The 2021 Holiday Movie Preview

Outside, the air is getting a bit chilly. Inside theaters, though, movies promise to be warmly delightful. Bold new adventures will be introduced, familiar franchises will be reinvented and highly-anticipated sequels will finally be unwrapped. Let us be your guide to the holiday movie season!

In his first movie since winning the Academy Award for Best Actor, Joaquin Phoenix plays a journalist on a cross-country assignment. Reluctantly, his traveling companion is his nine-year-old nephew (newcomer Woody Norman), at the urgent request of his estranged sister (Gaby Hoffmann). The drama is the latest from highly acclaimed filmmaker Mike Mills (‘20th Century Women’).

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From writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson, the beloved filmmaker behind ‘Boogie Nights’ and ‘There Will Be Blood,’ comes a sprawling coming-of-age drama set around Hollywood in the early 1970s. Named for a slang term for vinyl records, ‘Licorice Pizza’ stars Cooper Hoffman (son of late actor and PTA regular Philip Seymour Hoffman) and singer Alana Haim (of the band Haim).

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George MacKay (‘1917’) stars in this drama as a young man who believes he is a wolf. He’s sent to “the zoo,” a clinic that treats people who think they’re animals, and encounters others with the illness who identify as a wildcat, a duck, a parrot and a German Shepherd. Paddy Considine (‘Doctor Sleep’) co-stars as the head of the institution who is known only as “Zookeeper.”

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In the latest from Sean Baker, director of ‘Tangerine’ and ‘The Florida Project,’ actor and model Simon Rex (‘Superhero Movie’) plays Mikey, a former adult film star. As he returns home to his small, blue-collar Texas town, where he’s now mostly unwelcome, Mikey aims to create a new life for himself, possibly including a local donut shop cashier who he meets along the way.

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This tear-jerking animated documentary follows the coming-of-age story of Amin, a gay refugee whose family fled Afghanistan in the 1980s, only to find different hardships in post-communist Russia. Already a winner at multiple film festivals, including Sundance, ’Flee’ is also Denmark's entry for consideration for the Oscar for Best International Feature.

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Lucy and Ricky. Lucille and Desi. Nicole and Javier. These are characters and actors you know on a first-name basis. From writer-director Aaron Sorkin (‘Molly's Game’) comes a biopic focused on the making of the most famous sitcom of all time, with Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem portraying Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, the married stars of ‘I Love Lucy.’

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College football is big business for the schools involved, if not necessarily for the people on the field. What would happen if the athletes refused to play the biggest game of the year unless they were fairly compensated? 'National Champions' tackles (sorry) the scenario with a cast featuring J.K. Simmons, Alexander Ludwig, Stephan James, Timothy Olyphant, Lil Rel Howery and Kristin Chenoweth.

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“There’s a place for us…” in the theater seeing Steven Spielberg’s version of the classic Broadway musical about star-crossed lovers and rival New York City gangs. This movie strives for more accuracy in its casting and storytelling than the previous, Best Picture-winning adaptation, while also co-starring Rita Moreno, who won an Academy Award for her supporting performance in the original.

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Visionary filmmaker Guillermo del Toro follows up his Oscar wins for ‘The Shape of Water’ with a neo-noir based on the 1946 crime novel of the same name. The movie follows a con man and carnival worker (Bradley Cooper) as he becomes involved with a dangerous psychiatrist (Cate Blanchett). The all-star ensemble cast also includes Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe and Mary Steenburgen.

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Based on the memoir by J.R. Moehringer, this coming-of-age drama follows the Pulitzer Prize-winning author as a boy spending his days in his uncle’s bar, bonding with the unconventional father figure and observing his clientele. George Clooney directs the adaptation, which stars newcomer Daniel Ranieri as young J.R. and Ben Affleck as Uncle Charlie.

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Peter Parker (Tom Holland) and his friends (Zendaya, Jacob Batalon) return to a savvy world that knows the lowdown on his Spider-Man gig. Overwhelmed by all the unwanted attention, Peter beseeches Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) for help; Peter, though, is in no way prepared to deal with the disastrous consequences.

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Whoa! Director Lana Wachowski conjures up an incredible-looking all-new adventure that starts with Keanu Reeves, keenly aware of his present environment, which has been forever altered by what has transpired in the past and what may happen in the near future. The crucial question remains: blue pill or red pill?

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Evil tyrants and greedy criminals join forces to wreak havoc upon the world in the early years of the 20th century, prompting an independent intelligence agency to sally forth boldly in order to foil their plans. Ralph Fiennes, Gemma Atherton, Matthew Goode, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Rhys Ifans and Stanley Tucci star.

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Intrepid local heroes (led by Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Scarlett Johansson and Taron Egerton) must convince a reclusive rock star (Bono) to join them so they can stage an extravagant new show in the big city. The sparkling adventure is a joyful reminder of the awesome healing powers of music.

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Janis (Penelope Cruz) and Ana (Milena Smit) meet and give birth on the same day. As their children develop, the mothers realize that their paths too will continue to cross over, thus complicating their lives. Renowned Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodovar wrote and directed the highly-charged drama.

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From supermarket stocker to Super Bowl champion, professional football quarterback Kurt Warner (Zachary Levi) has led a storied life. But it wasn't always so fabulous. How did he overcome the many obstacles that he faced? Anna Paquin and Dennis Quaid also star in an inspirational true story.

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Actor-turned-filmmaker Denzel Washington directs his fourth feature, which is based on the memoir of the same name by Dana Canedy. Chanté Adams (‘The Photograph’) portrays Canedy while Michael B. Jordan (‘Black Panther’) stars in the movie as her fiancé, U.S. Army First Sergeant Charles Monroe King, who kept a journal while deployed in Baghdad during the Iraq War.

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A military leader (Denzel Washington) seizes royal rule, acting upon a prophecy by a trio of witches and leaning upon the ruthless ambition of his cunning wife (Frances McDormand). Blood will flow as director Joel Coen adapts the classic stage play for a sensational new age of murder and madness.

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Peter Dinklage stars as the lovestruck poet and swordsman Cyrano de Bergerac, who pines for Roxanne (Haley Bennett) even as he secretly helps Christian (Kelvin Harrison Jr.) woo her with words. Joe Wright directs this adaptation of Erica Schmidt’s stage musical, with Dinklage and Bennett reprising their roles from the production.

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