FILMS OF 2021
GET SET FOR THE BIGGEST YEAR FOR FILM EVER! THERE’S MORE AMAZING MOVIES THAN YOU CAN SHAKE A STICK AT AS laruShka ivan-Zadeh PICKS HER HOTTEST 21 FILMS FOR 2021
JAN 1. The Father
Sir Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman? That’s guaranteed movie gold. A woman struggles to find a carer for her spirited 80-year-old father, who’s suffering from dementia, in Florian Zeller’s own adaptation of his West End hit.
2. Sound of Metal
After revving up with Mogul Mowgli, Riz Ahmed smashes it out of the park as a thrash-metal drummer who goes suddenly deaf.
FEB 3. everybody’S Talking about jamie
Or rather, everybody’s talking about the movie version of the stage show of the true story of a bullied 16-year-old who dreams of becoming a drag queen.
4. noMadland
Chloé Zhao’s award-winning poetic odyssey looks like the one to beat come Oscars night. Frances McDormand, who has twice bagged a Best Actress Oscar, may well score a triple as a woman who leaves her small town to travel across the American West.
5. Coming 2 America MAR
This very-long-time-coming sequel to 1988’s fish-out-ofwater comedy sees Eddie Murphy’s Prince Akeem Joffer return to the US to find his lost son.
6. Minari
This year’s Parasite, Minari is the semiautobiographical tale of a South Korean immigrant family who try to make it in 1980s rural America.
7. Supernova
Middle-aged fantasy casting sees Colin Firth and Stanley Tucci play a long-married gay couple grappling with early-onset dementia in this British indie.
8. LAST NIGHT in Soho APR
Dame Diana Rigg takes her final bow alongside The Queen’s Gambit’s Anya Taylor-Joy in this psychological horror from Edgar Wright (Shaun Of The Dead).
9. no Time To die
Too much time, more like. The longdelayed 25th 007 movie, featuring Daniel Craig’s very last outing, is set to finally hit screens in April.
10. a Quiet place part ii
Emily Blunt (above) is back with the second outing of this high-quality horror franchise, playing a mum who has to be really quiet or aliens will eat her.
11. Black Widow MAY
ScarJo regenerates as Natasha Romanoff in what will be the first Marvel Cinematic Universe movie to hit cinemas in over a year.
12. louis Wain JUN
Benedict Cumberbatch plays the titular Edwardian artist famed for his portraits of bigeyed kittens. Eccentric biopic.
13. The Souvenir part ii
Tilda Swinton, her daughter Honor and Tom Burke reunite for part deux of
director Joanna Hogg’s bildungsroman. Sequels don’t get more highbrow.
14. IN THE HEIGHTS
JUL
Could this be Hamilton #2? Similarly adapted from a multi-Tony-winning LinManuel Miranda Broadway musical, this one’s set across three days in the life of a New York City Latino neighbourhood.
15. TOP GUN: MAVERICK
In 1986, Tom Cruise achieved superstardom lift-off as a maverick naval pilot called, er, Maverick. This unexpected sequel sees him take to the skies again alongside his iconic frenemy, the ‘Iceman’ (Val Kilmer).
16. RESPECT AUG
Can Jennifer Hudson truly sock it to us, sock to us, sock it to us as music legend Aretha Franklin in this glittery biopic? Really hope so.
17. DEATH ON THE NILE sep
His Murder On The Orient Express was a tad disappointing but we’re still mustard-keen for another all-star Agatha Christie helmed by Sir Kenneth Branagh’s Poirot.
18. DUNE OCT
Denis Villeneuve tackles Frank Herbert’s sci-fi epic (below) with the first of a two-part IMAX extravaganza fronted by Timothée Chalamet.
19. UNTITLED ELVIS FILM
Baz Luhrmann directs this tbc-titled biopic that will be a make-or-break showcase for Austin Butler as Elvis, with Tom Hanks as Colonel Tom Parker.
20. MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 7 NOV
Still currently shooting under Covid, it might just prove a mission: impossible to get this instalment wrapped in cinemas before Christmas.
21. WEST SIDE STORY DeC
Hitting cinemas a year later than planned, signs are Spielberg’s all-singing remake will be worth the wait.
Release months for all films may vary
ACROSS
3. Electronic message (1-4)
9. Steal (6)
10. Maker of menswear (6)
11. Vote in (5)
12. Way off (4)
15. Funeral car (6)
17. Model of excellence (7)
19. Blokes (3)
20. Adult human female (5)
22. Sailing vessel (5)
24. Horizontal (5)
25. Of birth (5)
27. Weep (3)
29. Expressionless (7)
32. School absentee (6)
34. Card game (4)
35. Multiplied by (5)
37. Somewhat (6)
38. Essential character (6)
39. Prepared (5)
DOWN
1. Watch band (5)
2. Panatella, for example (5)
3. Night before (3)
4. Sweet and ripe (6)
5. Skin irritation (4)
6. From the side (7)
7. Sudden fright (5)
8. Clean feathers (5)
13. Be deceived by (4,3)
14. Synthetic fibre (5)
16. A good few (7)
18. Wanderer (5)
21. Requires (5)
23. Artist (7)
26. Myth (6)
27. Tale (5)
28. Bursts, breaks (5)
30. Appear suddenly (3,2)
31. Group of nine (5)
33. Weary (4)
36. Speak (3)