ANTICIPATED MOVIES FOR 2021 Part 1 – Mainstream

 

ANTICIPATED MOVIES FOR 2021 

 Part 1 – Mainstream

 

JANUARY

The Last Duel

Directed by: Ridley Scott

Starring: Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Adam Driver, Jodie Comer

Opening on: January 8, 2021

PLOT: Drama Ben Affleck and Matt Damon will reunite, with Killing Eve‘s breakout star Jodie Comer filling out the cast about a woman claims she's been raped by her husband's best friend, Jean de Carrouges. But when no one believes her accusation, her husband challenges his friend to a duel, the last legally sanctioned duel in the country's history.

 

THE 355

Directed by: Simon Kinberg

Starring: Jessica Chastain, Fan Bingbing, Penélope Cruz, Lupita Nyong’o, Edgar Ramirez, Sebastian Stan, Diane Kruger, Emilio Insolera

Opening on: January 15, 2021

PLOT: Mystery thriller where five women band together to stop a global organization from acquiring a weapon that could thrust the teetering world into total chaos.

 

FEBRUARY

Nomadland

Directed by: Chloé Zhao

Starring: Frances McDormand, David Strathairn

Opening on: February 19, 2021 (following one-week virtual release on December 4, 2020)

PLOT: Drama based on the nonfiction book by Jessica Bruder. The film stars Frances McDormand as a woman who loses everything in the Great Recession and decides to see if the van life is all it’s cracked up to be.

 

The Father

Directed by: Florian Zeller

Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Olivia Colman

Opening on: February 26, 2021

PLOT: Drama starring two Oscar winners based on a 2012 French play Le Père by the film’s director and co-writer, Florian Zeller. The story focuses on an aging man (Anthony Hopkins) struggling with memory loss whose daughter (Olivia Colman) moves into his flat to help care for him.

 

MARCH

Coming 2 America

Directed by: Craig Brewer

Starring: Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, John Amos, James Earl Jones, Garcelle Beauvais, Wesley Snipes

Opening on: March 5, 2021 on Amazon Prime.

PLOT: Comedy - After over three decades, it looks like Prince Akeem — ahem, King Akeem and Semmi are returning Stateside from their homeland of Zamunda. Much of the original cast are returning, including James Earl Jones as King Jaffe Joffer and John Amos as Cleo McDowell, as Akeem learns that he has a long-lost son he never knew about who might be the heir to the throne.

 

The Many Saints of Newark

Directed by: Alan Taylor

Starring: Michael Gandolfini, Vera Farmiga, Jon Bernthal, Billy Magnussen, Ray Liotta, Corey  Stoll, Alessandro Nivola - Opening on: March 12, 2021, with simultaneous release on HBO Max

PLOT: Prequel to HBO The Sopranos. Alan Taylor directs this look back at the early years of the iconic TV mobster, with Vera Farmiga, Jon Bernthal, and Ray Liotta in supporting roles.

 

APRIL

No Time To Die

Directed by: Cary Fukunaga

Starring: Daniel Craig, Ralph Fiennes, Rami Malek, Naomie Harris, Lea Seydoux, Ben Whishaw, Rory Kinnear, Jeffrey Wright, Ana de Armas, Lashana Lynch

Opening on: April 2, 2021

PLOT: True Detective director Cary Fukunaga takes the reins for the 25th James Bond film, with Daniel Craig returning for his fifth and (presumably) final turn as 007.

 

BIOS

Directed by: Miguel Sapochnik

Starring: Tom Hanks

Opening on: April 16, 2021

PLOT: Tom Hanks is back, breaking our hearts again. Here he plays a sickly inventor — and the last human left on a post-apocalyptic earth — who creates a robot to protect the life of his dog when he dies and keep them both company while he’s alive.

 

A Quiet Place Part II

Directed by: John Krasinski

Starring: Emily Blunt, Noah Jupe, Millicent Simmonds, Cillian Murphy, Djimon Hounsou

Opening on: April 23, 2021

PLOT: Director John Krasinski returns to helm this sequel, which he also wrote, starring his real-life wife Emily Blunt, as it follows up with the Abbott family after the events of the first film.

 

MAY

Black Widow

Directed by: Cate Shortland

Starring: Scarlett Johansson, Florence Pugh, David Harbour, Rachel Weisz

Opening on: May 7, 2021

PLOT: The first Marvel property to kick off its Phase 4 will be this prequel focusing on Scarlett Johansson’s Natasha Romanoff teaming up with her Russian sister.

 

Spiral

Directed by: Darren Lynn Bousman

Starring: Chris Rock, Samuel L. Jackson, Max Minghella, Marisol Nichols

Opening on: May 21, 2021

PLOT: The Saw franchise officially gets revived in this new thriller, with Darren Lynn Bousman (Saw II, III, and IV) back behind the camera. This time, two cops played by Chris Rock and Samuel L. Jackson investigate a series of gruesome murders and find themselves at the mercy of a killer reminiscent of the past (Jigsaw copycat, anyone?).

 

Cruella

Directed by: Alex Timbers and Craig Gillespie

Starring: Emma Stone, Joel Fry, Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Paul Walter Hauser, Emma Thompson

Opening on: May 28, 2021

PLOT: Emma Stone will star in Disney’s latest live-action remake of an old classic. In the vein of Maleficient, Cruella will focus on the enigmatic villain of 101 Dalmatians in her youth and show how she became obsessed with Dalmatian fur. With Emma Thompson and Mark Strong rounding out the cast.

 

JUNE

In the Heights

Directed by: Jon M. Chu

Starring: Anthony Ramos, Leslie Grace, Corey Hawkins, Jimmy Smits, Stephanie Beatriz, Dascha Polanco

Opening on: June 18, 2021, with simultaneous release on HBO Max,

PLOT: Crazy Rich Asians director Jon M. Chu adapts Lin-Manuel Miranda’s breakout musical, In the Heights. The show, which kicked off the Hamilton creator’s career, won four Tony Awards in 2008, including Best Musical and Best Original Score. Chu demonstrated real skill with spectacle in Crazy Rich Asians, and the new movie shares similar themes of reclaiming one’s heritage – it follows the stories of several characters in New York’s heavily Latino neighborhood, Washington Heights, over three days.

 

JULY

Top Gun: Maverick

Directed by: Joseph Kosinski

Starring: Tom Cruise, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Val Kilmer, Jay Ellis, Miles Teller, Monica Barbaro

Opening on: July 2, 2021

PLOT: Top Gun sequel after 31 years! Not a whole lot is known about the movie, except that the filmmakers have recruited a cast of some of the most in-demand young actors in Hollywood – including Miles Teller, who will play Goose’s son – and that Val Kilmer is officially back as Iceman.

Space Jam 2

Directed by: Malcolm D. Lee

Starring: LeBron James, Don Cheadle

Opening on: July 16, 2021, with simultaneous release on HBO Max

PLOT: Speaking of old stories for new audiences, LeBron James‘long-awaited Space Jam sequel will finally arrive in 2021. With Don Cheadle starring alongside the basketball legend and Ryan Coogler producing.

 

AUGUST

The Suicide Squad

Directed by: James Gunn

Starring: Jared Leto, Margot Robbie, Viola Davis, Joel Kinnaman, Jai Courtney

Opening on: August 6, 2021, with simultaneous release on HBO Max

PLOT: 2016’s Suicide Squad may be rotten, but the 2021 follow-up might just redeem the series. Most of the primary cast is returning, with Idris Elba joining in a new role. The star-studded cast is also adding Storm Reid, Flula Borg, Nathan Fillion and Pete Davidson

 

Deep Water

Directed by: Adrian Lyne

Starring: Ben Affleck, Ana de Armas, Tracy Letts

Opening on: August 13, 2021

PLOT: Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas star in director Adrian Lyne’s thriller based on the eponymous novel by Patricia Highsmith (Strangers on a Train, The Talented Mr. Ripley, Carol), about a married couple at odds with each other who begin to play dangerous mind games with each other, eventually leading to murder.

 

Candyman

Directed by: Nia DaCosta

Starring: Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Tony Todd, Teyonah Parris

Opening on: August 27, 2021

PLOT: Longtime fan and contemporary horror maestro Jordan Peele is producing this sequel to — not a remake of — the classic 1992 horror film about the murdered son of a slave whose ghost haunts the Chicago neighborhood where the Cabrini Green housing projects once stood.

 

The Beatles: Get Back

Directed by: Peter Jackson

Starring: The Beatles

Opening on: August 27, 2021

On the heels of his universally acclaimed World War I documentary They Shall Not Grow Old, Peter Jackson turns his eye towards the Fab Four. Utilizing never-before-seen footage behind the scenes, the new documentary chronicles the Beatles as they record their 1970 album Let It Be, as well as their legendary performance on the rooftop of Apple Records in London.

 

SEPTEMBER

Death on the Nile

Directed by: Kenneth Branagh

Starring: Kenneth Branagh, Gal Gadot, Armie Hammer, Annette Bening, Rose Leslie, Letitia Wright

Opening on: September 17, 2021

PLOT: Kenneth Branagh will return as detective Hercule Poirot following the surprise success of 2017’s Murder on the Orient Express, which Branagh also directed. So far, big names like Gal Gadot, Armie Hammer, Annette Bening, Letitia Wright, and Rose Leslie have joined the whodunit.

 

OCTOBER

Dune

Directed by: Denis Villeneuve

Starring: Timothée Chalamet, Josh Brolin, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Javier Bardem, Jason Momoa, Dave Bautista, Zendaya

Opening on: October 1, 2021

PLOT: Acclaimed director Denis Villeneuve (Sicario – Arrival – Blade Runner Sequel) takes on the massive challenge of re-adapting Frank Herbert’s sprawling sci-fi epic more than 30 years after David Lynch attempted the same.

 

Uncharted

Directed by: TBD (Ruben Flesicher wanted by Sony)

Starring: Tom Holland, Mark Wahlberg

Opening on: October 8, 2021

PLOT:  This Indiana Jones-styled action-adventure film, based on the popular video game series of the same name. Mark Wahlberg also signed on to co-star, and the latest report is that Sony is eyeing Zombieland director Ruben Fleischer to replace Knight as director.

 

NOVEMBER

Untitled Elvis Film

Directed by: Baz Luhrmann

Starring: Austin Butler, Tom Hanks

Opening on: November 5, 2021

PLOT: Austin Butler beat out tons of hopefuls to win the role of the famed King of Rock and Roll for this biopic from Warner Brothers. With Baz Lurhmann on board to write and direct, it’s bound to be a lush cinematic experience. Tom Hanks is also attached in a supporting role.

 

Eternals

Directed by: Chloé Zhao

Starring: Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, Kumail Nanjiani, Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Kit Harington, Brian Tyree Henry

Opening on: November 5, 2021 (formerly February 12, 2021)

PLOT:  The second film of Marvel’s Phase 4 goes cosmic again with the Eternals. Much of the cast was announced in bits and pieces, with a big reveal at Comic-Con 2019 and a key addition made in August. In brief, the Eternals are powerful immortals who helped shape humanity and history on Earth.

 

Mission: Impossible 7

Directed by: Christopher McQuarrie

Starring: Tom Cruise

Opening on: November 19, 2021

PLOT: Tom Cruise will be back in action for the seventh installment in the franchise that showcased his willingness to engage in death-defying stunts. Christopher McQuarrie will also be back as writer and director after serving those roles in the last two films.

 

DECEMBER

West Side Story

Directed by: Steven Spielberg

Starring: Rita Moreno, Ansel Elgort, Rachel Zegler

Opening on: December 10, 2021 (formerly December 18, 2020)

PLOT: Steven Spielberg’s new adaptation of the famous Broadway musical of the same name, which is itself an alternative take on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.

 

The Matrix 4

Directed by: Lana Wachowski

Starring: Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Jada Pinkett Smith, Lambert Wilson, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Nei Patrick Harris, Jonathan Groff, Jessica Henwick, Priyanka Chopra

Opening on: December 22, 2021 (formerly April 1, 2022), with simultaneous release on HBO Max

PLOT: Somehow, some way, Neo and Trinity are set to return to the world of The Matrix, as Lana Wachowski is set to bring us another sci-fi action-adventure set in the world digital world she helped create way back in 1999. We won’t get Agent Smith or Morpheus this time around, but people like Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Neil Patrick Harris, Jessica Henwick, and Priyanka Chopra are joining the cast.

 

The French Dispatch

Directed by: Wes Anderson

Starring: Timothée Chalamet, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton, Léa Seydoux, Benicio Del Toro, Saoirse Ronan, Bill Murray, Jeffrey Wright, Owen Wilson

PLOT: Initially reported to be a musical, Wes Anderson’s next film will be a drama that brings to life a handful of stories from a magazine created by an American living in a fictional city in France. The film’s press release calls it a “love letter to journalists,” and it brings together several regular collaborators in a massive, star-studded cast.

 

Stillwater

Directed by: Tom McCarthy

Starring: Matt Damon, Abigail Breslin, Camille Cottin

Opening on: TBD (formerly November 6, 2020)

PLOT: Matt Damon stars in this thriller about an Oklahoma oil-rig worker who travels to Marseille, France to unravel a mystery and clear his daughter’s name when she is imprisoned for a crime she says she didn’t commit.

 

Wicked

Directed by: Stephen Daldry

Starring: TBD

Opening on: TBD (formerly December 22, 2021)

PLOT: It feels like fans of the musical have been waiting forever for a screen adaption of Wicked, and in 2021, they’ll finally get their wish. No cast details have been announced yet, but with a legacy like Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth to live up to, the lucky ladies who get the gig will have enormous shoes to fill.

 

Blazing Samurai

Directed by: Chris Bailey, Mark Koetsier

Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Cera, Michelle Yeoh, George Takei, Gabriel Iglesias, Djimon Honsou

Opening on: 2021

PLOT: Originally slated for release in 2017, the star-studded animated feature will finally see the light of day in 2021. Inspired by Mel Brooks‘classic western Blazing Saddles, the cast includes Michael Cera, Samuel L. Jackson and Ricky Gervais.

 

The Power of the Dog

Directed by: Jane Campion

Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Paul Dano

Opening on: 2021

PLOT: In her follow up to Top of the Lake: China Girl, Jane Campion will reunite with Elisabeth Moss for Netflix’s The Power of The Dog, based on the 1967 novel of the same name. Also starring Benedict Cumberbatch, the film centers on two brothers on a ranch whose relationship shifts when one falls in love with a local widow.

 

Pinocchio

Directed by: Guillermo del Toro, Mark Gustafson

PLOT: This has been one of Guillermo del Toro’s long-in-development passion projects, and it will also be his first foray into animation. The stop motion-animated adaptation of the classic tale will reportedly be a tad darker than we may be accustomed to, with del Toro calling it a “brutalist fable.”

Lester’s Eight Independent Movie Recommendations I Know You Did Not See That Are Really Good

Lester’s Eight Independent Movie Recommendations I Know You Did Not See That Are Really Good

“KILLING THEM SOFTLY” - R 2012 ‧ Crime/Drama ‧ 1h 37m - When rival crook Johnny Amato (Vincent Curatola) hatches a plan to rob a card game run by mob lackey Markie (Ray Liotta), he picks a low-rent thug named Frankie (Scoot McNairy) to do the job. Frankie picks a less-than-ideal partner (Ben Mendelsohn) to help him, but despite their combined incompetence, they manage to make off with the mob's money. In retaliation, Markie's bosses hire Jackie Cogan (Brad Pitt), a mob enforcer, to eradicate those responsible. NETFLIX

Trailer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDyaNnrgdp4

“WINTER’S BONE” -  R 2010 ‧ Drama/Drama ‧ 1h 40m - Faced with an unresponsive mother and a criminal father, Ozark teenager Ree Dolly (Jennifer Lawrence) does what she can to manage the household and take care of her two younger siblings. Informed by the sheriff (Garret Dillahunt) that their father put their home up for bond and then disappeared, Ree sets out on a dangerous quest to find him. Her entire family's fate now in her hands, Ree challenges her outlaw kin's code of silence and risks her life to learn her father's fate. HULU

Trailer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bE_X2pDRXyY

“FROZEN RIVER” – R 2008 ‧ Drama/Crime ‧ 1h 37m - After her husband deserts her, working-class mother Ray Eddy (Melissa Leo) is in great need of money to find a home. Lured by the possibility of easy cash, Ray joins Lila (Misty Upham) a widowed Mohawk who earns a living by smuggling immigrants from Canada to the U.S. across the St. Lawrence. NETFLIX

Trailer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5pPQdLN4mg

“JUNEBUG” - 2005 ‧ Drama/Comedy-drama ‧ 1h 47m - On the way to meet with an independent artist in the South, newlywed art dealer Madeleine (Embeth Davidtz) is convinced by her husband, George (Alessandro Nivola), that they should stop to meet his family in North Carolina. Madeleine's affluent lifestyle clashes with the family, but she befriends George's wide-eyed and pregnant sister-in-law, Ashley (Amy Adams), who is nearing her due date. Through the family, Madeleine gains greater insight into George's character. NETFLIX

Trailer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUj7k7Ypb60

“EVERYTHING MUST GO” - R 2010 ‧ Drama/Comedy-drama ‧ 1h 37m - Long time salesman Nick Halsey (Will Ferrell) has seen better days. No longer at the top of his game, Nick, an alcoholic, loses his job for showing up drunk one too many times. On the same day, he finds that his wife has dumped him -- and his possessions -- on the front lawn of their home. Facing the fact that his life is collapsing around him, Nick holds a giant yard sale that turns into a unique survival strategy. Based on a short story by Raymond Carver. NETFLIX

Trailer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZC-s2oNLT0

“THE RED VOILIN” -  R 1998 ‧ Drama/Music ‧ 2h 20m – Mostly English – Some Subtitles – MY PERSONAL TOP 10 OF ALL TIME - The intricate history of a beautiful antique violin is traced from its creation in Cremona, Italy, in 1681, where a legendary violin maker (Carlo Cecchi) paints it with his dead wife's blood to keep her memory alive, to an auction house in modern-day Montreal, where it draws the eye of an expert appraiser (Samuel L. Jackson). Over the years between, the violin travels through four different countries, where it has a profound impact on all those who own it. NETFLIX

Trailer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3feDUcDRNAg

“LOCKE” - 2013 ‧ Drama/Road ‧ 1h 25m - A man's (Tom Hardy) life unravels after he leaves a construction site at a critical time and drives to London to be present for the birth of a child conceived during a one-night stand. NETFLIX

Trailer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_METW96TAFw

“SHORT TERM 12” - R 2013 ‧ Drama/Indie film ‧ 1h 37m - Calm and competent, Grace (Brie Larson) is a young counsellor at a California care unit for at-risk teens. However, her cool facade begins to crack in the pressure cooker atmosphere as she and some of the unruly residents are reminded of past and present abuses. NETFLIX

Trailer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhS6tvSb0UQ

Lester’s Quarantine Viewing Recommendations

Lester’s Quarantine Viewing Recommendations

“BETTER THINGS” – FX Network - Family Comedy - Season 4 Currently on FX  - Seasons 1 - 3 on Hulu - `Better Things' is the story of Sam Fox, a single mother and working actor with no filter trying to raise her three daughters -- Max, Frankie, and Duke -- in Los Angeles. She also looks out for her mother, Phil, an English ex-patriate with questionable faculties who lives across the street. Whether she's struggling to keep her daughters close or trying to push one of them out of the nest, Sam approaches every challenge with fierce love, raw honesty, and humor. At the end of the day, Sam's just trying to earn a living, navigate her daughters' changing lives, survive her family, have fun with a friend or two, and also -- just maybe -- squeeze in some private time.

“WESTWORLD” – Science Fiction Drama - Season 3 Currently on HBO – Must see previous episodes in sequence to understand - Westworld isn't your typical amusement park. Intended for rich vacationers, the futuristic park -- which is looked after by robotic "hosts" -- allows its visitors to live out their fantasies through artificial consciousness. No matter how illicit the fantasy may be, there are no consequences for the park's guests, allowing for any wish to be indulged. "Westworld" -- which is based on the 1973 Michael Crichton movie of the same name -- features an all-star cast that includes Oscar winner Anthony Hopkins and Golden Globe winner Ed Harris. Based on the 1973 landmark film.

“KILLING EVE” – BBC & AMC - Drama – Some Dark Comedic Tones – Season 3 Starts April 12^th – Must see previous episodes in sequence to understand - Eve's life as a spy is not adding up to what she had hoped it would be when she started. She is a bored, very smart, MI5 security officer who is very desk-bound. Villanelle is a very talented killer, mercurial in mood, who clings to the luxuries of her job. Eve and Villanelle go head to head in a fierce game of cat and mouse, each woman equally obsessed with the other as Eve is tasked with hunting down the psychopathic assassin.

“ALI WONG” – NEFLIX – Alexandra Wong is an American stand-up comedian, actress, and writer. She is noted for her Netflix stand-up specials Baby Cobra and Hard Knock Wife, both of which received critical acclaim.

“DAVE CHAPELLE” – NETFLIX – Needs no selling, he sells himself.

"THE LAST DANCE" - ESPN 10 Part Documentary -  Starts Sunday April 19 - The Last Dance is a 2020 sports documentary miniseries focusing on the 1997–98 Chicago Bulls. The series will feature film from a crew that had all-access pass to the Bulls during the National Basketball Association season

“ANTHONY JESELNIK”  His 2 Netflix one hour specials had me in stitches. With his “Fire in the Maternity Ward” and Thoughts and Prayers” Anthony Jeselnik gets right to it. There’s no opening sequence or introduction. We’re presented with a no political correct approach as one of the most measured disciplined hilarious standup comedians. Whereas some comics race to the punchline, he’ll repeat parts of the setup to punch up the tension.

“OZARK – NEFLIX – Season 3 now available – Created by Bill Dubuque ("The Accountant," "The Judge"), this drama series stars Jason Bateman as Marty Byrde, a financial planner who relocates his family from Chicago to a summer resort community in the Ozarks. With wife Wendy and their two kids in tow, Marty is on the move after a money-laundering scheme goes wrong, forcing him to pay off a substantial debt to a Mexican drug lord in order to keep his family safe. While the Byrdes' fate hangs in the balance, the dire circumstances force the fractured family to reconnect.

“RUN” – HBO – Romantic Comedy -  April 12^th - Ruby Richardson walks away from her ordinary life in the suburbs to revisit her past with her college boyfriend, Billy Johnson. The two made a pact 17 years earlier: If either one of them texted the word "RUN" and the other replied with the same, they would drop everything and meet in Grand Central Station and travel across America together. Merritt Wever as Ruby Richardson, a woman looking to reinvent herself and Domhnall Gleeson as Billy Johnson, a successful life guru.

“THE GOOD FIGHT” – Subscription CBS Access -  Season 4 will premiere with two new episodes on Monday, April 9 and April 16. The series will then return from a one-week hiatus with additional episodes on April 30. - Must see previous episodes in sequence to understand. The series follows Christine Baranski as Diane Lockhart, as she loses her employment after an enormous financial scam destroys the reputation of her goddaughter Maia (Rose Leslie) and Diane's savings, leading them to join Lucca Quinn (Cush Jumbo) at one of Chicago's preeminent law firms.

“AFTERLIFE”   Season 2 - April 24 – Netflix - Golden Globe winner Ricky Gervais stars in the comedy series, which he also writes and directs. Tony had a perfect life -- until his wife Lisa died. After that tragic event, the formerly nice guy changed. After contemplating taking his life, Tony decides he would rather live long enough to punish the world by saying and doing whatever he likes. He thinks of it as a superpower -- not caring about himself or anybody else -- but it ends up being trickier than he envisioned when his friends and family try to save the nice guy that they used to know.

“BETTER CALL SAUL” – AMC Season 5 finale – April 20 - He wasn't always Saul Goodman, ace attorney for chemist-turned-meth dealer Walter White. Six years before he begins to represent Albuquerque's most notorious criminal, Goodman is Jimmy McGill, a small-time attorney hustling to make a name for himself. He's a forceful champion for his low-income clients, an underdog whose morals and ambitions often clash. Jimmy works with private eye Mike Ehrmantraut, a former Philadelphia cop and recent transplant to the Southwest. Mike has a specialized skill set -- he's a "fixer" of sticky situations -- that Jimmy soon learns to appreciate.

AVAILABLE NOW

FX “FARGO” Season 1 – 3 – Now on Hulu - Brilliant  - Occasionally Violent - Some of the best acting and writing ever assembled.

NETFLIX “PEAKY BINDERS”- Seasons 1 - 5 – Gritty – Violent Based on true story of UK Organized Crime 1900’s.

NETFLIX “GODLESS” – Multiple Emmy nominated and winning western drama.

HBO  “CHERNOBYL – Gripping – brilliant true story – great acting and writing.

FX “THE AMERICANS” – Now on HULU – A compelling drama for 6 straight seasons about Russian spies living in America during the 1980s.

STARZ - "LUTHER" - Seasons 1 - 5  A British crime drama television series starring Idris Elba as DCI John Luther and Ruth Wilson as Alice Morgan. Luther is a brilliant but emotionally impulsive detective who is tormented by the dark side of humanity while hunting down murderers. Once the self-destructive detective knows the killer's identity, it becomes a psychological duel between predator and prey.

HBO "MCMILLIONS" - 10 part documentary - McMillions is a miniseries about the McDonald's Monopoly game scam that occurred between 1989 and 2001, perpetrated by Jerry Jacobson, who was in charge of security for the agency that ran the promotion, and several accomplices.

Emma - Review

Emma

“Emma” is a 2020 British comedy-drama film directed by Autumn de Wilde, from a screenplay by Eleanor Catton and is based on Jane Austen's 1815 novel of the same name. Its story follows specifically “Emma Woodhouse”, a young beautiful and highly vain woman who lives in a large mansion on the Hartford estate of her elderly father in the village of Highbury. “Emma” has absolutely no wish to marry but enjoys pairing her family and friends together so her daily preoccupation is to find new ways to interfere and delve in the love lives of her many friendships, loves and heartbreaks with a mix of drama, dramatic humor and romantic sweetness in this latest adaptation of the Jane Austen’s book. It stars Anya Taylor-Joy, Johnny Flynn, Josh O'Connor, Callum Turner, Mia Goth, Miranda Hart, and Bill Nighy.

REVIEW: Personally I consider myself a bit of an anglophile when it comes to all things British, especially in regards to the theater, movies, plays and culture. So generally speaking I am usually eager to see these type of throwback films where the men collectively project chivalrous masculinity with their innate traits of honor, courage, grace nobility and loyalty, while the women equally exude their feminine ladylikeness with innate traits of gentleness, empathy, humility, sensitivity, sensuality and radiance. And with a running time of 2:02 minutes “Emma” is luxuriously steep in these many human qualities.

But inspite of it being almost flawless with its textured execution of these many esthetic human qualities, I found myself spending far too much time waiting for these performances to elevate the written material itself; to make it evolve into a much needed display of emotional nuance that explained and explored what these interwoven characters really meant to one another. Instead, while “Emma” had the occasional compelling emotional moment, it felt overall like an exercise of untapped wasted acting potential. Only the lead character “Emma” herself came across as being sumptuously endearing and captivating to know, experience, to ever care about. Director Autumn de Wilde and her many actors appropriately delivered the humor, wit and drama when the material required it, but in the end their heart felt efforts too often only projected on the surface in well-dressed 1800's attire just layerless stick figures characters with lovely British accents devoid of any meaningful human depth and emotional connectedness.

“Emma” looked fresh, looked uniquely reimagined and sounded virtuously charming, ultimately it's a fresh and pretty coat of colorful cinematic paint on a wasted good story.

2.00 Stars

The Invisible Man - Review

The Invisible Man

“The Invisible Man” is a 2020 science fiction horror film written and directed by Leigh Whannell. A contemporary adaptation of the novel of the same name by H. G. Wells that first saw the big screen in 1933.  In this adaptation the film stars Elisabeth Moss, Aldis Hodge, Storm Reid, Harriet Dyer, Michael Dorman, and Oliver Jackson-Cohen.

Early in the story we see Cecilia Kass (Elisabeth Moss) who is trapped in a violent, controlling relationship with a wealthy scientist named Adrian Griffin (Oliver Jackson-Cohen). In the dead of night she disappears into hiding, aided by her sister Emily (Harriet Dyer), their childhood friend James (Aldis Hodge) and his teenage daughter Sydney (Storm Reid). Apparently distraught by Cecilia leaving him Adrian later commits suicide and surprisingly leaves Cecilia a generous portion of his vast fortune. But shortly after a series of bizarre events start to occur in her home Cecilia begins to suspect his death was a hoax. As these eerie coincidences turn lethal, threatening the lives of those she loves, Cecilia’s sanity begins to unravel as she desperately tries to prove that she is being hunted by someone nobody can see.

REVIEW: The Mount Rushmore of cinematic heroines is now complete. In 1979 we saw Sigourney Weaver masterfully deliver the first heroine with her “Ripley” and her life and death struggle with the indestructible “Alien”. In 1984 Linda Hamilton delivered an equally convincing performance with her “Sarah Connor” life and death battles with the equally indestructible “Terminator. And in 2015 Charlize Theron delivered a stellar performance with her “Imperator Furiosa” road race battles with “Lord Immortan Joe” in the post-apocalyptic “Mad Max: Fury Road”. Now we can add Elisabeth Moss and her “Cecilia”. Though her heroine is not in a battle with a fictional monster per se, her battle nonetheless is still a life and death struggle with a plot thoroughly committed to the socially conscious Me Too Movement with a monstrous man of real flesh and blood.

Now as you are watching the film unfold you are already way a head of the events by knowing in real time what Cecilia” already knows - her dead boyfriend is alive, he has figured out how to disappear, he is torturing her and he is in the room. So for about an hour the film walks us through the perfunctory paces of her many friends and family repeatedly offering the standard litany of plausible denials and references about her “imagining things” and she “needing therapy”. These utterances in the film along with (unfortunately) most of the supporting cast of characters were the less compelling components to the plot. 

Specifically most of the cast outside of Moss felt like they were more push pined into the story for continuity and conveniences sake. But even with these momentary brief hiccups none of it hindered the showcasing of Moss’s acting prowess to carry the entire film to its dramatic ending. With both her vocal softness and loud blood curling screams, with facial expressions of a foreboding fear in the room and piercing eyes that burned through the screen that evoked a woman who was smart, calculating, resourceful and relied not on muscles, but with authentic feminine strengths and guile while taking on a cloaked ubermensch adversary determined to exact his revenge. With a running time 1:50 minutes Moss delivers a full bore complex emotionally compelling story of once a victim of unspeakable brutalized cruelty to becoming a victim no more, all immersed in quite a few creepy scenes including one at the 1:12 minute mark that I did not see coming that made me yell out an audibly loud…………. “Oh F&%k”................Trust me you will too.

While the film is a bit jagged at times with its movement in and out of creepy realism “The Invisible Man” is still an absorbing unnerving psychological horrifying thriller. With a smartly executed pace there are more than enough great scenes and solid moments that while even being occasionally flawed still makes this latest 2020 adaptation a must see in the theater.

3.50 Stars

Lester’s Way Too Early 25+ Best Picture 2021 Oscar Winning Contenders

Lester’s Way Too Early 25+ Best
 Picture 2021 Oscar Winning Contenders
Scheduled for release in 2020

“Ammonite” - Ammonite is an upcoming British-Australian romantic drama film written and directed by Francis Lee. It stars Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan. The independent historical drama tells the story inspired by the life of fossil hunter Mary Anning. The story is set in 1840s England, when Anning and a young woman sent to convalesce by the sea develop an intense relationship, altering both of their lives forever.

“Annette” - The film tells the story of a provocative stand-up comedian (Adam Driver) and his wife, a world-famous soprano (Marion Cotillard). Their glamorous life takes an unexpected turn when their daughter Annette is born, a girl with a unique gift.

“Bernstein” - A portrait of Leonard Bernstein's singular charisma and passion for music as he rose to fame as America's first native born, world-renowned conductor, all along following his ambition to compose both symphonic and popular Broadway works. Director Bradley Cooper and stars Bradley Cooper and Carey Mulligan.

“Cherry” - American crime drama by Anthony and Joe Russo with a written screenplay by Jessica Goldberg and Angela Russo-Otstot. The film stars Tom Holland in the lead role, along with a supporting cast that includes Ciara Bravo, Bill Skarsgård and Jack Reynor. An Army medic named Nico Walker (Holland) who has returned from Iraq dealing with an opioid addiction and posttraumatic stress disorder begins robbing banks.

“Da 5 Bloods” - A group of veterans from the Vietnam War return to the jungle to find their lost innocence. Stars Chadwick Boseman – Spike Lee Directs.

“Dune” - Director: Denis Villeneuve of Incendies, Sicario, Blade Runner and Arrival, revisits the science fiction story in the far future of humanity, Duke Leto Atreides accepts stewardship of the dangerous desert planet Arrakis, the only source of the most valuable substance in the universe, "the spice", a drug which extends human life, provides superhuman levels of thought, and makes foldspace travel possible. The ensemble cast including Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård, Dave Bautista, Zendaya, David Dastmalchian, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Charlotte Rampling, Jason Momoa and Javier Bardem.

"Greyhound” - Directed by Aaron Schneider - Nazi U-boats pursue a convoy of Allied ships during the early days of World War II. Tom Hanks stars.

"Hillbilly Elegy” - Directed by Ron Howard aka for Apollo 13 is a film memoir of a family and culture in crisis based on J. D. Vance book about the Appalachian values of his Kentucky family and their relation to the social problems of his hometown of Middletown, Ohio, where his mother's parents moved when they were young. Amy Adams and Glenn Close star. 

“In the Heights” - Explores three days in the New York City Dominican-American neighborhood of Washington Heights. Stars and Produced by “Hamilton’s”  Lin-Manuel Miranda. 

“Mank” (Netflix) - “Mank,” Directed by David Fincher and written by the director's late father Jack Fincher, which tells the true story of Herman J. Mankiewicz as he sets out to write the script for Orson Welles' “Citizen Kane.” Stars Gary Oldman.

“Macbeth” - A Scottish lord becomes convinced by a trio of witches that he will become the next King of Scotland, and his ambitious wife supports him in his plans of seizing power. Director Joel Coen and  stars Denzel Washington.

“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” An upcoming drama film directed by George C. Wolfe, based on the play of the same name by August Wilson. Depicts the tensions musician Ma Rainey encountered between her bandmates, her white agent and her producer while recording an album in 1927. Stars Viola Davis as Ma Rainey, Chadwick Boseman and Glynn Turman.

“Minari” – A Korean family moves to Arkansas to start a farm in the 1980s. Director Lee Isaac Chung. Won Best Picture at Sundance Film Festival.

“News of the World” - A Texan traveling across the Wild West agrees to help rescue a young girl who has been kidnapped. Director Paul Greegrass aka for The Bourne films also stars Tom Hanks.

“Nightmare Alley” – A thriller film directed by Guillermo del Toro about a corrupt con-man teams up with a female psychiatrist to trick people into giving them money. Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe, Richard Jenkins, Ron Perlman and Rooney Mara. 

“Nomadland” - “Nomadland” is a road movie following Fern played Frances McDormand aka Fargo and 3 Billboards Outside Ebbing, MO, a woman in her sixties, who after losing everything in the Great Recession embarks on a journey through the American West, living as a van-dwelling modern-day nomad. 

“On the Rocks” - An upcoming American comedy-drama film, written and directed by Sofia Coppola. It stars Rashida Jones, Bill Murray, Marlon Wayans, Jessica Henwick and Jenny Slate. The story follows a young mother who reconnects with her larger than life playboy father on an adventure through New York.

 “Soul” – Animation of a middle-school music teacher dreams of playing at legendary New York jazz club "The Blue Note".

“Stillwater” - When six old friends go on a weekend camping trip, it turns tragic when one of them dies under mysterious circumstances, triggering further turmoil as they attempt to unmask the killer within their own group.

“The Trial of the Chicago 7” - In 1969, seven people were charged by the federal government with conspiracy and more, arising from the protests at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Aaron Sorkin aka for ‘The Social Network writes and directs.

 "Tenet" – World espionage and time travel. An action thriller film written and directed by Christopher Nolan (Batman trilogy - Dunkirk). It stars John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Dimple Kapadia, Michael Caine, and Kenneth Branagh.

"The French Dispatch" – Director Wes Anderson aka for Moonlight Kingdom and The Isle of Dogs tells the story of a staff of a European publication decides to publish a memorial edition highlighting the three best stories from the last decade: an artist sentenced to life imprisonment, student riots, and a kidnapping resolved by a chef.

“The Last Duel” - A historical period drama film directed by Ridley Scott. Based on the book The Last Duel: A True Story of Trial by Combat in Medieval France by Eric Jager, the script is written by Ben Affleck, Matt Damon and Nicole Holofcener, with Damon starring in the lead role opposite Adam Driver, with Affleck in a supporting role. Former best friends Jean de Carrouges and Jacques Le Gris are ordered to fight to the death after Carrouges accuses Le Gris of raping his wife in 14th-century France.

"The Prom" (Netflix) - Focuses on the relationship between an Indiana teenager (Caitlin Kinnunen) who wants to bring her girlfriend (Isabelle McCalla) to her school's big dance. Instead, they're banned from attending and band together with other friends to help fight the injustice.

“Those Who Wish Me Dead” - A teenage murder witness finds himself pursued by twin assassins in the Montana wilderness with a survival expert tasked with protecting him and a forest fire threatening to consume them all. Director Taylor Sheridan formerly known for writing Sicario, Hell of High Water and Wind River. Stars Angelina Jolie, Jon Bernthal aka Sicario and Nicholas Hoult aka Mad Max: Fury Road. 

“True History of the Kelly Gang” - a British-Australian biographical western film directed by Justin Kurzel. It stars George MacKay, Essie Davis, Nicholas Hoult, Orlando Schwerdt, Thomasin McKenzie, Sean Keenan, Charlie Hunnam and Russell Crowe. Based on Peter Carey's novel. The story of Australian bushranger Ned Kelly and his gang as they flee from authorities during the 1870s.

“Untitled Project” – Director David O. Russell aka Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle, The Fighter and Three Kings – Stars Margot Robbie, Christian Bale, Michael B. Jordan and possibly Michael Shannon, Mike Myers, and Robert De Niro. 

"West Side Story" - West Side Story is a romantic musical film remake directed and co-produced by Steven Spielberg, with a screenplay by Tony Kushner. The film stars Ansel Elgort and Rachel Zegler and is an adaptation of the Broadway musical of the same name by Arthur Laurents, Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim.