It’s Oscar season and all the great films are out soon.
If you’re looking to get over the post-Christmas blues, a trip to the cinema might be in order and you’re in luck because January always sees some of the year’s best films being released. Here’s a small taste of what’s in store.
Darkest Hour
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 84%
Plot: During the early days of World War II, with the fall of France imminent, Britain faces its darkest hour as the threat of invasion looms. As the seemingly unstoppable Nazi forces advance, and with the Allied army cornered on the beaches of Dunkirk, the fate of Western Europe hangs on the leadership of the newly-appointed British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill.
Go see it because: Gary Oldman is one of the finest actors alive. Will this be the role that finally sees him win an Oscar?
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 93%
Plot: After months have passed without a culprit in her daughter’s murder case, Mildred Hayes (Academy Award winner Frances McDormand) makes a bold move, painting three signs leading into her town with a controversial message directed at William Willoughby (Academy Award nominee Woody Harrelson), the town’s revered chief of police. When his second-in-command Officer Dixon (Sam Rockwell), an immature mother’s boy with a penchant for violence, gets involved, the battle between Mildred and Ebbing’s law enforcement is only exacerbated.
Go see it because: The next film from the writer/director of In Bruges, this will undoubtedly be in the Oscar race. Amazing dialogue and a superb cast.
Coco
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 97%
Plot: Despite his family’s baffling generations-old ban on music, Miguel (voice of newcomer Anthony Gonzalez) dreams of becoming an accomplished musician like his idol, Ernesto de la Cruz (voice of Benjamin Bratt). Desperate to prove his talent, Miguel finds himself in the stunning and colorful Land of the Dead following a mysterious chain of events. Along the way, he meets charming trickster Hector (voice of Gael García Bernal), and together, they set off on an extraordinary journey to unlock the real story behind Miguel’s family history.
Go see it because: It’s Pixar aka the closest thing that you’ll find to guaranteed brilliance.
The Post
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 87%
Plot: A thrilling drama about the unlikely partnership between The Washington Post’s Katharine Graham (Streep), the first female publisher of a major American newspaper, and editor Ben Bradlee (Hanks), as they race to catch up with The New York Times to expose a massive cover-up of government secrets that spanned three decades and four U.S. Presidents.
Go see it because: Spielberg. Hanks. Streep. Enough said.
Last Flag Flying
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 73%
Plot: In 2003, 30 years after they served together in the Vietnam War, former Navy Corps medic Richard “Doc” Shepherd (Steve Carell) re-unites with Former Marines Sal (Bryan Cranston) and Richard Mueller (Laurence Fishburne) on a different type of mission: to bury Doc’s son, a young Marine killed in the Iraq War. Doc decides to forgo a burial at Arlington Cemetery and, with the help of his old buddies, takes the casket on a bittersweet trip up the East Coast to his home in suburban New Hampshire.
Go see it because: Without really playing the studio game, director Richard Linklater (School of Rock, Boyhood, Dazed and Confused) has quietly gone about becoming one of the most consistent, daring and inventive filmmakers around. We’re big fans of that ensemble cast also.
On the opposite end of things, if you’re looking for some mindless fun…
The Commuter
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 70%
Plot: Michael is an insurance salesman is on his daily commute home, when it quickly becomes anything but routine. After being contacted by a mysterious stranger, Michael is forced to uncover the identity of a hidden passenger on his train before the last stop. As he works against the clock to solve the puzzle, he realizes a deadly plan is unfolding and is unwittingly caught up in a criminal conspiracy. One that carries life and death stakes for himself and his fellow passengers.
Go see it because: It’s Liam Neeson doing what he does best, kicking ass in bonkers action films.
12 Strong
Rotten Tomatoes rating: N/A
Plot: The story of the first Special Forces team deployed to Afghanistan after 9/11; under the leadership of a new captain, the team must work with an Afghan warlord to take down the Taliban.
Go see it because: The presence of Michael Shannon makes us optimistic that there’s more to this Jerry Bruckheimer produced film than the usual mix of crash, bang, wallop and USA, USA, USA!
Early Man
Rotten Tomatoes rating: NA
Plot: Set at the dawn of time, when prehistoric creatures and woolly mammoths roamed the earth, EARLY MAN tells the story of how plucky caveman Dug, along with sidekick Hognob, unites his tribe against the mighty Bronze Age in a battle to beat them at their own game.
Go see it because: Who doesn’t love Aardman animation?
