Season’s greetings! Do you adore movies, that intangible sense of emotional resonance and visual majesty? Great! That affinity for cinema may have been radically altered by the pandemic, inducing seismic shifts in entertainment consumption, such as the accelerated prominence of streaming, but as this fractured world continues to reel and you mitigate your weary mind from those straining final exams, why not seek an oasis in this historically invigorating medium?
Excluding that taxing academic interlude, Thanksgiving and Christmas break are teeming with joy, most notably with family and friends, and even sobering self-reflection. It’s an ideal time of year to perhaps reckon with your past strife, embrace a jubilant present and ensure a more fruitful future within those extremes. Cinema could be key in this introspection: It not only is the great unifier (or an incredible outlet to decompress individually, which is perfectly valid), but it also has the monumental power to stir your very soul.
Amidst that exhilarating whirlwind of decadent feasts and treats, vibrant personal gatherings and even some internal evaluation, detach from your daily woes and enhance your jolly spirits by being enlightened, transported or both by this enduring pastime.
November 24:
Encanto
Disney’s latest animated outing teases another exuberant and magical experience. In a fantastical realm that mirrors Colombia, a young woman grappling with being the only member of her tight-knit clan without any mystical powers must embark on a journey to save her family and their abilities. Ensure to bring some tissues to the multiplex, along with a penchant for the spellbinding. -PG/Theaters
House of Gucci
After her virtuosa acting debut in A Star Is Born, Lady Gaga’s sophomore performance promises riveting intrigue and high-brow camp galore. She portrays the infamously ambitious Patrizia Reggiani, who conspired to assassinate her husband Maurizio Gucci to usurp the titular fashion empire. Adam Driver, Al Pacino, Jared Leto and Salma Hayek co-star in this glitzy thriller-melodrama of wealth, greed and… murder. -R/Theaters
Resident Evil: Raccoon City
The expansive Resident Evil video game adaption franchise is given a new blood-drenched sheen in this reboot. Expect tautly executed horror set pieces and grisly action, satiating the gore-hound that resides in many filmgoers. -R/Theaters
December 1:
The Power of the Dog
Blockbuster and studio fare are often exhilarating, but why not revel in some prestige cinema to counteract all that gloss? Widely lauded director Jane Campion returns from an over-decade hiatus to dissect veneers of toxic masculinity in this tantalizing and haunting reconstitution of the western genre. Benedict Cumberbatch and Kirsten Dunst are already accumulating gargantuan Oscar buzz for their inevitably riveting turns. -R/Netflix
December 10:
West Side Story
Remakes are often listless, but revered filmmaker Steven Spielberg is keen on offering his rendition of the beloved 1960s toe-tapping musical, itself adapted from a stage production inspired by Romeo and Juliet. Admittingly, the film seems as earnest and beguiling as both its originators and the esteemed director’s filmography. -PG-13/Theaters
December 17:
Spider-Man: No Way Home
Multiversal calamity ensues as the titular web-slinger (Tom Holland) implores sorcerer supreme Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) to erase his false incrimination and the dastardly reveal of his secret identity, inadvertently lacerating the sheer fabric of space and time in the process. “Friendly neighborhood” milieu is challenged as teenager Peter Parker’s plucky street-level status is compromised by the arrival of nefarious villains (and potentially parallel versions of himself, as has been rampantly speculated) from adjacent dimensions- and previous franchise iterations! Marvelous indeed. -PG-13/Theaters
Swan Song
In this somber and tender sci-fi meditation on grief and love, a man diagnosed with terminal illness (Oscar winner Mahershala Ali) vies to clone himself as a means of solace for his wife and daughter in the wake of his absence. -R/Apple TV+
December 22:
The King’s Man
The giddily irreverent and brash stylings of the initial Kingsman films are entrenched in a retro period aesthetic in this long-belated prequel. The demure presence of Ralph Fiennes is expected to reinforce this classic espionage story. -R/Theaters
The Matrix Resurrections
Keanu Reeves revitalizes the groundbreaking Matrix series in this fourth installment. The messianic Neo has been leading a mundane civilian life before being immersed once more in the vast, reality-shattering Matrix simulator. Sci-fi aficionados eagerly await another cerebral chapter brimming with kinetic set pieces and heady existential themes. -R/Theaters and HBO Max
Sing 2
The successor to the 2016 animated smash hit cues another set of endearing celebrity voice performances, including the dynamic charms of Taron Egerton, Scarlett Johansson, Matthew McConaughey, and Reese Witherspoon, comprising a sprightly group of animal vocal performers undergoing another contentious singing competition. This obviously entails dazzling musical numbers that could resonate with your own herd, barring the fur and feathers, of course! -PG/Theaters
December 24:
Don’t Look Up
The Big Short and Vice writer-director Adam McKay unveils another scathing political satire with his potent blend of acerbic wit and searing tragedy. Bolstered by the year’s most eclectic cast, including Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Jonah Hill, Meryl Streep, Timothée Chalamet and Cate Blanchett, the film poses a timely climate change allegory as inept global institutions remiss to take decisive action against impending doom- a cataclysmic comet hurtling toward Earth. -R/Netflix
December 25:
Licorice Pizza
The acclaimed Paul Thomas Anderson helms his most effusive film to date, a warm and hysterical coming-of-age tale set in the vivid San Fernando Valley in 1970s California. In their screen debuts, Cooper Hoffman, son of Phillip Seymour Hoffman, and Alana Haim, of the indie band Haim, fervently portray two newfound friends whose fulfilling connection may flourish into romance, challenging the tumultuous entertainment industry backdrop that dictates their past and future. -R/Theaters
January 7:
The 355
In this explosive spy film, a maverick CIA agent unifies with three international counterparts to embark upon a fraught mission to retrieve a potentially lethal weapon. The globe-trotting and adrenaline-fueled cornerstones of this genre are now laced with the formidable gravitas of Jessica Chastain, Lupita Nyong’o, Diane Kruger and Penélope Cruz. -PG-13/Theaters
Photo Credit- Universal/20th Century Studios/Sony/MGM/Netflix
