Based on the beloved book and directed by Dallas Jenkins, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever follows a small town’s attempt to produce the 75th Annual Christmas Pageant.
The Herdman kids decide to enter the pageant even though they’ve never set foot in the community church. The Herdmans are absolutely the worst kids in the history of the world.
Beatrice Schneider as Imogene Herdman, Mason Nelligan as Ralph Herdman, Matthew Lamb as Claude Herdman, Ewan Matthys Wood as Leroy Herdman, Essek Moore as Ollie Herdman and Kynlee Heiman as Gladys Herdman. Photo Credit: Allen Fraser.
But this Christmas, they’re taking over their local church Pageant—and they just might unwittingly teach a shocked community the true meaning of Christmas.
Beatrice Schneider as Imogene Herdman and Judy Greer as Grace. Photo Credit: Allen Fraser.
The cast includes Judy Greer, Pete Holmes, Elizabeth Tabish, and Lauren Graham.
Megan Park directed My Old Ass, a coming-of-age story. An 18th birthday mushroom trip brings free-spirited Elliott, played by Maisy Stella, who comes face-to-face with her wisecracking 39-year-old self, played by Aubrey Plaza.
But when Elliott’s “old ass” starts handing out warnings about what her younger self should and shouldn’t do, Elliott realizes she has to rethink everything about family, love, and what’s becoming a transformative summer.
Prodded for advice, Elliott’s future self gives her one major warning: avoid anyone named Chad, which sounds easy enough. But when Elliott meets the very Chad, played by Percy Hynes White, she is supposed to dodge things get complicated. Elliott opens herself to what her future self might have to show her and vice versa.
Producer Margot Robbie sums it up, “What we’ve learned since sharing this movie with the world is that the themes are universal. No matter how old you are or where you come from, everyone has asked themselves these questions about what it means to live authentically and in the moment. In a world that’s often so noisy and overwhelming, Megan has presented such a positive message, and we were happy to help bring a bit of joy to the screen.”
Park has a stream of credits as an actress and directed The Fallout.
Directed by Jake Kasdan, after a villain kidnaps Santa from the North Pole, an E.L.F. (Extremely Large and Formidable) operative, played by Dwayne Johnson, must partner with the world’s most accomplished tracker, played by Chris Evans, to find Santa, played by J. K. Simmons, and save Christmas.
The rest of the cast includes Kiernan Shipka, Bonnie Hunt, Lucy Liu, Kristofer Hivju, Mary Elizabeth Ellis, Nick Kroll and Wesley Kimmel.
Liz W. Gracia directs Space Cadet, which reminds me of Jerry Lewis’s slapstick comedy films. The wacky story follows Tiffany “Rex” Simpson, played by Emma Roberts. She has always dreamed of going to space, but life isn’t going quite as planned.
Determined to turn things around, she aims high, and, with the embellishing touch of her supportive best friend Nadine, played by Poppy Li, her “doctored” application lands her in NASA’s ultra-competitive astronaut training program.
Over her head, Rex relies on her quick wits, grit, and determination to get to the top of her class. NASA program directors Pam, played by Gabrielle Union, and Logan, played by Tom Hopper, take notice. But can this Florida girl get through training and into the cosmos before she blows her cover?
Captain Jack (Andrew Call), Dr. Stacy (Desi Lydic), Miriam (Josephine Huang), and Grace (Yasha Jackson) Photo Credit: Eric Liebowitz//Prime Video
Written and directed by Liz W. Garcia, Space Cadet is a comedy about the power of being yourself, following your dreams and shooting for the stars.
Doug Liman directed The Instigators. The story follows Rory, played by Matt Damon, and Cobby, played by Casey Affleck, who are reluctant partners. One is a desperate father, and the other is an ex-con thrown together to pull off a robbery of the ill-gained earnings of a corrupt politician.
But when the heist goes wrong, the two find themselves engulfed in a whirlwind of chaos, pursued not only by police but also by backward bureaucrats and vengeful crime bosses. Completely out of their depth, they convince Rory’s therapist, played by Hong Chau, to join their riotous getaway through the city, where they must put aside their differences and work together to evade capture—or worse.
Written by Chuck MacLean and Casey Affleck, The Instigators also stars Michael Stuhlbarg, Paul Walter Hauser, Ving Rhames, Alfred Molina, and Toby Jones, with Jack Harlow and Ron Perlman.
Pete Segal directs My Spy: The Eternal City. Back by popular demand, My Spy’s dynamic duo, veteran CIA operative JJ, played by Dave Bautista and his 14-year-old stepdaughter and protégé, Sophie, played by Chloe Coleman, reunite to save the world when a high school choir tour of Italy is interrupted by a nefarious nuclear plot targeting the Vatican.
The supporting cast includes Kristen Schaal, Flula Borg, Craig Robinson, Billy Barratt, Taeho K, Anna Faris, and Ken Jeong.
Based on a book by Jay R. Bonansinga and directed by JJ Perry, The Killer’s Game is an action-comedy.
Pro hitman Joe Flood, played by Dave Bautista, received terrible news from his doctor. He has a terminal illness.
He takes matters into his own hands by taking a hit out on himself for a quick kill instead of the long-suffering pain of the terminal illness.
But when the very hitmen he hired also target his ex-girlfriend, played by Sofia Boutella, he must fend off an army of assassin colleagues and win back the love of his life before it’s too late.
Jon Watts wrote and directed Wolfs, starring Brad Pitt and George Clooney. The story follows two professional fixers, played by Pitt and Clooney.
Though they consider themselves lone wolves, they are forced to work together. One night, their ideologies of working alone and fixing the situation spiral out of control, hopefully making the film entertaining.
It’s good to see Amy Ryan in the trailer. She’s great in Sugar, opposite Colin Farrell, which also plays on Apple TV. Austin Abrams is also in the film and seems poised to be hilarious.
A Sundance audience favorite, Sean Wang wrote and directed Dìdi. It’s an autobiographical story that follows a 13-year-old Taiwanese American boy, played by Izaac Wang, during his last summer before high school begins.
Frustrated, he discovers his family cannot teach him how to flirt, skate or love his mom.
