We all, myself included, appear to have the tendency of personifying years, granting them personalities, especially when times are tough. “2021 was relentless and cruel,” which is true, and “2022 is starting out the same way,” which also appears to be true. But if years can have personalities, then we can fight those fuckers. Just because time is a monolith and in the end, none of us can win against time, it doesn’t mean the battle doesn’t mean anything. In times like these, it may matter more than ever. To that point, we don’t have to sit back passively and observe that “times are tough.” We can fight to find the brighter moments, because there always are at least a few of those. And for cinemaniacs like us, many of our brighter moments involve movies. So what follows here is a bunch of us raging against the dying of the light, or screwing in a fresh lightbulb in defiance of that dying light, to butcher a phrase. (JA)
What are you looking forward to in 2022?
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Katelyn Nelson
Laura Riordan
2022 is already shaping up to be a great year for movies. We’re getting new releases from David Cronenberg, Yorgos Lanthimos, Martin Scorsese, Claire Denis, Jordan Peele, Robert Eggers and Gina Prince-Bythewood. But I’d like to shine a light on three new queer horror projects that I’ve had my eye on. The first, and most well-known, is WE’RE ALL GOING TO THE WORLD’S FAIR. Slated for a release in early 2022, this body-tech-horror has been gathering a lot of positive word of mouth after its festival screenings last year. Directed and written by first-time filmmaker Jane Schoenbrun, their movie will be streaming in the near future on HBO Max. My next pick is a franchise reboot I’m cautiously optimistic about. When I heard there was a new HELLRAISER forthcoming on Hulu, my first thoughts were not excitement. This felt like a franchise that needed to live in the gorey, maximalist horror scene from the ‘80s. But then David Bruckner joined the project as director, hot off the success of this year’s THE NIGHT HOUSE. What really excites me about this, however, is the new performer playing Pinhead. Replacing Doug Bradley is Jamie Clayton, a trans actress most well known for The L Word: Generation Q. In Clive Barker’s original short story, Pinhead is described in feminine terms, suggesting this adaptation may be more faithful to the source material. Finally, outside of the film world, I am anxiously awaiting the release of Gretchen Felker-Martin’s new book, Manhunt. A post-apocalyptic tale of trans women harvesting organs to live is, essentially, tailor made for me. It hits shelves February 22nd.
Jay Alary
Other than climbing out of a two-year-old pandemic (damn you to hell, omicron), I’m looking forward to a few of films in 2022: Robert Eggers’ THE NORTHMAN, featuring Anya Taylor-Joy, Nicole Kidman, and the return of Icelandic queen Björk to the big screen—the world needs more Viking movies! I’m also looking forward to Jordan Peele’s NOPE, as he’s a filmmaker who elicits lively conversations among cinephiles (I can already hear Film Twitter bracing for its arrival); Martin Scorsese’s neo-Western, KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON; a couple of superhero films exempt from my “No Superhero Movies Rule,” THE BATMAN and THE FLASH, as Batman is my all-time favorite four-color hero, and the sight of Michael Keaton donning his iconic cowl alongside The Scarlet Speedster (my second-favorite hero) pleases my inner 15-year-old. On the TV front, I look forward to new Star Trek voyages: The second half of Star Trek: Discovery’s fourth season, an iteration that draws ire from old Trekkies, but keeps getting better with each new season; Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, a TOS prequel that features Captain Pike, Number One, and Spock, promising to be more episodic like its ‘60s progenitor; Star Trek: Picard Season 2, with more time travel and the return of Q! In a world full of despair, I need all the optimism I can absorb!
Jedidiah Ayres
Pat Brennan
Here’s what I’m most excited for in 2022:
It’s been 18 years since John Waters directed his last feature film, A DIRTY SHAME. As someone who’s been obsessed with his work for most of my adult life, this feels like a crime. So you can bet that my greasy little heart skipped a beat when I heard the news that John’s latest book, which is set to arrive in May, will be a novel. By the sounds of it, Liarmouth: A Feel-Bad Romance would definitely be at home amongst any of his other cinematic atrocities, and it is easily the piece of media I’m most looking forward to devouring in 2022.
Preston Fassel
I’ve grown progressively out of touch with what’s new because it’s getting harder and harder for me to get excited about modern media, but there are a few things that’ve piqued my interest. I’m generally worn out on superhero cinema and their toxic discourse in general, but, damn if a Matt Reeves-directed, Robert Pattinson-led BATMAN with serial killer Paul Dano Riddler isn’t some destination viewing for me. I’m also waiting to get my eyes on TRAGEDY OF MACBETH, since it’s my favorite Shakespeare and I’m particularly interested in modernized/ reconceptualized adaptations—if you haven’t seen it, the BBC version from 2010 is not only done as a straight-up horror movie featuring Silent Hill nurses as the witches, it also stars Patrick Stewart as Macbeth, so, go watch that. I’ll also admit that I’m cautiously optimistic about Rob Zombie’s MUNSTERS—he’s a “love him or hate him” for me, in that I either love his work or hate it, but, I’m curious to see what the end result of a 30-year passion project is, especially when it’s a soft-G family show filtered through his own unique lens.
Riley Cassidy
When the world feels like it’s completely on fire, we can always count on the horror genre to be a consistent bright spot, and 2022 looks no different. Because I am who I am, the number one thing on my mind right now is TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE coming to Netflix on February 18th. Naturally, there is a lot of pressure and great expectations that come along with remaking a cornerstone of the genre, but with the casting of Elsie Fisher and that sweet, sweet trailer, I’m feeling pretty hopeful. Speaking of sweet trailers, I am suddenly unable to rest until the day I get to see Ti West’s X, a movie I hadn’t even heard of until the recent trailer drop. If it’s even half as grimy, sexy, and terrifying as that trailer was, I think I’m going to be a big fan once it’s released on March 18th. And finally, a movie that I have been looking forward to for what feels like years now, WE’RE ALL GOING TO THE WORLD’S FAIR is finally getting a wide release on April 22nd. Any movie centered around an online horror role playing game immediately piques my interest, and I am beyond thrilled to get to see what this one is all about at long last.
Matthew Anderson
Like everyone else, I’m hoping for some kind of return to (semi) normal in 2022, that’s what I’m looking forward to the most right now. A return to normal means I can see JACKASS FOREVER in the theater, where it should be seen. I caught the first on DVD, and I was fortunate to see the second and third movies in the theater with a full audience, and that really is the best way to experience them. The crowd reaction to what’s on screen is something unlike most movies that I’ve seen, and I’m not sure why. I do know that I’ll be laughing my ass off for ninety minutes, which will feel like therapy after the last two long years.
Craig Edwards
Not having to wait on the release of NO TIME TO DIE for another year. Also, looking forward to SCREAM and HALLOWEEN ENDS (if it does.)
Justin LaLiberty
I’m most excited for studio action movies (not superhero movies) to be a big thing: EXPENDABLES 4, Michael Bay’s AMBULANCE, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 7, THE SAMARITAN; and also for the first theatrical HELLRAISER film release since BLOODLINE in 1996.
Jason Scott
Brett Gallman
I ended December’s newsletter extolling the virtues of surprises within the horror genre. Right now, it’s easy to mark the calendar for known quantities like EVIL DEAD RISE, HALLOWEEN ENDS, SCREAM, and TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE. However, it’s likely we don’t yet know much about all of the horror fare we’ll be talking about by the end of the year because there’s something lurking out there, under the radar, waiting to wow a festival audience before being unleashed upon the general public, much like their more famous predecessors once did. Once upon a time, the movies we know crave sequels to were surprise hits that took the genre by storm, and it seems fitting that their successors are being hatched right under our noses right now. So, this year, I’m looking forward to not knowing what exactly to look forward to just yet.
Janine Pipe
Things I’m most looking forward to in 2022 are easy!
Jon Abrams
Mike Vanderbilt™
In 2020, during the darkest days of the pandemic, Ryan Oestrich, GM of Chicago’s Music Box Theatre had a wild idea. The Cinepocalpyse film festival fell apart and due to COVID-19, the 24-hour Music Box Of Horrors marathon was cancelled. But Ryan, always a visionary wanted to being 31 nights of terror to the ChiTown Movies drive-in and he enlisted programmer Will Morris, Kate Rife, and myself. The buzz in Chicago was that we saved Halloween that year and we even brought it back in 2021. Now, the Music Box Of Horrors is bringing monthly screenings to the Music Box and I’m jazzed at what we’ve got on the docket. We collaborated with Cinematic Void for January Giallo, we’re screening the 1978 classic DAWN OF THE DEAD for two midnights in February and in March we’ll be bringing Preston Fassel to the stage for a screening of the VHS favorite BOARDINGHOUSE to promote his latest book, LANDIS: THE STORY OF A REAL MAN ON 42ND STREET. Things are getting better and the Music Box Of Horrors team is intent on making it cooler!
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Tags: 2022, Batman, David Cronenberg, David Lynch, john waters, Martin Scorsese, Monica Bellucci, Nicolas Cage, Sam Raimi, Spider-Man, Wes Craven
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