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From festival standouts that played earlier in the year or via one of 2020’s many virtual events to delayed releases and awards contenders anteing up for wide showings beyond their 2020 qualifying runs, we’ve been lucky enough to catch some real gems that will call 2021 home. From heavy-hitting contenders like Regina King’s “One Night in Miami,” Lee Isaac Chung’s “Minari,” and Chloe Zhao’s “Nomadland” to heart-stopping indies like Heidi Ewing’s “I Carry You with Me,” Madeleine Sims-Fewer and Dusty Mancinelli’s “Violation,” and Keith Thomas’ “The Vigil,” 2021 is already stacked....

“The Good Nurse” tells the hauntingly true tale of serial killer nurse Charles Cullen (Eddie Redmayne) who is believed to have murdered as many as 400 patients over the course of his 16-year career in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Cullen killed patients by administering lethal doses of insulin and other potentially fatal drugs; he confessed to killing up to 40 people and is currently serving 17 consecutive life sentences in prison....

The concept, as well as its largely benevolent intent, isn’t far removed from Fielder’s 2013 Comedy Central classic, “Nathan for You.” Fielder narrates the episodes. He’s active on both sides of the camera, and rather than give a boost to small businesses, his overarching goal is to help each subject overcome an obstacle. But the rehearsals in “The Rehearsal” are stunningly intricate. Fielder hovers over his “actors” like David Fincher in a mobile laptop harness, supervising a level of meticulous thought and labor that makes “Dumb Starbucks” (a second-season entry that’s often and rightly heralded as one of this century’s smartest, funniest pieces of comedy) look as straightforward as ordering your morning coffee....

“The Stand” tells the story of a devastating pandemic and the group of survivors trying to restore society. On one side are the acolytes of Mother Abigail (played by Whoopi Goldberg in the new series), while the venal hedonism of the world is overseen by the “dark man,” Randall Flagg (Alexander Skarsgard). Where good and evil are delineated so clearly by Mother Abigail and Flagg, the portrayals of disability run parallel....

After sitting out the third standalone Thor feature, “Thor: Ragnarok,” original star Natalie Portman returns for “Love and Thunder,” care of a meaty role as Dr. Jane Foster that’s already drawn strong praise from fans and critics alike. And, as has long been teased by director Taika Waititi, Portman is very much along for the entire ride this time around, as the film sees her character going through a massive transformation into someone, well, massive: her very own Thor....

Beyond the usual musical problem of getting an audience comfortable with singing and dancing one moment and characters behaving more naturalistically the next, the film had a couple of particular challenges it needs to overcome quickly. The first was to contextualize Larson’s legacy for viewers who weren’t already read-in to “Rent.” The second challenge was that the film doesn’t just have musical numbers and dramatic scenes: It has a performance that serves as the frame story and launch-point for both kinds of scenes....

News of Bailey’s appointment by the TIFF board comes after the board on Monday announced that Jeffrey Remedios, the chairman and CEO of Universal Music Canada, has replaced Jennifer Tory as TIFF board chair. TIFF leaders bill Remedios, who has served on the board for five years, as a business leader skilled at navigating digital transformations while promoting independent thinkers. Bailey leads with his passion for cinema and deep institutional knowledge, but he told IndieWire’s Anne Thompson he plans to guide the organization into its fifth decade with his mind open to the possibilities brought by a rapidly changing industry....