| USA TODAY
Four famous figures come together for Regina King’s ‘One Night in Miami’
‘One Night in Miami’ features Cassius Clay (Eli Goree), Jim Brown (Aldis Hodge), Sam Cooke (Leslie Odom Jr.) and Malcolm X (Kingsley Ben-Adir).
USA TODAY
As for the movies, 2021 will look like 2020 – at least for a while.
The theaters were closed for much of last year as a security measure by COVID-19, which sent Hollywood into chaos but also stressed that the public would get new films via streaming services and digital platforms on video. And with the start of 2021, just when 2020 ended, with increases in coronavirus cases and stay-at-home orders bringing production to a halt, it does not look like the movie is going to be back to normal any time soon.
So this is the bad news. The good news, though, is that there are plenty of things to keep you entertained, from Oscar-ready movies to star-studded projects. Netflix, Hulu and Apple TV + still generate the original rate, and Warner Bros. makes its entire 2021 slate – including big franchise films like ‘Godzilla vs. Kong ‘,’ Dune ‘and’ The Matrix 4 ‘- available the same day in theaters and on HBO Max (for 31 days).
Here are ten movies that will appear in the first half of the year and that you definitely want to put on your streaming calendar:
Divided! The 10 best films of 2020, from ‘One Night in Miami’ to ‘The Invisible Man’
What to stream: All the Warner Bros. movies come to HBO Max, from ‘In the Heights’ to ‘Suicide Squad’
‘One Night in Miami’ (January 15)
Stars: Eli Goree, Leslie Odom Jr. and Kingsley Ben-Adir
Director: Regina King
The skinny: After boxer Cassius Clay (Goree) won the heavyweight title in 1964, he meets his friends and fellow icons – NFL star Jim Brown (Aldis Hodge), singer Sam Cooke (Odom) and activist Malcolm X (Ben). -Adir) – for a celebration. A hotel room is the basis for a lively discussion about their lives, passions, beliefs and roles in the civil rights movement in King’s directorial debut.
Where to look: Amazon Prime
‘Palmer’ (January 29)
Stars: Justin Timberlake, Juno Temple and Alisha Wainwright
Director: Fisher Stevens
The skinny: In one of his most dramatic acting roles, Timberlake plays a former Louisiana soccer star in high school who spends 12 years in the stroller. A redemption story follows when he returns home to live with his grandmother (June Squibb), finds a connection with a 7-year-old (Ryder Allen) who lives next door, and falls for the teenager’s teacher (Wainwright) , although he is still haunted by the past.
Where to look: Apple TV +
‘Malcolm & Marie’ (February 5)
Stars: Zendaya and John David Washington
Director: Sam Levinson
The skinny: During the pandemic, the black-and-white romantic drama – and ode to old-school Hollywood movies – was filmed and starred Washington as the filmmaker and Zendaya as his girlfriend attending a high-profile premiere. In anticipation of the reviews from critics, the couple returns home for a night filled with unforeseen revelations that will test their love and relationship.
Where to look: Netflix
‘Judas and the Black Messiah’ (February 12)
Stars: Lakeith Stanfield, Daniel Kaluuya and Martin Sheen
Director: Shaka King
The skinny: In the 1960s, Stanfield was a criminal who, instead of going to jail, accepted a plea deal to work with the FBI as an informant. Its mission: to infiltrate and gather intelligence about Fred Hampton (Kaluuya), chairman of Illinois’s Black Panther Party, when the government becomes concerned, Hampton puts together a rainbow coalition of oppressed people.
Where to look: HBO max
‘Supernova’ (February 16)
Stars: Colin Firth, Stanley Tucci and Pippa Haywood
Director: Harry Macqueen
The skinny: In the gripping love story, Sam (Firth) and Tusker (Tucci) play as a gay couple who have been together for 20 years. When early dementia is diagnosed at Tusker, they promise to spend as much time together as they can, which includes jumping in a caravan and traveling through England to see loved ones and places from their past.
Where to look: Video on demand
‘The United States vs. Billie Holiday’ (February 26)
Stars: Second Day, Trevante Rhodes and Garrett Hedlund
Director: Lee Daniels
The skinny: Grammy-nominated singer / songwriter Day plays legendary jazz singer Billie Holiday in this drama set in New York City in the 1940s. The rise of the federal government in the war on drugs is aimed at preventing Holiday from singing her controversial ballad “Strange Fruits”, and her defiance is crucial to the burgeoning civil rights movement.
Where to look: Hulu
‘Coming 2 America’ (March 5)
Stars: Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall and Jermaine Fowler
Director: Craig Brewer
The skinny: With a supporting cast, including James Earl Jones, Tracy Morgan and Wesley Snipes, the sequel to the beloved 1988 comedy returns Murphy as newly crowned King Akeem (Murphy) of Zamunda and Hall as his confidante Semmi, returning to Queens Akeem finds out that he is the father of a boy (Fowler) with a woman from New York (Leslie Jones).
Where to look: Amazon Prime
‘Raya and the Last Dragon’ (March 5)
Stars: Kelly Marie Tran and Awkwafina
Directors: Don Hall and Carlos López Estrada
The skinny: The Disney animated adventure is set in the fantasy world of Kumandra, where humans and dragons used to live in harmony, aimed at the lone warrior Raya (voiced by Tran) who returns the dangerous, monstrous Druun. To save the world, Raya must find the mythical last dragon, a magical and self-deprecating species named Sisu (Awkwafina).
Where to look: Disney +
‘Cherry’ (March 12)
Stars: Tom Holland, Ciara Bravo and Jack Reynor
Director: Anthony and Joe Russo
The skinny: The Russo brothers (the filmmakers behind the last three “Avengers” films) are once again collaborating with Holland for this dark comic story of coming of age. Holland’s title character is a young teacher in Ohio and a doctor in the military who returns from Iraq as a war hero but gets symptoms of PTSD. He robs banks of financing his drug addiction, which jeopardizes Cherry’s relationship with his true love (Bravo).
Where to look: Apple TV +
‘The woman in the window’ (spring / summer)
Stars: Amy Adams, Gary Oldman and Julianne Moore
Director: Joe Wright
The skinny: Based on the AJ Finn novel, the thriller Adams plays as the agoraphobic psychologist Anna Fox, who never leaves her brownstone behind and spies on nearby residents. Anna is friends with a woman (Moore) who lives across the street, witnesses a bloody incident in which her neighbor was involved through the window, and then a mystery arises with the police and the man’s wife (Oldman).
Where to look: Netflix