Worst2First: My Most Anticipated Films of Winter 2022-2023

Worst2First:
My Most Anticipated Films of Winter 2022-2023

2022 will soon come to a close and usher in 2023, and along with it comes a slew of eagerly-awaited films from critically acclaimed darlings to long-awaited sequels and everything in-between. Spanning from December 2022 to February 2023, here are my personal top ten films I'm most anticipated to see this winter.

**THERE WILL BE NO SPOILERS**
**DATES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE**

#10

Violent Night

December 2

December brings the lovely Christmas season, full of yuletide greetings and that lovable fat man known as Santa Claus. However, what if Santa wasn't as holly and jolly as you might think, but rather an avenging angel who utilizes everything in his bag of goodies to take down heartless mercenaries who threaten a family? "Stranger Things" star David Harbour stars as Santa in "Dead Snow" director Tommy Wirkola's "Violent Night," which finds Santa coming to the aid of a family besieged by ruthless mercenaries led by John Leguizamo. Expect loads of bloody violence and see Santa in a way you've never seen him before.

#9

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

December 23 (Netflix)

After the polarizing "Star Wars: The Last Jedi," Rian Johnson wrote and directed "Knives Out," labeled as a murder mystery that you've never seen before, and he was right - the film grossed over $165 million in America due to the stellar supporting cast and especially Daniel Craig's committed performance as the eccentric Detective Benoit Blanc. Returning to the role in Johnson's sequel, he now finds himself in the middle of another murder mystery set on a lush tropical island and wealthy yacht, and this time the supporting cast includes the likes of Edward Norton, Janelle Monae, Kathryn Hahn, Kate Hudson and Dave Bautista, and looks to be as intriguing and darkly comedic as the first.

#8

Babylon

December 23

Oscar-winning director Damien Chazelle returns after his awards-worthy "La La Land" to once again bring about a story of classic Hollywood. "Babylon" centers on the careers of different characters as they live, love, and fail through the lens of classic Hollywood, where excess is the key. Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, newcomer Diego Calva, Jean Smart, Tobey Maguire, Lukas Haas, Max Minghella and Samara Weaving co-star in this star-studded ode to classic Hollywood and the sins that came along with it.

#7

Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio

December 9 (Netflix)

Director Guillermo del Toro is iconic for his unique visual style and his ability to craft the most awe-inspiring creatures set to the big screen in films like "Pan's Labyrinth" and his Oscar-winning film "The Shape of Water," so it's only natural that he tackles the legendary story of Pinocchio as only he could. Using stop-motion animation to tell the story of an unruly wooden boy who wishes to become real, "Pinocchio" features an all-star voice cast including Ewan McGregor, Christoph Waltz, Tilda Swinton, Ron Perlman, Finn Wolfhard, Cate Blanchett, and introducing Gregory Mann as the voice of Pinocchio. Awards season is calling, and undoubtedly this will be one on the shortlist for Best Animated Feature.

#6

Knock at the Cabin

February 3

M. Night Shyamalan has had a rough record with his films, starting off with the Oscar-nominated "The Sixth Sense" and "Unbreakable," but then directing duds like "The Lady in the Water" and "The Last Airbender," so his work is uneven at best. "Knock at the Cabin" is his newest outing, and this time it's taken from a previous work written by Paul G. Tremblay, and centers around a family of three who comes across a cult who demands they make the ultimate sacrifice to prevent the apocalypse. Dave Bautista leads the cult which includes "Harry Potter" star Rupert Grint in a tale that looks to be intriguing, but hopefully not bogged down by Shyamalan's petulance for monotone speeches and surprise twists that never come across as surprising anymore.

#5

M3GAN

January 6

Move over Chucky, because there's a new doll who wants to be your friend til the end - of your life. "M3GAN" centers on a woman who must care for her niece after her parents are killed, and gives her a prototype of a project she's working on called M3GAN, who's programmed to be the girl's best friend and strongest ally. However, when she becomes self-aware, she starts killing anyone who could pose a threat to the girl, resulting in a bloodbath of doll-sized proportions. Aside from the hilarious feud between M3GAN and Chucky on Twitter, the Internet has already made a meme of the dancing doll, calling her the "yassified" form of Annabelle from "The Conjuring," and we're all in to see how crazy it'll get.

#4

Women Talking

December 25

Based on the novel by Miriam Toews, "Women Talking" centers on a small Mennonite community in Bolivia where the women of the town suffered unspeakable atrocities by the men of the town, and they come together to find out how to deal with the situation - to stay and fight, or to run and be free. Sarah Polley directs this mostly female-led ensemble including Rooney Mara, Claire Foy, Jessie Buckley, Ben Whishaw and Frances McDormand, and it's already generating Oscar buzz for the majority of the star-studded cast.

#3

Avatar: The Way of Water

December 16

James Cameron's "Avatar" came out in 2009, and became the highest grossing movie of all time due to its stunning visuals and compelling story, and word of a sequel was whispered about for years after, but no one thought it would happen. Long-gestating is an understatement, as it took over twenty-two years for the sequel to finally be released, and we'll see if it'll garner the same response as the first. Set over a decade after the first film, "The Way of Water" centers on the Sully family and how they stick together through the trials and tribulations of living on Pandora. Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver and Stephen Lang return and are joined by the likes of Kate Winslet and Cliff Curtis in this continuation of the "Avatar" saga, which looks to incorporate unique visuals that the previous film was known for.

#2

The Whale

December 9

There was a time Brendan Fraser was the biggest star in Hollywood, appearing in blockbusters like "The Mummy," "The Mummy Returns," and "George of the Jungle," but after traumatic events occurred in his life, he fell away from acting and went through a bout of severe depression. Now he's back and starring in A24 and Darren Aronofsky's "The Whale" as a 600-pound man who tries to re-connect with the teenage daughter who became estranged after a falling out. Fraser is already receiving Oscar-nomination buzz for his role, and with a supporting cast including "Stranger Things" standout Sadie Sink, Hung Chou, Samantha Morton and Ty Simpkins, this looks to be Brendan Fraser's welcome return to the big screen in a big way.

#1

Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania

February 17

Following the unprecedented success of "Avengers: Endgame," the Marvel Cinematic Universe has found itself floundering, trying to find its footing, but it seems that the first film in their Phase Five program will set the universe in the right direction. Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas and Michelle Pfeiffer return as Scott Lang, Hope van Dyne, Hank Pym and Janet van Dyne as they embark on a journey into the Quantum Realm with Scott's now-grown daughter Cassie (played by Kathryn Newton), where they come into contact with the MCU's next big bad - Jonathan Majors' Kang the Conqueror. Set to be a visual masterpiece filled with humor, heart, and action, "Quantumania" will set the stage for the arrival of Kang in a big way, shaping the rest of the MCU for years to come.