FILM
he’s always been an iconoclastic character actor trapped in a leading man’s body. We weren’t sure about including this: it’s just the kind of film we’re all going to see, whether we want to or not, right?
MAR. 11
SPRING FLING COMING (FOR NOW) TO A THEATER NEAR YOU By Abby Olcese It’s hard to craft “most anticipated” lists without a little trepidation these days. As we’ve learned over and over the last two years, reality can turn on a dime. With the Omicron surge ongoing, all movie release dates seem borderline optimistic. Some of the biggest names in early 2022 films are refugees from nearly two full years ago (I’m looking at you, Morbius). Big festivals like Sundance—which planned for an in-person event until early January—migrated completely online, prompting a domino effect of further schedule changes. With fingers firmly crossed, here are the highlights we eagerly anticipate hitting this spring, and a few with uncertain dates
that we can look forward to… soon. Hopefully.
FEBRUARY FEB. 10
Kimi
RELEASE DATE: FEB. 10 Steven Soderbergh’s HBO Max releases over the last two years (Let Them All Talk and No Sudden Move) were pleasantly heightened streaming surprises, just when we needed a bit of art-house tension in our homes. Based on its trailer, Soderbergh’s Kimi looks like it might continue that trend, combining elements of Rear Window and Blow Out—alongside the
director’s 2018 psychological thriller Unsane—with some virtual assistant paranoia thrown in for good measure.
FEB. 11
The Sky Is Everywhere
RELEASE DATE: FEB. 11 Director Josephine Decker is an experienced hand at plumbing the psychological depths of creative women in original, complicated ways—a troubled teenage drama student in Madeline’s Madeline, author Shirley Jackson in Shirley. Her latest is an adaptation of the YA novel The Sky Is Everywhere, scripted by its author, Jandy Nelson. The story, about a 17-year-old musical prodigy navigating grief and love after her sister’s death, sounds more straightforward than Decker’s previous work. It’ll be interesting to see how she brings her flair for interiority and magical realism to the project.
RELEASE DATE: FEB. 18 This “spiritual sequel” to Tobe Hooper’s iconic masterwork of the same name isn’t without its doubters. While director David Blue Garcia is still a fairly unknown quantity, the movie boasts a producing and script credit by Evil Dead remake mastermind Fede Alvarez. If anyone has the literal guts to tackle this, it’s Alvarez. FEB. Another intriguing highlight? Eighth 18 Grade star Elsie Fisher, in her first major role since the Stephen King Hulu series Castle Rock.
MAR. 4
The Batman
RELEASE DATE: MARCH 4 Director Matt Reeves’ take on the caped crusader has got Robert Pattinson as an emo Batman, Zoë Kravitz as Catwoman, Paul Dano as what promises to be a spectacularly unhinged Riddler, and Colin Farrell under lots of prosthetics as the Penguin—proving once again that THE PITCH | February 2022 | THEPITCHKC.COM
RELEASE DATE: MARCH 11 Disney will release Pixar’s newest film straight to Disney+ in March, as it did Luca last summer. Given how beloved director Domee Shi’s Oscar-winning short Bao was in 2018, and how intensely viewers have been pushing Pixar to diversify their directing slate, this distribution punt is highly disappointing. Turning Red follows an awkward Asian-American teen who turns into a giant red panda when she gets too excited. It looks adorable. Make it a priority to stream this on release day, as a surge of interest is the only way Disney will know that these new creative voices deserve more support.
MAR. 18
X
RELEASE DATE: MARCH 18 Indie horror fans know and love Ti West, who first slashed his way onto the scene with the slow-burn Satanic panic tale The House of the Devil. West hasn’t directed a movie since his 2016 western In a Valley of Violence. A ‘70s-set slasher about an amateur adult film crew with O.G. Texas Chainsaw Massacre overtones (and released by A24, no less!) sounds like an eagerly embraced return to form.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre
MARCH
22
Turning Red
Everything Everywhere All at Once
MAR. 25
RELEASE DATE: MARCH 25 Swiss Army Man proved Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (known collectively as Daniels) could do amazing things with a bizarre premise, no matter how bizarre. Yes, that’s the film where Daniel Radcliffe’s corpse farts its way to another man’s survival. Everything Everywhere All at Once looks delightful, in a different but equally boundary-pushing approach to standard genre fare. This time we’ve got Michelle Yeoh showing off her well-established stunt chops, as her multitude of other multiverse personas are called upon to save the world.
