As one year gets left behind, we look forward to the next and hope for the best. In the movie world, there are many obvious reasons to look forward, what with all of the obvious entertainment value being proposed. I only hope that even discerning audiences find their own treasure trove of cinematic gold, too.
I’m not sure if January will be any indication of how well the rest of the year will go. I’m most keen to watch Glass (Jan. 18), writer/director M. Night Shyamalan’s sequel to 2000’s Unbreakable and 2016’s Split, completing what he calls the three the “Eastrail 177 Trilogy.” It was only at the end of the riveting character drama/psychological thriller Split that he revealed that it tied in with the earlier story that pitted a superhero against his arch-enemy. Look for Samuel L. Jackson and Bruce Willis to join with – or pit forces against – James McAvoy and Anya Taylor Joy, with Sarah Paulson added in as a psychologist who brings them all together. Fun, right?
After that, there’s Serenity (Jan. 25) with Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway. MM plays a fishing boat captain with a past. Enter Past’s representative Hathaway who coerces him somehow to murder her new husband. Uh, that’s so not cool. She brings Diane Lane, Jason Clarke and Djimon Hounsou with her. NB: this is not to be confused with 2005’s Serenity, the sci-fi comedy/space western starring Edmonton product Nathan Fillion. This is a different kind of movie.
And hey, if you like The McConaughey then there’s also The Beach Bum (March 22) to look forward to, although I must admit it does ring similarly to his previous Surfer Dude, except this is directed by Harmony Korine, he of some fairly sensational and sensationalized movies like Kids and Spring Breakers. Remember: Harmony only in name, not in creative output. Let’s just say that Kids wasn’t a kids’ movie, y’know?
You can also still catch Roma, writer/director Alfonso Cuarón’s semi-autobiographical look at a middle-class family in Mexico City in the 1970s. There’s a lot of buzz here and it starts and ends with Cuarón’s technical prowess and his sensitive treatments of deeply human subjects. It is still playing at the Metro Cinema until Jan. 10.
February is probably the best month to release Cold Pursuit (Feb. 8). Formerly titled as Hard Powder, this Liam Neeson movie caused controversy when Parks Canada prevented it from filming near Banff because of the story’s treatment of First Nations. It’s the remake of a Norwegian thriller of a snowplow driver’s revenge. I imagine that he still employs a particular set of skills, except this time they’re snowplowing skills. I’m not sure which of this and his other 2019 film, Men In Black: International (landing in June), that I’m looking forward to less.
Also this month, director Robert Rodriguez and producer James Cameron offer Alita: Battle Angel (Feb. 14), a simple story of a young woman, er … female cyborg, who saves the world through the power of ultra-martial arts and huge eyes. Personally, I’d much rather see Fighting with my Family (also Feb. 14), a comedy-drama co-starring Dwayne Johnson, Lena Headey, Vince Vaughn and Florence Pugh. The Rock in a movie that doesn’t involve helicopters, natural disasters or ultra-sky rises? Count me in.
After the short month, I’m excited by the prospect of Greta (March 1), hopefully a long-awaited return to form by Irish writer/director Neil Jordan. Remember him? The Crying Game anybody? How about Interview with the Vampire? Greta stars Chloë Grace Moretz and Isabelle Huppert in a story about a lonely widow befriended by a young woman. I bet that there’s more to it than meets that simple description.
If that isn’t to your thrill-seeking tastes, then I suspect that Us (March 15) will do the trick. A family trip to the beach house turns tense when uninvited guests show up. Writer/director Jordan Peele’s Get Out was wry social commentary in the guise of a horror/thriller. I expect great things.
Also in the third month of 2019, a little film called Captain Marvel (March 8), another supersaturated Disney/Marvel output, debuts. Snooze. If I wanted any of that nonsense then I’d wait till Avengers: Endgame (April 26). Trivia game: Trent Opaloch, formerly of St. Albert, is the cinematographer on what will surely be an overblown battle royale silver screen confection. I’m also interested in Captive State (March 29), a sci-fi thriller set in Chicago a decade after the world is occupied by alien invaders.
April brings showers and The Best of Enemies (April 5), another powerhouse drama about America’s racial tensions starring recent Oscar winner Sam Rockwell and Taraji P. Henson, who really, really, really should be joining him with her own golden trophy soon. Then there’s Under the Silver Lake (April 19) with its bizarre premise of a mystery in Los Angeles. Writer/director David Robert Mitchell was behind It Follows, which had its own bizarre premise.
Well, after the first four months, anything goes, meaning May means all of the big budget blockbusters come out of the woodwork as if they won’t have done so already (see Avengers … or don’t). So far, the last eight months of the year only hold interest for me in the following titles, some of which should prove that I’m not totally averse to sequels: Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (July 26), It: Chapter Two (Sept. 6), Zombieland 2 (Oct. 11), Charlie’s Angels (Nov. 1), and Kingsman 3 (Nov. 8), Knives Out (Nov. 29) and Superintelligence (Dec. 27).
P.S. Not that you asked, but here are some of the movies that I could do without: any live-action remake of a previously animated cartoon movie, any superhero movie by any comic book empire, Frozen 2 and Star Wars: Episode IX.
