There’s something to be said about the classics and in 2020, films are going back to old Hollywood and being reinvented for modern times. It started with 2019’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood which took place in 1960s Los Angelos and Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt starred as washed-up actors who were trying to make a name for themselves. Based on the success of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, many films are revisiting classic Hollywood and these are the ones you should check out ahead of awards season.
Rebecca
Based on the 1938 novel of the same name by Daphne du Maurier, the film was first released in 1940 and has since been adapted many times. The 2020 Netflix adaptation is the latest and it’s based on a newly married women who arrives at her husband’s estate and ends up being haunted by her husband’s first wife, Rebecca. The film stars Lily James, Armie Hamemr, Kristen Scott Thomas, Tom Goodman-Hill, Keeley Hawes, Sam Riley, and Ann Dowd.
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
This film takes place in 1927 Chicago and it’s about Ma Rainey (Viola Davis) and other Black musicians who struggle with race, music, relationships, and the exploitation of Black recording artists. This also happens to be Chadwick Boseman’s, who plays the horn player, last film. Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom will be released on December 18.
Mank
Mank follows Oscar-winning Citizen Kane screenwriter Herman J Mankiewicz and the development of the Orson Welles classic. Gary Oldman stars as the social critic and alcoholic screenwriter, Mank, who revaluates 1930s Hollywood and tries to finish the Citizen Kane script. The black and white film will be released in select theaters in November and will be available for streaming on Netflix on December 4.
