The smell of fresh buttery popcorn, the sounds of a paper tickets ripping, the glow of theater lights along the aisles, the anticipation as the red curtains open, and of course, the reminder to silence your cell phone are just a few of the small things that I miss about going to the movies. Despite having more time to watch movies in this pandemic era, I have missed one of the critical components that makes the act of watching a movie so entertaining and fulfilling. The walk back to your car after the film ends where you discuss your favorite moments of the movie, the personal stories that the scenes reminded you of, and arguing about what other movies the main character is in.
Looking ahead to 2021, the slate of films to be released is promising for a variety of all movie lovers. Their quick availability to VOD (video on demand) will help make your home feel like the top notch, high quality theater we all love and most certainly miss.
FEBRUARY
MALCOLM & MARIE
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February 5th (Netflix)
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Written & Directed by Sam Levinson (Creator of Euphoria & Assassination Nation)
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Starring Zendaya (Euphoria, The Greatest Showman) & John David Washington (Tenet, Blackkklansman)
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A filmmaker and his girlfriend discuss their past relationships while returning home from a movie premiere.
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It’s black and white and was completely shot during the pandemic, as if almost a secret to the world, at a home in Carmel, CA
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What people are saying about it: Deadline has connected it narratively to Noah Baumbach’s 2019 Marriage Story as well as indirectly commenting on current social themes that the COVID-19 world has brought to life.
LITTLE FISH
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February 5th (Theaters & VOD)
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Written by Mattson Tomlin and Directed by Chad Harigan, a couple fights to hold their relationship together as a memory loss virus spreads and threatens to erase the history of their love and courtship.
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Watching the trailer for this felt a bit more heavy hitting as it revolves around a virus that strikes the world, yet instead of threatening one’s physical health it slowly bites away one’s memory.
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It features Olivia Cooke (Sound of Metal) and Jack O’Connell (Unbroken)
MINARI
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Available on Amazon Prime starting February 12th, written and directed by Lee Isaac Chung this drama features Steven Yeun (Okja, The Walking Dead), Yeri Han, and Alan S. Kim.
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A fan favorite of the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, this movie follows a Korean American family who moves to an Arkansas farm in search of their own American dream, only to discover the challenges of this new life in the strange and rugged Ozarks, they discover the undeniable resilience of family and what really makes a home.
MARCH
CHERRY
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March 12 (AppleTV)
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Featuring Tom Holland (Spiderman: Homecoming) and Ciara Bravo (Wayne, Big Time Rush)
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Written by Angela Russo-Otstot and Jessica Goldberg and directed by the Russo Brothers
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Tells the wild journey of a disenfranchised young man from Ohio who meets the love of his life, only to risk losing her through a series of bad decisions and challenging life circumstances.
APRIL
NOBODY
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Fan of Breaking Bad? Better Call Saul? Then you’ll have to check out Emmy winner Bob Odenkirk star as Hutch Mansell, an underestimated and overlooked dad and husband, who must suddenly take on his mundane life with a tempered rage bringing him through a brutal path of secrets and lethal events in the 2021 film, Nobody.
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Directed by Ilya Naishuller and set for release on April 2nd.
MAY
BLACK WIDOW
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After being delayed again and again, Black Widow is set to come out on May 7th, almost a year after its original date of release. Alongside Scarlett Johansson, the blockbuster includes Florence Pugh (Little Women), Rachel Weisz (The Favourite), and David Harbour (Stranger Things).
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The film explores the beginnings of Black Widow’s (aka Natasha Romanova) life when she was given to the KGB, which grooms her to become its ultimate operative. When the U.S.S.R. breaks up, the government tries to kill her as the action moves to present-day New York, where she is a freelance operative.
JUNE
ZOLA
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Personally, I am most excited to see Zola, as it tells a biographical comedy-drama inspired by a Twitter thread from October 2015, when Detroit waitress Aziah “Zola” Wells posted a 148-tweet thread about a trip she took to Florida with a stripper named Jessica.
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The film that follows tells the full story, containing details of prostitution and murder that quickly went viral, garnering the recognition of both the public and celebrities alike.
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It premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival with the screenplay by Bravo and Jeremy O. Harris. It stars Taylour Paige (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom), Riley Keough (The Devil All the Time), Nicholas Braun (Succession), and Colman Domingo (Lincoln).
JULY
SPACE JAM 2: A NEW LEGACY
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This film is the long awaited sequel to the 1996 classic featuring Michael Jordan and the Looney Tunes. This 2021 version includes NBA superstar LeBron James who, like Jordan, teams up with Bugs Bunny and the rest of the Looney Tunes for a game of basketball.
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Directed by Malcolm D. Lee, this live-action, animated sports comedy will no doubt be one of the summer’s biggest blockbusters
AUGUST
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Who doesn’t love a good espionage film? Or better yet the prequel that explains how the espionage came to be? In the third film of the Kingsman Trilogy, director Matthew Vaughn creates a spin-off prequel in which we follow the journey of one man’s race against time to stop history’s worst tyrants and criminal masterminds as they get together to plot a war that could wipe out millions of people and destroy humanity. This ensemble cast includes Ralph Fiennes (The Grand Budapest Hotel), Harris Dickinson (Beach Rats), and Gemma Arterton, among others.
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Fun Fact: The Kingsman trilogy is loosely based on a comic book series under the same name that was created by Dave Gibbons and Mark Millar, published by Marvel.
SEPTEMBER
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Written and directed by John Krasinski, featuring Emily Blunt (Mary Poppins Returns), Millicent Simmonds, and Noah Jupe.
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More than a year after its initial release, the world finally has the opportunity to watch as the story of the Abbott family continues.
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The sequel will follow the family as they must now face the terrors of the outside world as they fight for survival in silence. Forced to venture into the unknown, they realize that the creatures that hunt by sound are not the only threats that lurk beyond the sand path.
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Hopefully, with this one will be one we can all see in theaters as I don’t think my computer sound will do it the justice it deserves.
OCTOBER
DUNE
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Paul Atreides leads nomadic tribes in a battle to control the desert planet Arrakis.
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Dune, directed by Denis Villeneuve and featuring Timothee Chalamet (Call Me By Your Name), Oscar Isaac (Star Wars), and Zendaya (Euphoria) is one of the most highly anticipated films of the year given the star talent and public support of the original book to screen adaptation by David Lynch in 1984.
NOVEMBER
ENCANTO
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In November of 2021, Disney will release a new animated musical fantasy that takes place in Colombia. Directed by the creators of Zootopia, Byron Howard and Jared Bush, not much has been revealed about Encanto’s plot, except that the narrative follows a young girl with zero magical powers, despite coming from a family that possesses such and even lives in a magical house.
DECEMBER
WEST SIDE STORY
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Almost 60 years after Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins’ classic hit, director Steven Spielberg brings a modern take on the love story in hopes to steal our hearts once again as he tells the tale of two teenagers from different ethnic backgrounds who fall in love in 1950s New York City.
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Features Ansel Elgort (Baby Driver) and upcoming actress, Rachel Zegler.