‘The Many Saints of Newark’

Fourteen years after “The Sopranos” ended, its creator and writer, David Chase, delivers a prequel to one of the best television series ever made. No one could replace James Gandolfini, who died in 2013, and who made the middle-aged Tony, family man and mob boss, a classic character. But Chase and director Alan Taylor enlisted Gandolfini’s lookalike son, Michael Gandolfini, to play Tony as a young man. Set in the 1960s and 70s, against the backdrop of racial unrest and riots in Newark, New Jersey, with antagonism between black people and Italian Americans, the film could give us a clue about where all that crime came from.

‘No Time to Die’

First there were injuries, accidents and the resignation of the original director, Danny Boyle. Then there was the pandemic, which pushed the release date back by exactly a year. But in April, more than five years after the premiere of “Specter,” we will finally see the 25th official Bond film. The director, Cary Joji Fukunaga, is a master of action sequences and exotic locations. And the villains are played by two Oscar winners, Christoph Waltz and Rami Malek. It looks as if Daniel Craig’s last Bond movie could be his best.

‘A Quiet Place Part II’

We learned in 2020 that not every film needs to be seen in a theater. One exception is John Krasinski’s sequel to his hit “A Quiet Place,” about a family who will be attacked by noise-sensitive monsters if they make a peep. When the original was shown in theaters, there was not a popcorn crunch to be heard, just the rare sound of an entire audience holding its breath. Emily Blunt returns as the mother of the family, with Millicent Simmonds and Noah Jupe as her children in this follow-up. Krasinski once again writes and directs.

‘Luca’

Having taken memorable trips to France (“Ratatouille”), Scotland (“Brave”) and Mexico (“Coco”), Pixar heads to Italy for its next cartoon, a sunny coming-of-age comedy directed by Enrico Casarosa and written by Jesse Andrews and Mike Jones (the co-writer of “Soul”). In 2011, Casarosa made a beloved Pixar short, “La Luna,” but “Luca” is his debut feature. Its hero is a boy named Luca who has a wonderfully carefree summer by the seaside with his new best friend — the only snag being that his friend is actually a sea monster in disguise.

Words to Learn 相关词汇

【相像的人】 xiāngxiàng de rén lookalike one that closely resembles another; a double

【障碍】Zhàng’ài snag a concealed or unexpected difficulty or obstacle

《纽瓦克众圣》

《黑道家族》剧终14年后，该剧的导演和编剧大卫▪切斯又为这部有史以来最出色的电视剧献上了前传电影。没有人可以取代2013年去世的詹姆斯▪甘多菲尼，他饰演的中年托尼一角非常经典，既是顾家好男人，也是黑帮老大。但是大卫▪切斯和导演阿兰▪泰勒请来了甘多菲尼的儿子 —— 和他长得很像的迈克尔▪甘多菲尼饰演年轻的托尼。新片的故事背景设定在20世纪六七十年代，当时新泽西州纽瓦克市充斥着种族动乱，黑人和意大利裔美国人互相敌视，这部电影让我们对罪恶源头有所了解。

《007：无暇赴死》

先是有人受伤，然后是发生事故，接着原导演丹尼▪博伊尔退出了。之后疫情又迫使该片的上映日期推迟了整整一年。但今年四月，在《007：幽灵党》首映五年多后我们终于要看到第25部邦德电影了。导演凯瑞▪福永是拍摄动作片和异域风情片的高手。反派担当是两位奥斯卡获奖者 —— 克里斯托弗▪瓦尔兹和拉米▪马雷克。丹尼尔▪克雷格的最后一部邦德电影是他最好的一部。

《寂静之地2》

2020年让我们知道不是每一部电影都需要在影院里观看。但是约翰▪卡拉辛斯基的热门电影《寂静之地》的续集是一个例外。《寂静之地》讲述了一个家庭一旦发出响动就会受到对声音很敏感的怪兽的攻击。原片在影院上映时，全场听不到吃爆米花的任何声响，只能听到全体屏息的声音。艾米莉▪布朗特回归新片，继续饰演母亲一角，米利森特▪西蒙兹和诺亚▪尤佩在续集中饰演孩子们。卡拉辛斯基再次担任编剧和导演。

《夏日友情天》

在法国（《美食总动员》）、苏格兰（《勇敢传说》）和墨西哥（《寻梦环游记》）经历了难忘的旅行后，皮克斯又出发去了意大利拍摄它的下一部动画。这部阳光灿烂的成长喜剧片由埃里康▪卡萨罗萨导演，杰西▪安德鲁斯和麦克▪琼斯（《心灵奇旅》的编剧之一）担任编剧。2011年，卡萨罗萨曾制作过一个受人喜爱的皮克斯短片《月神》，但是《夏日友情天》是他执导的第一部长片。主人公是一个名为卢卡的小男孩，他和新朋友在海边度过了一个无忧无虑的夏天，唯一的障碍是朋友其实是个伪装的海怪。(chinadaily.com.cn)