HOLLYWOOD─Well 2019 is over, a new decade is year, and I will admit 2019 was not the greatest year for cinema in my personal opinion. There were some great movies, but I thought the summer box-office contained some of the most lackluster flicks I’ve seen in years, but get ready for all of that to change, as hotly anticipated sequels, remakes and some original movies are slated to hit the screens in the coming year. For starters, let’s talk about “A Quiet Place Part II.”
It seems just a year ago, we were talking about this original, genre-bending, crafty thriller, about creatures that hunt people through the use of sound. The movie earned big bucks, and now the remaining members of the Abbott family are back to do battle with the creatures that changed their lives. We do have 2 spin-offs, of popular characters from the comic book universe as Harley Quinn “Birds of Prey” and Natasha Romanoff aka “Black Widow” finally get their stand-alone flicks. I will note I am more eager to see the character of Black Widow on the big screen alone because I loved her in all the “Captain America” and “Avengers” flicks.
A flick that is totally high on my radar is the sequel to the 2018 sequel or reboot of “Halloween,” in “Halloween Kills.” Why? I felt the 2018 flick returned to some of the roots of the 1978 classic, in terms of intensity. Was the movie downright spooky as hell? To some degree, but I think “Halloween Kills” is setting the stage for the intensity fans of that classic and the genre are eager to see in 2020. Why?
You can’t be super intense if you’re introducing a new audience to a classic. I mean “Halloween” first hit theaters over 40 years ago. With that said Jamie Lee Curtis is back to face Michael Myers, who we all know is the ultimate boogeyman. Halloween 2020 should be interesting to say the least, as if the predecessor’s ending was any clue Michael Myers will be out for blood and vengeance in a major way.
Speaking of sequels, nearly 30 years later, we are getting the return of Eddie Murphy and Prince Hakeem for “Coming to America 2.” Yes, that classic is getting a highly anticipated sequel, which everyone, and I mean everyone has been buzzing about for months now. Yes, Arsenio Hall is back, so is John Amos, and a host of other characters from the original, in addition to new faces in Leslie Jones and Wesley Snipes to name a few.
I should just coin 2020, the year of the sequel because there are plenty including the return of Will Smith and Martin Lawrence in “Bad Boys For Life,” Keanu Reeves in “Bill & Ted Face the Music,” Vin Diesel and company for “Fast & Furious 9,” a new reiteration of the 1984 classic “Ghostbusters,” with “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” (this one looks real interesting people). Reese Witherspoon returns to the character that made her a household name. I’m referring to Elle Woods for “Legally Blonde 3.” Tom Cruise returns for “Top Gun Maverick” which I know plenty of Americans have been eagerly waiting for and Steven Spielberg reintroduces audiences to a musical classic with “West Side Story.”
We can’t forget about female empowerment as Gal Gadot returns for “Wonder Woman 1984,” and we get another live action version of a Disney classic with “Mulan.” Daniel Craig is slated to hang up his hat as James Bond in April’s “No Time to Die,” which looks action packed. However, out of ALL the movies coming in 2020, and there are a lot people the one at the top of my list is Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet.” Nolan is one of my top tier directors.
The guy crafted the amazing “The Dark Knight” giving viewers a version of Batman not seen before. However, he has other classics I adore like “Memento” (a true mindbender), not to mention my all-time favorite thriller “Insomnia,” the iconic “Inception” the evolutionary “Dunkirk,” I don’t think I’ve seen a movie of his that disappointed me. Not much is known about “Tenet” beyond the fact that it is expected to change the world of filmmaking as we know it and if the trailer is any hint, it looks like filmmaking is about to tackle the approach of capturing cinema and telling a story in reverse.
I just wish Nolan would get the accolades he so absolutely deserves. It seems like the guy continues to get overlooked by Hollywood for his out the box approach to filmmaking, as he continues to challenge what the world of filmmaking can do. Rather you want comedy, action, suspense, horror, drama, sci-fi, there is plenty on the slate for the new decade, and who comes out on top is still up for grabs.
