Eclectic films to warm your winter
Four African-American war veterans return to Vietnam in search of the remains of their fallen squad leader and hoping to find buried treasure, in Spike Lee’s latest joint. The quartet have to face up to forces of humanity and nature, as well as the lasting ravages of the conflict.
Delroy Lindo, Chadwick Boseman, Jean Reno and Giancarlo Esposito are among those to feature.
Covid-19 may have scuppered this year’s annual pan-European celebration of song and kitsch, but Will Ferrell is here to plug the gap.
He plays one half of an Icelandic duo (the other being Rachel McAdams) seeking Eurovision glory in this mockumentary. Joining them in the all-star lineup are Pierce Brosnan, Dan Stevens and Demi Lovato.
Originally written as a form of therapy while in rehab, former Transformers and Indiana Jones star Shia LaBeouf attempts to exorcise his demons with this screenplay for a drama about a young movie star going off the rails.
LaBeouf plays a character based on his own father, while Lucas Hedges acts as the actorwriter’s own cypher. ‘‘A sensitive, sincere portrait of a child actor’s dysfunctional upbringing and its devastating fallout,’’ wrote The Hollywood Reporter’s Jon Frosch.
Based on the 2009 graphic novel of the same name by Rick Remender and Greg Tocchini, Olivier
Megaton directs this action movie featuring Edgar Ramirez, Michael Pitt and Anna Brewster.
It focuses on a bank robber who joins a plot to commit one final, historic heist before the government turns on a mind-altering signal that will end all criminal behaviour.
While the gripping television event that is America’s Scripps National Spelling Bee was another Covid-19 casualty in 2020, this documentary at least gives us a chance to remind ourselves what made it special.
It explores the near two-decade trend of Indian American students dominating the competition.
Since 1999, 19 of the 23 winners have been of South-Asian descent, including the last 11 in a row.
Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon return for a fourth and allegedly final culinary journey.
This time the pair have only six days to visit everywhere from the Temple of Apollo at Delphi to the island of Hydra, while arguing about tragedy and comedy, astronomy and biology, myth, history, democracy, and the meaning of life.
‘‘It’s all so silly. But it’s also kind of great, like a single glass of sparkling wine after a really bad day,’’ wrote Time magazine’s Stephanie Zacharek.
A hit at America’s drive-in movie theatres, this low-budget horror is about a defiant teen who faces off against a 1000-year-old witch posing as the woman who lives next door. ‘‘Blessed with shivery setups and freaky effects – here, skin-crawling is literal – The Wretched transforms common familial anxieties into flesh, albeit crepey and creeping,’’ wrote The New York Times’ Jeannette Catsoulis.