Reading has been the thing getting us through lockdown, and as lockdown eases we have hope that we will be able to slowly return to normal activities over the coming months. Luckily there are some excellent movies—adapted from excellent novels—slated between now and Christmas, and if the dates don't change for theatrical releases we may even leave the house to watch a movie in a theater (watching Emma in a theater back in the spring seems like ancient history now).
Either way, we plan to add all of the below to our watch list and to our TBR pile. Whether you want to escape into a tale of complicated first love, or a Dickensian (literally and figuratively) coming of age story; whether you want an epic hero's quest in space, or a David and Goliath terror ride in the Montana mountains, it's hard to decide where to start, with either the reading or the viewing. We'll just have to pace ourselves.
Our Chemical Hearts by Krystal Sutherland
Henry thinks Grace is kind of weird: she wears oversized men's clothing, walks with a cane, and she's not the kind of girl Henry dreams about when he's dreaming about falling in love for the first time. But when they both end up working at the school newspaper, something changes and he falls, hard. Lili Reinhart and Austin Abrams will play the teens whose first love is complicated and will teach them lessons about love and loss. (August 21)
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
Long regarded as the most autobiographical of Charles Dickens' novels, David Copperfield is a coming of age story. It tells how David Copperfield overcomes a painful childhood, brightened only by the love of his Aunt Betsy, only to encounter more trials and tribulations as an adult, as he learns to temper his ambition and not allow it to damage his relationships. Dev Patel, of Slumdog Millionaire fame, stars in The Personal History of David Copperfield, the movie adaptation of this classic. (August 28)
Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
In the first feature adaptation of the Du Maurier classic in approximately 80 years, Lily James and Armie Hammer star as the newlywed de Winters, who journey to the de Winter family estate on the English coast, only to find that the ghost of the first Mrs. de Winter continues to cast a long shadow over her domain, years after her tragic death.
Those Who Wish Me Dead by Michael Koryta
When a teenager witnesses a brutal murder, the police enroll him in a wilderness training skills camp for troubled youth in Montana, hoping to stash him somewhere safe—off the radar—while they hunt for the murder suspects. But soon the killers have obliterated everyone in their way as they get closer to finding their teenage target. Starring Angelina Jolie, Those Who Wish Me Dead is a cat and mouse thriller played out in the Montana wilderness. (October 23)
Hillbilly Elegy by J. D. Vance
Ron Howard directs the feature adaptation of Hillbilly Elegy, the bestselling book by J. D. Vance. The memoir showed the ups and down of social mobility: Vance's grandparents moved north from Kentucky’s Appalachia region to Ohio to escape abject poverty but somehow brought all the attendant ills of that poverty with them. This tale of the American dream denied stars Amy Adams and Haley Bennett. (November 2020)
Dune by Frank Herbert
The latest adaptation of Frank Herbert's Dune features a stellar cast: Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård, Dave Bautista, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Zendaya, David Dastmalchian, Chang Chen, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, Charlotte Rampling, Jason Momoa, and Javier Bardem. The journey of Paul Atreides, "born into a great destiny beyond his understanding," begins December 18.
News of the World by Paulette Jiles
Tom Hanks stars as a former Civil War soldier, Captain Kidd, who accepts a $50 gold piece to return a young orphan girl—captured four years earlier by Kiowa raiders—to her family. "Uncivilized" after years of living with the Kiowa tribe, Johanna nevertheless bonds with the lonely Kidd on the 400-mile journey back to San Antonio. So when her aunt and uncle don't welcome their long-lost niece with open arms, Captain Kidd is left with some hard questions about family and responsibility. (December 25)
