Starring: Nicolas Cage, Pedro Pascal, Tiffany Haddish, Neil Patrick Harris, Sharon Horgan, Ike Barinholtz
Nicolas Cage stars as… Nick Cage in the action-comedy The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent. Creatively unfulfilled and facing financial ruin, the fictionalized version of Cage must accept a $1 million offer to attend the birthday of a dangerous superfan (Pedro Pascal). Things take a wildly unexpected turn when Cage is recruited by a CIA operative (Tiffany Haddish) and forced to live up to his own legend, channeling his most iconic and beloved on-screen characters in order to save himself and his loved ones. With a career built for this very moment, the seminal award-winning actor must take on the role of a lifetime: Nick Cage.
Starring: Alexander Skarsgård, Nicole Kidman, Claes Bang, Anya Taylor-Joy, Gustav Lindh, Ethan Hawke, Björk, Willem Dafoe
Prince Amleth is on the verge of becoming a man when his father is brutally murdered by his uncle, who kidnaps the boy’s mother. Two decades later, Amleth is now a Viking who raids Slavic villages. He soon meets a seeress who reminds him of his vow — save his mother, kill his uncle, avenge his father.
Starring: Michelle Yeoh, Stephanie Hsu, Ke Huy Quan, Jenny Slate, Harry Shum Jr., James Hong, Jamie Lee Curtis
Directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, collectively known as Daniels, the film is a hilarious and big-hearted sci-fi action adventure about an exhausted Chinese American woman (Michelle Yeoh) who can’t seem to finish her taxes.
Starring: Jason Patric, Corey Haim, Dianne Wiest, Barnard Hughes, Edward Herrmann, Kiefer Sutherland, Alex Winter, Corey Feldman, Jami Gertz, Jamison Newlander
Teenage brothers Michael (Jason Patric) and Sam (Corey Haim) move with their mother (Dianne Wiest) to a small town in northern California. While the younger Sam meets a pair of kindred spirits in geeky comic-book nerds Edward (Corey Feldman) and Alan (Jamison Newlander), the angst-ridden Michael soon falls for Star (Jami Gertz) — who turns out to be in thrall to David (Kiefer Sutherland), leader of a local gang of vampires. Sam and his new friends must save Michael and Star from the undead.
Starring: Tyrese Gibson, Omar Gooding, Adrienne-Joi Johnson, Taraji P. Henson, Snoop Dogg, Tamara Bass
The story of Jody (Tyrese Gibson), a misguided, 20-year-old African-American who is really just a baby boy finally forced-kicking and screaming to face the commitments of real life. Streetwise and jobless, he has not only fathered two children by two different women-Yvette (Taraji P. Henson) and Peanut (Tamara LaSeon Bass) but still lives with his own mother. He can’t seem to strike a balance or find direction in his chaotic life.
Starring: Laurence Fishburne, Giancarlo Esposito, Tisha Campbell, Ossie Davis, Bill Nunn, Spike Lee
At historically black Mission College, the activist-minded Dap (Laurence Fishburne) immerses himself in a world of political rhetoric and social movements — one day he hopes to rally the students as a united front. At the other end of the spectrum, Julian (Giancarlo Esposito), the head of the biggest fraternity on campus, is more concerned with maintaining a strict social order. In between, Dap’s conflicted cousin, Half-Pint (Spike Lee), spends most of his time rushing the fraternity.
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Maria Conchita Alonso, Jennifer Beals, Elizabeth Ashley, Kasi Lemmons
The life of white-collar New Yorker Peter (Nicolas Cage) seems to revolve solely around making as much money and sleeping with as many women as possible. After a typical night of scouring trendy bars for some action, Peter manages to take home the sexy Rachel (Jennifer Beals), who bites him on the neck while they’re in bed. The next day, Peter is certain he is now a vampire. Though no one shares his point of view and he hasn’t changed physically, he dons fake fangs and begins stalking women.
Starring: Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Antonio Banderas, Stephen Rea, Christian Slater, Kirsten Dunst
Born as an 18th-century lord, Louis is now a bicentennial vampire, telling his story to an eager biographer. Suicidal after the death of his family, he meets Lestat, a vampire who persuades him to choose immortality over death and become his companion. Eventually, gentle Louis resolves to leave his violent maker, but Lestat guilts him into staying by turning a young girl — whose addition to the “family” breeds even more conflict.
Starring: Angela Bassett, Laurence Fishburne, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Jenifer Lewis, Phyllis Yvonne Stickney
Based on the life of the legendary soul singer, Tina Turner (Angela Bassett) — born Anna Mae Bullock — discovers her love of singing in her Tennessee church choir. She moves to St. Louis to pursue a career, and there she meets the charismatic Ike Turner (Laurence Fishburne), who rechristens her Tina and offers to help her succeed. As a musical team, Ike and Tina take the charts by storm. But as his physical abuse worsens, Tina has to make the tough decision to leave Ike and set out on her own.
Starring: Meg Ryan, Mark Ruffalo, Jennifer Jason Leigh
As we celebrate Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog this awards season, The FOFIF looks back to her under-appreciated 2003 sexy psychological thriller In the Cut, in which she masterfully subverts the male gaze.
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An English teacher (Meg Ryan) has an affair with a detective (Mark Ruffalo), though she suspects him of murdering a woman.
