By John Corrado

New releases for the week of December 25th, 2024.

Merry Christmas, everybody!

Theatrical Releases:

The Brutalist (Limited Release): Director Brady Corbet’s Vistavision epic is now arriving in theatres, after gaining buzz throughout its festival run. I’ve been singing the praises of this one since I saw it at TIFF. Corbet’s three-and-a-half-hour film stars Adrien Brody as a Hungarian-Jewish architect who emigrates to America after the war, and Guy Pearce as the rich man who hires him to complete an ambitious project. They deliver a pair of towering performances in what is quite possibly the cinematic achievement of 2024 (watch it and marvel at the fact that Corbet made it for only ten million dollars), harkening back to the great American films of the 1970s. See it in 70mm if you can, complete with intermission. It’s every bit as good as you’ve heard. Expands in January. (TIFF 2024 Review)

Better Man (Limited Release): Directed by Michael Gracey (The Greatest Showman), this musical biopic of British popstar Robbie Williams casts him as a CGI monkey (played by Jonno Davies through motion capture), and it actually works. I saw this one at TIFF, and it only got better for me on a second viewing when I saw it again last month. It’s just such an absurdly entertaining and surprisingly moving take on the musical biopic genre, with Gracey directing the hell out of the musical numbers (that single-take “Rock DJ” sequence is one of the most electric scenes of 2024). It’s inched its way up to being one of my favourite movies of the year. Expands on January 10th. (TIFF 2024 Review)

Babygirl (Wide Release): Nicole Kidman and Harris Dickinson star in this modern take on the erotic thriller, focused on a female CEO (Kidman) who embarks on an affair with her male intern (Dickinson). Fuelled by the simmering chemistry between her two stars, writer-director Halina Reijn does an excellent job of navigating the complex gender roles at play here, offering a fascinating take on themes of female desire and shame. It’s good to have an adult drama like this in theatres again, and it’s set over Christmas (just like Eyes Wide Shut). (Full Review)

Nosferatu (Wide Release): This fourth film from Robert Eggers (The Northman, The Lighthouse, The Witch) continues the director’s winning streak. His reimagining of the German Expressionist film from 1922 casts Bill Skarsgård as Count Orlok, the vampire who shares a dark connection to Ellen (Lily-Rose Depp), the new bride of real estate agent Thomas (Nicholas Hoult). It’s a visually stunning film, with the production design and Jarin Blaschke’s cinematography fully immersing us in this world. This one’s for the horror fans. (Full Review)

A Complete Unknown (Wide Release): Timothée Chalamet stars as Bob Dylan in this biopic from director James Mangold (Walk the Line). That’s all I need to know to get me interested. I’m a longtime fan of Bob Dylan’s music, and I’ve been impressed by what I’ve seen of Chalamet’s performance in the trailers, so I will be watching this one over the holidays. (Full Review)

More Releases: The Fire Inside (Limited Release), Wicked: Sing-A-Long (Limited Release)

Streaming Releases:

Your Friend, Nate Bargatze (Netflix, December 24th), Squid Game: Season 2 (Netflix, December 26th)