Ron Howard directs this southern gothic fable via Vanessa Taylor’s screenplay about a law student grappling with her family history and the American dream. It’s always been hit-and-miss with Howard (“Cinderella Man,” “Apollo 13,” “A Beautiful Mind”), but the source material here is strong and the film’s cast has Amy Adams and Glenn Close as the co-leads. Enough said.

“Promising Young Woman” is arriving in theaters on Christmas Day via Focus Features. This is a gamble since we don’t even know how many theaters will be open nationwide by then, but I’m hearing a digital release is also in the books, maybe that same week. The film, which I saw this past January at the Sundance Film Festival, has a 74 on Metacritic and a 92% on Rotten Tomatoes. No, it’s not the second coming of cinema, as some have over-excitingly pointed out, but it is a delightfully slick B-movie with an effective performance from Carey Mulligan. Here’s what I had to say about it on 01.31.20:

We now have our first official trailer for David Fincher’s “Mank.” I’m crossing my fingers for a potential press screening in theaters, but chances are I will most likely be watching this on my 55-inch 4k screen at home. I can’t fathom not watching “Mank” on the big screen, but, alas, that is what will likely happen as Netflix won’t be releasing it theatrically, and not because of the pandemic, but because they would rather we all stay at home and revel in n the beautiful black and white frames via our television — that’s their model and they are sticking with it.

I personally couldn’t care less about what the 64-year-old actor did or has done publicly. All I know is that he still has the chops to lead a movie. Ever since attempting a comeback, after being caught on tape slurring anti-semitic and just plain racist remarks, Gibson has starred in three down-and-dirty, but immensely watchable, B-movies (“Get the Gringo,” “Blood Father” and, especially “Dragged Across Concrete.”) and three absolutely terrible stinkers (“Ther Expendables,” “Daddy’s Home,” “Force of Nature”).

“Black Bear” was one of the more original entries at this past January.’s Sundance Film Festival Festival. In my B- review I wrote about how its strong second half compensated for its weak initial hour. Also, Aubrey Plaza can do no wrong in my books, she’s such a pleasure to watch in practically anything she does:

If there was one movie that wowed critics and audiences at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival it had to be Lee Isaac Chung’s beautifully sweet and simple “Minari.” So much so that it ended up winning both the Audience and Grand Jury Prize — a first for a movie since Nate Parker’s “The Birth of a Nation” in 2016.

“Possessor” is the second feature film from Cronenberg, the son of legendary Canadian director David Cronenberg. Cronenberg Jr. debut feature “Antiviral” premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, but this latest film, which premiered this past January at the Sundance Film Festival, is a major step up for the 40-year-old director. An NC-17-worthy visionary sci-fi that shocks and provokes in equal measures.

“Riz Ahmed has never been better. Playing a metal drummer who starts to lose his hearing, Ahmed turns “Sound of Metal” into a heartbreaking tale of redemption as it goes along, culminating in a final shot that is both necessary and absolutely perfect. Kudos to Nicolas Becker’s landmark sound editing, which deserves an Oscar nomination.”

Woody Allen has a new movie coming out this fall, but you wouldn’t know about it since he’s become person-non-grata in the States. Hell, even his last movie, the 2018 Amazon-dumped “Rainy Day in New York,” has yet to be released here. However, that hasn’t stopped the 84-year-old director from continuing to work — Europeans have welcomed him with open arms and been willing to finance the cinematic endeavors he chooses to embark on.

“Dune” was considered an unfilmable novel for the longest time, even before David Lynch’s botch attempt in 1984. There is just too much going on in Frank Herbert’s novel to fully envision a successful cinematic attempt, alas, director Denis Villeneuve, a Herbert fanatic, has decided to take on the impossible task. Today’s newly released trailer doesn’t necessarily pull up the hairs off my skin, nor does it really excite me in ways I was anticipating, no, instead, as far as I’m concerned, it qualifies as a red flag

Ben Wheatley (High Rise, Free Fire) moves to Netflix with his re-imagining of Daphne Du Maurier’s 1938 classic, not to mention Alfred Hitchcock’s excellent 1940 adaptation. Leading the cast is Lily James, supported by some huge talent in Armie Hammer, Keeley Hawes, Kristen Scott Thomas, and more. Wheatley and his cast may also benefit from the Academy’s decision to allow streaming-only content into this year’s Oscars.

Director Luca Guadagnino was bound to premiere his new HBO series, “We Are Who We Are,” a set of coming of age stories in Italy, at Cannes as part of the 2020 Director’s Fortnight section. Paolo Moretti, who heads Directors’ Fortnight, had mentioned that he had been plotting a continuous screening of the eight-hour movie, with a lunch break in the middle.

Spike Lee’s filmed adaptation of David Byrne’s play “American Utopia” is set to open the Toronto International Film Festival. Lee’s upcoming filmed version of the Broadway hit will debut as the Opening Night film at this year’s event. They aren’t even denying that this is a doc in the same style as the Disney+ “Hamilton” release from earlier this month.

Director Matt Reeves (“War for the Planet of the Apes”) just premiered the trailer for his upcoming “The Batman” starring Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne aka Batman. It does look as though Reeves will be focusing on the detective side of Batman with this reboot, which is a fresh new perspective to tell, at least when compared to Christopher Nolan and Tim Burton’s excellent film versions of the superhero, which dealt more with the action-side of things.

The massive success "Wonder Woman" had two summers ago must have given director Patty Jenkins a sweet feeling of revenge on the industry, after they shunned her for 13 years following her 2004 Oscar-winner “Monster”. The WB-produced superhero movie turned out to be the second highest-grossing title of 2017 and was met with rave reviews. Now, a sequel, titled “Wonder Woman 1984,” has not only already been greenlit, but finished shooting last November, with Jenkins and star Gal Gadot returning for more pesos.

After the box-office success, despite the mixed reviews, of “Murder on the Orient Express,” here’s another Hercule Poirot movie. This time the famous literary Belgian detective is swapping the railroad for the high seas in “Death on the Nile.”

Ever since releasing her 2003 film “Lost in Translation,” Sofia Coppola has been, suffice to say, lost in her ability to follow-up on the promise of that movie, still, to this day, her biggest critical and commercial success.

After his triumphant turn in “The Irishman,” Robert De Niro has decided that he’s not ready to totallygive up on the easy paychecks he gets for starring in stupid comedies. Case in point, the upcoming The War with Grandpa.”