Critics give their picks for the 2021 movie scene

Above: Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall star in "Coming to America 2." (Photo: Amazon Prime)

Now that 2020 is over, our news feeds are filled with stories about what to expect from 2021.

Why look back, the reports seem to say, when the future is a blank slate that might – just might – promise a better world? And don’t we all hope so?

Yet such stories all appear to simply accept the notion that what we’ll experience in the future will be, however remotely, similar to the one most of us consider to be, uh, normal.

Whatever “normal” means.

“Of the many things we’ve learned during this difficult year, one is that the business of predictions is apt to make fools of us all,” wrote a trio of movie reviewers for Time.com.

That lesson, though, didn’t stop those same three reviewers from publishing a story titled “The 39 Most Anticipated Movies of 2021.”

Note that the list includes 39 films. Not 38. Or 40. Just 39.

Beyond the number, not all of us agree on what we might “anticipate.” Who, really, is looking forward to a sequel to the 1988 Eddie Murphy movie “Coming to America”?

Furthermore, the fact that the film industry in in dire shape right now will certainly affect how the new year will shape up.

As of this writing, the two major theatrical chains – Regal Cinemas and AMC – are still closed. And it’s anyone guess as to when that will change. Or what, when (or if) it does, that change might mean in terms of seating, of ordering concessions or even of how much we’ll have to pay for tickets.

Nevertheless, none of that stopped the Time.com reviewers from posting their guesses about what they see as the future. Which is no big surprise.

Because, hey, we all have jobs to do and clicks to attract with the appropriate bait.