Must-see NEW MOVIES to stream
This holiday season
Surges in COVID-19 cases are making people rethink their family get-togethers and cancel long-standing plans for
Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas and more, and that includes the usual holiday trips to movie theaters, which are struggling if they’re open at all. h All is not lost, however, because Santa’s bringing a bunch of good stuff to streaming services and video on demand for those needing entertainment at home in November and December.
Netflix is unleashing a host of awards-ready fare; Amazon Prime has not one but five big movies arriving as part of Steve
Mcqueen‘s “Small Axe” anthology; and even Disney+ is feeling the yuletide cheer by releasing a new Pixar animated movie on Christmas Day. h Some films haven’t given up their theatrical dates – including Oscar bait like “Ammonite” (Nov. 13) and
“Nomadland” (Dec. 4), plus the Tom Hanks Western “News of the World” and superhero sequel “Wonder Woman 1984” (both out Dec. 25) – though in pandemic times, streaming and on-demand titles are as safe a bet to get the job done as
Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer. h Here are 10 coming movies to definitely put on your holiday quarantine calendar:
‘Hillbilly Elegy’ (Nov. 24)
Stars: Amy Adams, Glenn Close, Gabriel Basso
Director: Ron Howard
The skinny: The adaptation of J.D. Vance’s 2016 memoir, about three generations of an Appalachian family, focuses on a Yale law student (Basso) weighing his past vs. his future, having to go back to his Ohio hometown to deal with his abusive, drug-addicted mother (Adams) while also revisiting his childhood and the influence of his tough-love grandmother (Close).
Where to watch: Netflix
‘Happiest Season’ (Nov. 25)
Stars: Kristen Stewart, Mackenzie Davis, Daniel Levy
Director: Clea Duvall
The skinny: In the romantic comedy co-starring Aubrey Plaza, Mary Steenburgen and Alison Brie, Abby (Kristen Stewart) aims to propose to girlfriend Harper (Mackenzie Davis) at Harper’s annual holiday family dinner, but when Abby learns Harper has kept their relationship a secret, Abby questions the relationship and having a merry Christmas is suddenly in jeopardy.
Where to watch: Hulu
‘Mank’ (Dec. 4)
Stars: Gary Oldman, Amanda Seyfried, Lily Collins
Director: David Fincher
The skinny: The old-school Hollywood affair, capturing the sound and look of the time, chronicles alcoholic screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz (Oldman) working with wunderkind Orson Welles (Tom Burke) in 1940 writing
“Citizen Kane.” The film also flashes back to Mank’s rocky dealings in the 1930s with actress Marion Davies (Seyfried) and media mogul William Randolph Hearst (Charles Dance).
Where to watch: Netflix
‘Red, White and Blue’ (Dec. 4)
Stars: John Boyega, Steve Toussaint, Antonia Thomas
Director: Steve Mcqueen
The skinny: Mcqueen’s five-part “Small Axe” anthology (the first film, “Mangrove,” streams Nov. 20) tell the experiences over several decades of London’s West Indian community, and “Red, White and Blue” stars Boyega as real-life figure Leroy Logan, a young scientist who joins the police force to challenge systemic racism from within yet finds prejudice is just as pervasive in the ranks of law enforcement.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime
‘Sound of Metal’ (Dec. 4)
Stars: Riz Ahmed, Olivia Cooke, Paul
Raci
Director: Darius Marder
The skinny: When drummer Ruben (Ahmed) – one half of a heavy-metal duo with his girlfriend Lou (Cooke) – begins to lose his hearing, it leads to struggles maintaining his status quo and battling old vices and demons. Out of options, Ruben ultimately finds support in a halfway house for deaf addicts and begins to figure out how to acclimate to his new situation.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime
‘The Prom’ (Dec. 11)
Stars: Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, James Corden
Director: Ryan Murphy
The skinny: An adaptation of the Broadway show, the musical comedy stars Streep, Kidman, Corden and Andrew Rannells as stage performers in serious need of a public career boost who travel to a small Indiana town to help out a teenage girl (Jo Ellen Pellman) when the PTA refuses to let her attend the high-school prom with her girlfriend.
Where to watch: Netflix
‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’ (Dec. 18)
Stars: Viola Davis, Chadwick Boseman, Glynn Turman
Director: George C. Wolfe
The skinny: The late Boseman’s final performance comes in this 1920s-set musical drama based on the August Wilson play. Armed with gold teeth and a fearless attitude, blues singer Ma Rainey (Davis) fights her white manager and producer over her music while her ambitious cornetist (Boseman) eyes both Ma’s new lover (Taylour Paige) and ways to increase his own stardom.
Where to watch: Netflix
‘The Midnight Sky’ (Dec. 23)
Stars: George Clooney, Jones, David Oyelowo
Director: George Clooney
The skinny: The post-apocalyptic sci-fi drama stars Clooney as an astronomer with terminal cancer in the Arctic who tries to warn a pregnant astronaut (Jones) and her fellow crew members (including Oyelowo, Kyle Chandler and Demian Bichir) on the way back from an exploratory mission to a Jupiter moon that Earth is the victim of a global catastrophe.
Where to watch: Netflix
‘Soul’ (Dec. 25)
Felicity
Stars: Jamie Foxx, Tina Fey, Phylicia Rashad
Director: Pete Docter
The skinny: Like “Inside Out” for the afterlife, the animated comedy drops jazz-obsessed middle-school band teacher Joe (Jamie Foxx) down a New York City manhole and takes him to The Great Before, where new souls are given personalities before they head to Earth. Determined to return to his existence, Joe befriends a lively soul (Fey) needing a lesson on what’s great about human life.
Where to watch: Disney+
‘Let Them All Talk’ (December)
Stars: Meryl Streep, Candice Bergen, Lucas Hedges
Director: Steven Soderbergh
The skinny: Filmed aboard the Queen Mary 2, Soderbergh’s comedy stars Streep as a well-known author who takes a trip to England to accept an award and invites a couple of old friends (Bergen and Dianne Wiest) to reconnect and heal some old wounds. Also along for the boat ride are the novelist’s nephew (Hedges) and literary agent (Gemma Chan).
Where to watch: HBO Max