A short list of some of the movies to look forward to
Netflix has decided to save us from another year of being stuck watching repeats on movie night. In a recent announcement, the streaming platform shared their plan to put out new movies every week of 2021. Keeping in mind that not everyone plans to watch each new release, below is a list of movies from several genres to get excited about.
Action: “Army of the Dead”
After Las Vegas, NV goes under quarantine due to a zombie outbreak, a group of mercenaries plan the ultimate heist in the quarantine zone. The movie is set to be part of the “Dawn of the Dead” universe. The first movie premiered in 2004, now, 17 years later, zombie fans will finally get another movie.
Once filming ended, Chris D’Elia was charged with sexual assault allegations from multiple minors leading director Zach Snyder to quickly replace D’Elia with Tig Notaro and reshoot scenes.
Drama: “Afterlife of the Party”
We don’t have much information about this movie, but it does star Victoria Justice. I’ve always wondered when she was going to make her comeback. She was immensely popular as a celebrity when I was younger, starring on Zoey 101 before then moving onto Victorious, but after that we didn’t see much of her. With the recent release of a new song, I’m hoping to see her rise again to the screen.
According to Yahoo, the movie follows a young woman who dies on her birthday week. But she is given one last chance to right her wrongdoings on Earth in order to prove that she’s worth saving.
Thriller: “The Woman in the Window”
This film was directed in 2020 by Joe Wright, but was never released. Netflix bought the rights to the movie from Disney and is now set to release it this year on May 15. Thriller films are always some of my favorite films, mostly because everything is so anxiety-packed that I forget about the real-life anxiety on which I should be focusing.
Amy Addams plays Anna Foxx, an agoraphobic woman imprisoned alone in her New York home. With her illness, the only person Foxx invites in is her front-door neighbor and friend Jane. But when she witnesses violence through the window and calls the police, her life goes on a downward spiral filled with deceit, murder and self-doubt.
Check out the trailer for the movie.
Fantasy: “Pinnochio”
Guillermo del Toro’s films made their way into my heart as a child. And although the award-winning film “Pan’s Labyrinth” probably wasn’t the safest movie to watch as a kid, I’m excited to see his newest fantasy film as an adult. The cast includes Finn Wolfhard, Cristoph Waltz and Cate Blanchett, among other popular Hollywood stars.
We can only wonder if the movie will follow the original story in which Pinnochio kills Jiminy Cricket and is hanged and left to die. Knowing the dark twist del Toro’s films tend to have, I’m sure we’ll see something unexpected. Your guess is as good as mine. But I just might be happy with a cute story of a man finally getting the son he’s always wanted. Might.
Fantasy: “Nightbooks”
After releases like “Locke and Key” and “A Babysitter’s Guide to Monsterhunting,” Netflix found that the niche genre of fantasy with a bit of children’s horror was one that rated well. Given that this age group is probably at home browsing Netflix as we speak to avoid doing their homework now more than ever, it was a good call to continue making movies for this demographic.
“Nightbooks” is based off a horror-fantasy book with the same title in which a young boy, Alex, who is obsessed with scary stories, is imprisoned by an evil witch in her New York City, NY apartment. Alex meets Yasmin, a young girl who is also trapped by the witch, and he soon finds out that in order to stay alive they must tell the witch a scary story every night.
Horror: “Fear Street”
Based off of R.L. Stine’s classic books, Netflix is producing all three “Fear Street” movies, set to release one after the other. The trilogy covers a range of time periods, the first one taking place in 1994 where a group of teens investigate a series of deaths in their small town only to find out they might be next.
Even as a teenager I was unashamedly obsessed with R.L. Stine’s series “The Haunting Hour,” and before that, when I was a kid, I was obsessed with the show “Goosebumps.” The movies may turn out to be cheesy seeing as they are intended for a much younger audience, but I’m willing to watch it even if it’s just for nostalgia’s sake.
Written by: Itzelth Gamboa — arts@theaggie.org
