WHAT TO WATCH IN 2021

​My recommendations for the biggest new releases of the 2021 calendar…

Happy New Year! With any new year comes new films. Except it’s difficult to predict 2021’s biggest releases as the release schedule keeps shifting and cinemas remain closed. Either way, I’ve had a look at the current release schedule and listed my picks for what film titles take my fancy...should they be released this year…

​

Awards, Awards, Awards

Who knows if we’ll even have any awards ceremonies this year? There certainly won’t be any contenders if there are no cinemas open to show them. Either way, this year’s Golden Globes are pencilled in for February 28th with the delayed BAFTAs on April 11th and the Oscars on April 25th. And, unbelievably, there’s a couple of movies that are currently generating awards buzz…

​

​Pieces of a Woman (out now in cinemas) (out Jan. 7th on Netflix)

Vanessa Kirby looks set to be the rising star of 2021. She’s already wowed audiences on TV as Princess Margaret in ‘The Crown’ (2016-2017) and now is shaping up as a major Oscar favourite for her performance here in ‘Pieces of a Woman’ (2021) as an ex-pregnant woman who takes her midwife (Ellen Burstyn) to court on grounds of criminal negligence. Shia LaBeouf co-stars as her long-suffering husband and the film features a whopping 22-minute, one-shot birth scene. Yikes!

​

​The Father (out Jan. 8th) (in cinemas)

​What with ‘The Roads Not Taken’ (2020), ‘Relic’ (2020) and ‘Falling’ (2020), the subject of dementia and ageing has been in the movies a lot recently. Pundits are tipping Anthony Hopkins to get nominated for his performance as an ageing Welshman who must deal with the fallout of his dementia. Olivia Colman co-stars as his daughter who moves into a flat with him and will surely be getting awards attention too.

​News of the World (TBC) (on Netflix)

12 year old breakout star of German child drama ‘System Crasher’ (2020), Helena Zengel, stars opposite Tom Hanks in Paul Greengrass’ American Civil War drama. Based on Paulette Jiles’ 2016 novel of the same name, Hanks is the American Civil War veteran who has to return a young girl (Zengel), stolen by natives as an infant, to her last remaining family. Expect this one to be moving and to get Hanks a nomination.

​

​Sound of Metal (out Jan. 29th) (in cinemas)

Riz Ahmed seems to have made a late-career habit of playing musicians with illnesses which is perhaps unsurprising considering he is a rapper himself. Last year, he played a rapper with a debilitating degenerative disease in ‘Mogul Mowgli’ (2020) and now he plays a drummer who begins to lose his hearing. The likeable Olivia Cooke co-stars and people are predicting a nomination for Riz.

​

​​Nomadland (out Feb. 19th) (in cinemas)

Will Frances McDormand win her third Oscar? It certainly helps that she produced this American drama from ‘The Rider’ director Chloe Zhao about a woman who leaves her small town to travel the American West. Winning both the Golden Lion at Venice and the People’s Choice Award at Toronto, this one’s been taking the festival circuit by storm.







​

​

Blockbuster Galore

Provided the cinemas stay open, 2021 will see a flood of blockbusters with big-budget leftovers from 2020 lining up to be released practically every week. That’s if (and it’s a big IF) the cinemas stay open and studios don’t keep delaying their tentpoles or decide to dump them on streaming services. Fingers crossed…

​

​No Time to Die (out Apr. 2nd) (in cinemas)

The delay of this latest James Bond film until April this year (a whole year since it was originally scheduled to come out) was responsible for the closure of the UK’s biggest cinema chain - Cineworld. With fingers crossed, 007 should be back on the big screen this Easter with Daniel Craig bowing out of the tux and Aston Martin, Lashana Lynch as a kick-ass female “OO” and Rami Malek chewing up the scenery as the villain Safin. Hopefully…

​

A Quiet Place: Part II (out Apr. 23rd) (in cinemas)

Another movie that was scheduled for release over a year ago is John Krasinski’s much-anticipated sequel to his 2018 silent horror hit. Emily Blunt is the new mum with a baby and two kids attempting to survive in a world where creatures “hear you, they hunt you”. Should be good and scary…

​

Black Widow (out May 7th) (in cinemas)

The success of ‘Wonder Woman 1984’ (2020) in North America is proof that a post-pandemic audience still have the appetite for a female-led superhero movie. Marvel will be hoping to pull off the trick again this summer with an origins story about Scarlett Johansson’s leather-clad, arse-kicking Black Widow. The ridiculously talented Florence Pugh is her fellow arse-kicking sister.

​

​Top Gun: Maverick (out Jul. 1st) (in cinemas)

Ok, it might be crap, but it might be good. I love seeing Tom Cruise in pilot’s wear and he’s back as “Maverick” Mitchell in this sequel to Tony Scott’s 1986 action classic. Miles Teller is “Rooster” Bradshaw - son of Anthony Edwards’ “Goose” Bradshaw from the first film. Expect lots of aerial action!

​

​Dune (TBC) (in cinemas)

Denis Villeneuve directs a new adaptation of Frank Hubert’s 1965 Sci-Fi classic - the first in a two-part adaptation. This stars a HUGE ensemble cast including Timothee Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgard and Dave Bautista among countless others. Expect this to be the thinking man’s blockbuster of the year. I just hope it doesn’t bomb like the 1984 Lynch version…







​
​

American Beauties

If 2020 did anything at all, it was skyrocket and fast-forward the rise of streaming services. Thanks to Netflix, Amazon Prime, Curzon Home Cinema and countless others, American indie films have found a platform for mainstream success. I hope they continue to get more attention in 2021. Here’s just some of them that I thought looked interesting…

​

Passing (out at Sundance Jan. 30th) (in cinemas)

Rebecca Hall makes her directorial debut with this adaptation of Nella Larsen’s novel of the same name. It’s the story of mixed race childhood friends who are reunited in adulthood and become obsessed with each other’s lives. Tessa Thompson, Ruth Negga, Andre Holland, Alexander Skarsgard and Bill Camp lead an ensemble cast that premieres at Sundance.

​

Mayday (out at Sundance Jan. 31st) (in cinemas)

The talented Grace Van Patten stars as a young woman who is transported to a dream-like world where she joins an army of girls in a never-ending war at a rugged coastline. Mia Goth and Juliette Lewis co-star, but this looks set to be Van Patten’s show.

​

​Promising Young Woman (out Feb. 12th) (in cinemas)

Expect Carey Mulligan to be getting awards attention for her performance in Emerald Fennell’s dark directorial debut. She stars as a young woman who sets out to take revenge on the men who have wronged for. Expect an empowering feminist message and lots of violence.

​

Minamata (out Feb. 12th) (in cinemas)

Can people even watch Johnny Depp anymore? Especially considering his accusations of Domestic Violence. This film will be the test to see if the public can forgive him. He plays famed war photographer W. Eugene Smith who travels back to Japan where he captures the effects of Mercury poisoning in coastal communities (also known as Minamata disease). One for controversy.

​

​Minari (out Mar. 19th) (in cinemas)

Lee Isaac Chung directs this bilingual, semi-autobiographical story of his own childhood. It follows a family of South Korean immigrants trying to make it big in 1980s rural America. Has been generating buzz ever since it debuted at Sundance last year, winning both the US Dramatic Grand Jury Prize and the US Dramatic Audience Award.

​





​

The Brits Are Coming!

British cinema had something of a golden year in 2020, despite the cinemas being shut. Streaming services, once again, offered it a platform for mainstream success and there were so many great Brit pics that need BAFTA attention this April. Here’s just some of the new ones for 2021...

​

​Blithe Spirit (out Jan. 15th) (in cinemas and on Sky Cinema)

English theatre director Edward Hall directs a new version of Noel Coward’s 1941 theatrical comedy classic. Dan Stevens and Isla Fisher are Charles and Ruth Condomine, Judi Dench is Madame Arcati and Leslie Mann is Elvira Condomine. Good cast, but will it match the 1945 David Lean version with Rex Harrison, Constance Cummings, Kay Hammond and Margaret Rutherford? Who knows!

​

​The Mauritanian (out Feb. 26th) (in cinemas)

Kevin Macdonald directs a British-American legal thriller - the true story of Mauritanian Mohamedou Ould Salahi who was captured by the US Government and kept at Guantanamo Bay without charge or trial for 14 years between 2002 and 2016. Tahar Rahim is Salahi while Jodie Foster and Shailene Woodley are the defence attorney and associate defending him in court. Benedict Cumberbatch is the military prosecutor who uncovers evidence of a shocking and far-reaching conspiracy. Should be polemical stuff…

​

​Supernova (out Mar. 5th) (in cinemas)

Colin Firth and Stanley Tucci are a gay couple coping with the fallout of the latter’s dementia in the directorial debut of ‘EastEnders’ star Harry MacQueen. This is set in the Lake District, has lovely chemistry between Firth and Tucci and some stunning scenery. One for tissues.

​

​​Last Night in Soho (out Apr. 23rd) (in cinemas)

Edgar Wright’s latest film sees Anya Taylor-Joy as a young wannabe fashion designer who enters the 1960s and encounters her idol - a glamorous wannabe singer (Thomasin Harcourt MacKenzie). Matt Smith co-stars and the film marks the final film appearances for Diana Rigg and Margaret Nolan, who died in September and October last year. Expect two things from Wright - it will be scary and have lots of pop culture references.

​

​Death on the Nile (out Sept. 17th) (in cinemas)

Kenneth Branagh is back; directing and starring as the fabulously moustached Belgian detective Hercule Poirot in a new adaptation of Agatha Christie’s 1937 classic. It’s a sequel to his 2017 ‘Murder on the Orient Express’ and has Poirot searching for the murderer on a tourist boat on the Nile. A gleaming guest list includes Gal Gadot, Annette Benning, Russell Brand, Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders, Rose Leslie, Armie Hammer...the list goes on.

​




​

Around the World in 365 Days

World Cinema really came into its own or, should I say, came of age in 2020. Because the majority of big-budget blockbusters from America were being postponed, a bunch of foreign-language films started showing up on the release schedules in multiplexes. I guess, in other parts of the world, cinemas are now open; meaning more movies that could get mainstream recognition in the West. Here’s a couple of the big ones from around the globe to watch out for in 2021…

​

Quo Vadis, Aida? (out Jan. 22nd) (in cinemas and on Curzon Home Cinema)

This internationally co-produced Bosnian drama showed at the 2020 Venice International Film Festival and was selected as Bosnia’s entry for Best International Feature Film at the 2021 Oscars. It’s the story of a UN translator named Aida (Jasna Duricic) attempting to protect her family when the Bosnian Serb Army takes over the city of Srebrenica and begins the ethnic cleansing of the Bosniak population. Expect it to be hard-hitting and disturbing.

​

Never Gonna Snow Again (TBC)

Poland’s Best International Feature Film entry for the 2021 Oscars stars Alec Utgoff as a Russian-speaking immigrant from the East who builds an unexpected cult following. Expect comedy and drama to ensue.

Night of the Kings (TBC)

Ivory Coast’s Best International Feature Film, 2021 Oscar entry is from Director Philippe Lacote. It stars Bakary Kone as a young pickpocket sent to prison in Abidjan who survives prison life by telling stories to other prisoners. This has been getting awards attention ever since it debuted at Venice and Toronto.

​

The Disciple (TBC)

Chaitanya Tamhane’s Indian Marathi drama made history by becoming the first Indian film since Mira Nair’s ‘Monsoon Wedding’ (2001) to play at Venice. It’s the story of an Indian classical music vocalist who starts to wonder whether it’s really possible to achieve the excellence he’s striving for. Hopefully this will get a UK release this year.

​

​Amants (TBC)

Gorgeous, bilingual English-French star Stacy Martin is the heart of this love triangle thriller from France which debuted at Venice in September. Here, a pair of young lovers (Martin and Pierre Niney) are forced to break up when one of the latter’s clients (Benoit Magimel) overdoses. Sounds very intriguing...

​








​

Other Highlights

A couple of other 2021 movies that take my fancy…

​

​The Many Saints of Newark (out Mar. 12th) (in cinemas)

David Chase’s movie prequel to his landmark gangster TV series ‘The Sopranos’ (1999-2007) finally gets its UK cinema release date (hopefully!) along with a simultaneous release on HBO Max. Alessandro Nivola is Dickie Moltisanti, father of Christopher, and Jon Bernthal is “Johnny Boy” Soprano, father of Tony. Set in 1960s and 70s Newark, New Jersey, the film uses the backdrop of the 1967 Newark riots for tension between the Italian American and African American communities.

​

​Cruella (out May 28th) (in cinemas)

Emma Stone dons the dogskin coat as everyone’s favourite, scary-haired fashion designer-cum-supervillainess. This is a 70s-set origins story with Cruella as a punk rock icon. Emma Thompson, Mark Strong and Paul Walter Hauser also star, but expect this to be the wildest and wackiest role of Stone’s career.

​

Halloween Kills (out Oct. 15th) (in cinemas)

I missed 2018’s ‘Halloween’ which was a direct sequel to the 1978 slasher classic and effectively a retcon of the 10 previous sequels. Director David Gordon Green is back behind the camera for this sequel which sees Jamie-Lee Curtis back as Laurie Strode - the only survivor of Michael Myers’ 1978 killing spree. James Jude Courtney and Nick Castle are in the double role of serial killer Myers as Laurie and her family make a stand against him when he returns to Haddonfield. Perfect for Halloween.

​

The Last Duel (out Oct. 15th) (in cinemas) ​

No one does a historical epic better than Ridley Scott and he steps behind the camera for this adaptation of Eric Jager’s ‘The Last Duel: A True Story of Trial by Combat in Medieval France’. Matt Damon and Adam Driver star as 14th century knights - Jean de Carrouges and Jacques Le Gris - who are ordered to fight to the death after the former accuses the latter of raping his wife. ‘Killing Eve’s Jodie Comer also stars and Ben Affleck is King Charles VI.

​

​West Side Story (out Dec. 10th) (in cinemas)

Steven Spielberg directs a new version of everyone’s favourite 1957 Broadway musical and loose adaptation of ‘Romeo + Juliet’. This remake is closer to the stage show than the 1961 film adaptation. Ansel Elgort and Rachel Zegler are teenagers Tony and Maria who fall in love despite belonging to rival street gangs - the Jets and the Sharks - in 1950s NYC. This will be Christmas 2021’s annual holiday movie.

​