It wouldn’t be an awards season with no few last-minute items below the tree, set to comb the desk clear. This 12 months, these embody every thing from Timothée Chalamet’s cosmic ping-pong epic “Marty Supreme” to a brand new “Avatar” sequel from James Cameron, whom we’ve realized to by no means rely out on Oscar evening. We’re additionally wanting ahead to the sort of dumb counterprogramming that Christmas miracles are constructed on. A brand new “Anaconda” awaits, a prospect that may’t be ignored. Depart room in your film food plan for sweet that’s semi-bad for you. One can’t feast on tearjerkers alone.
The one information you want for vacation leisure.
‘Hamnet’ (Nov. 26) 
Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal within the film “Hamnet.”
(Focus Options)
Since its world premiere on the Telluride Movie Pageant, Chloé Zhao’s aching story of affection and loss has received viewers awards at festivals all over the world: London, San Diego, Toronto, Spain. If Telluride had such a prize, it could have received there too because it left moviegoers overtly weeping as they waited in line for the restrooms afterward. Maybe the prospect of this type of emotional devastation provides you pause. Wouldn’t it assist if I informed you that the primary a part of the film, detailing the courtship of a younger Shakespeare (Paul Mescal) in love, is primal and electrical? And that Jessie Buckley, enjoying the Bard’s future spouse, is so extraordinary that she’ll go on to win extra honors than the film itself? Simply go see it. There’s no higher place to cry than within the darkness of a movie show. — Glenn Whipp
‘The Secret Agent’ (Nov. 26) 
Wagner Moura within the film “The Secret Agent.”
(Victor Juca)
This Brazilian import by director Kleber Mendonça Filho killed us at Cannes. It’s the sort of zippy, immersive crime thriller that reminds you of the worldwide lingua franca that Scorsese all however invented with “Goodfellas.” Because the nation’s ’70s-era navy dictatorship wreaks havoc, first rate folks privately put up a fancy resistance over years. The true motive it’s worthwhile to see this one is Wagner Moura, who you’ll have seen in “Civil War” and Netflix’s “Narcos,” however who right here makes a persuasive bid to affix the best echelon of main males: livid, impassioned and haunted by a backstory conveyed with a minimal of means. — Joshua Rothkopf
‘Five Nights at Freddy’s 2’ (Dec. 5) 
A scene from the film “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2.”
(Common Footage and Blumhouse)
Extra rampaging animatronic puppets? Sure, please. In case you assume we’re kidding, gradual your roll: The primary one, which we didn’t hate, understood the ominous, moldering potential of a kiddie restaurant gone to seed. And with a forged that features Josh Hutcherson, Mckenna Grace and a mini-“Scream” reunion in Matthew Lillard and Skeet Ulrich, the horror trustworthy ought to line up for a second serving to of trauma. Breathe on this factoid for a second: The primary “Freddy” is much and away Blumhouse’s highest-grossing film, greater than “Get Out” or “M3GAN,” by $120 million. Folks like this franchise. You could possibly too. — Joshua Rothkopf
‘Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair’ (Dec. 5) 
Uma Thurman within the film “Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair.”
(Lionsgate)
The latest craze for revivals and re-releases has spurred one thing many followers have lengthy clamored to see: Quentin Tarantino’s full “Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair.” Whereas the movie was damaged up into two components for its authentic launch, this new meeting combines the 2 variations (with a couple of tweaks) to totally convey the wild style mash-up of Tarantino’s authentic imaginative and prescient. In its story of a girl preventing her approach by means of a listing of people that wronged her on the way in which to the person who betrayed her, “The Whole Bloody Affair” makes Uma Thurman’s efficiency much more spectacular as she slashes her approach towards revenge, redemption and an unlikely grace. — Mark Olsen
‘Ella McCay’ (Dec. 12) 
Woody Harrelson, Emma Mackey and Jamie Lee Curtis within the film “Ella McCay.”
(Claire Folger / twentieth Century Studios)
‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’ (Dec. 19) 
Oona Chaplin as Varang within the film “Avatar: Fire and Ash.”
(twentieth Century Studios)
After 2009’s “Avatar” reprogrammed the blockbuster, James Cameron confirmed no indicators of arising for air. Second sequel “Fire and Ash” plunges Jake and Neytiri into contemporary battle as their household faces down a ruthless Na’vi clan often known as the Ash Folks. With Sam Worthington, Zoë Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang and Kate Winslet returning, this third installment guarantees a darker, extra emotional flip and one other leap in visible ambition. And with two extra sequels already within the works, Cameron appears decided to outlast not simply his critics, however presumably civilization itself. — Josh Rottenberg
‘The Housemaid’ (Dec. 19) 
Amanda Seyfried within the film “The Housemaid.”
(Lionsgate)
Paul Feig’s aptitude for crowd-pleasers about catty ladies has been tilting from comedy to thriller ever because the cult success of 2018’s “A Simple Favor.” He’s a very good decide to direct this adaptation of Freida McFadden’s darkish and pleasingly pulpy bestseller a couple of maid who strikes right into a household’s posh house and makes a significant mess. All eyes will likely be on Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried enjoying, respectively, a broken servant and her new boss, however I’m curious to get an extended take a look at the star potential of Brandon Sklenar (“It Ends With Us,” “Drop”), who’s rising as a number one man. — Amy Nicholson
‘Is This Thing On?’ (Dec. 19) 
Will Arnett and Laura Dern within the film “Is This Thing On?”
(Jason McDonald / Searchlight Footage)
Bradley Cooper’s two earlier efforts as director — “A Star Is Born” and “Maestro” — had the air of purposeful masterworks, trying to make daring, sweeping statements about life and artwork. For his newest movie, “Is This Thing On?,” there’s the sensation of a step-back, an try to make one thing smaller, easier and looser whereas no much less emotionally dedicated. Will Arnett exhibits beforehand unexplored dramatic depths as a person who, within the free-fall of an impending divorce, undertakes stand-up comedy as a therapeutic launch. The result’s a young, bittersweet ballad to anybody who feels they is probably not absolutely over but, particularly when indications say in any other case. — Mark Olsen
‘Anaconda’ (Dec. 25) 
Thandiwe Newton, Jack Black, Paul Rudd and Steve Zahn within the film “Anaconda.”
(Matt Grace / Columbia Footage)
Even in case you have fond recollections of the ultra-silly 1997 authentic and the 4 official sequels it shed, it’s a good wager you don’t keep in mind any plot particulars. Nor do it’s worthwhile to. Massive snake. Folks getting chomped. That’s it. To go a step additional, this meta-comedy reboot will nearly definitely be rather a lot smarter than what’s come earlier than. Two middle-aged mates — Paul Rudd and Jack Black (recapturing his gleam-in-the-eye mania from “School of Rock”) — resolve to remake their favourite responsible ’90s pleasure as a no-budget indie flick. After their snake handler’s docile specimen has an onset mishap, the actual factor slithers into view. — Joshua Rothkopf
‘Marty Supreme’ (Dec. 25) 
Timothée Chalamet within the film “Marty Supreme.”
(A24)
Timothée Chalamet realized guitar to play Bob Dylan in final 12 months’s “A Complete Unknown.” That’s spectacular, however I’m extra desirous to see his pingpong abilities in Josh Safdie’s biopic loosely based mostly on 1958 males’s singles desk tennis champion Marty “The Needle” Reisman, who flipped the script on Theodore Roosevelt by talking loudly with a really small paddle. The excitement is that Chalamet has been coached by former American Olympian Wei Wang and that “Marty Supreme” may be the all-too-rare Oscar contender that’s recreation to take a giant swing. As a bonus, it’s acquired one in all my favourite rising starlets, Odessa A’zion. — Amy Nicholson
‘No Other Choice’ (Dec. 25) 
Lee Byung-hun within the film “No Other Choice.”
(Jaehyuk Lee / Neon)
A longtime ardour venture for filmmaker Park Chan-wook, this adaptation of a 1997 Donald Westlake novel in some way feels up-to-the-minute well timed. Devoted Yoo Man-su (Lee Byung-hun), a veteran worker at a paper firm, loses his job following a company buyout and struggles to seek out work that may present for his household. Out of desperation, he plans to kill off any opponents for a promising new job he’s interviewing for. Partially because of the lead efficiency by “Squid Game” star Lee, there’s a heat and appeal to associate with Park’s exacting craft and formalism on this vicious satire of the zero-sum mindset of present economies. — Mark Olsen
‘The Testament of Ann Lee’ (Dec. 25) 
Amanda Seyfried and Lewis Pullman within the film “The Testament of Ann Lee.”
(Searchlight Footage)
This can be a genuinely unusual film, however that’s the vibe you need from a movie that tackles the lifetime of the founding father of the Shakers spiritual sect, doing so within the type of a musical, full with songs (extra like chants) and dances that pulsate with whirling-dervish fervor. Amanda Seyfried provides it her all enjoying the title character, the real-life chief of a motion dedicated to gender equality and sexual abstinence. It’s directed by Mona Fastvold, who co-wrote it together with her accomplice Brady Corbet, making this one thing of a complement to “The Brutalist” (together with each movies’ Oscar-winning composer Daniel Blumberg). You’ll study rather a lot concerning the Shakers and possibly not sufficient about Ann Lee past her zealotry. However the herky-jerky song-and-dance sequences are wild, a potent reminder that America has lengthy been the land of the free and the house of the rave. — Glenn Whipp
