[Film] Film 2024

[Barry Izbak]

Just back from watching One Life starring Sir Anthony Hopkins. He was absolutely perfect for the role that apparently Nicholas Winton's family insisted be cast as the lead. Johnny Flynn put in an excellent performance as the young Nicky Winton.

I defy you not to have a little at this moving story which was very well done.

8/10

 

[PeterT]

I saw it at the Duke of Yorks last week (they had a preview showing, not sure how that works)! It was very well done.

I enjoyed it more than I did Ferrari, which was also good by the way but One Life would be my recommendation of those 2 offerings.

 

[Acker79]

Gah! I prepared this, then forgot to start the thread...


TL;DR - https://www.imdb.com/calendar/?ref_=nv_mv_cal

This could be an interesting year. Firstly, there is the after effects of the writers and actors strikes that saw production come to a standstill on many movies. Studios held off on releasing some movies later in 2023, bumping them to 2024 to try to make sure that had something to release. But the pause in production means some films will be delayed or are now too early in their development to be ready for release within the next 12 months.

After dominating cinema for a while, there will be fewer comic book/superhero movies this year. There are no DCEU (DC extended universe) this year, while Warner Bros resets. They will be back in 2025 with a rebooted DCU led by James Gunn and Peter Safran. As far as Marvel, there is one MCU movie – Deadpool 3 (July) marking it’s first time as part of the MCU, rather than its previous alignment with the Fox X-men universe. There are a couple more Marvel films, but these belong to the Sony Marvel cinematic universe. They tie in more with Venom and Mobius (and if the trailers are anything to go by, will be more like the latter, in terms of quality). Sony have been determined to create their own spider-verse, and these efforts continue with Madame Web (February) introducing a range of spider-people who come together to fight a big bad. The other, Kraven the Hunter (August) is a long gestating piece which stars Aaron Taylor Johnson in the title role of the world’s greatest hunter, enemy of spider-man. Neither are expected to feature the actual Spider-man. While not part of the main DC cinematic universe, Joker: Folie à Deux arrives in October, with Lady Gaga joining Joaquin Phoenix for this sequel.

It might be interesting to see how cinema in general is impacted by this. With conversations this past year being about whether Marvel’s time is over, superhero fatigue, etc. will the lack of superhero movies create space for other movies to flourish and the audience show that it really was just superhero movies they were tired of, or will we find the downturn in superhero movie takings was more a symptom of a larger issue (reliance on recognisable IP, lack of risks with movies, lack of smaller budget movies that are less reliant on CGI battles and “stunts” to wow audiences). Oppenheimer was a massive financial success, showing adult, serious stories are marketable and can be successful, but Barbie and Super Mario Bros round out the current top three for worldwide box office, reinforcing the marketability of brand awareness and built in audiences that have previously underpinned comic book movies. And of course cinema, like so many other areas, are still building back after the covid lockdowns.

Scream 7 was expected in 2024, but after jettisoning one star due to their tweets about the Palestine/Israel conflict, a second star due to “scheduling conflicts” (thought to be more about supporting their co-star than schedules), they have now lost their director.

As ever, the line up of films for the year will change, at the very least more will be added. But as things stand we know more about the next couple of months than later in the year.

The year starts, as it so often does, with a number of films that have Oscar (and general award) hopes. January sees Sophie Coppola bring us the other side of the Elvis story with Priscilla, Yorgos Lanthimos is hoping to follow up his The Favourite success with a feminist spin on the Frankenstein story in Poor Things. Paul Giamatti stars in Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers as a grumpy teaching tasked with staying at school as guardian for a handful of pupils who don’t get to go home for Christmas. The movie version of the stage musical based on the Oscar winning movie, The Colour Purple, and the independent British film about a writer returning home to speak to his dead parents, All of Us Strangers round out the Oscar hopefuls for January. Also released this month is the movie version of the stage musical based on the movie Mean Girls, the latest horror from Blumhouse, Night Swim. The latest from Jason Statham, The Beekeeper, sees him take on phone/computer scammers who stole from an old lady he was friends with. If you’re after a weepy, One Life tells the story behind a clip that occasionally goes viral of Nicholas Winton in the studio of a TV show that tells his story of helping young children escape the Nazis, only for it to be revealed the rest of the audience are those children he saved.

February sees a few more awards contenders such as American Fiction, in which Jeffrey Wright plays a middle class Black author who struggles to find success until he creates an alias that claims to be and writes about hood life and his fictional criminal history. Also out is The Zone of Interest about man who runs Auschwitz and his wife setting up home next door to the concentration camp – this one made a lot of best of 2023 lists from American publications. Perhaps more of an outsider for the awards, is The Iron Claw, a film about the ‘cursed’ Von Erichs, an influential family of wrestlers, whose lives mostly came to tragic ends (casual fans of wrestling of a certain generation may be familiar with The Texas Tornado, Kerry Von Erich who had a WWF run in the late 80s/early 90s). Ava DuVernay tells the story of systems that shaped America as it grew into the country it is today, with all the division and hierarchy in Origin.

March is where the schedule starts to get less set, and the films currently scheduled are less awards-baitish. We have Dune: Part Two and Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire – two films that were originally set for release in late 2023. There is the movie based on a TV show The Fall Guy with Emily Blunt and Ryan Gosling in the main roles, and Jack Black et al return for Kung Fu Panda 4. Blumhouse are also releasing a horror movie about an woman who returns home and has to deal with the imaginary friend from her childhood who is now targeting her daughter in Imaginary. Ethan Coen has Matt Damon, Pedro Pascal and Margaret Qualley star in a tale of two girls on a roadtrip who get caught up with some criminals in Drive-Away Dolls. Zelda (daughter of Robin) Williams makes her directorial debut with Lisa Frankenstein, a film about a teenage girl with a crush on a corpse.

Other notable films set for release in 2024 include the latest in the monarch franchise, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire in April.

May sees a rush of notable releases a prequel The Strangers: Chapter 1, a family fantasy about imaginary friends in IF, the latest in the series Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga and a new animated version of Garfield.

Inside Out 2 is due to arrive in June, along with Bad Boys 4 and the prequel A Quiet Place Day One. John Wick spin-off Ballerina is also due in June.

July sees the long-mooted sequel Twisters.

M. Night Shyamalan’s latest Trap has released few details but is due in August. As is the video-game based Borderlands and the horror remake Speak No Evil. There is also supposed to another entry in the franchise with Alien: Romulus, but they keep changing their mind with Alien films, so who knows.

The only film pencilled in for a September release at this point is the long-awaited sequel Beetlejuice 2. It’ll be interesting to see if Tim Burton and Michael Keaton can recapture their magic after all these years.

November sees the latest Paddington movie with the titular bear going on a trip home in Paddington in Peru. Ridley Scott returns for Gladiator 2, and the first part of an unnecessarily split Wicked, based on the stage play.

The year is currently shaping up to end with a bit of a whimper as December sees an animated spin off, Lord of the Rings: The War of Rohirrim, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Mufasa: The Lion King (a sequel to 2019’s “live action”/photorealistic CG version of the Lion King).

 

[Barry Izbak]

Gah! I prepared this, then forgot to start the thread...


TL;DR - https://www.imdb.com/calendar/?ref_=nv_mv_cal

This could be an interesting year. Firstly, there is the after affects of the writers and actors strikes that saw production come to a standstill on many movies. Studios held off on releasing some movies later in 2023, bumping them to 2024 to try to make sure that had something to release. But the pause in production means some films will be delayed or are now too early in their development to be ready for release within the next 12 months.

After dominating cinema for a while, there will be fewer comic book/superhero movies this year. There are no DCEU (DC extended universe) this year, while Warner Bros resets. They will be back in 2025 with a rebooted DCU led by James Gunn and Peter Safran. As far as Marvel, there is one MCU movie – Deadpool 3 (July) marking it’s first time as part of the MCU, rather than its previous alignment with the Fox X-men universe. There are a couple more Marvel films, but these belong to the Sony Marvel cinematic universe. They tie in more with Venom and Mobius (and if the trailers are anything to go by, will be more like the latter, in terms of quality). Sony have been determined to create their own spider-verse, and these efforts continue with Madame Web (February) introducing a range of spider-people who come together to fight a big bad. The other, Kraven the Hunter (August) is a long gestating piece which stars Aaron Taylor Johnson in the title role of the world’s greatest hunter, enemy of spider-man. Neither are expected to feature the actual Spider-man. While not part of the main DC cinematic universe, Joker: Folie à Deux arrives in October, with Lady Gaga joining Joaquin Phoenix for this sequel.

It might be interesting to see how cinema in general is impacted by this. With conversations this past year being about whether Marvel’s time is over, superhero fatigue, etc. will the lack of superhero movies create space for other movies to flourish and the audience show that it really was just superhero movies they were tired of, or will we find the downturn in superhero movie takings was more a symptom of a larger issue (reliance on recognisable IP, lack of risks with movies, lack of smaller budget movies that are less reliant on CGI battles and “stunts” to wow audiences). Oppenheimer was a massive financial success, showing adult, serious stories are marketable and can be successful, but Barbie and Super Mario Bros round out the current top three for worldwide box office, reinforcing the marketability of brand awareness and built in audiences that have previously underpinned comic book movies. And of course cinema, like so many other areas, are still building back after the covid lockdowns.

Scream 7 was expected in 2024, but after jettisoning one star due to their tweets about the Palestine/Israel conflict, a second star due to “scheduling conflicts” (thought to be more about supporting their co-star than schedules), they have now lost their director.

As ever, the line up of films for the year will change, at the very least more will be added. But as things stand we know more about the next couple of months than later in the year.

The year starts, as it so often does, with a number of films that have Oscar (and general award) hopes. January sees Sophie Coppola bring us the other side of the Elvis story with Priscilla, Yorgos Lanthimos is hoping to follow up his The Favourite success with a feminist spin on the Frankenstein story in Poor Things. Paul Giamatti stars in Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers as a grumpy teaching tasked with staying at school as guardian for a handful of pupils who don’t get to go home for Christmas. The movie version of the stage musical based on the Oscar winning movie, The Colour Purple, and the independent British film about a writer returning home to speak to his dead parents, All of Us Strangers round out the Oscar hopefuls for January. Also released this monther is the movie version of the stage musical based on the movie Mean Girls, the latest horror from Blumhouse, Night Swim. The latest from Jason Statham, The Beekeeper, sees him take on phone/computer scammers who stole from an old lady he was friends with. If you’re after a weepy, One Life tells the story behind a clip that occasionally goes viral of Nicholas Winton in the studio of a TV show that tells his story of helping young children escape the Nazis, only for it to be revealed the rest of the audience are those children he saved.

February sees a few more awards contenders such as American Fiction, in which Jeffrey Wright plays a middle class Black author who struggles to find success until he creates an alias that claims to be and writes about hood life and his fictional criminal history. Also out is The Zone of Interest about man who runs aushwitz and his wife setting up home next door to the concentration camp – this one made a lot of best of 2023 lists from American publications. Perhaps more of an outsider for the awards, is The Iron Claw, a film about the ‘cursed’ Von Erichs, an influential family of wrestlers, whose lives mostly came to tragic ends (casual fans of wrestling of a certain generation may be familiar with The Texas Tornado, Kerry Von Erich who had a WWF run in the late 80s/early 90s). Ava DuVernay tells the story of systems that shaped America as it grew into the country it is today, with all the division and hierarchy in Origin.

March is where the schedule starts to get less set, and the films currently scheduled are less awards-baitish. We have Dune: Part Two and Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire – two films that were originally set for release in late 2023. There is the movie based on a TV show The Fall Guy with Emily Blunt and Ryan Gosling in the main roles, and Jack Black et al return for Kung Fu Panda 4. Blumhouse are also releasing a horror movie about an woman who returns home and has to deal with the imaginary friend from her childhood who is now targeting her daughter in Imaginary. Ethan Coen has Matt Damon, Pedro Pascal and Margaret Qualley star in a tale of two girls on a roadtrip who get caught up with some criminals in Drive-Away Dolls. Zelda (daughter of Robin) Williams makes her directorial debut with Lisa Frankenstein, a film about a teenage girl with a crush on a corpse.

Other notable films set for release in 2024 include the latest in the monarch franchise, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire in April.

May sees a rush of notable releases a prequel The Strangers: Chapter 1, a family fantasy about imaginary friends in IF, the latest in the series Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga and a new animated version of Garfield.

Inside Out 2 is due to arrive in June, along with Bad Boys 4 and the prequel A Quiet Place Day One. John Wick spin-ff Ballerina is also due in June.

July sees the long-mooted sequel Twisters.

M. Night Shyamalan’s latest Trap has released few details but is due in August. As is the video-game based Borderlands and the horror remake Speak No Evil. There is also supposed to another entry in the franchise with Alien: Romulus, but they keep changing their mind with Alien films, so who knows.

The only film pencilled in for a September release at this point is the long-awaited sequel Beetlejuice 2. It’ll be interesting to see if Tim Burton and Michael Keaton can recapture their magic after all these years.

November sees the latest Paddington movie with the titular bear going on a trip home in Paddington in Peru. Ridley Scott returns for Gladiator 2, and the first part of an unnecessarily split Wicked, based on the stage play.

The year is currently shaping up to end with a bit of a whimper as December sees an animated spin off, Lord of the Rings: The War of Rohirrim, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Mufasa: The Lion King (a sequel to 2019’s “live action”/photorealistic CG version of the Lion King).

I was surprised to see no sign of the traditional Acker Film 24 curtain raiser

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

Superhero films have had their day and not before time imo

 

[BBassic]

Superhero films have had their day and not before time imo

I'm glad for the break for sure. Though I am keen to see what James Gunn does with the DCEU next year as he was responsible for two of the best MCU movies and an OK one.

I was a huge fan of the first ten years of the MCU. Nothing like that had ever really been done before and they did it very well, barring a couple of mis-steps (Thor 2 springs to mind).

But ever since the credits rolled on Avengers: Endgame I've been thoroughly bored by it. Marvel were churning out stuff with the TV shows and animated things and filler movies and it's all just so bleh. It's become content. Stuff because stuff has to be made.

It's going to be more independent and low budget cinema for me this year I think.

 

[sussex_guy2k2]

I'm glad for the break for sure. Though I am keen to see what James Gunn does with the DCEU next year as he was responsible for two of the best MCU movies and an OK one.

I was a huge fan of the first ten years of the MCU. Nothing like that had ever really been done before and they did it very well, barring a couple of mis-steps (Thor 2 springs to mind).

But ever since the credits rolled on Avengers: Endgame I've been thoroughly bored by it. Marvel were churning out stuff with the TV shows and animated things and filler movies and it's all just so bleh. It's become content. Stuff because stuff has to be made.

It's going to be more independent and low budget cinema for me this year I think.

I’m a big superhero fan, as well as a big film fan in general, but I’m glad for the year break. I think the genre needs it, to reevaluate their direction. The multiverse stuff has thrown Marvel off - it’s just too inaccessible for general audiences.

They need to keep the stories personal and accessible by simplifying them.

 

[Hotchilidog]

I’m a big superhero fan, as well as a big film fan in general, but I’m glad for the year break. I think the genre needs it, to reevaluate their direction. The multiverse stuff has thrown Marvel off - it’s just too inaccessible for general audiences.

They need to keep the stories personal and accessible by simplifying them.

Totally agree re the multiverse guff it's just not for me. I'm sure those immersed in it love it but I just do not have energy to give a crap. I can just go back and watch the MCU movies I enjoyed in the past rather can get annoyed with the later output.

 

[Badger]

Superhero films have had their day and not before time imo

Yes, I'm pleased to see this. I got bored of superhero films about 8 years ago. I used to really enjoy a good superhero film but they've become so convoluted with all this "universe" nonsense in recent years, and they seem intent on trying to make fight scenes longer and more incomprehensible with each film.

 

[Acker79]

I love a good superhero movie, and can usually enjoy the bad ones (though my tolerance of the bad ones has reduced now we get so many and it's clear how good they can be), I keep up with all the Disney+ series etc.

I don't think they are going away (especially since Marvel Studios exists mainly to make superhero movies). I also don't think the movies themselves are as overwhelming as people think they are. They are a small fraction of the movies released each year by number. The problem, I think, is the marketing and the reliance on them to fill a cinema. They are still promoted as major event releases, and at this point they just aren't major events any more. Hopefully the 'superhero fatigue' narrative will lead to them becoming just another release. Cinemas won't give 90% of their screens over to one movie for the first couple of weeks of the films' release, making it the only thing released, other studios won't move their films away to avoid being overrun, etc.

Without that dominating presentation/marketing, I think people will find it easier to ignore them.

 

[chickens]

I stopped going to the cinema when this Avengers nonsense became a thing, and it felt like Michael Bay directed everything.

I also resented the dumbing down of everything into the over simplistic good guy/bad guy narrative, which to my mind played a part in making Trump electable.

Psychology shows that we are all highly malleable and these films felt more like psy-ops than entertainment products.

I’m not pretentious enough for full arthouse, and find the blockbusters dumb (fight scenes are like overindulgent guitar solos in rock music)

Is there a type of modern cinema that isn’t:

a) Gonzo
b) Pretentious
c) understands the role of the editor, and has runtimes of under two hours?

Or am I doomed to watch older films for the rest of my life?

 

[keaton]

The Boy and The Heron
It's ok, looks stunning in parts but the story was a bit all over the place (even for Ghibli) and felt long. If you love Ghibli and Miyazaki you'll like it. The worst Japanese film I've seen in the last month(after Godzilla Minus One and Tokyo Godfathers)

 

[The Lemming Stomper]

'Eileen' a great film noir with Anne Hathaway and Thomasin McKenzie...

Shockingly crappy ending spoils it to a degree

 

[BBassic]

We watched 'Polite Society' the other night, the feature film directorial debut of Nida Manzoor (her wot done 'This Is Lady Parts', an excellent Ch.4 comedy about an all female Muslim punk band - seriously, it's brilliant)

Loved the film. Takes what is ostensibly a story about sisters having a falling out and turns it into a bonkers movie which wears its influences on its sleeves.

Very recommended from me.

 

[dolphins]

With kids now back at school, and having not used the Unlimited card over December due to a holiday, football, and Christmas malarkey, thought I'd best get back into the cinema and try and catch up with stuff. I do fancy Godzilla Minus One but at the moment the times don't work brilliantly for me. Anyway, I saw Wonka yesterday which was certainly better than I was expecting. An intriguing story about his earlier days which was well performed by the cast; I was surprised to see some of the people involved, with unexpected actors and otherwise appearing (Phil Wang was a particular surprise - mentioned his appearance to Mrs D when I got home and I'm not sure she believed me! haha...). Timotei Chalamet held the film together well and if you ignore some of the logistic awkwardness of some aspects it was a nice, interesting and fun addition to the Wonkaverse (no idea if that's a thing TBH!)

Off to see Poor Things this week which should be quite a different experience I think.

 

[dannyboy]

Napoleon - Phoenix is a great actor and Scott a great director but this didnt do it for me . Found the story a bit boring and disjointed and the battle scenes actually not all that. 5.8

Anatomy of a fall - great acting did she / didnt she domestic murder 6.9

Speak no evil - Never even heard of this before reading something about it . Horror thriller Scandi film but mainly in English. story of 2 couples who meet and get on really well on holiday . One couple invites the other to their home in Holland for the weekend.......... Pretty uncomfortable viewing in parts but very good 7.6

 

[gripper stebson]

I'm making a new one... should be out in the summer. Here's a few scenes joined together!

 

[Is it PotG?]

Just back from watching One Life starring Sir Anthony Hopkins. He was absolutely perfect for the role that apparently Nicholas Winton's family insisted be cast as the lead. Johnny Flynn put in an excellent performance as the young Nicky Winton.

I defy you not to have a little at this moving story which was very well done.

8/10

Just got back from watching this.

Whilst the story lacked tension, it more or less told itself in plain, clear facts which was perfect.

Whether you've seen the That's Life clip or not, it's amazingly moving and illustrates what simple kindness and sheer determination can achieve for others.

As you say, Winton old and young were played beautifully. Hopkins unassuming and Flynn focussed.

Only dampner was the sole reason I rarely go to the cinema, someone can't go an hour or so without crunching, munching, rustling, sucking and chewing half the contents of the refreshment counter.

 

[dolphins]

First, saw the following very NSFW trailer for the upcoming Olivia Coleman and Jessie Buckley film, which looks fun!

 

[dolphins]

Second, back from seeing Poor Things, Yorgos Lanthimos's new film with Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe, Mark Ruffalo, etc.

A hefty nod to the Frankenstein story, quirky as hell and fun. Rather rude - it's an 18, with a warning of "Strong Sex, Nudity" on the certification notice! Emma Stone is superb in the role of the main character, and Ruffalo and Dafoe both excellent too. The production design is stunning as well... It's being mentioned for loads of awards and I can see why - even though it isn't AT ALL family friendly.