Six To See January 6-12, 2024

1. Mean Girls: the new musical comedy film directed by Arturo Perez Jr. and Samantha Jayne from a screenplay by Tina Fey. It’s adapted from the stage musical of the same name, which in turn is based on the 2004 film of the same name, itself partially based on Rosalind Wiseman’s 2002 book Queen Bees and Wannabes. The film stars Angourie Rice, Auliʻi Cravalho, Reneé Rapp, Jaquel Spivey, Avantika Vandanapu, Bebe Wood, Christopher Briney, Jenna Fischer, and Busy Philipps. Tina Fey and Tim Meadows also reprise their roles from the 2004 film. Reneé Rapp is the only Broadway cast member to reprise her role in the film. Mean Girls was released in theatres on January 12 in several countries including the US, Canada and some European countries, except Belgium. Here the film is only releasing in theatres on February 7, so I will have to wait until then to go watch it.

2. Lift: a new heist comedy film directed by F. Gary Gray and written by Daniel Kunka. The film stars Kevin Hart (who also served as producer), Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Vincent D’Onofrio, Úrsula Corberó, Billy Magnussen, Jacob Batalon, Jean Reno, and Sam Worthington. It follows a master thief who teams up with her ex-boyfriend to steal 100 million dollars in gold bullion being transported on a 777 passenger flight. They will have to steal it while in the air. Lift was released on Netflix on January 12.

3. The Book of Clarence: a new epic biblical comedy drama film written and directed by Jeymes Samuel. It stars LaKeith Stanfield, Omar Sy, Anna Diop, RJ Cyler, David Oyelowo, Micheal Ward, Alfre Woodard, Teyana Taylor, Caleb McLaughlin, Eric Kofi-Abrefa, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, James McAvoy, and Benedict Cumberbatch. It follows a man named Clarence living in 29 A.D. Jerusalem, who looks to capitalize on the rise of Jesus Christ. The film was released in theatres on January 12.

4. The Beekeeper: a new action thriller film directed by David Ayer and written by Kurt Wimmer. It stars Jason Statham, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Josh Hutcherson, Bobby Naderi, Minnie Driver, Phylicia Rashad and Jeremy Irons. We follow Mr. Clay, a former operative of a clandestine organization called “Beekeepers”. After his friend and neighbor dies by suicide after falling for a phishing scam, Mr. Clay sets out to exact revenge against the company responsible for this. The film was released in theatres on January 12.

5. Self Reliance: a new comedy thriller film written and directed by Jake Johnson in his feature length directorial debut. He also stars in the film alongside Anna Kendrick and Andy Samberg. Set in Los Angeles, we follow a disillusioned man who receives an invitation to win $1 million by taking part in a reality television game on the dark web. For 30 days, he must outwit hunters attempting to kill him. He realizes there’s a loophole to the game – the hunters can only attack him when he’s alone – so he attempts to convince friends, family and total strangers that the game is real, and that they must stay with him 24/7. The film premiered at the SXSW Film Festival last year and was released on Hulu in the US on January 12.

6. Role Play: a new thriller film directed by Thomas Vincent, written by Seth Owen, and produced by and starring Kaley Cuoco. David Oyelowo, Bill Nighy, and Connie Nielsen also star in the film. It follows a married couple whose lives are turned upside down when secrets are revealed about their pasts. The film was released on Prime Video on January 12.

Two bonus series to see:

• Echo: the new Marvel superhero miniseries created by Marion Dayre and based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. It’s a spin-off from the series Hawkeye (2021) in which we saw the character of Echo for the first time. The series follows Maya Lopez aka Echo, played by Alaqua Cox, who returns to her hometown where she must come to terms with her past, reconnect with her Native American roots, and embrace her family and community. Vincent D’Onofrio is also reprising his role as Wilson Fisk aka Kingpin which he already did in Hawkeye and Charlie Cox is also back as Matt Murdock aka Daredevil. Chaske Spencer, Tantoo Cardinal, Graham Greene, Cody Lightning, Devery Jacobs, and Zahn McClarnon also star in the series. The whole series was released on Disney+ and Hulu on January 10.

• Boy Swallows Universe: a new Australian coming of age limited series based on the semi-autobiographical novel of the same name by Trent Dalton. Written by John Collee, the story revolves around Eli Bell, a working-class youth who enters Brisbane’s underworld to save his mother from danger. It stars Felix Cameron as Eli Bell alongside Travis Fimmel, Simon Baker and Phoebe Tonkin. The series was released on Netflix on January 11.