Film Preview 2023

There’s a line from a song I really like: “It was a good year because it was such a bad year, that this year could only be better.” That’s kind of how I’m feeling heading into 2023. Who knows what the next twelve months will hold but I can’t help but be optimistic because 2022 was one disaster after another. Just leaving behind a year full of stress, with no idea what events are before me, feels good right now. 

Something that always makes me feel good, that gets me excited about the forthcoming year every time, is thinking about movies. These top ten lists are usually made up of films that frequently do not get released in the chosen year, owing to the labyrinthine challenges of post-production and distribution. Lots of times, my most anticipated titles will squeak out with little fanfare, proving to be totally disappointing or overlooked. Sometimes, they never get released at all. (Still waiting for "Aztec Warrior," you guys!) Every once in a while, my most anticipated release of the year actually ends up being a great movie. It's all a bit quixotic and I suppose that is what's beautiful about getting excited about art.

Anyway, enough rambling. Here are.. 

My Top Ten Most Anticipated Movies of 2023:

1. Megalopolis

As a movie buff, few things excite me more than the question of “What might have been?” Reading about projects that were announced but ultimately unrealized, especially those that fell apart because they were too ambitious, is fascinating to me. Among the most tantalizing unmade epics in cinema history is Francis Ford Coppola's “Megalopolis.” A generation-spanning science fiction story about an architect attempting to build a modern utopia, Coppola has been trying to make the project since the eighties. Numerous false starts have followed in the intervening three decades but now, “Megalopolis” has actually gone before cameras. Coppola was so determined to make the movie that he sold most of his wine fortune to self-finance it!

All of this alone is enough for “Megalopolis” to top my list of most anticipated titles for 2023. Yet the legendary director has also assembled a truly eclectic cast for this long gestating epic. Adam Driver is about the kind of star you'd expect to appear in something like this. And it's cool that Coppola is keeping it in the family by including Talia Shire and Jason Schwartzman. Yet the presence of Aubrey Plaza, Dustin Hoffman, and teen pop star Grace VanderWaal does nothing but intrigue me further. I don't know if this one will reach cinema screens before 2023 ends – filming just started and one expects post-production to be extensive – but I can't imagine any other film topping my list this year.

2. How Do You Live?

I'm going to be honest with you guys: I genuinely expected Hayao Miyazaki to die before completing “How Do You Live?” The anime master came out of retirement (again) to direct this adaptation of a classic Japanese novel in 2016, when he was already 75 years old. Considering the filmmaker still animates by hand and works long, grueling hours, “How Do You Live?” truly seemed to me an attempt by Ghibli to make sure that Miyazaki died doing what he loved.

Well, I guess it's still possible that the infamously grouchy genius animator could croak before the movie is released. Yet “How Do You Live?” does seem to be nearly complete at this point. It's done enough that a Japanese release date for next July has been announced, seemingly insuring that it's a real movie and not just a scheme to murder Miyazaki.

All joking aside, Miyazaki is one of my all-time favorite filmmakers so a new project from him is highly anticipated. Even if the few things we know about this story, a meta narrative that doesn't adapt the book but is instead about how the book changes the protagonist's life, makes it sound a little more insular than “Princess Mononoke” or “Porco Rosso.”

3. Eileen

She's a genuine movie star now but I first noticed Florence Pugh in “Lady MacBeth,” an excellently grim character study/thriller from 2016. That was director William Oldroyd's feature debut and now, after quite a long wait, his second film is approaching release. An adaptation of Ottessa Moshfegh's 2015 novel, “Eileen” follows a young woman working at a prison facility who develops a disturbing relationship with an older co-worker.

What really seals the deal for me on this one is its cast. Up-and-comer Thomasin Mackenzie plays the title character while Anne Hathaway is cast against type as Rebecca, the other half of this story. I love it when the usually sunny Hathaway plays weirdos or psychos! This is either going to be an awards contender or one of those indie titles that goes absolutely nowhere but I can't wait to see it either way.

4. Godzilla 2023

2023 is looking to be a good year for tokusatsu/kaiju fans. “Shin Ultraman” is finally coming out in America later this month. “Shin Kamen Rider” is set for release in Japan this spring. Babak Anvari is directing an actual sequel to "Cloverfield." There's even a new “Gamera” project being prepped for Netflix. But most exciting of all is Japan's undisputed King of the Monsters returning to his home land for a new feature film. This will be the first live action Toho-produced entry in the radioactive monster series since 2016.

The 37th Godzilla movie – fans have started calling it "Godzilla Zero" but no title has officially been announced yet – had been rumored for quite a while before it was finally properly announced last fall. Toho is still remaining tight-lipped on details at this moment. What we do know is that it's not a sequel to “Shin Godzilla” and that it's being directed by Takashi Yamazaki, a specialist in Japanese special effects films best known in the U.S. for “Returner.” (This is not Yamazaki's first brush with the Big G, proving he's a fan of the character.) Brief set reports from last year also suggest that the story will at least partially be set in post-war Japan, which is a cool idea.

Obviously, the only thing necessary to get me hyped for a movie is knowing Godzilla will be in it. But all of these details intrigue me further. It's currently set for a Japanese release in November, so who knows if it'll reach America before the end of the year. Hopefully, they won't leave us kaiju freaks waiting too long though.

5. MaXXXine

Film Twitter and the hardcore Letterboxd crowd have already decided Ti West is lame but I don't give a shit about that. “Pearl” topped my list of favorite films in 2022 and I loved “X,” the seventies set first entry in this trilogy of slasher flicks about porn and lonely, homicidal women. The threesome wraps up this year with “MaXXXine,” which moves the story forward into the eighties. 

I definitely want to see Mia Goth go psycho and get tragic again. Yet what West's visual approach to this project will be is honestly what most excites me. “X” frequently replicated the grimy 16mm look of seventies porn, while “Pearl” harkened back to Technicolor melodramas of the thirties and forties. Does “MaXXXine's” eighties setting mean it'll base itself on the shot-on-video smut of that decade? This is what I'm personally hoping for, if for nothing else than it'll look extremely cool and sleazy.

6. Blackout

One of Ti West's mentors is Larry Fessenden, who pioneered the low-key style that has come to define independent horror films in the last two decades. I've been a big fan of Fessenden for years. While he's very active as a producer and actor, with several notable projects coming up this year, he directs less often.

My favorite of Fessenden's projects have been when he's taken on classic horror archetypes, radically reinventing them in his own way. “No Telling” and “Depraved” more explicitly where his takes on the “Frankenstein” story, “Habit” was his lo-fi riff on vampires, while “Beneath” was his approach to the lake monster story. With “Blackout,” he completes this monster movie cycle by making his own version of the werewolf story. The plot concerns a Fine Arts painter who comes to believe that he's the hairy monster terrorizing his small town. Fessenden describes the film as a blend of a "naturalistic documentary-style" and the "mythological tropes of the werewolf story," that fuses "themes of contemporary society with classic monster movie clichés.”

Hell yeah! I can't wait to see this director put his stamp on this particular subgenre

7. El Conde

Speaking of weird, indie innovations on classic monsters! Pablo Larrain basically made two psychological horror projects out of stodgy biopic premises with “Jackie” and “Spencer,” both playing out as anxiety attacks put on film. Larrain commits fully to the horror genre with “El Conde,” which re-imagines infamous Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet as a 250 year old vampire who finally decides to end his life. Larrain himself is Chilean, so I imagine he has a personal perspective on this premise. By the way, sources describes this one as a comedy! Which only intrigues me further...

8. Wildwood

I don't know if a single one of Laika's movies has ever earned much money. I know for a fact that the studio's last two releases were full blown flops. Yet the studio's quirky stop-motion features, which often luxuriate in grotesque and serious themes despite ostensibly being for children, has captured a devoted cult following. Presumably following another influx of Nike money from Travis Scott's dad, Laika is returning this year with a new one.

“Wildwood” is an adaptation of Colin Meloy's children's novel, which imagines an elaborate fantasy world within the forest of Portland, Oregon. I have no doubt that such a setting will allow the Laika team's imagination to go wild in all sorts of wonderful ways. There's also a lovely voice cast here, including such notable names as Tom Waits, Jemaine Clement, and Richard E. Grant.

9. The Last Voyage of the Demeter and Renfield

I guess I'm not done going on about monster movies tonight. For classic horror buffs like me, 2023 is an especially exciting year. Universal Studios, the company really responsible for bringing the Classic Monsters that I love so much into this world, somehow is releasing two separate Dracula movies this year. It's practically a Drac-enaissance!

First off, releasing in April, is “Renfield.” From “The Lego Batman Movie” director Chris McKay, it follows the bug-eating henchman as he tries and get his vampire master to adapt to the modern world. Nicholas Hoult plays the title character, Awkwafina is his love interest, but the real catch is Nicolas Cage as the Count. The always busy Cage has a full docket of projects this year – a weird A24 thing, a Dadsploitation spoof, and a western are just some of his upcoming vehicles – but seeing him vamp it up as the world's most famous bloodsucker is the real attraction. Considering McKay previously made the lousy "The Forever War," “Renfield” will likely either be a disaster or an instant cult classic. It's been been described as an absurd gore comedy, so I'm hoping for the latter.

A more serious take on the Count coming this year is “The Last Voyage of the Demeter.” A script that's been circulating in Hollywood for over a decade, this is a feature expansion of the seventh chapter of the original book. That's where Dracula, in route from Transylvania to England, picks off the entire crew of shipping boat the Demeter over the course of a single night. Essentially, it's "Dracula on a Boat" and that's cool as fuck. 

David Slade, Marcus Nispel, and Neil Marshall have been attached over the years but “Troll Hunter/Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark's” André Øvredal – a more consistent director than any of those guys, truthfully – is the one to finally bring it to undead life. He's brought gangly monster-man Javier Botet along to play the Count, all but guaranteeing that this will be an especially gnarly take on Bram Stoker's creation. Sounds bitchin' to me! "The Demeter" is currently scheduled to arrive in August.

10. I Saw the TV Glow

If you're a female horror director who received a lot of buzz for her indie debut, 2023 is the year you're making your follow-up feature apparently. “Body at Brighton Rock's” Roxanne Benamin attacks the creepy kid subgenre with “There's Something Wrong with the Children.” Rose Glass, of "Saint Maud" fame, invites Kristen Stewart into the world of female body-building with twisted romance “Love Lies Bleeding.” Natalie Erika James proceeds “Relic” with the mysterious “Apartment 7A.” Alice Lowe's long awaited follow-up to "Prevenge," "Timestalker," doesn't sound like a horror movie exactly but it does involve reincarnation and the apocalypse. (The Soska Sisters are back too, with the kinky sounding “On the Edge,” but it's their sixth feature so I don't know why I mentioned it.)

All of these are exciting projects but the one I'm most looking forward to is “I Saw the TV Glow.” That's Jane Schoenbrun's sophomore effort, after the impressive “We're All Going to the World's Fair.” While that film was inspired by internet ARGs and creepypastas, this one sounds like it's taking a page from lost media fixations and “missing episode” stories like “Candle Cove.” I love that shit! Brigette Lundy-Paine, Billie from “Bill and Ted Face the Music,” stars which is another reason to get excited for this one.

Other Anticipated Movies:

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, The Flash, Shazam: Fury of the Gods, and Blue Beetle

Do to the ever-shifting chaos that is the behind-the-scenes drama at WB/DC these days, “The Flash” and “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” are still forthcoming. The main anticipation point with “The Flash” right now is seeing how they're going to write around and reshoot this movie starring an absolute lunatic. Aqauman is my favorite DC superhero, so I loved the first one and am actually excited by part two. Even if lots of people – DC's top brass included – seem ready to write off this sequel to a billion-grossing blockbuster for some reason.

At the very least, “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” hasn't been delayed or sitting on a shelf for several years. The first “Shazam!” was a likable superhero flick and I'm definitely interested in the sequel. Though I wish they had actually pulled from the characters' comic book rogues gallery, instead of taking up some new villains for the movie... Even if Helen Mirren and Lucy Liu are cool additions. Finally, “Blue Beetle” is the most mysterious of these projects which makes it maybe the most intriguing. If nothing else, Blue Beetle is a character we haven't seen on the big screen before.

AND

Greek weirdo turned Academy Award nominated director Yorgos Lanthimos still has “Poor Things,” his oddball riff on the “Frankenstein” story that was number three on my list last year, awaiting release. Despite that, he's already in post-production on his next-next movie. With the impossible-to-Google title “AND,” the plot is being kept under wraps. We do know that Emma Stone and Willem Dafoe, also in “Poor Things,” will appear here as well. Whatever it's about, I bet it's going to be darkly satirical, unnerving, and funny in a strange way!

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, The Marvels and more...

I think 2022 was the year when superhero fatigue truly started to set in for me. It's not that I don't get enjoyment out of Marvel's superhero media anymore. I'm just a little tired of how they've taken over the world. If the threats of over-saturation are reasonable, that isn't stopping Disney and their associates. They've got three new entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe prepared for 2023.

“Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” is up first. I enjoyed the small-scale approach Peyton Reed's first two superhero flicks had, which makes me sort of disappointed in the seemingly cosmic direction the third film is taking things. Even if the trailer is pretty cool looking. And there's definitely going to be some Micronauts references in this one.

Probably the most exciting of this year's MCU offerings is “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” if only because James Gunn's sci-fi misfits epics have both been great. It seems the director, before jumping boat to DC, has been allowed to bring this story to a natural ending. The trailer is already a tear-jerker. Nothing bad better happen to Rocket!

Probably the least exciting of these is “The Marvels,” even if Nia DeCosta is a talented filmmaker. “Captain Marvel” and “Ms. Marvel” were both fine but I can't say I loved either installments enough to be instantly hyped for the sequel. This year also sees the release of “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” which I'm sure will be visually stunning. (Plus the Spot is in it!) Oh yeah, Sony is also putting out “Kraven the Hunter” this year. I want to say that surely can't be any lamer than “Morbius” but, in my heart of hearts, I already know it can be.

The Bikeriders and The Iron Claw

Hey, who are some mid-level indie auteurs that have yet to crossover into the mainstream, despite some serious close calls? Jeff Nichols is reuniting with his “Take Shelter” muse, Michael Shannon, alongside other tough guy actors like Tom Hardy, Boyd Holbrook, and Norman Reedus in "The Bikeriders." These guys are playing bikers in the sixties this time, which sounds about right. Knowing what we do about Nichols' style, I'm betting this is more low-key character study than exploitation throwback. More “Easy Rider” than “Werewolves on Wheels.”

Meanwhile, Sean Durkin of “Martha Marcy May Marlene” and “The Nest” is going the biopic route with “The Iron Claw.” The chosen subject is the pro-wrestling dynasty the Von Erich clan, who have been going to the mat since the 1960s. Durkin's films usually specialize in existential anxiety, so I'm intrigued to see how he'll apply that to a true-life narrative. Plus, the world of pro-wrestling is decadent and depraved, so there's lots of opportunity for melodrama.

Beau is Afraid

Number four on last year's list, it feels like I've been looking forward to Ari Aster's "Disappointment Blvd." for a while now. I've been calling the movie that in my head for so long that the recent title change to "Beau is Afraid" is... Disappointing. That's also the title of a short film Aster made, which maybe points towards the direction this mysterious project – alternatively described as a "four-hour long nightmare comedy," the life story of an entrepreneur, and "a decades-spanning surrealist horror film set in an alternate present" – will go in. Either way, I'm looking forward to seeing the always intense Joaquin Phoenix blend with Aster's anxiety-inducing style. 

Civil War and True Love

It's good to know that some sci-fi auteur still to get movies that aren't parts of multi-billion cinematic universes. "Civil War" comes to us from Alex Garland, whose reputation took a bit of a hit with last year's folk-horror mindbender "Men." (Though I liked it.) This is his third partnership with A24, who are calling the film an action epic. Kirsten Dunst and Cailee Spaeny, who is also playing Pricilla Presley in a biopic from Sofia Coppola this year, star.

I don't know if Garett Edwards is quite as acclaimed as Garland, though I loved his "Godzilla" and enjoyed "Rogue One." It sounds like Edwards is returning to his quirkier roots with "True Love," a sci-fi project with a top-shelf cast that includes Alison Janney and Ken Watanabe. The other thing these two movies have in common is that both plots are being kept top secret for now. 

Dungeons & Dragons

I've never actually played a game of "Dungeons & Dragons" in my life. Wizards 'n' shit aren't typically my genre and tabletop games have too many rules for my taste. Many of my friends do play D&D, so I've picked up on a few things over the years. I know what a Mimic and a Beholder and a Gelatinous Cube are, ya know? However, it's not a brand I have any attachment to. (Certainly not from the previous attempts to make movies out of it.) 

So why am I so excited for "Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves," the latest attempt to turn the beloved RPG into a big budget movie? Well, the trailer, with its "Guardians of the Galaxy" style needle drops and cool CGI monsters, was pretty good. The cast is solid and the directors are acclaimed. I'm even intrigued by the promise that this is part of an attempt by Hasbro to turn their various toy brands into multi-media franchises. But I'm not going to lie to you guys. I just want to see Sophia Lillis play a cute demon girl. She even has a little tail! Sorry, I believe in Tiefling Tomboy Supremacy. 

The Dating Game

Initially, this thriller about that time a serial killer charmed his way into first place on a seventies romance-themed game show, right in the middle of his killing spree, was going to be directed by Chloe Okuno. Following an excellent "V/H/S" segment and the very creepy "Watcher," a buzzy true crime story starring Ana Kendrick seemed like the logical progression of Okuno's career. But now Okuno has left the project to make Netflix's next "Fear Street" movie and Kendrick is both starring in and directing "The Dating Game." That's a lot less exciting for me, even if I like Kendrick just fine. 

Doctor Jekyll

There have been multiple attempts over the years to resurrect Hammer Film Productions, the British studio whose colorful, bloody, cleavage-filled gothic horror flicks rocked monster kids' lives in the late fifties and sixties. The previous attempt had an okay run in the 2010s but fizzled out after snowy thriller "The Lodge." Now the brand name has been revived again as Hammer Studios Ltd. 

The first release from the new new Hammer is a genderbending twist on "Doctor Jekyll," in which Eddie Izzard's kind-hearted Dr. Nina Jekyll becomes the murderous Mr. Hyde. Presumably this will be a more socially aware, queer conscious take on the material than "Doctor Jekyll and Sister Hyde" was. I'm kind of doubtful any update to the Hammer formula can work in the modern day. But at least this follows Hammer tradition by being a twist on a classic Victorian horror character.

Here

"Here" has a neat premise, that plays with the perimeters of the medium in a way I like. The film is set in a single room and tracks everyone who has lived there over the decades, which includes Tom Hanks and Paul Bettany. Dampening my expectations for that neat set-up is that Robert Zemeckis is in the director's chair. Zemeckis had a great run in the eighties and nineties but his more recent output has been, to say the least, uninspiring. "Here" re-teams him with "Forrest Gump" screenwriter Eric Roth, which is a good or bad thing depending on how you feel about that particular movie. 

The Exorcist, Scream VI, and more...

It seems the box office success of the Blumhouse "Halloween" movies has really opened the floodgates, as far as revivals of horror franchise go. After putting his mark on Michael Myers, David Gordon Green looks to be doing more-or-less the same thing to "The Exorcist." This is also a direct sequel to the seventies original, that plans to launch a new trilogy and brings back a wizened female lead. (Ellen Burstyn in this case, though I imagine Linda Blair will show up eventually if they keep making these.) Danny McBride is even co-writing the script, where his penchant for creative profanity will presumably find a good home in the mouth of a demon-possessed child. I'm mixed on Green's "Halloween" flicks and "The Exorcist" is a much harder egg to crack but we'll see, I suppose. 

I guess the most high-profile horror sequel this year is "Scream VI," which shifts the setting to New York City and will hopefully include some "Jason Takes Manhattan" references, but these are far from the only ones. "Evil Dead Rise" got an upgrade from a HBOMax exclusive to an actual theatrical release, which I appreciate. "The Strangers" is getting a remake of some sort. Charles Band seems to have spent more than five bucks on a new "Subspecies" movie. Hell, even "The Mutilator" is getting a sequel! Truly, the Fangoria writers have a full plate ahead of them. 

Manodrome

About four years ago, Jesse Eisenberg starred in “The Art of Self-Defense,” a movie about an unassuming fellow being indoctrinated into a cult of toxic masculinity. It sounds like Eisenberg has made almost the same movie again with “Manodrome.” Oh, there are some differences. Here, Eisenberg plays an Uber driver and amateur bodybuilder. This cult is specifically a Libertarian toxic masculinity cult. Probably most importantly, “The Art of Self-Defense” was a comedy while “Manodrome” is described as a thriller. I loved the former movie so, honestly, I'm okay with this. Jesse Eisenberg should only star in deconstructions of toxic masculinity!

Final Summer, The Third Saturday in October and She Came from the Woods

In addition to getting a bunch of established horror franchises rebooted, it seems the success of the “Halloween” reboots have led to the slasher genre getting a boost in general. Body count flicks have always been common in the indie horror sector but we've got a surprising number of new slasher flicks this year intentionally devoted to invoking the subgenres golden age. “She Came from the Woods” is set in the eighties, with an ancient evil being unleashed at a summer camp. “Final Summer” is also set at a summer camp, though in the early nineties. “Jason Lives!” Thom Matthews is also in that one.

The most ambitious of these projects is from semi-notable director Jay Burleson: “The Third Saturday in October Part V” is pitched as a late entry in a long-running horror franchise based around a real life football game between Alabama and Tennessee's state universities. (My girlfriend from the actual deep south tells me this game practically is a holiday down there.) To take the joke even further, Burleson also made the “first” – actually second – movie in the imaginary “The Third Saturday in October” slasher series. I've got to admire the commitment to the bit here. Less retro is a movie I first wrote about last year: “Sick,” the pandemic-set collaboration between John Hyams and “Scream's” Kevin Williamson which has now been confirmed to be a slasher as well. 

Nightbitch

Maybe the strangest premise of the year belongs to “Nightbitch,” a film about a hurried suburban housewife and mother who randomly turns into a dog. That sounds like some weirdo indie film or offbeat horror film, especially with that title. Instead, it's a relatively high-profile project from Annapurna and Searchlight Pictures. It stars Amy Adams, is directed by “Can You Ever Forgive Me?/A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood's” Marielle Heller, and is based on a best-selling book. Honestly, that pedigree almost makes this sound like an awards season contender which is hard to imagine just based on the log line. 

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

It brings me no joy at all to report that I'm really not that interested in the fifth “Indiana Jones” movie. This makes me sad, as I grew up loving this particular franchise. The first two films are still some of my all-time favorites. I don't even dislike the fourth one the way a lot of people do. Yet the trailer for the fifth film left me feeling dispirited, not elated. Harrison Ford looks so frail. There's so much CGI, which takes all of the excitement out of the stunt work that characterized those original movies. Maybe I'm just worn out on nostalgia-heavy sequels. Maybe it's the lack of Spielberg in the director's chair that dampening my anticipation. James Mangold is a talented guy but... I don't know, man. Just not feeling it right now. 

Rebel Ridge

Jeremy Saulnier stumbled a bit with “Hold the Dark” but it sounds like he's getting back to the brutal roots of “Blue Ruin” and “Green Room” with “Rebel Ridge.” This is a socially conscious thriller about systemic injustices that is also described as an action movie. Considering the intensity of violence Saulnier brought to his previous films, I'm excited to see him bring that style to more elaborate action sequences. Now, if only the movie had been called “Red Ridge” instead and could've been the capper on his informal trilogy of thrillers with colors in the title...

Infinity Pool and Humane

The Cronenberg family is officially a dynasty now. David is making movies again after a long hiatus, though it looks like we're going to have to wait a while longer for the follow-up to “Crimes of the Future.” Son Brandon proved his success wasn't strictly nepotism with “Possessor” and now he has his third feature, “Infinity Pool,” coming out in just a few weeks. That one looks to continue to prove that Brandon has just as much talent for exposing surreal horrors and sexual deviance as his dad. 

And now Brandon's sister, Cailtin, is getting into the family business too. “Humane” is about a government sponsored euthanasia program, and the near-future environmental crisis that causes it, making a family dinner awkward. Sounds like the kind of thing the Cronenbergs would talk about around their own dinner tables! It remains to be seen if Caitlin has the talent of her dad and brother but I'm already willing to wager that she probably does. Especially considering she already has an accomplished career as a still photographer, having worked on films like “Room” and “Enemy.” 

Swallowed

Since making 2008's squirm-inducing killer vines feature “The Ruins,” director Carter Smith has mostly kept pretty quiet. He's directed some TV and music videos and a largely overlooked indie called “Jamie Marks is Dead.” Smith returns to the horror genre this year with “Swallowed.” This one has got a pretty cool premise, involving two gay men getting wrapped up in a drug smuggling plot that happens to involve parasitic insects as well. Jena Malone appears as a criminally unhinged dealer, so fuck yeah to that. This one played festivals last year and got strong notices, making me even more hyped for it.

Napoleon

A historical epic about Napoleon sounds exactly like the kind of movie Ridley Scott would make at this point in his career. You never know whether Scott will deliver something really inspired or if he'll just be going through the motions, though Joaquin Phoenix playing the French general does suggest this could be an example of Scott bringing his A-game. (Though the title is obvious as can be, but admittedly less obtuse than the working title “Kitbag.”) The film will reportedly focus just as much on Bonapart's tumultuous relationship with Josephine, played by Vanessa Kirby, as on his campaign to conquer Europe. By the way, Scott's daughter Jordan also has a new movie coming out this year, a cult thriller starring Sadie Sink and Eric Bana called “Berlin Nobody.” 

Silent Night

John Woo is another once cultishly adored director who maybe hasn't made a great movie in a while, though I hear his last few Chinese films were actually pretty good. Woo is returning to America this year with “Silent Night,” an action flick with an admittedly irresistible premise. It's a Christmas set revenge movie starring Joel Kinnaman and Kid Cudi but the real hook is that the film reportedly doesn't have a single line of dialogue in it, making the title rather literal. Considering elaborate action choreography has always been Woo's strong suit, that's a set-up that could really play to his strengths. 

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem

The previous attempt to turn the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles into a film franchise fizzled out after only two entries, though I think that was more because the first movie was so bad people didn't take a chance on the actually very entertaining sequel. That was six years ago, which is long enough that it's time for another reboot. “Mutant Mayhem” is different from all the previous theatrical TMNT movies in one important way: It's animated. Jeff Rowe and Kyler Spears, of “The Mitchells Vs. The Machines,” are directing. The best thing about that movie was its kinetic animation style and action sequences, suggesting they are a good fit for the Ninja Turtles. The production artwork we've seen thus far also suggest an embracing of the series' goofier side, which is always my favorite mood for these particular characters. 

The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar

Wes Anderson is another prominent filmmaker who has two movies on the schedule for this year. While “Asteroid City” was still awaiting release, Anderson went ahead and shot another film. The ever-so whimsically entitled “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar” is another Roald Dahl adaptation, based on a short story about a guy who learns to see through solid objects. The typically loaded cast includes Benedict Cumberbatch, Richard Ayoade, Dev Patel, and Ben Kingsley. It's kind of amazing none of them have worked with this filmmaker before. Benedict Cumberbatch even has a name like a Wes Anderson character!  This one is expected to arrive on Netflix in the fall, after “Asteroid City” appears in theaters this June. 

Other Films of Note:

Barbie, Cocaine Bear, Creed III, Cuckoo, Elemental, Enys Men, The Expendables 4, Hypnotic, John Wick: Chapter 4, Kids Vs. Aliens, The Killer, Killers of the Flower Moon, Landscape with Invisible Hand, Master Gardener, The Meg 2, No One Will Save You, Oppenheimer, Palm Trees and Power Lines, Rich Flu, Saltburn, Showing Up, The Toxic Avenger, Unicorn Wars, Wish