15 Movies I'm Looking Forward To

in no particular order

We are about to enter into the best part of the year. The heat will go away. The foliage will flame. And good movies will finally take their place at the cinemas. Here are 15 films coming up this awards season that I am looking forward to.

Rabbit Trap

IMDb has this to say, and it’s all I need to know: “Married couple Daphne and Darcy Davenport (Rosy McEwen and Dev Patel) are two musicians who move from London to a cottage in Wales to complete their new album. By accident they record a mystical sound never heard before and gradually disconnect from reality.”

A Big Bold Beautiful Journey

This one is all about the people involved. Colin Farrell and Margot Robbie star, and I deeply admire both of them. The big gun, though, is director Kogonada (yes, it’s a one-word pseudonym). He has written and directed only two films, but they are both incredible: Columbus and After Yang. Those both explore what it means to be Asian outside of Asia and the natures of memory and art. His new film, though, is his first written by another person. That writer is Seth Reiss, and he’s really only got 2022’s The Menu under his belt, but I adored that film. The only unanswered question: where is Haley Lu Richardson, star of Columbus and After Yang?

Caught Stealing

Darren Aronofsky! I admit that he’s an uneven director. Noah and The Whale were terrible films, but they are balanced by all the great ones: mother!, Black Swan, The Wrestler, The Fountain, and Requiem for a Dream. Yes, many of those are very divisive films, but that’s the tightrope that Aronofsky walks. It’s kind of impressive that he’s only fallen twice. (Right?) I am trying to be open-minded about star Austin Butler (oh, the PTSD from Elvis!), but I think we’re going to get great turns by Liev Schreiber and Zoe Kravitz. And if not, surely there’s a treat involved with Carol Kane and Vincent D’Onofrio playing characters named Bubbe and Shmully!

One Battle After Another

Paul Thomas Anderson is a writer/director whom I have a complicated relationship with. Magnolia? Brilliant. Phantom Thread? Stunning. Inherent Vice? So much fun! Punch-Drunk Love? Yes, please. But the discard bin is pretty full: Boogie Nights, There Will Be Blood, Licorice Pizza… The trailer is giving me definite Inherent Vice vibes, though, and if it’s as delightful a shaggy dog tale as that, I will be well pleased.

Highest 2 Lowest

Another director I’m divided on: Spike Lee. Some garbage and some gems. This film is a reimagining of Akira Kurosawa’s excellent 1963 film, High and Low, so sign me up to give it a try! Also, the trailers have me convinced that Denzel Washington just might outdo himself one more time before his announced retirement begins.

Blue Moon

Richard Linklater has two films coming out this season, and I expect this one will be the one overlooked, but a chamber piece about Lorenz Hart starring Ethan Hawke, Margaret Qualley, and Bobby Cannavale? I. Am. There.

Nouvelle Vague

Linklater’s other film is also a fictionalized history of a famous artist. It tells the story of the film that launched the French New Wave (or Nouvelle Vague), Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless. It is filmed in the style of that classic work: in French and mod black-and-white. I think this film has the potential to go the distance, and it is currently my prediction for Best Picture. Hollywood loves Linklater, the Nouvelle Vague, and films about movie-making. I’m betting on those factors aligning with a great film.

Eleanor the Great

For years, acting seemed to be a struggle for poor Scarlett Johansson, but she has bloomed into a great actress against all odds! Now we will get a sense of whether she is a great director, as well. Eleanor the Great stars 96-year-old firecracker June Squibb, fresh from her first lead role in last year’s wonderful Thelma. I’m avoiding plot details, but it involves a journalist played by Erin Kellyman and her father, played by Chiwetel Ejiofor. I see no weak link.

Eden

Ron Howard is great at making perfect mainstream films. His Thirteen Lives still chills me in good ways. Now, he is looking to chill in darker ways, with this violent film about a utopian island colony (including Jude Law) and a rich woman (the always-great Ana de Armas). What exactly are they fighting over? Well…that’s still a mystery, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Law vs. de Armas? Bring it on!

Spinal Tap II: The End Continues

No explanation needed. You’ve seen the original. My keyboard won’t allow me to put an umlaut over an ‘n’, though.

Kiss of the Spider Woman

This could be really good or really bad, and it all depends on Jennifer Lopez. Not great odds, eh? But, remember before “J.Lo” when Lopez was simply a very promising actor? I do. Can she pull off this Kander & Ebb musical about South American inmates falling in love? I’m not worried about Diego Luna, so I hope so.

Hedda

A masterpiece of Modernist drama, Hedda Gabler is a personal favorite. What will this “reimagining” by Nia DaCosta be like? Very hard to say. Leading actress Tessa Thompson has done some excellent work and some embarrassing work. Nina Hoss and Imogen Poots should be able costars. Here’s hoping they bring it home!

Wicked: For Good

A guaranteed homerun, the second act of the blockbuster musical will be amazing. Those critics who keep mentioning that the second act is inferior to the first are simply looking for something to say. We all know this is going to be great.

Zootopia 2

Here is the film on this list that most worries me. The trailer is fun, but it’s hard to imagine the movie based on it. How can you ruin a bunny and fox buddy cop film? With a silly snake.

Hamnet

I am the inverse of the rest of the world. I never liked Chloë Zhao until she turned in Eternals, one of the—let me say it!—one of the strongest MCU titles in my—hey!—unpopular opinion. Now she adapts the best-seller about Shakespeare’s son (who was indeed named Hamnet, boy poor), starring Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal. And that sentence makes me pretty excited (although hesitantly so).

As a bonus treat, the filmed version of the recent Broadway smash musical, Merrily We Roll Along is coming to theaters (and hopefully disc). Daniel Radcliffe’s Tony-winning performance singing Sondheim? Heh heh…oh yeah.