The Projector: What We Want From 2022 (Patreon)

by Keith Phipps

Hello and Happy New Year to all. We hope you’re feeling rested and ready for another year at the movies. Or, if trends continue, another year “at” the movies. (In theory I’m still open to going to theaters at the moment, but every time I come close to going I think about the Omicron variant and hold back.) I asked my co-hosts what they wanted to see in 2022, movie-wise, but before we get to their responses I guess that would have to be mine. I want to be able to go to a theater and not feel anxious about getting sick. I don’t mind being masked or having to show proof of vaccination. That’s fine. And I’ll probably return to the theater as early as this week. I just wish returning wasn’t such a worrisome prospect.

That doesn’t seem like an upbeat-enough wish, so how about this one: at the beginning of next year we’ll be discussing as rich a selection of movies as we did looking back at the movies of 2021. That seems like the right thing to hope for. As for my co-hosts, here’s what they had to say.

Tasha Robinson: I'm really hyped to continue the annual tradition of postponing the Avatar sequels into the distant future. James Cameron disappointed me in 2021 by continuing to pretend that Avatar 2 will really come out this year (currently scheduled for Dec. 16), but I'm hoping we can get back on the postponement bandwagon we've successfully been riding since 2014. In terms of movies that I'm actually hyped to see, though, the return of Robert Eggers (The Witch, The Lighthouse) with The Northman in April is pretty exciting, Jordan Peele's mysterious horror film Nope, scheduled for July, is cause for equal parts alarm and anticipation, and of course I'm salivating for Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse 2 in October. I can't imagine it'll be as much of a game-changer in animation as the first one was, but I'm just happy to dive into more of that visual and narrative style, this time with an older Miles Morales and an even more threatening multiverse.

Genevieve Koski: Gina Prince-Bythewood. Viola Davis. Historical epic. I feel like I shouldn’t need to fill in the blanks here any further, but in the interest of stoking anticipation for September’s The Woman King, I’ll also note that Prince-Bythewood’s upcoming film also co-stars John Boyega and the incredible Thuso Mbedu (of 2021’s Prime Video miniseries The Underground Railroad, which you should absolutely watch if you haven’t yet) and centers on an all-female military unit, which Davis’ character leads, in the former West African kingdom of Dahomey. As a huge fan of The Old Guard, I’m excited to see Prince-Bythewood return to an action-centric dynamic in a different genre context, as one of my favorite things about her as a filmmaker is the nimbleness with which she navigates different genres while maintaining the intimacy that has become a signature of her movies. It’s also, from what I can tell, a completely original screenplay, which is such an appealing rarity in an age dominated by adaptations and IP extensions. Which I don’t necessarily object to on principle (and indeed, I am also looking forward to 2022’s Legally Blonde 3 and long-delayed Bob’s Burgers: The Movie), but these days, the prospect of going into a film with no preconceptions about its story or characters is always going to add a little extra dose of anticipation.

Scott Tobias: We already wrote on The Reveal about our most anticipated films of 2022— I had to go with Killers of the Flower Moon, because it’s Martin Scorsese, but David Hudson’s list for Criterion’s The Daily had me salivating—so I’ll go with a trend here. I don’t think I can get past the existential crisis facing movie theaters right now, with the rise of Omicron and future variants threatening a business that was already laid low by the pandemic pre-vaccine and by a streaming war that’s escalated quickly as a result. There have been disappointing signs about the types of studio movies that people will see at a multiplex (Marvel spectacles, mostly) and the types they won’t (everything else), and that incentivizes a risk-averse business to continue to draw on IP. But I’m also interested to see how independent theaters hold up in the new year, too. There are encouraging signs that communities are still steadfast in their support of these theaters, but they’re also subject to the instabilities of public health and a changing industry. So long as it’s safe to go out, I’ll continue to indulge my favorite habit.

We’re not quite done with 2021 yet, however, and hope you’re enjoying our Best of the Year episodes. 2022 has already been a rough one for movie world losses. In the movie criticism world we lost former Chicago Tribune critic Michael Wilmington. In the movie world we lost Peter Bogdanovich, songwriter Marilyn Bergman, and the towering Sidney Poitier. Let’s kick off this week’s suggested reading with Next Picture Show guest Odie Henderson’s tribute to Poitier.

And at Polygon, the recent Harry Potter reunion special inspired a piece about the state of Potter fandom and the special’s attempt to patch over some of the franchise’s less palatable elements (like J.K. Rowling).