Lifestyle
Here are 25 movies we can't wait to watch this fall
School’s back in session, election season’s heating up, the leaves need raking, and you just want to get out of the house and escape, right?
We’ve got you covered. Everything from award contenders to goofy comedies, a smattering of romance, plenty of anti-heroes, even an animated musical documentary constructed entirely of LEGOs — all curated by NPR critics.
We’ll see you at the movies.
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Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, in theaters Sept. 6
Look, who knows if this is gonna work? Plenty of directors have returned to their early films to see what, if any, gold remains to be mined. Sometimes they hit the motherlode (Mad Max: Fury Road), other times the result is a cinematic cave-in (The Matrix Resurrections). Director Tim Burton’s recent films have all displayed his trademark darkness, but it’s been years since we glimpsed the transgressive, anarchic humor he made his bones on. I’m pulling for him. It’s showtime. — Glen Weldon
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His Three Daughters, in theaters Sept. 6, on Netflix Sept. 20
The cast sells this one: Carrie Coon, Elizabeth Olsen and Natasha Lyonne are each often the best thing about the projects they’re in. And here they are together, playing sisters who gather when their father is dying. It might not seem obvious to cast such different performers as family, but there is something about three singular women in the same film that makes a kind of sense. — Linda Holmes
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Meanwhile on Earth, in theaters Sept. 13
In this moody, surreal French sci-fi film, a young woman grieves her beloved brother, who disappeared on a space mission three years prior. One night, she receives a message: a mysterious presence says it can return him to Earth… if she does it a small favor. It’s the latest from director Jeremy Clapin, whose unforgettable I Lost my Body, about a severed hand’s quest to be reunited with its original owner, was nominated for an Oscar in 2020. Nous allons! — Glen Weldon
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My Old Ass, in theaters Sept. 13
While hallucinating on mushrooms in her last summer before college, Elliott (Maisy Stella) is visited by her 39-year-old self (Aubrey Plaza), blithely offering unsolicited advice: “I know mom can be annoying but be nice to her; hang out with your brothers; and avoid anyone named Chad.” That’s a cue for Percy Hynes White’s endearingly dorky Chad to make his appearance in Megan Park’s coming-of-age charmer. — Bob Mondello
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All Shall Be Well, in theaters Sept. 20
A darling of the festival circuit, this Hong Kong drama follows Angie and Pat, a lesbian couple in their 60s who’ve been together for decades. When Pat suddenly dies, her family treats Angie with compassion — at first. Soon, questions over Pat’s estate cause a rift that endangers Angie’s ability to stay in the apartment they shared. Films tackling the intersection of queerness and aging aren’t exactly thick on the ground; early reviews say this one manages to be both sad and life-affirming. — Glen Weldon
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A Different Man, in theaters Sept. 20
This brutal psychological drama stars Sebastian Stan as an aspiring actor with neurofibromatosis, a genetic mutation. To widen his casting opportunities, he undergoes facial reconstructive surgery – but when he encounters a fellow performer with the same medical condition (Adam Pearson), he’s forced to reckon with the choice he made. This may be one of the strangest and most challenging things you’ll watch all year, and it’s worth it. — Aisha Harris
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The Substance, in theaters Sept. 20
The body horror, the body horror! Coralie Fargeat’s latest film kind of sounds like a mad twist on Severance: Demi Moore is an aerobics star who’s fired from her show for turning 50. She’s offered the chance to inject a substance that will transform her into a younger version of herself (Margaret Qualley). She must “switch” between her younger and older self every seven days, but – surprise, surprise! – things don’t go exactly as planned. — Aisha Harris
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WOLFS, in theaters Sept. 20, on Apple TV+ Sept. 27
George Clooney and Brad Pitt have been making capers together since Ocean’s Eleven in 2001. Now, they join up for an action comedy about two sketchy but efficient fixers. The only hangup is that they both work alone, but now they’re forced to work together. It’s a well-worn setup, and the result will depend on whether they can recapture the affectionate repartee one more time. — Linda Holmes
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Megalopolis, in theaters Sept. 27
Look, reportedly this whole production is deeply fraught – you can Google the many reasons yourself. But the mere existence of a brand-new Francis Ford Coppola film in 2024 still has people talking. It’s a decades-long passion project with a stacked cast that includes Adam Driver, Giancarlo Esposito, Aubrey Plaza, Talia Shire, and Laurence Fishburne. And its CGI-heavy, time-traveling story looks truly out-there: Coppola reimagines the fall of Rome through the lens of a modern-day New York. — Aisha Harris
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The Wild Robot, in theaters Sept. 27
Filmmaker Chris Sanders (How to Train Your Dragon) has been telling interviewers that the computer-generated visuals in this tale of a shipwrecked robot named Roz (voiced by Lupita Nyong’o) who befriends an island’s critters and adopts an orphaned gosling, were inspired by the watercolor backgrounds in Bambi, and by the lush hand-drawn forests of Hayao Miyazaki. The idea was to place the high-tech protagonist of this ecological fable in an emotionally resonant wilderness. — Bob Mondello
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Joker: Folie a Deux, in theaters Oct. 4
The original Joker was supposed to be a standalone film, but when it made a billion dollars, and Oscar-winner Joaquin Phoenix started dreaming about his deranged Arthur Fleck telling jokes and singing onstage, what’s a poor movie studio to do? Phoenix and director Todd Phillips conjured a story involving Fleck’s music therapist, Harley Quinn; Lady Gaga signed on to play her, and here we are. — Bob Mondello
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The Platform 2, on Netflix Oct. 4
The Platform, Spanish director Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia’s 2019 feature debut, was a nasty piece of work — an grisly anti-capitalist screed in sci-fi/horror clothing. In a tower prison, the residents of the top floors enjoy sumptuous meals served on a vast slab. But as that platform descends at designated intervals down through the tower, the lower residents fight over leftovers. No, it’s not subtle, as metaphors go, but I’m eager to see where a sequel takes us. — Glen Weldon
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Piece by Piece, in theaters Oct. 11
“Y’know what’d be cool?” asks Pharrell Williams, channeling his “It might seem crazy what I’m ‘bout to say” opening lyric to “Happy” – “is if we told my story with LEGO pieces.” As he is LEGO-ized while saying this in Morgan Neville’s computer-animated documentary and is joined on several new songs by LEGO-ized Gwen Stefani, Justin Timberlake, Kendrick Lamar, Busta Rhymes, Jay-Z and Snoop Dogg, it’s hard to disagree.
— Bob Mondello
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Saturday Night, in theaters Oct. 11
Jason Reitman jumps back 49 years to revel in the nervous energy of Lorne Michaels, Chevy Chase, Gilda Radner, Garrett Morris, John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, and Jane Curtin on the eve of the very first broadcast of a little late-night comedy show they’d come up with. Interviews with the surviving principals inform the dramedy’s portrait of the hours leading up to those fateful words “Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night!” on Oct. 11, 1975. — Bob Mondello
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Anora, in theaters Oct. 18
The first American film to win the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 13 years, Sean Baker’s comic drama follows New York sex worker Anora (Mikey Madison) as she impulsively elopes with Russian tourist Vanya (Mark Eydelshteyn), who’s eager to avoid deportation. The magic in their fairytale romance is challenged somewhat when Vanya’s parents swan in to try to get the marriage annulled. — Bob Mondello
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Rumours, in theaters Oct. 18
Guy Maddin makes movies (Careful, The Saddest Music in the World, My Winnipeg) that are rich and strange – not necessarily in a crowd-pleasing way, but invariably in a me-pleasing way. He’s teaming with brothers Evan and Galen Johnson to write and direct this one, and the plot promises a big swing: World leaders attending the G7 conference get lost in the woods. I was all-in for this movie even BEFORE I found it stars Cate Blanchett and a giant brain. And now that I know that? All-innest! — Glen Weldon
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Woman of the Hour, on Netflix Oct. 18
Anna Kendrick’s directorial debut (in which she also stars) is based on the story of a serial killer who went on The Dating Game. It’s a bizarre and unsettling story to say the least, and it got solid reviews at the Toronto International Film Festival last year. Kendrick is a more interesting actress than she’s sometimes given credit for, and she may be the same as a director. — Linda Holmes
The Nickel Boys, in theaters Oct. 25
Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer winner about a Jim Crow-era reform school (based on Florida’s notorious Dozier School) chronicled the experiences of two Black teenagers — Elwood (Ethan Herisse) and Turner (Brandon Wilson) — as they try to survive the horrors and abuse of the school. RaMell Ross’ film will be the opening attraction at the New York Film Festival. — Bob Mondello
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A Real Pain, in theaters Nov. 1
Kieran Culkin is fresh off a stunning performance in HBO’s Succession, where he could be surprisingly sympathetic for a guy who was basically a sleazeball. Here, he joins Jesse Eisenberg, who also wrote and directed, to play cousins who join up for a trip in Poland. These are both actors who are just about always worth your time, and who doesn’t love a road trip movie? — Linda Holmes
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Here, in theaters Nov. 1
Director Robert Zemeckis never met a technological innovation he didn’t want to play with, from motion capture in Polar Express to digital animation in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. This time, he’s employing generative AI to face-swap and de-age his Forrest Gump stars, Tom Hanks and Robin Wright, as they play characters from 18 to 80 in a story that chronicles events on a single plot of land. — Bob Mondello
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Emilia Pérez, in theaters Nov. 1, on Netflix Nov. 13
The word out of Cannes earlier this year, where it won the Jury Prize, was that Jacques Audiard’s musical comedy crime film is both exciting and polarizing. At the very least, the logline is compelling: Zoe Saldaña is a lawyer who’s roped into helping a ruthless cartel leader (Karla Sofía Gascón) fake her own death so she can undergo gender affirming surgery. Mentally prepare yourself now for The Discourse to come.
— Aisha Harris
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Heretic, in theaters Nov. 15
Two young women, Mormon missionaries, greet a kindly older man who invites them inside his remote home for a sober discussion of the tenets of their faith. But this is an A24 horror film, so things don’t stay sober for long. The older man in question is played by a slyly sinister Hugh Grant, and his home is an elaborate maze made to test their faiths. I’m getting Barbarian vibes from the trailer — and it’s not like that cardigan Grant’s wearing makes things any LESS creepy. Brrrr. — Glen Weldon
Blitz, in theaters Nov. 1, on Apple TV+ Nov. 22
Steve McQueen – that name alone should be enough to warrant attention. The Shame and 12 Years a Slave filmmaker wrote and directed this historical drama, which has been described as an “epic journey” set during World War II. And it stars the always captivating Saoirse Ronan as a woman whose young son goes missing in the English countryside. Sign me up.
— Aisha Harris
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Gladiator II, in theaters Nov. 22
Two decades after the events depicted in Ridley Scott’s Gladiator, Lucius, the little boy (grandson of an emperor) who cheered on Russell Crowe in the Colosseum, has grown up to be Paul Mescal and finds himself in much the same position. Enslaved, he’ll fight not tigers, but a rhinoceros, under the tutelage of power-broker Denzel Washington as he opposes a pair of cruel and capricious young emperors. — Bob Mondello
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Wicked, in theaters Nov. 22
Two witches — Galinda (Ariana Grande), bubbly and “popular,” Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), green and fragile — take on a duplicitous wizard (Jeff Goldblum) in this adaptation of the first act of the smash Broadway musical based on Gregory Maguire’s “Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West.” It’ll be a long and winding yellow brick road (the second act arrives for Thanksgiving 2025). — Bob Mondello
Lifestyle
Simone Biles Ensures She Has 'Plenty' Of Bears Gear Now After Packers Jacket Drama
TMZSports.com
The Windy City can now let out a big exhale … Simone Biles has just ensured TMZ Sports she has so much Chicago swag in her closet now, there should be no more Packers attire on her at Soldier Field going forward.
Biles, of course, ruffled plenty of Bears supporters’ feathers with her wardrobe earlier this summer … when she was seen at her hubby Jonathan Owens‘ Aug. 17 preseason game wearing a grip of Green Bay logos on her jacket.
It obviously wasn’t meant to be any shade — the piece was just a tribute to Owens, who had played for the Bears’ biggest rival for the entirety of 2023, before signing on with Chicago this offseason.
Nonetheless, Monsters of the Midway backers went in on the gymnastics legend — slamming her on social media for the outfit choice. But, apparently, Biles has already remedied the situation … telling us out in New York on Thursday it won’t happen again.
“Yes, I have plenty [of Bears gear] now,” she said, “so, don’t you worry, guys!”
Bears fans shouldn’t have to wait long to see if she’s telling the truth … Owens and his team officially kick off their season against the Tennessee Titans in Chicago on Sunday afternoon!
Lifestyle
A 27-year-old just became queen of New Zealand's Maori
The Maori of New Zealand anointed a new monarch on Thursday, officially installing 27-year-old Nga Wai Hono i te Po as their second-ever queen.
The ceremony capped off a week of mourning for the previous Maori king, Tuheitia Pootatau Te Wherowhero VII, who died at age 69 after undergoing heart surgery just days after celebrating the 18th anniversary of his own coronation.
Nga Wai Hono i te Po, the new queen, happens to be his youngest child and only daughter. But the role of monarch is not hereditary: The successor is determined by tribal representatives from across the nation.
Leaders announced on Thursday that they had chosen Nga Wai Hono i te Po, making her the eighth Maori monarch and just the second queen. The first was her grandmother, Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu, who reigned from 1966 until her death in 2006 (at which point her son became king).
“The new monarch was raised up in a ceremony known as Te Whakawahinga, in front of thousands of people gathered for the tangihanga of Kiingi Tuheitia,” the tribal leaders said in a statement.
A historic bible was placed on Nga Wai Hono i te Po’s head, and a prominent archbishop used sacred oils to “bestow prestige, sacredness, power and spiritual essence” upon her. Then, the visibly emotional queen took a seat on a wooden throne next to her father’s coffin.
The coffin was later paddled — in a traditional canoe flotilla — along the river to Taupiri Mountain, the final resting place of the king and other high-profile Maori, according to CNN.
The ceremonies took place in Tūrangawaewae Marae on the North Island, which is the seat of the Maori King movement.
The political institution developed in the 1850s, when Maori tribes decided to unify under a single sovereign in the face of an influx of British settlers and demand for their land, as well as broader political marginalization.
Today the role of the Maori monarch is largely symbolic. As a former British colony and current member of the British Commonwealth, New Zealand’s official monarch is King Charles.
But the new queen is ascending at a particularly important time: New Zealand’s right-leaning coalition government has faced widespread criticism for dismantling initiatives that benefit indigenous people since taking power last year.
Among other policy changes, it has curbed the use of Maori language in government organizations, closed the Maori Health Authority and rolled back anti-smoking laws (disproportionately hurting the Maori population, which sees higher rates of both smoking and lung cancer).
The late king Tuheitia had urged unity in recent months, including at a January tribal gathering that drew some 10,000 Maori together to discuss how to respond to the government’s plans. His daughter, now the queen, was there by his side.
New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon paid his respects to the king last week, but did not attend the funeral as he is on an official trip to South Korea, the BBC reports. He wished the new queen well in a tweet on Wednesday.
“As Kiingi Tuheitia makes his final journey from Turangawaewae, we reflect on his legacy and look to the future with hope and anticipation,” he wrote. “We welcome the Upoko Ariki, Ngawai hono i te po, who carries forward the mantle of leadership left by her father.”
The queen has a chin tattoo, a “loud mouth” and a passion for performing arts
Nga Wai Hono i te Po had been favored as her father’s successor, but her selection “was not a foregone conclusion,” according to Radio New Zealand.
She became a more recognizable figure in recent years, accompanying the king on official engagements and serving as his official representative on a 2022 visit to London, where she met with then-Prince Charles.
The trip came over a century after a Maori king traveled to England to meet with Queen Victoria, only to be turned away. Nga Wai Hono i te Po was upfront about her mixed feelings given the painful past between the two countries.
“Although I feel excited about meeting the Prince of Wales, a part of me is still reluctant,” she told the media, in the Maori language. “I have a loud mouth, so I need to be careful.”
Nga Wai Hono i te Po earned a bachelor’s degree at the University of Waikato and a master’s degree in Tikanga Maori, generally defined as Maori practices and behaviors, according to 1News.
She has since served as a member on numerous boards, including of the Te Kōhanga Reo National Trust, which is charged with revitalizing the Maori language.
She has long been involved in Kapa Haka, a Maori performing art involving dancing and chanting while standing in rows. She got a job teaching it while in university, and was also part of a Kapa Haka group with which both of her parents had performed, according to Radio New Zealand.
As a student, she told the University of Waikato that Kapa Haka was a huge part of her daily life.
“I walk around my house and I see a taiaha [traditional weapon]. I get into my car and my poi [performance prop] is on the seat,” she said. “I go home to my parents’ house and my little nephew is there and he’s trying to do the Haka. So it is just everywhere. I’ve been brought up in it, I am it.”
Nga Wai Hono i te Po received her chin tattoo — called a moko kauae — at age 19 in 2016, which she said at the time was to acknowledge and support her father’s decade on the throne.
“In the ten years my father has experienced so many things,” she said. “So this is perhaps my gift to him, my moko kauae.”
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