Tuesday, January 4, 2022

Movies Update: Anticipated Movies of 2022

Plus, what to stream in the new year.

Happy new year, movie fans!

We're looking ahead to the next 12 months in film, which will see more superhero battles, more dinosaur rampages and more impossible missions playing out on the big screen. We picked out a half-dozen titles that are already getting us excited.

"Marry Me": Been hoping for a nice, sweet American rom-com the way they used to make them? Jennifer Lopez and Owen Wilson just may be able to deliver in this story about a pop superstar who weds a complete stranger in the spur of the moment. Original songs performed by Lopez may have you nodding your head, and the Wilson-Lopez charm may warm your heart this winter. It's due Feb. 11 ahead of Valentine's Day. Here's the trailer.

"The Batman": Do we need yet another take on the Caped Crusader? Probably not, but we're still super curious to see how Robert Pattinson, who is never not interesting onscreen these days, fares in the Batmobile. The rest of the cast seems pretty great, too, including Zoë Kravitz as Selina (a.k.a. Catwoman), Jeffrey Wright as Commissioner Gordon, Colin Farrell as the Penguin and a host of other terrific performers. It's due March 4; here's a trailer.

"Downton Abbey: A New Era": Our critic at large Salamishah Tillet is a big fan of the TV and movie saga of the Crawley family and their various servants and relations. She wrote that she's "looking forward to seeing how the franchise tries to reinvent itself on the cusp of a new era, the 1930s, and how it fares in the current racial moment. (A Black female face pops up in a trailer.)" It's due March 18; here's that clip.

Eerie Auteurs: The directors Robert Eggers ("The Witch," "The Lighthouse") and Ari Aster ("Hereditary," "Midsommar") each specialize in stories that disturb and unsettle, and we can't wait to see how they'll put us on edge this year. Eggers has "The Northman," starring Anya Taylor-Joy and Alexander Skarsgard and due in April. Here's the trailer. Aster has "Disappointment Blvd." There's not a lot known about it beyond its cast (led by Joaquin Phoenix); nor is there a firm release date. But the director has described it as a four-hour "nightmare comedy." Whether or not it will actually be that long, we're in.

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"Nope": And speaking of eerie auteurs, one of the giants of new horror, Jordan Peele, has another trick up his sleeve. After thrilling audiences with "Get Out" and "Us," he returns this summer with "Nope." Peele has revealed little about the plot, but we can probably expect something multilayered that draws from his cinema obsessions while being some combination of funny and frightful. Then again, who knows? We're up for whatever surprises he has in store. It's due July 22.

Enjoy the movies!

CATCH UP ON THESE CRITICS' PICKS

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Disney

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'Encanto' Review: In This House, We Make Magic

Disney's new film, about a gifted family in Colombia, has stunning animation, a beautifully composed story and spellbinding songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda.

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'The Lost Daughter' Review: The Parent Trap

This dreamy thriller follows an academic with a mysterious past who heads to a beach vacation on the Greek islands.

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'The Power of the Dog' Review: Wild Hearts on a Closed Frontier

In Jane Campion's staggering take on the western, her first movie in more than a decade, a cruel cowboy meets his surprising match.

By Manohla Dargis

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'The Hand of God' Review: A Portrait of the Cineaste as a Young Man

Paolo Sorrentino's autobiographical drama about growing up in Naples is sensual, sad and occasionally sublime.

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'Passing' Review: Black Skin, White Masks

Rebecca Hall's piercing drama stars Tessa Thompson and Ruth Negga as old friends navigating the color line in 1920s New York.

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'Belfast' Review: A Boy's Life

In this charming memoir, Kenneth Branagh recalls his childhood in Northern Ireland through a rose-tinted lens.

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Neon

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'Spencer' Review: Prisoner of the House of Windsor

Kristen Stewart stars as an anguished, rebellious Princess Diana in Pablo Larraín's answer to "The Crown."

By A.O. Scott

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