Netflix has had another great year in terms of Oscar contenders. Their big kahunas are Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman” and Noah Baumbach’s “Marriage Story. However, it does look as though the streaming giant will continue to rise in 2020 with films by directors such as David Fincher, Spike Lee and Charlie Kaufman. Netflix decided to start the new year by offering a synopsis for the 21 original feature films that will be released by them in 2020. Of course, Netflix picks up hundreds of titles at film festivals around the world, all throughout the year, so this list will proportionally expand over the next few months.
These 6 are noteworthy and should be marked down as must-see:
DICK JOHNSON IS DEAD: In this inventive portrait, director Kirsten Johnson (CAMERAPERSON) seeks a way to keep her 86-year-old father alive forever by staging fantasies of death and beyond. Together, dad and daughter confront the great inevitability awaiting us all.
I’M THINKING OF ENDING THINGS: A road trip becomes a twisted mix of palpable tension, psychological frailty, and sheer terror in the latest from Charlie Kaufman, starring Jesse Plemons, Jessie Buckley, Toni Collette, and David Thewlis.
DA 5 BLOODS: The latest Spike Lee joint follows four African American vets who return to Vietnam, searching for the remains of their fallen squad leader and the promise of buried treasure. Chadwick Boseman, Paul Walter Hauser, Norm Lewis, Delroy Lindo, and Jonathan Majors star.
REBECCA: Director Ben Wheatley's adaptation of Daphne du Maurier's novel (adapted by Hitchcock in 1940) follows a newly-married young woman (Lily James) who finds herself battling the shadow of her husband's (Armie Hammer) dead first wife, the mysterious Rebecca.
MANK: From director David Fincher, the story centers around the writing of CITIZEN KANE. Gary Oldman, Amanda Seyfried, Charles Dance, and Lily Collins star.
THE OLD GUARD: From director Gina Prince-Bythewood, Charlize Theron and Kiki Layne lead a covert group of immortal mercenaries who must fight to keep their team together when they discover the existence of a new immortal and their extraordinary abilities are exposed.
Still no distributor for "Bucking Fastard," "Alpha Gang," "The Last Photograph," "Closing Night," and "The Life and Deaths of Wilson Shedd." The issue seems to be quality more than a lack of willingness to buy.