Upcoming Movies You Should Be Hyped About: January 2019

photo courtesy of digitaltrends.com

New year, new flicks.

THE VANISHING

(Jan 4, limited)

     The Vanishing follows three men (Gerard Butler, Peter Mullan, Connor Swindells) who find a mysterious chest of gold while operating a lighthouse on an isolated island. Unbeknownst to them, their discovery sets them on a collision course with a group of newcomers with sinister intentions. Gerard Butler’s track record hasn’t exactly been sterling lately, but this thriller looks much more promising than his recent action B-movies.

GLASS

(Jan 18)

     Fans of M. Night Shyamalan will want to pay attention to Glass, the crossover sequel to two of his previous films, Unbreakable (2000) and Split (2016). Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson reprise their roles as the superhero David Dunn and the villain Mr. Glass, respectively, while James McAvoy and Anna Taylor-Joy reprise their roles as The Beast (and several other personalities) and Casey Cooke. Sarah Paulson co-stars.

THE KID WHO WOULD BE KING

(Jan 25)

     In The Kid Who Would Be King, Alex (Louis Ashbourne Serkis) is a typical youngster who struggles to stand up to bullies. But that all changes when he discovers King Arthur’s mythical sword, Excalibur, and meets the wizard Merlin (Angus Imrie/Patrick Stewart). Together with his very own knights of the round table, it’ll be up to Alex to defend the world from an evil sorceress.

THE WILD PEAR TREE (AHLAT AGACI)

(Jan 30, limited)

     The Wild Pear Tree tells the story of a young graduate named Sinan (Aydin Dogu Dermikol) who returns home to his village. Sinan wants to be a writer, but he struggles to overcome the traditional mindsets of the people back home… and his father’s growing debts. The Wild Pear Tree is Turkey’s selection for Best Foreign Language Film at the upcoming Academy Awards. 

HYPE-WORTHY 2018 RELEASES

If Beale Street Could Talk. photo courtesy of themarysue.com

    If those seem like slim pickings, don’t worry: most of 2018's wide releases (Aquaman, Mary Poppins, Bumblebee, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, and others) should stick around for a while. And you can also expect several of 2018's high-profile limited releases (If Beale Street Could Talk, Vox Lux, Cold War, Stan & Ollie) to expand into more theaters throughout January. You can check out A Portable Keyhole’s December picks here and November picks here.