’t wait to write about them, to share my excitement and enjoyment for some of these titles, even the bad ones. And let me tell you, January has got some wild stuff coming up for you.

Of course, I’ll also be writing as if this is the last month of democracy in the United States. I wish it didn’t have to sound so hyperbolic! But, you know, this is what was voted into the White House. You can ask the average Trump voter (77 million embarrassing people, some close to me) and they’ll tell you they support democracy. And then, if you remind them of some of the upcoming MAGA proposals (written in… crayon?), and you really explain the mechanics, they’ll understand that what they wanted, what they voted for, is NOT democracy. This may as well be post-democracy.

A lot of voters will have to take a long look in the mirror, they’ll have to realize, this is who I am. That might be tough, that might be easy. But there will also be a whole chunk of other people who feel fooled, defrauded. I was promised cheaper milk! I don’t have a ton of sympathy for these people for any number of reasons. But it does bother me because surely this junk wouldn’t happen in prison.

I think about that a lot, considering for all those years I existed within a tribal, primitive all-male world. If someone like this entered our midst, talking out of the side of his neck, what would happen? Look, most of MAGA Nation knows this: this man is a stupid person. We’ve been hand-waving this away for awhile, either people saying, “He’s stupid, but…” or people saying, “He’s stupid, and also…”, the latter approach diluting the actual stupidity. This is a stupid person who won’t learn, and at his age now can’t learn. We can’t ignore how dangerous this is. The useful idiot can’t deal with being cornered. The useful idiot will throw you to the wolves. The useful idiot will ask you to storm the capital, and then see you get thrown in prison, and maybe promise that down the line, you’ll get out and get to be in his own private army. The useful idiot gets people killed when he’s no longer useful. Happens sooner than you think.

In prison, people will line up behind a buffoon who sounds like a demagogue, sure. But we’re all gonna know who is or is not a dope. I keep hearing it, in person and online, people claiming that Trump has a sloppy demeanor and a poor handle of language but he’s actually very bright and has a “canny strategy”. Yeah, this guy’s got strategy. The best strategy was clearly denigrating E. Jean Carroll enough to make her take you to court for defamation, losing, then turning around and defaming her again in the exact same way only to be found liable again, on the hook for $80 million more. What a great strategy. Patton wept. Gee, maybe ya shouldn’t have sexually assaulted her, Donald.

The first time a guy like this speaks up in prison, we’re all gonna know he’s only interested in himself and he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. It’s what people understand when they’re actually in the room with him, but no one wants to speak on the record. When you misstep, your own people deal with you. Everyone is in a group of some sort, so when your own group sees you as a target and liability, they’ll talk you into checking yourself in so you can go to the SHU.

In my last spot, a guy had a smartphone, which was incredible considering that place was tight like a vice. When the officers showed up in our cubicle (because this guy had no lookout and was strictly amateur hour), he tossed the phone onto the bed of another man. The officers searched the whole room and found that phone on the bed of a guy, a friend of mine (let’s call him PM, an homage of sorts), who was supposed to be leaving in a week. Being charged with having contraband would have surely meant he would not be going home anytime soon.

The officers brought us in, all five of us living in that room. They proceeded to do what officers do — they tried to pit us against each other. If no one spoke up and took ownership of that phone, we would all be going to the Segregated Housing Unit, the SHU, until an investigation was to be completed. The belief was that any phone confiscated would be subject to a forensics search that would reveal who had used the device. And until that forensic search happened, we’d all spend a few months in solitary.

They allowed us to discuss this among each other. The guy who threw the phone (let’s euphemistically call him DJT) told us he couldn’t take responsibility for the phone because he had gotten phone-related incident reports in the past, so the next one would be far more severe. We told him that they’d find out whose phone it was anyway, and now we were all going to pay for him not wanting to use a lookout and not wanting to be smart. We all told him he had to take the rap, there was no other option. And, between the lines, we were frankly pissed off that he tossed the phone onto PM’s bed.

DJT agreed to take the blame. The plan was now that the officers would take us into the office one by one to interrogate us. The first man was PM, and we watched them slowly put him in cuffs and walk him to the SHU. The next man was DJT, and we watched him sit, talk and then walk out. As we waited for who would be called, DJT returned to the room, and began cooking ramen noodles. We were confused. What did you tell the officers? Casually, a bowl of noodles in his hand, he reminded us he couldn’t just confess. I guess he COULD make ramen instead.

He got punched out. Violence erupted. And before I could do anything, his “car” arrived at our door. They didn’t know about PM, didn’t care about him. But they reminded DJT that PM’s car would go to war with DJT’s car for DJT’s own selfish act. This was all above my pay grade, but I believe DJT’s car then smacked him around a little (the ramen ended up in the floor) before DJT came crawling back to the officers to confess. DJT went to the SHU, and eventually another institution and a longer sentence, and PM quickly left the SHU to reunite with the rest of us.

Looking back on this, I’m stunned that we showed more accountability than Washington has in regards to their own DJT. Men like Rudy Giuliani ruined their whole lives for Trump’s whole “rigged election” belief, and Trump didn’t even pay their legal funds. Trump hired lawyers to protect him from obvious crimes, and he frequently left them unpaid. Trump had taken documents from the White House and moved and hid them to avoid detection from the federal government while simultaneously showing classified information to buddies as if it was just a big joke. He is also a rapist. Let me know when accountability matters. Let me know when someone with half a gut, half a spirit says, “Your behavior makes us look compromised, and creates unnecessary conflict, please excuse yourself.” Accountability exists for the two million people who are currently incarcerated. When will it exist for this half-a-man?

So, at the start of a pretty dubious new year, here’s a look at the upcoming movies that excite me the most.

HONORABLE MENTION: Flesh Of The Gods — This was the new project from Panos Cosmatos, the director of “Mandy” — you can read my review here. This was meant to be an 80’s-set vampire tale with Oscar Isaac and Kristen Stewart. Unfortunately, judging by the busy schedules of these actors, I’m not sure this project is still happening, so I’m putting it just outside the top 50. Andrew Kevin Walker (“Seven”) was behind the script, and Adam McKay was producing, so maybe this will come back to life a some point.

50.) Tinsman Road — This story about a man seeking his missing sister is to be the next film from Robbie Banfitch, who previously directed the wild found footage movie “The Outwaters”.

49.) Sentimental Value — Joachim Trier is here re-teaming with writer Eskil Vogt and leading lady Renate Reinsvie, all who helped make “The Worst Person In The World”. This one adds Stellan Skarsgaard, Elle Fanning and Cory Michael Smith. Skarsgaard is playing the estranged filmmaker father to Reinsvie, and offers her a role in his new movie after the death of her mother.

48.) The Secret Agent — From Kleber Mendonca Filho (“Neighbouring Sounds”, “Bacarau”), this thriller finds Wagner Moura as a Brazilian fleeing a military occupation who has to dodge danger coming from death threats and shadowy menace. Udo Kier alert.

47.) Rivals Of The Amziah King — This is one of those cases where the film finished shooting about a year ago, and everyone is confused as reshoots were occuring this year. This is from Andrew Patterson, whose brilliant debut “The Vast Of Night” was reviewed here. Matthew McConaughey stars here as a foster father to a young kid, and Kurt Russell, Rob Morgan, Owen Teague and Tony Revolori costar.

46.) The Naked Gun — Of COURSE I’m curious. Sacred ground, truly. Liam Neeson as the new Frank Drebin, with Pamela Anderson, Paul Walter Hauser, Kevin Durand, CCH Pounder (!), Danny Huston and Busta Rhymes for “Lonely Island” director Akiva Schaffer. I’ll call it now — might be awful, but there will be at least five decent jokes in this.

45.) Fantastic Four: First Steps — Consider this the generic Marvel Movie Slot in any list like this, though the placement gets lower each year. There were echoes here of that 2005 “Fantastic Four” in that it sounds like everyone involved was the fifth choice — Adam Driver was linked for a long time, Emma Stone supposedly (and rightfully) demanded $20 million, Antonio Banderas was linked to Galactus and Jon Watts stepped out of a director’s chair that was later being offered up for Spielberg. Instead, we’ve got Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ralph Ineson as Galactus and Matt Shakman being called up from the Disney Plus mines to helm only his second movie. I hope for an approach that isn’t ashamed of the subject matter, as each previous “Fantastic Four” film has been thus far. You could also filled this slot with “Thunderbolts*” (which screams “Franchise Middle Chapter”) or “Captain America: Brave New World” (reportedly another case of Marvel trusting a director in way over his head).

44.) Spinal Tap 2 — Oooh, comedy sequels are just about never good — the best ones are a shadow of the original. But hell, “This Is Spinal Tap” is on the Mount Rushmore of movie comedies alongside “Duck Soup”, “Airplane!” and “Venom: Let There Be Carnage”. Take us back to the Sex Farm, Spinal Tap.

43.) The Magnificent Life Of Sylvain Pagnol — I was a mess watching Sylvain Chomet’s animated “The Illusionist”, so I have reason to be excited for this long-awaited return to big screen filmmaking. Chomet’s work was most recently seen in the opening of “Joker: Folie a Deux”, which I reviewed here.

42.) Paper Tiger — Adam Driver and Jeremy Strong are ex-soldiers trying to re-integrate into society and facing the Russian Mafia in this James Gray thriller costarring Anne Hathaway.

41.) The Actor — Another case of a movie suspiciously sitting around for far too long. This is based on a Donald Westlake novel, and it’s directed by Duke Johnson, the co-director of “Anomalisa”. Andre Holland, quickly becoming one of my favorite actors, stars as a New York actor who gets amnesia after a brawl and ends up in Ohio in the 1950’s.

40.) Father Brother Sister Mother – I don’t need a synopsis, it’s Jim Jarmusch. But if you need more, the cast for this includes Cate Blanchett, Adam Driver, Vicky Krieps, Tom Waits, Indya Moore, Charlotte Rampling and, uh, also Miyam Bialik.

39.) The Friend — This is a delightful Sigrid Nunez book, and I’m curious to see how it is adapted. Naomi Watts stars as a woman who inherits a massive Great Dane from her old friend (Bill Murray) who has just passed away. As she learns on the fly how to be a dog person, she begins to unpack certain uncomfortable truths about the dog’s previous owner. It’s the sort of soft, delicate book that threatens to be a terrible movie, but Scott McGehee and David Siegel have an interesting pedigree as indie filmmakers, only working every few years and producing work of perceptive humanity.

38.) Caught Stealing - Darren Aronofsky has had a career that’s blossomed in some unique directions, but he’s always had a sharp eye and a hunger for massive maximalist. I will enthusiastically defend “The Fountain” as one of my favorites, and I don’t particularly care how overwrought and humorless it is. This movie combines two of my favorite cinematic obsessions in breaking the law and baseball, with Austin Butler retiring from the game to pick up a life of crime in the 1990’s. With Regina King, Zoe Kravitz, Matt Smith, Bad Bunny, Liev Schrieber and Action Bronson.

37.) Mother Mary — This sounds like a very big swing from David Lowery (“The Green Knight”). It’s a musical about the ties that bind a fashion designer and a famous pop star, and I assume those roles are being filled by Michaela Coel and Anne Hathaway. It appears they’ll take the music seriously, given that it’s coming from Jack Antonoff and Charli XCX, and the cast includes FKA Twigs. I’m not sure how true this is, but apparently this took a year to film?

36.) The Wizard Of The Kremlin — Olivier Assayas is the slickest filmmaker on the international film scene, and every move he makes is unpredictable. This sounds a lot like Pablo Larrain’s “No”, a 1980’s-set story where Paul Dano is both a respected producer of TV shlock and a right-hand man of Vladimir Putin. With Alicia Vikander, Jude Law and Zack Galifianakis.

35.) Growth — I wonder if this one is still happening. This is from director Armando Iannucci — his “The Death of Stalin” was a movie I reviewed here. It’s about a vastly-growing social media site, and the cast includes Riz Ahmed, Bradley Cooper and Viola Davis.

34.) The Death Of Robin Hood — I really don’t know if we need another “Robin Hood”. I recall the Taron Edgerton one from a few years ago offering the gimmick of, “It’s Robin Hood, uh, again!” But the title is intriguing, and Hugh Jackman is here with Jodie Comer, a pretty interesting cinematic couple. Michael Sarnoski is aboard after giving an entirely new context to the “Quiet Place” mythology last year, so he’s worth the attention after making a name with the Nic Cage drama “Pig”.

33.) Highest 2 Lowest — Spike Lee remaking Kurosawa’s “High And Low” with Denzel? Hell yeah. Jeffrey Wright, A$AP Rocky and Ice Spice will also be in this Apple movie, which… sort of diminishes the excitement a little, to be honest. Apple? Ugh.

32.) Sacrifice — This one sounds odd. From Romain Gavras, a bold voice in global cinema. In this project, Anya Taylor-Joy is a radical who kidnaps Chris Evans, Vincent Casell and Ambika Mod because one of them has to die to avert an apocalypse. The hope this isn’t a highbrow “Knock At The Cabin” comes from this emerging from a script written by Will Arbery, a playwright who last drafted scripts for “Succession”.

31.) I Want Your Sex — Gregg Araki is one of those filmmakers who is clearly ride-or-die about having that indie sensibility, even if such a sensibility drives one back to the nine-to-five — legendary independent voice Todd Solondz recently returned to teaching when he somehow couldn’t get marginal funding for his new movie. This is an aggressive May-December romance with the unlikely duo of Olivia Wilde and Cooper Hoffman, with a cast that includes Daveed Diggs, Charli XCX, Chase Sui Wonders, Johnny Knoxville, Margaret Cho, Mason Gooding and Roxane Mesquida.

30.) Nobody 2 — I wasn’t a die-hard fan of “Nobody” (which I will be reviewing soon) but it was pretty pure of intention, and the hand-to-hand was pretty high level. This time, they’ve upgraded with Timo Tjahjanto in the director’s chair, maybe the best filmmaker currently working within the genre. There will be blood.

29.) Predator: Badlands — This is go-round number nine in the Predator mythology, and a return from director Dan Trachtenberg, who previously helmed “Prey” (which I reviewed here). Not a lot has been revealed about this film other than he’s matched up against… uh, Elle Fanning?… though this is the first Predator film to take us into a distant future (“Predator 2” is more of a pretty-near-future, really). Predator is one of our most versatile movie monsters, so I never get sick when these ugly Yautja pop up.

28.) I Love Boosters — The awesome Boots Riley is back after “Sorry To Bother You” (review here) with this satire (that’s reportedly vaguely science fictional) about a web of shoplifters who target a wealthy fashion executive. I presume that’s Demi Moore in that role, and the rest of the cast includes Keke Palmer, Lakeith Stansfield, Taylour Paige, Naomi Ackie, Eiza Gonzalez, Poppy Liu and Will Poulter. Hopefully this will tackle the questionable reports of widespread shoplifting.

27.) Huntington — This is coming from John Patton Ford, who previously directed “Emily The Criminal”. He’s directing his own Black List script, a dark comedy said to be in the vein of “Kind Hearts And Coronets”, which… well, Hollywood certainly has their finger on the pulse. This is a teaming of Glen Powell and Margaret Qualley, but Ed Harris, Topher Grace, Jessica Henwick and Bill Camp will also show up, and there will probably be some scenes stolen by Zach Woods.

26.) Alpha — Julia Ducournau (“Titane”) is behind this French film about an 11 year old girl who is ostracized because of a rumor that spreads claiming she has an awful disease. This is supposed to be a personal work for her, but I certainly don’t believe this is just going to be a way to deal with her insecurity at being bullied at a young age.

25.) Is This Thing On? — Bradley Cooper would absolutely be entitled to coast on a few lame franchise roles, and I think it’s pretty cool that instead he’s really committing to directing. This would be his third effort after “Maestro”, and I wasn’t crazy about that one, but I might be in for this. This is an original script from Cooper and Will Arnett about standup comedians. I love looking at the nuts and bolts of making comedy, it’s so specific and precise, and it’s something everyone does but only a few people do it well. Emily Blunt’s in this too alongside Cooper and Arnett.

24.) Presence — A ghost story from the perspective of the ghosts, this is another experiment from the constantly-tinkering Steven Soderbergh. Lucy Liu, Julia Fox and Chris Sullivan star.

23.) The Mastermind — A Vietnam-era heist movie which probably won’t be like any heist film you’ve ever seen. Josh O’Connor and John Magaro star for Kelly Reichardt, who is currently making a case for being the world’s best American filmmaker.

22.) Roofman — I’m a big fan of Derek Cianfrance (“The Place Beyond The Pines”), and it’s interesting that he tackles this project after it was eyed by a few different filmmakers. This is the bizarre true story of Jeffrey Manchester, an American thief who would rob McDonald’s and hide out at night on the roof of a local Toys ‘R’ Us. Channing Tatum plays Manchester, and Kirsten Dunst, Ben Mendelsohn, Uzo Aduba, Peter Dinklage, Lakeith Stansfield, Lily Collias and Juno Temple are in this.

21.) Eddington — Another original from Ari Aster (“Hereditary”, my review here), this is apparently a star-studded story of a small town gone mad during the pandemic. Joaquin Phoenix plays a New Mexico sheriff with political aspirations, pitting him against the mayor (Pedro Pascal) who has eyes on the sherrif’s wife (Emma Stone). Austin Butler and Clifton Collins Jr. are also onboard, and this is said to be quite political — Phoenix is basically playing a MAGA-level jerk, so, hey, good luck, Ari.

20.) Faces Of Death — Again, this is something that’s been sitting around for a while now, I’m pretty sure there were test screenings over a year ago, even though there may not be a distributor yet (same situation with the “Toxic Avenger” remake, which is really peculiar to me). But I love the hook here, revisiting the old lore of “Faces Of Death”, the infamous video nasty highlight reels of real-life kills. This is a narrative film about employees of a social media company who act as censors for the most heinous content posted by users, a very real and very horrible job. Daniel Goldhaber is a director who showed with “Cam” and “How To Blow Up A Pipeline” that he has a powerful political sensibility, so he’s a great choice for a movie that sounds like it will push some unfcomfortable buttons. And hey, Charli XCX is in this too, this lady is everywhere.

19.) The Drama — Zendaya and Robert Pattinson are about to get married, until they find out some as-yet-revealed truths about each other. I’m guessing they involve Mamoudou Athie and Alana Haim, who are also in the cast. This is from Kristofer Borgli, who just made the trippy Nic Cage comedy “Dream Scenario”, and Pattinson has had excellent taste in material lately.

18.) The Running Man — I’ve always believed that if you’re gonna remake something, remake a movie that’s mostly unrealized potential. I love the original “Running Man” but it’s barely the fifth-best movie Arnold did in the 80’s alone (behind “The Terminator”, “Conan The Barbarian”, “Predator”and “Commando” — really, it’s a distant fifth). Apparently this has been a dream project for Edgar Wright, so the hope is he’s mapped this out in his head a million times before he even signed on to direct Glen Powell, Katy M. O’Brien, Michael Cera and Josh Brolin in this updating. Similarly, I have spent decades visualizing a new “Chopping Mall”, so, call me, Hollywood.

17.) Untitled Slave Comedy — I have mixed feelings about this one, the first movie from Trey Parker and Matt Stone since “Team America: World Police”. This is a live-action comedy about a Black man who serves as a Civil War reenactor, playing a slave. Hijinks theoretically ensue when he finds out the family of his white girlfriend once owned his own ancestors. Normally I would not want the “South Park” guys near a story of slavery, but this comes from the unhinged mind of Vernon Chatman, who wrote the script and is known for creating such mind-bending series as “Frisky Dingo”, “Wonder Showzen” and, my personal favorite, “Xavier Renegade Angel”. Kendrick Lamar is producing — I’m not entirely sure if he’s also starring, but this is apparently slated for a 4th of July release.

16.) Play Dirty — As far as a match made in heaven, Shane Black (“The Nice Guys”) and Donald Westlake’s Parker come close. I read a few Parker books in prison, and I am certainly a fan, though I’ve liked a lot of the Parker movies as well. Still, none of them really respect the roots of the character, either to go off on an interesting tangent (“Point Blank”) or to suit the needs of a star (Jason Staham’s “Parker”). He’s got Marky Mark as Parker in a cast with Lakeith Stansfield, Rosa Salazar and Tony Shaloub and again, this is the sort of project this guy has spent decades visualizing.

15.) Untitled White House Thriller — Yeah, this is Netflix, which takes a lot of the excitement away, but this also is a Kathryn Bigelow thriller, and that’s enough of an event. Not many details have been released, though the cast (including Idris Elba, Rebecca Ferguson, Jason Clarke, Anthony Ramos and Greta Lee) is impressive enough for me to take notice.

14.) 28 Years Later — That trailer certainly was impressive, no? If anything, I respect the decision to avoid using “In The House - In A Heartbeat”, the infamous “28 Days Later” theme. This is the first of a trilogy, so, might be a little homework-y!

13.) The Bride! — It’s “Bride Of Frankenstein” but it’s a musical! With Jessie Buckley and Christian Bale as the rather-sexy monster pairing, and a cast that includes Jake Gyllenhaal, John Magaro, Jeannie Berlin, Penelope Cruz and Peter Sarsgaard, and a score by Johnny Greenwood. This is being directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal, and I haven’t seen her debut film yet, “The Lost Daughter”, though I think I’d like to now. FYI, Guillermo Del Toro has a competing non-musical “Frankenstein” project with Oscar Isaac, Jacob Elordi and Mia Goth, but that’s for Netflix, so, boo.

12.) Black Bag — Steven Soderbergh returning to the world of espionage, teaming with “Jurassic Park” scribe David Koepp. This one’s loaded, with Michael Fassbender, Cate Blanchett, Rege-Jean Page, Marisa Abela, Naomie Harris and Pierce Brosnan, but I bet this will be the usual low-key Soderbergh movie that bores the mainstream and thrills me.

11.) Havoc — Yet ANOTHER movie that’s sat around for a couple of years now, this is from Gareth Evans, the badass architect of “The Raid”. This one is said to be another wild-ass fight film, with Tom Hardy as a detective having to fight his way through scores of mobsters. Forest Whitaker, Timothy Olyphant and Luis Guzman star, making it sound like kind of a dream project because I’d love to see all those dudes in a movie together. It’s Netflix, so maybe expectations should be tempered, but Evans was also behind that ludicrously exciting “Gangs Of London” show which exhibited his skill in depicting hand-to-hand combat with performers not necessarily adept at martial arts.

10.) Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning — Frankly, that last M:I movie was a letdown — I did not care to see Tom Cruise fight artificial intelligence.Hopefully the problem was solved here, because this remains the same team behind “Mission: Impossible — Fallout”, still the gold standard of contemporary American action franchise filmmaking.

9.) The Way Of The Wind — Perhaps you’ve heard Terrence Malick has been shooting a Jesus movie. Reports have this at the next Cannes, though it sounds as if Malick could spend forever making this film, as he is notoriously slow and apparently started filming in 2019. I remain a major Malick acolyte, and I reviewed his “Knight Of Cups” here.

8.) The Battle Of Baktan Cross/One Battle After Another — No idea what the title is for this very loose adaptation of Thomas Pynchon’s “Vineland”, which has somehow morphed into a heavily-political $150 million budgeted film from Paul Thomas Anderson. Leonardo DiCaprio leads an eclectic cast including Regina Hall, Sean Penn, Teyana Taylor, Wood Harris, Benicio Del Toro and of course Alana Haim. This guy really loves his Haim sisters.

7.) Bugonia — Would have never guessed I’d see this. Yorgos Lanthimos (“The Favourite” — my review here) returns to tackle a remake of Korea’s “Save The Green Planet”, a deeply wild gonzo movie from the mid-2000’s I never thought anyone would touch. The original unhinged film follows an office drone who kidnaps his boss under the belief that he’s sending covert messages to fellow aliens in order to begin an invasion. It also has a scene where a man fires a gun at a swarm of bees to kill them one by one. It’s mad, in other words, and so is Lanthimos. The dynamics are different here - Emma Stone plays a female boss, and there are two kidnappers this time (one played by Jesse Plemons). I’m wondering what other changes are in store, because Lanthimos isn’t the type to just make a copy of such a lunatic movie and call it a day.

6.) The Cry Of The Guards — Claire Denis, one of the current greats of world cinema, directs this thriller about a man haunting a construction site in Senegal seeking retribution for the death of his brother. Isaach de Bankole, Matt Dillion and Riley Keough are a part of this one, which slightly echoes collaborator Mati Diop’s “Atlantics”, which I reviewed here. Every Denis film is an event, I can’t wait for this.

5.) Die, My Love — It’s exciting that there are so many top-level female filmmakers behind some really interesting fare coming next year. Lynne Ramsay, who hasn’t made a movie since “You Were Never Really Here”, teams with Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson for this very dark (I’m guessing barely-a-) comedy about a woman lashing out during a fit of postpartum depression. Lakeith Stansfield, Sissy Spacek and Nick Nolte are also a part of this ensemble which hopefully has a similar daring energy as Ramsay’s hilarious and incredibly terrifying “We Need To Talk About Kevin”.

4.) Paddington In Peru — If you’re kind and polite, the world will be right. Paddington, I love you this and also this much, and we’re ride or die.

3.) Superman — People who knows me know that I have complicated feelings about superheroes. But Superman feels different. It’s no wonder Superman hasn’t been a huge part of this comic book movie boom of the 2000s. He’s not modern, he’s not contemporary, his innate goodness is a tough fit for a cynical world. James Gunn sounds like he’s kept this in mind (whereas Bryan Singer favored nostalgia and deconstruction, and Zack Snyder is just as cynical as the moment calls for). This Superman seems to reflect the hope that you can do good, and others will follow. Some characters are heroes, but Superman is an inspiration. Superman used to be a part of us all. I’m not sure if I agree with that anymore, but Gunn seems like he’s on a quest to prove me wrong. I’m not sure if he’s really up to it, but after that trailer, I am listening.

2.) Mickey 17 — Once again, another movie that’s sat around for a year. From Bong Joon-Ho, following his Oscar triumph with “Parasite”, this is a massive sci-fi film where Robert Pattinson is a worker drone on an alien planet that keeps getting killed and resurrected as part of a massive corporate conspiracy. Mark Ruffalo is said to be doing a Trump impression in this as the evil boss. It will be interesting to see mainstream filmmakers, having made a lot of statements about Trump within their art during the Biden administration under the assumption Trump was gone for good, now coping with gunshy executives over the creative content of their work.

1.) The Phoenician Scheme — A little while ago, a very good friend shared with me the idea that there are no great comedy directors anymore, none that really care about the careful construction of a visual gag. I would counter with Wes Anderson, who I love deeply and feel is the only real humanist filmmaker still working within the studio system. He may put that to the test with his first spy movie, really his first genre film too. Earlier, he suggested that Benicio Del Toro, his lead, would be in every scene. Frankly, I think that should be true of all movies. But the cast also includes Bill Murray, Michael Cera, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson, Riz Ahmed, Charlotte Gainsborough, Rupert Friend, Willem Dafoe and Bryan Cranston.