Most Anticipated Movies of 2020(What's Left of it Anyway)

I know, I know, I should've released this at the beginning of the year but it's never too late to state what I think are going to be the best movies of the year especially when there's so much year left! Given that a lot of movie theaters are closed for the time being a lot of these movies might spill over into 2021 but if I make a 2021 list I'll mention the movies that were initially supposed to come out this year.

With Bad Boys for Life, Dolittle, Birds of Prey, and The Invisible Man in my back pocket and plenty of months to go here is my list, from 10 to 1, of the movies I can't wait to see this year:

Honorable Mentions: Mulan, Black Widow, Antebellum, Candyman, The King's Man, and West Side Story.

10. In the Heights, Lin Manuel-Miranda - I love a good musical and Lin has delivered on musicals in the past so I'm excited to see what he does here. The only issue is that this will be going up against Steven Spielberg's 'West Side Story', which may spell trouble for this movie because WSS is a beloved story with a beloved director at the helm. I can't wait to see how this war of the musicals turns out.

9.  Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar, Josh Greenbaum - If you've seen this trailer then you know why this is on my list. If you haven't then you're for a fun time.

8. Morbius, Daniel Espinosa - I'm interested in this movie because I can't wait see how badly they mess it up. Jared Leto isn't a good actor, Oscar be damned, and I'm looking forward to the lackluster reviews.

7. Coming to America, Craig Brewer - 32 Years after the original, Eddie Murphy and Aresenio Hall team up for round 2 with this follow-up to the original comedy. All I can expect is some good laughs and pray for a good story and good dialogue.

6. The Witches, Robert Zemeckis - If you haven't seen the original 1990 "The Witches" with Anjelica Huston then go watch it right now. It was very well done for its time and I'm looking forward to this remake which stars Anne Hathaway as the "Grand High Witch". This may be more of a nostalgia draw for me but I hope everyone who sees it on my recommendation enjoys it.

5.  Eternals, Chloe Zhao - I don't quite know what to make of this movie as yet but I know I can rely on Marvel Studios and Kevin Feige to give me a competent story with some awesome visuals.

4. No Time To Die, Cary Fukanaga - I'm not the biggest fan of Cary Fukanaga (Look up the
"creative differences" that caused him to lose the Director's chair on "It") but I'm a huge fan of Daniel Craig and the beautiful Lashanna Lynch. It's an all-star cast and despite the release date being pushed back I'm still all in.

3. Wonder Woman 1984, Patty Jenkins - After the initial success of Wonder Woman and the subsequent failure of The Justice League, Wonder Woman 1984 seems like a breath of fresh air, one that's been a long time coming. Hopefully Patty Jenkins and Gal Gadot can deliver a good movie but i have faith in them.

2. Dune, Denis Villenueve - If I said that I was super excited about this movie that would still be an understatement. It has it all; Denis Villenueve, Timothee Chalamet, Zendaya, Oscar Isaac, Jason Mamoa,  and to top it all of Hans Zimmer is doing the score. The amazing source material also means the story is going to be awesome. I literally cannot wait until the end of the year for this one.

1. Tenet, Christopher Nolan - This should come as no surprise. Memento, The Dark Knight, and Inception all speak for themselves from a film-making perspective and based on what I've seen so far in the Tenet trailers I know this is going to be a good movie. John David Washington and Robert Pattinson have staring roles in this film so I already know the acting is going to be amazing. This is a movie that I'm anticipating the most. Period.

Please comment below with your most anticipated movies!

The Invisible Man: Universal, Your Savior is Here!

    

Hot Take

I wasn't sure what to expect walking into "The Invisible Man" but walking out I was blown away by just how good this movie actually was. $20 plus tax well spent! Universal's attempt at their monster universe initially floundered before it got a chance to fly(i.e. "The Mummy") but "The Invisible Man" was a breath of fresh air into the cinematic universe the studio eventually hopes to build. Now I'm not sure where the Universal 'Monster Universe' is headed after this but if the other movies that are slated for production, Bride of Frankenstein being amongst them, follow the path of "The Invisible Man" and not that of "The Mummy" then I'd say that the Monster Universe might not be dead yet.

Long-story short, "The Invisible Man" is a superb movie with great acting, a great score, great cinematography, and a great director at the helm. Leigh Whannell kills it with this installment and I find this movie quite similar to Jordan Peele's "Get Out" and I can't wait to see what Whannell does next. The comparison to "Get Out" in my mind has less to do with the narrative being told and more about the way the story and the movie are crafted. The establishing shots present in this movie are breathtaking and force you to focus on multiple segments of the screen as you painstakingly search for the titular invisible man. Whannell will often times display a wide shot of a particular part of the room and the empty room paired with the eerie score will put you on edge and you'll be holding your breath waiting for something to happen, but by no means is the movie ever uninteresting or boring.

Elisabeth Moss shines as the star of this movie and without her amazing performance I can very easily see "The Invisible Man" falling apart. Her acting grounds the movie and makes it believable and she sells herself as a protagonist by being intelligent whereas typical protagonists in her position might not have made the same decisions she did. Her body acting is impeccable and shows that she's very deserving of her Emmy and Golden Globe awards.

Aldis Hodge and Storm Reid are perfect and more importantly believable as the father-daughter pair and also are an emotional focal point of the movie along with Elisabeth Moss.

Oliver-Jackson Cohen who plays the spurned ex-boyfriend is thrilling for the short amount of time he is actually on-screen and he really sells the part of being an over-whelming force of nature that you feel the need to get away from.

All in all the acting across the board is sublime.

Cold Take

The pacing is off in a few places, sometimes even a bit slow, especially in the beginning and there is one scene in particular that comes to mind at about the mid-way point but the movie makes up for it in spades later on. The action ratchets up so much and so quickly towards the end of the movie that you might find yourself missing the slower points of the movie which give the actors the chance to flex their acting chops.

Also some of the tension is dissolved when you do some deep thinking about certain aspects of the movie but I suggest you suspend your disbelief because after all it is a movie.

My Take

I absolutely enjoyed this movie and I'll be seeing it at least twice more while its still in theaters. Go see it and let me know what you think!