Gotta See entertainment | GOTTA SEE By lisa marie <strong>December</strong> 2nd ► Violent Night (Theaters) To hell with “all is calm.” From 87North, bare-knuckle producers of Nobody, John Wick, Atomic Blonde, Deadpool 2, Bullet Train, and Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw comes a coal-dark holiday action-comedy that says you should always bet on red. When a team of mercenaries breaks into a wealthy family compound on Christmas Eve, taking everyone inside hostage, the merc team isn’t prepared for a surprise combatant: Santa Claus (David Harbour) is on the grounds, and he’s about to show why this Nick is no saint. Violent Night is directed by talented Norwegian filmmaker Tommy Wirkola, director of the genre Kill Buljo: The Movie, Dead Snow, Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead, What Happened to Monday, and The Trip, previously. <strong>December</strong> 9th ► Empire of Light (Theaters) The Empire is the kind of movie house you don’t see too often anymore, framed by bright lights and a beautiful marquee, 48 | DECember <strong>2022</strong> | www.<strong>Atlantic</strong><strong>Ave</strong><strong>Magazine</strong>.com graciously inviting all into its red-velvet seats. Hilary (Olivia Colman) serves at the front of house, opening the theatre every morning and overseeing a brimming concession stand. Meanwhile, her manager (Colin Firth) occasionally calls her into his office for illicit favors. It’s a gloomy routine that Hilary grudgingly repeats, but all her co-workers recognize that she’s been quieter since returning to the job after a long absence. When Stephen (Micheal Ward) arrives as an eager new employee, the two form a quick, if outwardly unlikely, connection. Hilary hides a troubled past, struggling to manage her mental health, while Stephen, a young Black man, grapples with the racism rampant in 1980s Britain. Both wounded by aggressions outside their control, they find an escape and safe harbor in one another — but their relationship, like the Empire cinema itself, cannot last forever, and soon the pair must face the reality of their differing futures. The acclaimed Oscar-winning British filmmaker directs Empire of Light, Sam Mendes, director of American Beauty, Road to Perdition, Jarhead, Revolutionary Road, Away We Go, Skyfall, Spectre, and 1917. <strong>December</strong> 16th COPYRIGHTED ► Avatar: The Way of Water (Theaters) Set more than a decade after the events of the first film, Avatar: The Way of Water begins to tell the story of the Sully family, the trouble that follows them, the lengths they go to keep each other safe, the battles they fight to stay alive, and the tragedies they endure. Avatar 2: The Way of Water is directed by iconic Canadian filmmaker James Cameron, director of Piranha II: The Spawning, The Terminator, Aliens, The Abyss, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, True Lies, Titanic, and Avatar, previously. The screenplay is written by James Cameron and Josh Friedman (War of the Worlds, The Black Dahlia, Terminator: Dark Fate, Snowpiercer series) from a story by James Cameron.
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