Most Anticipated Films of Winter/Spring 2023
Posted: January 2nd, 2023, 4:48 pm
Here's to another year of cinema gang.
10.Infinity Pool:
While I felt that he left some meat on the bone with Possessor, Brandon Cronenberg has a gift for coming up with fascinating, outside the box concepts and Mia Goth is on such a tear in the horror/thriller space recently that I will get any excited about any genre projects she appears in.
9.M3GAN:
Akela Cooper proved herself to be a savant of writing campy horror with Malignant and making a movie about a killer doll for the TikTok generation presents her with the ideal canvas to paint another unhinged, hilarious masterpiece. Real shame this isn't rated R though.
8.Knock at the Cabin:
As predictably erratic as the quality of his films are, M. Night Shyamalan's movies are almost always interesting and this R-rated (!) apocalyptic thriller looks like it could be among his hits.
7.The Covenant:
Jake Gyllenhaal's "fuck it, I'm just going to have fun"-era continues with a collab with Guy Ritchie. The logline (an Afghan interpreter attempts to carry a wounded solider to safety) reads more like Wrath of Man than Snatch, but it'll likely be a good time regardless.
6.Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves:
I've never played Dungeons and Dragons nor do I care to, but the latest movie adaptation looks super entertaining and I'm really curious to see how John Frances Daley and Jonathan Goldstein handle a blockbuster after they directed the hell out of Game Night.
5.Renfield:
Nicolas Cage playing Dracula in a comedy action horror movie is something that seems almost too be good to true. Fingers crossed that the rest of Renfield can live up to the excellence of whatever madness Cage decided to cook up for this performance.
4.Cocaine Bear:
There's something beautifully poetic about Ray Liotta's final prominent film role being an 80's drug kingpin in a purposefully over-the-top project about a grizzly bear eating a bunch of cocaine, becoming super aggressive and going on a killing spree in the woods of Georgia. Having a great ensemble (Keri Russell, O'Shea Jackson Jr, Alden Ehrenreich, Isaiah Whitlock Jr., Margo Martindale, Jesse Tyler Ferguson) and a director in Elizabeth Banks that has an extensive comedy background alongside the late iconic character actor only increases the odds of Cocaine Bear being B-movie bliss.
3.Scream VI:
Scream 2022 proved that Tyler Gilett and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin could honor Wes Craven's legacy while also making Scream into their own thing. Seeing where they take the series next-especially in a setting that's as massive as New York City with a presumed dead character from the past (Hayden Panettiere's Kirby Reed from Scream 4)-is going to be very exciting.
2.Creed III:
Severing ties with the legacy of the Rocky franchise feels like the next logical progression for the Creed films and making Creed III a film about Adonis' past coming back to haunt him seems like an excellent way to do just that. Bringing in Jonathan Majors to play the antagonist certainly helps its cause too.
1.John Wick: Chapter 4:
The gold standard for Hollywood action movies is finally back after a longer-than-expected 4-year hiatus and this time Donnie Yen, Hiroyuki Sanada, Bill Skarsgard, Clancy Brown, Shamier Anderson Scott Adkins and Rina Sawayama are joining the party as Mr. Wick travels overseas after being left for dead by his longtime friend/mentor Winston (Ian McShane) at the end of the previous film. Although having several behind-the-scenes franchise mainstays including writer Derek Kolstad, stunt/fight coordinator Jonathan Eusebio and 2nd unit director Darrin Prescott not return for this installment makes me a little bit nervous that John Wick: Chapter 4 could mark a regression for this absurdly consistent franchise, I have confidence in Chad Stahelski and Keanu Reeves' ability to advance John Wick's fascinating mythology and deliver some absolutely breathtaking action sequences.
Also Plan on Seeing:
House Party
Plane
Missing
When You Finish Saving the World
You People
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
Inside
65
Shazam!: Fury of the Gods
Champions
The Super Mario Brothers Movie
Quasi
Some 2022 Awards-Qualifying Titles that aren't getting widely released until this month (or in the case of Return to Seoul, February)
Might Watch:
Chevalier
Mafia Mamma
Evil Dead Rise
10.Infinity Pool:
While I felt that he left some meat on the bone with Possessor, Brandon Cronenberg has a gift for coming up with fascinating, outside the box concepts and Mia Goth is on such a tear in the horror/thriller space recently that I will get any excited about any genre projects she appears in.
9.M3GAN:
Akela Cooper proved herself to be a savant of writing campy horror with Malignant and making a movie about a killer doll for the TikTok generation presents her with the ideal canvas to paint another unhinged, hilarious masterpiece. Real shame this isn't rated R though.
8.Knock at the Cabin:
As predictably erratic as the quality of his films are, M. Night Shyamalan's movies are almost always interesting and this R-rated (!) apocalyptic thriller looks like it could be among his hits.
7.The Covenant:
Jake Gyllenhaal's "fuck it, I'm just going to have fun"-era continues with a collab with Guy Ritchie. The logline (an Afghan interpreter attempts to carry a wounded solider to safety) reads more like Wrath of Man than Snatch, but it'll likely be a good time regardless.
6.Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves:
I've never played Dungeons and Dragons nor do I care to, but the latest movie adaptation looks super entertaining and I'm really curious to see how John Frances Daley and Jonathan Goldstein handle a blockbuster after they directed the hell out of Game Night.
5.Renfield:
Nicolas Cage playing Dracula in a comedy action horror movie is something that seems almost too be good to true. Fingers crossed that the rest of Renfield can live up to the excellence of whatever madness Cage decided to cook up for this performance.
4.Cocaine Bear:
There's something beautifully poetic about Ray Liotta's final prominent film role being an 80's drug kingpin in a purposefully over-the-top project about a grizzly bear eating a bunch of cocaine, becoming super aggressive and going on a killing spree in the woods of Georgia. Having a great ensemble (Keri Russell, O'Shea Jackson Jr, Alden Ehrenreich, Isaiah Whitlock Jr., Margo Martindale, Jesse Tyler Ferguson) and a director in Elizabeth Banks that has an extensive comedy background alongside the late iconic character actor only increases the odds of Cocaine Bear being B-movie bliss.
3.Scream VI:
Scream 2022 proved that Tyler Gilett and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin could honor Wes Craven's legacy while also making Scream into their own thing. Seeing where they take the series next-especially in a setting that's as massive as New York City with a presumed dead character from the past (Hayden Panettiere's Kirby Reed from Scream 4)-is going to be very exciting.
2.Creed III:
Severing ties with the legacy of the Rocky franchise feels like the next logical progression for the Creed films and making Creed III a film about Adonis' past coming back to haunt him seems like an excellent way to do just that. Bringing in Jonathan Majors to play the antagonist certainly helps its cause too.
1.John Wick: Chapter 4:
The gold standard for Hollywood action movies is finally back after a longer-than-expected 4-year hiatus and this time Donnie Yen, Hiroyuki Sanada, Bill Skarsgard, Clancy Brown, Shamier Anderson Scott Adkins and Rina Sawayama are joining the party as Mr. Wick travels overseas after being left for dead by his longtime friend/mentor Winston (Ian McShane) at the end of the previous film. Although having several behind-the-scenes franchise mainstays including writer Derek Kolstad, stunt/fight coordinator Jonathan Eusebio and 2nd unit director Darrin Prescott not return for this installment makes me a little bit nervous that John Wick: Chapter 4 could mark a regression for this absurdly consistent franchise, I have confidence in Chad Stahelski and Keanu Reeves' ability to advance John Wick's fascinating mythology and deliver some absolutely breathtaking action sequences.
Also Plan on Seeing:
House Party
Plane
Missing
When You Finish Saving the World
You People
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
Inside
65
Shazam!: Fury of the Gods
Champions
The Super Mario Brothers Movie
Quasi
Some 2022 Awards-Qualifying Titles that aren't getting widely released until this month (or in the case of Return to Seoul, February)
Might Watch:
Chevalier
Mafia Mamma
Evil Dead Rise