My Top Ten Films of 1941

This is part of my continuing series looking back on films from the years before I began this blog. The ten films below are unranked and listed in no particular order. Enjoy.

Charley's Aunt - Sometimes all you need to love a film is one good performance, and here it's Jack Benny in the epic drag performance of a lifetime.  The love farce is old hat, but Benny as the unstoppable Donna Lucia from Brazil, "where the nuts come from," would cement his comic reputation, and influence every other drag artist for decades.  The second the dress goes on, something is unleashed in Benny that he could never showcase in masculine garb, and I couldn't get enough.

Hellzapoppin' - A fourth wall breaking, meta-gag pioneering, absurdist comedy about the cast and crew of a theater revue whose show is being adapted for the big screen.  Several members of the cast are playing themselves, bent on sabotaging the movie within the movie, there's a ton of tricky business with shifting frames of reference, and all kinds of humorous nonsense results.  It all ends happily of course, but the film takes the twistiest, silliest  possible road to get there.   

Penny Serenade - Irene Dunne and Cary Grant are two of my very favorite movie stars, but the movie's best scene is of Edgar Buchanan as the old print-worker who has to show the young couple how to diaper their adopted baby.  "Penny Serenade" is unapologetically sentimental, but honest about all the demands and heartaches of parenthood, and its toll on relationships.  Grant's speech near the end of the film is a heartbreaker - and got him a well deserved Oscar nod.   

Sullivan's Travels - My favorite Preston Sturges film is a self-aware comedy about a naive actor who wants to make important films, only to learn that what most audiences really need is a good honest laugh.  This contains my favorite appearance by Veronica Lake, and oddly one of the best uses of Disney's Pluto in any medium.  And though the film is uplifting, Sturges still manages to give us a clear-eyed look at the darker parts of this era of America too.  

Citizen Kane - Well, I'm certainly not going to say anything about Orson Welles and "Citizen Kane" that you haven't heard before.  Practically every shot has been referenced, homaged, and dissected by somebody, and David Fincher made an entire film about how the script got written, eighty years later.  "Citizen Kane" is not just a monumental achievement in American filmmaking, but remains a cornerstone of the mythos of Hollywood, even after all this time.  

The Devil and Miss Jones - One of the more delightful pro-labor films of the era stars Charles Coburn and an out-of-touch business tycoon who decides to go undercover at his own department store in order to root out union organizers.  Working in the shoe department, he learns to sympathize with the common man, admire the spirit of his co-workers, and even appreciate some female companionship.  I just don't understand why Coburn is somehow a "supporting actor."  

Dumbo - The first movie that I ever identified as my favorite movie.  It's darker than you probably remember, with the pink elephant segment representing Disney at their most unhinged, yet so universal that even the smallest children can watch and understand the movie.  Understandably there are elements that have aged poorly, but the messages of empathy and friendship are timeless.  The animation, likewise, still holds up just fine.  

Ball of Fire - A screwball delight that I'd describe as kind of like "Pygmalion" if Eliza Doolittle were a mobster's moll played by Barbara Stanwyck and wasn't remotely interested in learning to speak properly, and the professor was played by Gary Cooper, and he was the one who ended up getting schooled.  It's also kind of like "Snow White," but instead of dwarfs you had a houseful of stodgy professors and the Wicked Witch was a gangster named Joe Lilac.   

The Maltese Falcon - Like "Casablanca," this is the originator of so many detective and noir tropes that "The Maltese Falcon" can look cliche in retrospect.  Detective stories were commonplace, but not with John Huston's scintillating style and flair.  The femme fatale, the MacGuffin, the hardboiled detective, and both Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre as sinister villains would all become mainstays of the genre going forward - in short, "the stuff that dreams are made of."

Suspicion - Let's have an Alfred Hitchcock.  1941 saw the release of a great one with Cary Grant in the complicated role of possible murderer.  There was controversy behind the scenes because the ending, and therefore the whole meaning of the film, was changed from Hitchcock's original intent.  However, I still think the film works, and it works largely because Grant and Hitchcock were able to keep up doubts about Grant's character almost all the way to the end.

Honorable Mention

Meet John Doe

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Oscar Reactions 2024

The 96th Academy Awards have come and gone.  It started an hour early, yet still six minutes late.  It was completely predictable and yet pulled off some welcome surprises.  This was Jimmy Kimmel's fourth time hosting the Oscars, and he's found a good groove that'll get him invited back again.  There were a lot of little adjustments for the sake of time, like most of the song performances being significantly shortened, that helped to speed things along.  This meant that longer segments like the actor presentations and the epic "I'm Just Ken" production number could run as long as needed.  

I've never been great at predictions, but I got a decent chunk of the winners right.  My biggest error was assuming that "Barbie" was going to win in the production categories that went to "Poor Things," which got four Oscars, the second highest of any film.  "Oppenheimer" had such a sweep with seven that several of the Best Picture nominees ended up going home with nothing - "Killers of the Flower Moon," "Past Lives,"  and "Maestro."  I really thought that Lily Gladstone was going to win Best Actress after she won the SAG Award, but the Oscars have been getting more international by the year, and the old bellwethers aren't always right.  

Everyone seems to have gotten the memo that acceptance speeches needed to be short and sweet.  There weren't as many endless lists of names this year and only one really unfortunate speech - the "Godzilla Minus One" Visual Effects team trying valiantly to deliver their thanks and memorialize their departed producer in a language that none of them spoke.  However, we had some great ones from dependably entertaining people like Robert Downey Jr. and Emma Stone.  Even better were the presenters, most of them handling out two awards apiece, and delivering bits and banter that actually worked.  Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny Devito reuniting and heckling Michael Keaton as their "Batman" villain characters was great.  Kate McKinnon and America Ferrera roping Steven Spielberg into their nonsense was great.  John Cena's tribute to the 1974 Oscars streaker is an all-timer.  There were several blink-and-you-miss-em jokes that wouldn't have landed nearly as well if they were longer.       

The stagecraft this year was generally very good, with multiple screens and elements constantly rotating in and out of the space.  The big vertical panels  for the award presentations and the big circular element for the musical performances were especially eye-catching.  However, there were a few missteps.  The most obvious was the "In Memoriam" segment, which had way too much going on - distracting dancers, Andrea Bocelli and son singing "Con Te Partiro," and different tributes popping up on different screens, with a bunch of names stuffed together at the end.  Lance Reddick and Kenneth Anger deserved better!   Then there was the stunt montage that felt like a poor consolation prize for a community that's been gunning for their own category for a while.  Some of the transitions were jarring, such as cutting from the sobering "20 Days in Mariupol" acceptance speech straight into "I'm Just Ken."  

But speaking of "I'm Just Ken," it's easily the most memorable piece of spectacle that the Academy has put together in years.  Ryan Gosling essentially got to star in a genderbent "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend" with all the Kens from "Barbie," Slash showed up for a guitar solo, and the crowd was loving it.  Half the fun was the delighted reaction shots from Greta Gerwig and Billie Eilish in the audience as Gosling belted in his hot pink, bedazzled suit.  A big reason that this year's show was so successful was because it actually got to make use of some star power.  It's been too long since the Oscar frontrunners were popular hits like "Oppenheimer" and "Barbie," and the Best Song category wasn't terrible.  I mean, it was still terrible this year, but two songs from "Barbie" helped a lot.  

As for Jimmy Kimmel, he's clearly not as funny as John Mulaney, but he understood how to work the crowd, how to interact with the presenters, and how to keep his own shtick brief.  He handled material about the 2023 strikes, Donald Trump, "Madame Web," and Messi the dog about as well as anybody could be expected to.  I think the show works better with a host, and a seasoned professional like Kimmel has proven to be a sure bet.    

That's two Oscar ceremonies in a row that have been decent.  Fingers crossed that this is the new normal.

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Rank 'Em - The 2024 Best Picture Nominees

It was a very good year for the movies, and there were some legitimate surprises among the Best Picture nominees.  However, as usual, my taste varies from the Academy's quite a bit and the frontrunners may not be where you expect them in my rankings.  There's a notable lack of traditional Oscar bait this time around, however, which I appreciate.  From best to least, here are the Best Picture nominees of 2023, ranked.

1. The Holdovers - I've had to stop myself from calling this a throwback, because it's really not.  You could make current day films like "The Holdovers," about average people going about their daily lives and making the best of bad situations.  Alexander Payne has made several others.  But this is a Christmas film.  And it's a found family film.  And it's got Paul Giamatti and Da'Vine Joy Randolph giving performances that are all-timers.  And in so many other ways, this one is special.  

2. The Zone of Interest - I'm stunned that this was nominated, because this isn't typical Oscar fare at all.  Despite the British director, this is a very European art film that is completely different from the usual Holocaust narrative.  It's practically a photo negative, focusing on the experiences of Nazis as they try to compartmentalize the horrors of literally existing next to a death camp.  On the other hand, the subject matter is not only timely, but completely relevant to the state of the world right now.  

3. Anatomy of a Fall - Courtroom dramas can be tricky things, especially the ones with ambiguous outcomes.  This one clicked for me when I realized the film was about the whole family unit, not just the central couple, and we weren't here just to solve a typical mystery.  The thoughtful ending plays out beautifully.  The argument sequence is also magnificent filmmaking, not just for the tour de force performances, but because of how it's built up and deployed within the story itself.  

4. Poor Things - This was kind of the movie I was hoping "Barbie" would be, but of course never could be.  Yorgos Lanthimos is back for a female "Frankenstein" fairy tale, told as only he and Tony McNamara could tell it.  It won me over the moment the black and white switched to color, and I realized that it was doing a "Wizard of Oz" homage with the big moment of discovery being the heroine's first go at sexual intercourse.  I have a feeling this is one of those films I'm going to like more the more that I watch it.  

5. Killers of the Flower Moon - Have you ever felt guilty that you don't like a movie more than you do?  Martin Scorsese does everything right here.  DeNiro and DiCaprio play despicable men so well, and the plight of the Osage tribe is a dark chapter of history that I'm so happy is getting some attention.   However, I'd have much rather gotten this project as a miniseries instead of a lengthy feature.  The film totally exhausted me by the end, as touching and beautifully made as it was.  

6. Oppenheimer - I feel this is the movie that Christopher Nolan has spent his whole career building up to, and while it magnifies all of his greatest strengths, it magnifies all of his weaknesses too.  I spent most of the running time playing spot the familiar face, and never got all that invested in the subject of the film.  There are some beautifully orchestrated sequences, some fine performances, and I don't feel that my time was wasted, but I was never convinced the film was as epic as its production.  

7. Barbie - I appreciate "Barbie," but there was so much cultural baggage around the film that it was difficult for me to evaluate it on its own terms.  In the end, I think it has many highs and a few lows, makes lots of interesting points about gender relations, and yet isn't nearly as incisive or smart as I wanted it to be.  However, it gets a lot of points for being a whole lot of fun.  Margot Robbie is a treasure, but Ryan Gosling as Ken is perhaps the comedic performance of the decade.

8. American Fiction - This is going to sound terrible, but I'm so glad this made it into the race and not "The Color Purple."  "American Fiction" is as tired of African American struggle narratives as I am, and is trying something new.  I really admire the creative impulse behind the film, and the willingness to try something out of the box, even if the end result is often messy and inconclusive.  Unlike most viewers, I like the personal side of the story more, though the satire is very enjoyable.  

9. Past Lives - I keep forgetting this got nominated for Best Picture, and frankly that's not a good sign.  I'm one of those people who just couldn't connect with the film.  I appreciate all that it's saying about immigrant narratives and diverging life paths, but when it comes down to it, I didn't care about these people and their relationships.  I may just be at the wrong point in my life for it, or in the wrong state of mind, because I want more intimate films like this.  Just not this particular film.

10. Maestro - This is a perfectly good film, but it's a film about someone who only seems to be a famous composer and conductor by coincidence.  Bernstein may have been an unfaithful, closeted, substance abuser in a marriage of convenience, but it confounds me to no end that Bradley Cooper had so little interest in depicting Bernstein's career and relationship to music - the things that actually made him famous.  I don't think "Maestro" works as a Bernstein biopic without this. 

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"Only Murders," Year Three

Minor spoilers ahead.

There was never a more star-studded season of "Only Murders in the Building."  Not only do we have a victim played by Paul Rudd and a major suspect played by Meryl Streep, but the show's habit of having guest stars playing fictionalized versions of themselves is very much still a thing.  This year, Oliver Puttnam is back in the director's chair, and the big mystery revolves around the Broadway production he's determined to make a comeback with.  However, when the lead actor, Ben Glenroy (Rudd), turns up dead, Oliver, Charles, and Mabel have to figure out whodunit while making sure that the show doesn't fall apart.  

Our long list of suspects include cast members like Loretta (Streep) and Kimber (Ashley Park), producers Donna (Linda Emond) and Cliff (Wesley Taylor), an obsessed fan (Adrian Martinez), Ben's brother and manager Dickie (Jeremy Shamos), the camera guy Tober (Jesse Williams), a tough theater critic (Noma Dumezweni), and more.  Howard (Michael Cyril Creighton), a recurring Arconia neighbor from the first two seasons, becomes a series regular this year.  As for our intrepid trio, they're juggling mystery solving and Oliver's show with new love connections and some competing interests - which may spell the end of their podcast.  

Speaking of Oliver's show, the best part of this season is following the evolution of the nutty murder mystery musical "Death Rattle Dazzle" as it goes through rewrites, recasting, rehearsals, and all kinds of other behind-the-scenes chaos on its way to opening night.  "Only Murders" has always been a very New York show, and it makes sense that they should go full Broadway for a season, and make use of some of the local talent.  "Death Rattle Dazzle" is a ridiculous mystery where infant triplets may have committed the murder, and it's fun to see bits and pieces of it being performed throughout this season.  It also gives Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Meryl Streep a chance to sing on camera, which I appreciate greatly.  Quite a few other Broadway actors make appearances, and veteran songwriters Marc Shaiman and Scott Whitman were recruited for the musical numbers.

I like that there's less emphasis on the trio's personal lives this year.  The show-within-a-show provides plenty of melodrama, so there's less pressure to make Charles, Oliver, and Mabel the source of the big twists and turns.  All the romances are kept to the background and play a fairly minimal part in the plot.  However, I will say that the flirtation between Mabel and the cameraman doesn't really work, because she clearly has much more chemistry with Theo Dimas (James Caverly), a season one suspect who returns for a guest appearance.  Also, the show's creators clearly took pains to give Streep and Rudd plenty of the spotlight - they're clearly both having a ball, and I hope other actors of their caliber will show up in future seasons.   

And I'm glad that there will be future seasons.  After year two, I was a little worried that the show was starting to run out of steam.  As much as I love the cast, I prefer "Only Murders" when it's about solving murders and less when it's about the main characters muddling through bad relationships, dark secrets from their pasts, and other things that feel like filler.  I noticed that almost none of these past issues played any part in the current season, and there was almost no mention of characters like Oliver's son, Charles' ex's kid, or any of Mabel's exes.  The writers had no trouble keeping things interesting this year though, and this season had no pacing problems or dull subplots, like there have been in the past.   

Crime podcasts may be on the ebb, but I hope "Only Murders in the Building" has a few more seasons left in it.  Onwards!

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The Best "Hunger Games" Movie

I've consistently liked the "Hunger Games" movies, and consider them the best of that wave of YA genre films that started with "Twilight."  The latest entry is an oddball for several reasons - YA genre films are a rarity now, and this is also a prequel, subtitled "The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes."  The main character is Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth), one of the main villains of the series, but at a point in time when he was a young man with the potential to be a force for good.  The Hunger Games themselves are also new-ish, having been around for only ten years.  The game maker Dr. Gaul (Viola Davis) is looking to make changes to the Games to increase their ratings, including assigning the participants mentors from the Capitol.  Snow is one of these mentors and ends up with a mentee from District 12, a singer and entertainer named Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler).

"Songbirds and Snakes" is the best "Hunger Games" movie by a pretty wide margin.  It's got a smaller budget and isn't the greatest when it comes to action or spectacle, but the main concepts and worldbuilding are absolutely fascinating.  It was a great choice to mirror the development of Snow as a villain with the start of the Hunger Games' transformation into the huge, malevolent propaganda production they would become decades later.  I appreciate that Snow is someone who actively makes the choice to go bad, and has both good and bad mentors and friends.  There's a refreshing complexity to a lot of the characters here.  The Capitol is a cutthroat environment, still recovering from a terrible war, and most of the youngsters who act badly do so out of self-preservation.  By contrast, Coriolanus's compassionate, anti-Hunger Games friend Sejanus (Jose Andres Rivera) turns out to be extremely naive about how the world works.  Peter Dinklage also briefly appears as Highbottom, the self-hating creator of the Hunger Games and the head of the Academy where Snow is a student.  

Like in the previous films, the dialogue sometimes takes the melodrama to silly extremes.  The writers can't resist the urge to drop in eye-rolling references and on-the-nose pronouncements that the excellent cast gamely deliver with  straight faces.  Then there are Lucy Gray Baird's songs, which are numerous enough that this film might qualify as the first "Hunger Games" musical.  Zegler is very talented and mostly gets away with it.  However, these movies are supposed to be larger-than-life, and there's a good amount of dark humor and satire in the mix to keep things lively.  Jason Schwartzman plays the first Hunger Games host with smarmy panache, and Viola Davis seems to enjoy being the sinister Machiavellian figure and mad scientist.  This version of the Games is so rudimentary that it sometimes borders on farce, with crashing delivery drones and a passel of unwashed participants who are literally dumped out of a truck at one point. 

As usual, the combat of the Games is a high point of the film, taking up the entire second act.  Crucially, however, it's not the climax of the story.  The third act goes in an entirely different direction, narrowing in scope to focus on Coriolanus and Lucy in a new context and bring Coriolanus to an eventual epiphany.  It's one of the only times in the series where the conflict is driven by internal instead of external forces, and it's very effective.  I honestly forgot that I was watching a franchise action film in a few sequences.  And I was especially grateful for Blyth and Zegler here, who handily outdo all of the prior "Hunger Games" protagonists in the romance department.  

Prequels and origin stories are generally tough, because they often feel so unnecessary.  In "Songbirds and Snakes," however, it feels like the franchise is trying to grapple with some of the fundamental questions of its premise in a way that it didn't get around to in the earlier movies.  Coriolanus is asked multiple times to explain what the Hunger Games are for, and he and the movie deliver some satisfying responses.  So I wouldn't mind a few more visits back to this universe if Susan Collins, Francis Lawrence, and their collaborators have more stories to tell.             

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My Most Anticipated Films of 2024 Part II

This is the second part of my "Most Anticipated Films" feature, devoted to the non-mainstream films.  I'm listing these entries by director because the titles at this stage often don't stick.  

So many films that I was anticipating from last year's art house/indie/foreign movies list got delayed to 2024.  "Nightbitch," "Hitman," and "Blitz" will not be appearing on this year's list because I've already written about them.  This year's picks are listed below:  

Luca Guadagnino, "Challengers" - I was very disappointed when this was delayed from last fall due to the strikes, because I was so ready for this particular combination of actors - Zendaya, Josh O'Connor, and Mike Faist - in this particular film.  Luca Guadagnino has been consistently good at making sexy movies over the past decade, and there are simply not enough sexy films these days.  Also, we haven't gotten a good onscreen tennis romance since "Wimbledon" at least.   

Alex Garland, "Civil War" - I know it looks like a Roland Emmerich disaster movie from the trailer, but this is an Alex Garland film from A24, so it belongs on this list.  We've got Jesse Plemmons and Kirsten Dunst in the mix, Nick Offerman playing a tyrannical three-term president, and a whole lot of military hardware on display.  Until I hear otherwise, I'll be treating this as a sequel to "Leave the World Behind."  Oh, and did we forget that 2024 is going to be an election year?  The discourse is gonna be fun! 

Alex Scharfman, "Death of a Unicorn" - However, of all the A24 films currently in the pipeline, the one that has me most intrigued is this oddity, where Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega play a father and daughter pair who accidentally run over and kill a unicorn, with spiraling bad consequences.  I expect this is some flavor of black comedy, but it may cross into horror, especially since John Carpenter is apparently working on it as one of the composers.  First time director, so fingers crossed. 

Betrand Bonello, "The Beast" - This one got good notices from the Venice film festival.  It's a dystopian science-fiction romance about a couple played by Lea Seydoux and George MacKay, which involves past lives and "purging" of emotions.  It sounds enough like "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" to be intriguing, and yet at the same time very different.  I'm not too familiar with Bonello, but I liked "Nocturama," and this is reportedly his most ambitious project to date.  

Mike Flanagan, "The Life of Chuck" - I don't know much more than that this is based on a Stephen King novella, naturally, and stars Tom Hiddleston and Mark Hamill.  Frankly, I don't want to know more.  Flanagan's track record has been so strong these past few years, I trust him implicitly to knock my socks off.  This will be his first theatrical film since "Doctor Sleep," and honestly I'm not sure that this belongs on the indie list since Warner Bros. appears to be handling distribution.  

Sam and Andy Zuchero, "Love Me" - There seem to be  a lot of robot and AI love stories making the rounds this year.  However, "Love Me" is a clear standout for pairing Kristen Stewart with Steven Yuen as two post-apocalyptic, non human lovers - one is a buoy and one is a satellite - who run into difficulties trying to navigate a romantic relationship.  I have a great affection for weird little sci-fi indies like this, and "Love Me" definitely has one of the weirder premises I've seen in a while.  

Joshua Oppenheimer, "The End" - Oppenheimer has made some of the greatest documentaries of all time, including "The Act of Killing," and now after a long break he's making his first narrative film.  It's a post-apocalyptic musical about a family emerging from a survival bunker after the fall of civilization.  And it'll star Tilda Swinton, George McKay, Michael Shannon, and Moses Ingram.  I have no idea if it'll be any good, but I have got to get a look at this thing whenever it comes out.  

Robert Eggers, "Nosferatu" - This will only be the third version of "Nosferatu" after the F.W. Murnau and Werner Herzog versions, and I can't wait to see what Eggers comes up with.  There's no one I'd rather see tackle a new "Nosferatu," and I'm glad this is finally getting made.  Obviously, I'd rather see Anya Taylor-Joy as the leading lady instead of Lily Rose Depp, but Eggers still managed to get Nicholas Hoult and Willem Dafoe onboard, not to mention Bill Skarsgaard as the title fiend.   

The Cairnes Brothers, "Late Night With the Devil" - This is an Australian found footage horror film that premiered at SXSW a year ago and ended up in distribution limbo for a bit.  However, IFC and Shudder acquired it, and it'll finally be surfacing this spring.  David Dastmalchian plays the host of a fictional '70s late night talk show that puts on a macabre Halloween special.  There's reportedly a lot of meta fun going on with this one, and I've been keeping an eye out for it.

Yorgos Lanthimos, "Kinds of Kindness" - This is the project formerly known as "And," an anthology film with a bunch of actors including Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Willem Dafoe, and Hong Chau.  I have no idea what the plot will involve, but at this point any new Yorgos Lanthimos project is one to keep an eye out.  Also, I wouldn't trust that title.  

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My Most Anticipated Films of 2024 Part I

Oh boy, this is going to be an interesting year.  2024 is when we're going to actually feel the full effect of last year's SAG/AFTRA and WGA strikes, and there are going to be some pretty noticeable empty spots on the release schedule.  I had to keep adjusting this list, because movies kept being delayed to 2025. However, there are plenty of movies that are still being released, and I'm looking forward to a lot of them.

As usual, this feature is being split into two parts.  The first will focus on the bigger budget studio films and the second will focus on the indie, foreign, and arthouse films that may end up breaking into the mainstream, but right now are only anticipated by film nerds like yours truly.  Netflix and Apple films are categorized with the studio films.  Here we go:

Deadpool & Wolverine - Yeah, I know, but this is the only Marvel feature being released next year and some of the stuff that's leaked has me very excited.  Ryan Reynolds and company are going to get to take some potshots at Disney, and Hugh Jackman is coming back to help him.  An R-rating has been promised, which is appreciated, but I don't think they'll really need it.  There are clearly plans to make use of the wide array of IP now available for mockery, so I'll be spending the next few months dodging spoilers.

The Fall Guy - David Leitch's movies have been dependably fun.  I have no attachment to the Lee Majors television series that this movie is based on, but all I care about is that this is a Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt action movie, and everyone in the trailer looks like they're having a great time.  Gosling will be playing a stunt man again, and the movie is being directed by a stunt man, so I expect some high quality stunt work.  Like many others, this wasn't intended to be a summer blockbuster, but it'll have to do.

IF - Not to be confused with the Blumhouse horror movie "Imaginary." This is a big swing from Paramount and John Krasinski, who is writing and directing a fantasy movie about abandoned imaginary friends.   The tone might be too whimsical for some viewers, but the cast is stacked.  In the absence of much else on the May schedule, this could end up being one of the big films of the summer.  I also want to point out that there is a "Quiet Place" prequel coming that Krasinski is  not involved with.    

Furiosa - Finally.  George Miller returns to the "Mad Max" universe with his long-awaited prequel to "Fury Road."  Anya Taylor-Joy will star as the title character, with Chris Hemsworth as a villain named Dementus.  Behind the scenes, most of the key creatives are back for another round - writer Nico Lathouris, editor Margaret Sixel, composer Tom Holkenborg, production designer Colin Gibson, and costumer Jenny Beavan.  This will be the film to beat this year at the summer box office.  

Beetlejuice 2 - From what I can tell he's not going Hawaiian, but the ghost with the most is finally returning in a sequel to the 1985 original this fall.  Jenna Ortega is starring as Lydia's daughter Astrid, and has brought the creators of "Wednesday" along for scripting duties.  And despite knowing better, I continue to watch every movie that Tim Burton directs, and since he showed up for this one, I feel obligated to show up too.  I'm trying to keep my expectations low, but the '80s goth girl in me can't wait.    

Joker: Folie à Deux - I never thought that "Joker" would ever get any kind of sequel, but Arthur Fleck coming back for a twisted romance with Harley Quinn, patterned after Martin Scorsese's "New York, New York" makes a certain amount of sense.  And Lady Gaga playing Harley is just something I have to see for myself.  I was never more appreciative of Warners allowing multiple versions of their characters to coexist in simultaneously running film series, and I'm definitely not bored of Harley yet.  

Wicked - Another long-delayed project it feels like I've been waiting forever for.  Now the musical will be a two-parter, starring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, with an impressive ensemble cast.  Part One is due out at Thanksgiving, with Part Two expected a year after that.  Jon M. Chu, most recently of "In the Heights," will be directing.  Fingers crossed that they pull it off.

Coyote vs. Acme - Because at this point, how could I not be rooting for this?

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