According to: Selina
Director: Tim Story
Writer: Kevin Costello, William Hanna, Joseph Barbera
Actors: Chloë Grace Moretz, Michael Peña, Rob Delaney, Colin Jost, Ken Jeong, Pallavi Sharda, Jordan Bolger, Daniel Adegboyega, Ajay Chhabra, Janis Ahern, Christina Chong, Nicky Jam, Lil Rel Howery
Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy
Rated: PG
Length: Unknown
Director: Edward Hall
Writer: Piers Ashworth, Noël Coward, Meg Leonard, Nick Moorcroft
Actors: Dan Stevens, Isla Fisher, Aimee-Ffion Edwards, Michele Dotrice, Dave Johns, Emilia Fox, Julian Rhind-Tutt, Adil Ray, Judi Dench, Leslie Mann, Simon Kunz, Callie Cooke, Peter A Rogers, Delroy Atkinson, James Fleet, Issy van Randwyck, Tam Williams, Colin Stinton, Stella Stocker, Jaymes Sygrove, Georgina Rich
Genre: Comedy, Fantasy, Romance
Rated: PG-13
Length: 95 minutes
Director: Nora Unkel
Writer: Nora Unkel
Actors: Alix Wilton Regan, Giullian Yao Gioello, Philippe Bowgen, Lee Garrett, Claire Glassford, Shannon Spangler, Nick Freeland
Genre: Thriller
Rated: Unrated
Length: 90 minutes
Director: Sung-hee Jo
Writer: Sung-hee Jo
Actors: Song Joong-Ki, Kim Tae-ri, Seon-kyu Jin, Hae-Jin Yoo, Ana Ruggiero, Milan-Devi LaBrey, Garrison Michael Farquharson-Keener, Daniel Joey Albright, John D. Michaels, Michael Davis
Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama
Rated: Unrated
Length: 136 minutes
Director: Michael Fimognari
Writer: Jenny Han, Katie Lovejoy
Actors: Noah Centineo, Lana Condor, Janel Parrish, Madeleine Arthur, Sarayu Blue, Lisa Durupt, Emilija Baranac, Momona Tamada, Rish Shah, Kayla Deorksen, Julie Tao, Linda Ko, June B. Wilde, Joey Pacheco, Janelle McDermoth, Katie Do, Mikayla Lagman, Michael Delleva
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Rated: Unrated
Length: 109 minutes
Director: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
Writer: Angela Russo-Otstot, Jessica Goldberg, Nico Walker
Actors: Tom Holland, Ciara Bravo, Jack Reynor, Michael Rispoli, Jeff Wahlberg, Forrest Goodluck, Michael Gandolfini, Daniel R. Hill, Fionn O’Shea, Edward Kagutuzi, Ola Orebiyi, Sam Clemmett, Kaine Zajaz, Kyle Harvey, Ann Russo, Theo Barklem-Biggs, Pooch Hall, Leo Woodall
Genre: Crime, Drama
Rated: R
Length: 150 minutes
Director: Tate Taylor
Writer: Amanda Idoko
Actors: Mila Kunis, Allison Janney, Juliette Lewis, Ellen Barkin, Chris Lowell, Awkwafina, Jimmi Simpson, Clifton Collins Jr., Matthew Modine, Regina Hall, Samira Wiley, Wanda Sykes, Bridget Everett, Dominic Burgess, Keong Sim, Lucy Faust
Genre: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Rated: R
Length: 96 minutes
Director: Florian Zeller
Writer: Florian Zeller, Christopher Hampton, Florian Zeller
Actors: Olivia Colman, Anthony Hopkins, Mark Gatiss, Olivia Williams, Imogen Poots, Rufus Sewell, Ayesha Dharker, Roman Zeller, Scott Mullins
Genre: Drama
Rated: PG-13
Length: 97 minutes
Director: Andrew Levitas
Writer: Andrew Levitas, David Kessler, Jason Forman, Stephen Deuters
Actors: Johnny Depp, Bill Nighy, Hiroyuki Sanada, Tadanobu Asano, Katherine Jenkins, Jun Kunimura, Lily Robinson, Minami, Masayoshi Haneda, Ryô Kase, Akiko Iwase, Kenta Ogawa, Bomber Hurley Smith
Genre: Drama
Rated: R
Length: 115 minutes
Director: Sam Levinson
Writer: Sam Levinson
Actors: John David Washington, Zendaya
Genre: Drama, Romance
Rated: R
Length: 106 minutes
This is the kind of film that is a true showcase of the actors. The direction and the writing can be as good as it wants, but the actors are the ones who are either going to bring it home, or drop the ball.
Director: Lena Khan
Writer: Brad Copeland, Kate DiCamillo
Actors: Alyson Hannigan, Danny Pudi, Kate Micucci, Ben Schwartz, Bobby Moynihan, Emma Oliver, Benjamin Evan Ainsworth, John Kassir, Nancy Robertson, Christine Lee, Matilda Lawler, Jesse Reid, Nicholas Dohy
Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Family
Rated: PG
Length: Unknown
Production/Distribution:
Amazon Studios, Endgame Entertainment, Big Indie Pictures, Pakt Media, Stellar
Visioning, Amazon Prime Video
Director: Mike Cahill
Writer: Mike Cahill
Actors: Owen Wilson, Salma Hayek, Nesta Cooper, Jorge Lendeborg Jr., Ronny Chieng, Steve Zissis, Joshua Leonard, Madeline Zima, Bill Nye, Slavoj Zizek, DeRon Horton, Eugene Young, Dayne Catalano, Adam William Zastrow, Lora Lee, Kosah Rukavina, Debbie Fan
Genre: Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi
Rated: R
Length: 103 minutes
IMDb Blurb: A mind-bending love story following Greg who, after
recently being divorced and then fired, meets the mysterious Isabel, a woman
living on the streets and convinced that the polluted, broken world around them
is a computer simulation.
Bliss has the vibe of Black Box (2020) mixed
with The Matrix (1999). Great films on their own, there’s no wonder that
the trailer seems interesting. As intriguing as it is, it’s also risky.
Because both films that are brought to mind when watching
the Bliss trailer are amazing, that raises the bar really high. It’s
going to be compared to both flicks. If it doesn’t measure up, it’s going to be
very obvious. That could cause people to judge it much more harshly than they would
have otherwise.
It has a decent cast, though Owen Wilson (Zoolander, Cars
3, She’s Funny that Way) is an almost shocking choice. He’s not in a whole
lot of serious movies. I think of him more as a comedy actor. It will be interesting
to see how he plays it here.
7 – The Yin-Yang
Master: Dream of Eternity (2/5) - Chinese
Production/Distribution:
Hehe Pictures, Shanghai Film Group, Netflix
Director: Jingming Guo
Writer: Jingming Guo
Actors: Mark Chao, Allen Deng, Jessie Li, Duo Wang, Ziwen Wang
Genre: Action, Drama, Fantasy
Rated: Unrated
Length: 132 minutes
IMDb Blurb: Qing Ming, the Yin-Yang Master, took his master's
last wish and went to the Captial Tiandu City to attend the heaven ceremony.
This movie is adapted from a series of books that I have not
read. As a result, I can’t really speak much to the adaptation aspect. A few
bits I’ve heard about from it insist that some of the character designs may be
flawed, but I don’t think that will affect anyone who is being introduced to
the story for the first time.
And what a story it’s shaping up to be.
It looks like a martial arts extravaganza mixed with the
depth of an actually engaging plot. Likely because it was based on a book. All
the action is secondary to the story because that came first. And the action
still looks heart-pounding.
The trailer is so crisp and gorgeous. The sight of the snake
got me READY for this. The entire design of it is like nothing I’ve ever seen before.
It’s absolute perfection.
Even if you don’t generally tend to go for foreign films, I
think this is one of those you could probably watch without even attempting to
read subtitles. It could be like a silent epic for you.
I just can’t wait to see it. Every time I re-watch the trailer
it gets me going.
6 – I Care A Lot
(2/19)
Production/Distribution:
Black Bear Pictures, Crimple Beck, GEM Entertainment, Elevation Pictures, Amazon
Prime Video, ErosSTX International, Joy n Cinema, Netflix, The Searchers
Director: J Blakeson
Writer: J Blakeson
Actors: Rosamund Pike, Peter Dinklage, Eiza González, Dianne West, Chis Messina, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Macon Blair, Alicia Witt, Damian Young, Nicholas Logan, Liz Eng
Genre: Comedy, Crime, Thriller
Rated: R
Length: 118 minutes
IMDb Blurb: A crooked legal guardian who drains the savings of
her elderly wards meets her match when a woman she tries to swindle turns out
to be more than she first appears.
Elder abuse is not funny. I’ve watching my mom’s landlord
try to bully her into moving out. He had her threatened and robbed (legal
action was taken). People will hurt, or take advantage of, pretty much anyone
they see as weaker than them. It’s an unfortunately and uncomfortable truth
about our world.
You know what is funny? Watching someone who pulls that shit
get what’s coming to them. That’s what I think this movie is going to be.
My guess is that the character played by Dianne West (The
Birdcage, I Am Sam, Life in Pieces) is either a former hitman, part of the
mob, or has a son that is one of those things. Watching what happens to the
main character when she bites off more than she can chew is going to be
hilarious.
Also, Peter Dinklage (Avengers: Infinity War, Game of
Thrones, Heads Will Roll) is involved. I will follow that man anywhere.
5 – A Writer’s Odyssey
(2/12) - Mandarin
Production/Distribution:
United Entertainment Partners, Golden Village Pictures, Purple Plan, CMC
Pictures
Director: Yang Lu
Writer: Shu Chen, Xiaocao Liu, Yang Lu, Haiyan Qin, Lu Yan, Yang Yu
Actors: Mi Yang, Hewei Yu, Liya Tong, Zijian Dong, Jiayin Lei, Jingfei Guo
Genre: Action, Drama, Fantasy
Rated: Unrated
Length: 130 minutes
IMDb Blurb: A WRITER'S ODYSSEY tells the story of Kongwen Lu
(Dong Zijian), the author of a fantasy novel series following a heroic
teenager, also named Kongwen, on a quest to end the tyrannical rule of Lord
Redmane, under the guidance of a Black Armor (Guo Jingfei). But through a
strange twist of fate, the fantasy world of the novel begins to impact life in
the real world, leading Guan Ning (Lei Jiayin) to accept a mission from Tu Ling
(Yang Mi) to kill the author.
The trope of a writer’s story coming to life, or controlling
reality, is one of my favorites. This particular version looks absolutely
gorgeous and I’m definitely here for it.
When I live-streamed watching the trailers on Twitch, one of
the viewers stated a concern that the transitions might be hard to follow. She
likened it to Sucker Punch (2011) in that way.
I’ll grant that movies like this one do have to worry about
that particular pitfall, but I don’t think it’s going to be an issue here.
Part of the plot is that the world being written about is
affecting the real world. So, I don’t think there will be transitions. Not of
that sort, anyway. If anything, I feel like it will be closer to the way The
Neverending Story (1984) was shot than Sucker Punch.
Either way, it’s going to be a pulse-pounding watch; with
settings and creatures that are beautifully, and flawlessly, designed. Should
be worth every moment.
4 – Earwig and
the Witch (2/3)
Production/Distribution:
HK Enterprises, Studio Ghibli, Shirogumi, NHK, Fathom Events, Bir Film, Elysian
Film Group, Front Row Filmed Entertainment, GKIDS, HBO Max, adman Entertainment,
Vértigo Films, Wild Bunch Distribution
Director: Gorô Miyazaki
Writer: Diana Wynne Jones, Keiko Niwa, Emi Gunji, Hayao Miyazaki
Actors: JB Blanc, Thomas Bromhead, Alex Cartañá, Pandora Colin, Richarad E. Grant, Gaku Hamada, Logan Hannan, Taylor Henderson, Kokoro Hirasawa, Summer Jenkins, Eva Kaminsky, Vanessa Marshall, Sherina Munaf, Kacey Musgraves, Vivienne Rutherford, Dan Stevens, Shinobu Terajima, Etsushi Toyokawa
Genre: Animation, Family, Fantasy
Rated: PG
Length: 82 minutes
IMDb Blurb: It follows an orphan girl, Earwig, who is adopted
by a witch and comes home to a spooky house filled with mystery and magic.
I though this film looked cute when I first saw the trailer,
but what really piqued my interest was that it was a Studio Ghibli movie.
Sure, the plot looks fine, and the characters are amusingly quirky
– but even if that wasn’t the case, it’d have still been high on my Top 20
list.
There’s not much else to say. If you’re looking for a fun
and high-quality family flick, and you don’t feel like Disney or DreamWorks,
Studio Ghibli is the third giant you turn to.
3 – Judas and the
Black Messiah (2/12)
Production/Distribution:
Bron Creative, MACRO, Participant, Warner Bros. Pictures, Warner Bros.
Singapore, Warner Bros., HBO Max
Director: Shaka King
Writer: Will Berson, Shaka King, Keith Lucas, Kenneth Lucas
Actors: Jesse Plemons, Daniel Kaluuya, LaKeith Stanfield, Martin Sheen, Dominique Fishback, Ashton Sanders, Algee Smith, Lil Rey Howery, Terayle Hill, Darrell Britt-Gibson, Jermaine Fowler, Nick Fink, Robert Longstreet, Dominique Thorne, Crystal Lee Brown, Khris Davis, Ian Duff
Genre: Biography, Drama, History
Rated: R
Length: 126 minutes
IMDb Blurb: The story of Fred Hampton, Chairman of the Illinois
Black Panther Party, and his fateful betrayal by FBI informant William O'Neal.
This film, and films like it, are incredibly relevant right
now. In this case, we get a hard look at how the law viewed the Black Panthers
in the 60s. Honestly, not all that unlike how they seem to view BLM now.
It’s going to be a harsh film. There’s no getting around
that. But some subjects need to be harsh. They need to be in your face and hard
to ignore. I expect that here.
Moving into a more artistic perspective, I have complete –
unbreakable – faith in both Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out, Queen & Slim,
Widows) and LaKeith Stanfield (The Photograph, Knives Out, Uncut Gems).
Whatever the creators of this movie want to portray, those two will make it
work.
Stanfield is one of my favorite actors from the past ten
years. He has such an expressive face and commitment to his characters. Even if
nothing else in this film looked good, it’d have made the list just for his
involvement.
2 – Woman in Motion
(2/2)
Production/Distribution:
Stars North, Space Florida, The Production Media Group, Fathom Events
Director: Todd Thompson
Writer: Benjamin Crump, Tim Franta, John McCall, Joe Millin, David Teek, Todd Thompson
Actors: Nichelle Nichols, Vivica A. Fox, Ashley Eckstein, Michael Dorn, George Takei, Lynn Whitfield, Walter Koenig, Jeremy Bulloch, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Pharrell Williams, Reginal Hudlin, Rod Roddenberry, Al Sharpton, Hillary Clinton, D.C. Fontana, Joel Harlow, Allison Schroeder, Mae C. Jemison, John Lewis, David Gerrold, Donna Gigliotti, Diana Lovell, Maxine Waters, Steven-Charles Jaffe, Michael Eric Dyson, Benjamin Crump, Story Musgrave, Martin Luther King III, Deborag Riley Draper, Richard Alonzo
Genre: Documentary
Rated: Unrated
Length: 105 minutes
IMDb Blurb: Nichelle Nichols' daunting task to launch a
national blitz for NASA, recruiting 8,000 of the nation's best and brightest,
including the trailblazing astronauts who became the first African American,
Asian and Latino men and women to fly in space.
My first instinct at learning this was a documentary was
that I would rather read a book than watch a documentary. I just, personally,
learn better that way. However, this is about Nichelle Nichols (The Torturer,
Tru Loved, This Bitter Earth) and her story, as the title says, is just
better in motion.
I’m a Trekkie. I have always loved Star Trek.
Nichelle Nichols was a huge part of that. Growing up, she was one of my earliest
pop culture role models. I had three: Angela Lansbury (Beauty and the Beast,
Mrs. Santa Claus, The Love She Sought) as Jessica Fletcher in Murder She
Wrote (1984-1996), Lynda Carter (Supergirl, The Dukes of Hazzard, Sky
High) as Wonder Woman in Wonder Woman (1975-1979), and Nichelle
Nichols as LT. Uhura in Star Trek: The Original Series (1966-1969). My
mom always told me that a woman could grow up to be whatever she wanted, but
those three women were the ones that made me actually believe it.
Nichelle Nichols is an inspiration of equality. She showed
millions of people who they could be in a world that hadn’t caught up yet.
I don’t tend to add documentaries to my list, but this one
deserves to be here.
Nichelle Nichols is a queen of the highest regard. I approve
of absolutely anything that tells people who she is and what she’s done.
1 – Willy’s
Wonderland (2/12)
Production/Distribution:
JD Entertainment, Landafar Entertainment, Landmark Studio Group, Saturn Films, Movie
Cloud, Pegasus Co., Blitz, Eagle Pictures, Foresight Unlimited, Madman
Entertainment, Myndform, Nos Lusomundo Audiovisuais, SF Norge A/S, Screen Media
Films, Signature Entertainment, Splendid Film, VVS Films
Director: Kevin Lewis
Writer: G.O. Parsons
Actors: Nicolas Cage, Beth Grant, Caylee Cowan, Emily Tosta, Terayle Hill, Grant Cramer, Mark Gagliardi, Chris Schmidt Jr., Taylor Towery, Ric Reitz, David Sheftell, Jiri Stanek, Jessica Graves Davis, Jonathan Mercedes, Christopher Bradley, Duke Jackson, Émoi, Kai Kadlec, Chris Warner, Abel Arias, BJ Guyer, Olga Cramer, Chris Padilla, D.j. Stavropoulos
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Rated: Unrated
Length: 88 minutes
IMDb Blurb: A quiet drifter is tricked into a janitorial job at
the now condemned Wally's Wonderland. The mundane tasks suddenly become an
all-out fight for survival against wave after wave of demonic animatronics.
Fists fly, kicks land, titans clash -- and only one side will make it out
alive.
I had to put this one first. The entire internet is waiting
on it.
Willy’s Wonderland is what you get when you tell Nicolas
Cage (Primal, Mandy, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse) to just go crazy
and then drop him in the middle of Five Nights at Freddy’s. How could
this not be the best thing we’ve ever seen?
Ok, it’s not gonna be an ‘awards show’ kind of film. We all
know that. That’s not what I’m taking about. I’m saying that even if it’s bad,
even if the script is the worst ever created, I can’t see how it couldn’t (at
the least) be so bad it’s good. We win either way.
I’m here for it.
FAQ:
What makes a movie eligible for Trust the Dice’s Top 20?
Director: Mike Cahill
Writer: Mike Cahill
Actors: Owen Wilson, Salma Hayek, Nesta Cooper, Jorge Lendeborg Jr., Ronny Chieng, Steve Zissis, Joshua Leonard, Madeline Zima, Bill Nye, Slavoj Zizek, DeRon Horton, Eugene Young, Dayne Catalano, Adam William Zastrow, Lora Lee, Kosah Rukavina, Debbie Fan
Genre: Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi
Rated: R
Length: 103 minutes
Director: Jingming Guo
Writer: Jingming Guo
Actors: Mark Chao, Allen Deng, Jessie Li, Duo Wang, Ziwen Wang
Genre: Action, Drama, Fantasy
Rated: Unrated
Length: 132 minutes
Director: J Blakeson
Writer: J Blakeson
Actors: Rosamund Pike, Peter Dinklage, Eiza González, Dianne West, Chis Messina, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Macon Blair, Alicia Witt, Damian Young, Nicholas Logan, Liz Eng
Genre: Comedy, Crime, Thriller
Rated: R
Length: 118 minutes
Director: Yang Lu
Writer: Shu Chen, Xiaocao Liu, Yang Lu, Haiyan Qin, Lu Yan, Yang Yu
Actors: Mi Yang, Hewei Yu, Liya Tong, Zijian Dong, Jiayin Lei, Jingfei Guo
Genre: Action, Drama, Fantasy
Rated: Unrated
Length: 130 minutes
Director: Gorô Miyazaki
Writer: Diana Wynne Jones, Keiko Niwa, Emi Gunji, Hayao Miyazaki
Actors: JB Blanc, Thomas Bromhead, Alex Cartañá, Pandora Colin, Richarad E. Grant, Gaku Hamada, Logan Hannan, Taylor Henderson, Kokoro Hirasawa, Summer Jenkins, Eva Kaminsky, Vanessa Marshall, Sherina Munaf, Kacey Musgraves, Vivienne Rutherford, Dan Stevens, Shinobu Terajima, Etsushi Toyokawa
Genre: Animation, Family, Fantasy
Rated: PG
Length: 82 minutes
Director: Shaka King
Writer: Will Berson, Shaka King, Keith Lucas, Kenneth Lucas
Actors: Jesse Plemons, Daniel Kaluuya, LaKeith Stanfield, Martin Sheen, Dominique Fishback, Ashton Sanders, Algee Smith, Lil Rey Howery, Terayle Hill, Darrell Britt-Gibson, Jermaine Fowler, Nick Fink, Robert Longstreet, Dominique Thorne, Crystal Lee Brown, Khris Davis, Ian Duff
Genre: Biography, Drama, History
Rated: R
Length: 126 minutes
Director: Todd Thompson
Writer: Benjamin Crump, Tim Franta, John McCall, Joe Millin, David Teek, Todd Thompson
Actors: Nichelle Nichols, Vivica A. Fox, Ashley Eckstein, Michael Dorn, George Takei, Lynn Whitfield, Walter Koenig, Jeremy Bulloch, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Pharrell Williams, Reginal Hudlin, Rod Roddenberry, Al Sharpton, Hillary Clinton, D.C. Fontana, Joel Harlow, Allison Schroeder, Mae C. Jemison, John Lewis, David Gerrold, Donna Gigliotti, Diana Lovell, Maxine Waters, Steven-Charles Jaffe, Michael Eric Dyson, Benjamin Crump, Story Musgrave, Martin Luther King III, Deborag Riley Draper, Richard Alonzo
Genre: Documentary
Rated: Unrated
Length: 105 minutes
Director: Kevin Lewis
Writer: G.O. Parsons
Actors: Nicolas Cage, Beth Grant, Caylee Cowan, Emily Tosta, Terayle Hill, Grant Cramer, Mark Gagliardi, Chris Schmidt Jr., Taylor Towery, Ric Reitz, David Sheftell, Jiri Stanek, Jessica Graves Davis, Jonathan Mercedes, Christopher Bradley, Duke Jackson, Émoi, Kai Kadlec, Chris Warner, Abel Arias, BJ Guyer, Olga Cramer, Chris Padilla, D.j. Stavropoulos
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Rated: Unrated
Length: 88 minutes
Movies to Look out For
According to: Cat
Music .20
A Nightmare Wakes .19
To All the Boys: Always
and Forever .18
Falling .17
A Writer’s Odyssey.16
Ruth: Justice Ginsburg
in Her Own Words .15
Bliss .14
Little Fish .13
More than Miyagi: The
Pat Morita Story .12
Minamata .11
The Reckoning .10
The United States vs. Billie
Holiday .9
Cherry .8
Judas and the Black
Messiah .7
Blithe Spirit .6
I Care A Lot .5
Breaking News in Yuba
County .4
Tom and Jerry .3
Flora & Ulysses .2
Earwig and the Witch .1
What makes a movie eligible for Trust the Dice’s Top 20?
It seems like we have a lot of great movies to watch. Thank you.
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