THANKSGIVING Sixteen years is a long time from trailer to release. But the tongue-in-cheek coming attraction that Eli Roth made for the midpoint of “Grindhouse” (2007) is now a feature film in its own right. Patrick Dempsey stars. (Nov. 17 in theaters)
TROLLS BAND TOGETHER The Troll universe expands again as Poppy (voiced by Anna Kendrick) and Branch (Justin Timberlake) seek out Branch’s brothers, with whom he previously formed a boy band. That the siblings are not voiced by Timberlake’s former ’N Sync mates seems like a missed opportunity. (Nov. 17 in theaters)
THE BOY AND THE HERON Ten years after “The Wind Rises,” which had been billed as a final feature, the master animator Hayao Miyazaki gives us this story of a boy who moves from Tokyo after his mother’s death during World War II. An enigmatic tower that stands near his new home becomes a gateway to a parallel world — a quintessentially Miyazakian realm. (Nov. 22 in theaters)
MAESTRO In the director’s chair again after “A Star Is Born” (2018), Bradley Cooper also stars as the legendary conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein. Carey Mulligan plays the actress Felicia Montealegre Bernstein, his wife for nearly three decades until her death. (Nov. 22 in theaters, Dec. 20 on Netflix)
MENUS-PLAISIRS — LES TROISGROS After more than 40 features, the 93-year-old Frederick Wiseman is still going strong. You could probably bake a pretty good cassoulet in the four hours it takes to watch his latest documentary, which observes the workings of a three-Michelin-star restaurant in Roanne, France, from farm to table and beyond. (Nov. 22 in theaters)
NAPOLEON Stanley Kubrick’s Bonaparte biography will, alas, always be one of cinema’s great what-ifs. But we are getting Ridley Scott’s version of the life of the French military leader, with Joaquin Phoenix donning the bicorn. Vanessa Kirby also stars. (Nov. 22 in theaters)
WONKA While “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory” and Roald Dahl’s book left many questions, how Wonka defeated a chocolate cartel to found his factory was not exactly foremost among them. Will the movie at least explain how Timothée Chalamet, who plays Wonka in this prequel, could grow into Gene Wilder? (Dec. 15 in theaters)
AQUAMAN AND THE LOST KINGDOM Jason Momoa has to form an alliance to save Atlantis. As long as there aren’t flesh-eating bacteria in the water, how bad could it be? Amber Heard and Nicole Kidman return. James Wan directed. (Dec. 20 in theaters)
ALL OF US STRANGERS A run-in with a neighbor (Paul Mescal) somehow causes a rupture in the life of a screenwriter (Andrew Scott), who encounters the home where he grew up. Claire Foy and Jamie Bell also star in the latest film from the “45 Years” director Andrew Haigh. (Dec. 22 in theaters)
THE IRON CLAW Sean Durkin (“The Nest”) directed this dramatization of the real-life Von Erich brothers, who beginning in the 1970s made a name for themselves wrestling and who almost all died young. Zac Efron and Jeremy Allen White star. (Dec. 22 in theaters)
MIGRATION A family of ducks — the Mallards — do what a lot of American families do: fly south for a winter getaway. Not surprisingly, travel proves to be a hassle. Mike White, a long way from “The White Lotus,” wrote the screenplay for this animated feature, which has the voices of Kumail Nanjiani, Elizabeth Banks, Awkwafina and Keegan-Michael Key, among others. (Dec. 22 in theaters)
REBEL MOON — PART ONE: A CHILD OF FIRE Sofia Boutella bands together misfit warriors to save the galaxy. Untethered from DC Comics characters and the zombies of his “Dawn of the Dead” and “Army of the Dead,” this could be the most unfiltered dose of Zack Snyder since “Sucker Punch” (2011). This is the first of two installments, with the next one due in April. (Dec. 22 on Netflix)
This content was originally published here.
