Wonder Woman 1984 《神奇女侠1984》

 

A year on from the day it was originally scheduled to come out, Wonder Woman 1984 is finally leaping into cinemas – and onto a streaming platform – making it 2020's first and last major superhero blockbuster. Gal¹ Gadot returns as the Amazon warrior² princess, this time battling Kristen Wiig's Cheetah³ in the 1980s; and Chris Pine is back as Steve Trevor, even though he was killed off at the end of the previous Wonder Woman film. But don't worry if you can't remember what happened in that one. The sequel, the film's producer told Indiewire, is "a stand-alone film in the same way that Indiana Jones or Bond films are, instead of one continuous story that requires many instalments".

 

Released in cinemas on 25 Dec in the US, Canada and Scandinavia, and from 16 Dec in the UK and around the world.

 

The Midnight Sky 《午夜天空》

 

George Clooney's snowy science-fiction adventure is set in a post-apocalyptic future that might even be worse than the real world in 2020. As well as directing and producing, Clooney stars as Augustine, a scientist stationed in an Arctic observatory⁵. He needs to contact a spaceship so that he can warn its astronauts (Felicity Jones and David Oyelowo, among others) not to return to the ruined Earth. But the only antenna⁶ with a signal strong enough to reach them is miles away across the icy wastes. The Midnight Sky is adapted from Lily Brooks-Dalton's novel by Mark L Smith, the co-screenwriter of The Revenant.

 

On Netflix from 23 Dec

 

News of the World 《世界新闻》

 

In News of the World, Tom Hanks plays a widowed Civil War veteran who makes his living as a roving storyteller. When he finds a 10-year-old girl who was abducted⁷ by an indigenous⁸ tribe, he takes her across Texas to reunite her with her aunt and uncle. Adapted from the novel by Paulette Jiles.

 

Released in cinemas on 25 Dec in the US and Canada, and on 1 Jan in the UK and Spain.

 

Soul 《心灵奇旅》

 

In the first Pixar cartoon to have an African-American lead character, Jamie Foxx provides the voice of a music teacher who dreams of making it as a jazz pianist in New York. But just after a successful audition⁹, he falls down a manhole, and finds himself in an astral realm where human spirits are assigned their personalities¹⁰. And things get even more surreal from there.

 

On Disney+ from 25 Dec

 

Nomadland 《无依之地》

 

When Fern (Frances McDormand) is widowed, she can't afford to live in a house of her own, so she packs her few belongings¹¹ into a camper van, and drives off into the Nevada desert. She soon discovers that she isn't alone: there is a large community of senior citizens who have been forced to live on the road, supporting themselves with short-term jobs along the way. What makes Nomadland unique is that while Fern is played by an Oscar-winning actress, nearly all of the people she meets are real nomads¹² who recount their own experiences. Written and directed by Chloe Zhao (The Rider), the film is a "hybrid¹³ of documentary and fiction".

 

Released on 4 Dec in the US and Canada, and 30 Dec in France

 

Wolfwalkers 《狼行者》

 

The year's finest animated¹⁴ film doesn't come from Dreamworks or Pixar, but from Cartoon Saloon, an Irish studio specialising in Celtic folklore¹⁵ and stylised hand-drawn 2D art. Their latest rousing fairy tale is set in the mid⁴ 17th-Century, when English soldiers are trying to tame the wild woods near Kilkenny. One hunter's daughter learns that there aren't just wolves in the forest, but "wolfwalkers" who can change into wolves at night. Richard Whittaker in the Austin Chronicle praises "a heartwarming story of family and friendship, a family-friendly examination of the horror of repression¹⁶, a bracing¹⁷ adventure about two girls finding themselves, and a stealth art history lesson… Wolfwalkers stands proud as a new classic."

 

On Apple TV+ from 11 Dec

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