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‘Spinal Tap II: The End Continues’ 

Starring: Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer 

Director: Rob Reiner 

In cinemas: Sept. 12 

The long-awaited sequel to one of the greatest comedy films of all time, and the original — if you will — mockumentary, sees Guest, McKean and Shearer reunited as the hapless heavy rockers who have decided to reunite after 15 years for one final show. There’s a hitch, naturally: they need a drummer — a tricky sell when so many who previously sat the stool for Tap have met untimely ends. Along for the ride, of course, is documentary maker Martin Di Bergi (Reiner) to ensure that the historic occasion is recorded for posterity.  

‘The Roses’   

Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Olivia Coleman, Andy Samberg, Kate McKinnon 

Director: Jay Roach 

In cinemas: Aug. 29 

This star-studded remake of the 1989 black-comedy movie “The War of the Roses” (itself based on Warren Adler’s 1981 novel) sees Coleman and Cumberbatch play Ivy and Theo Rose, an apparently idyllically married couple — he an architect, she a chef. But when Theo’s career trajectory starts to plummet just as Ivy’s starts to soar, the underlying tensions and competitiveness in their relationships begin to surface, with devastating and hilarious results. With some A-list comedy talent on the cast list, and Roach (the “Austin Powers” movies, “Meet the Parents”) at the helm, this might be that rare thing — a comedy movie that actually gets audiences into the cinema.  

‘One Battle After Another’ 

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Benicio del Toro, Regina Hall 

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson 

In cinemas: Sept. 25 

The latest feature from one of the most acclaimed writer-directors of his generation (although not hugely successful at the box office) is an action-thriller with a touch of satirical black humor thrown in. DiCaprio plays Bob Ferguson, who was once a member of a revolutionary group called the French 75. Well over a decade since the group disbanded, their nemesis — white supremacist Colonel Steven J. Lockjaw (Penn) — resurfaces, and Ferguson must call on his former fellow activists to help him rescue his daughter Willa (Chase Infiniti), herself a budding revolutionary. Radiohead’s Johnny Greenwood is the film’s composer — his sixth collaboration with Anderson. 

‘After The Hunt’ 

Starring: Julia Roberts, Andrew Garfield, Ayo Edebiri 

Director: Luca Guadagnino 

In cinemas: Oct. 10 

Italian director Guadagnino’s films — which included “Call Me By Your Name,” “Suspiria,” and “Challengers” — are rarely a disappointment, and this one brings some serious cross-generational star power to the big screen. Roberts plays Alma Olsson, an Ivy League professor whose close friend and colleague Hank Gibson (Garfield) is accused of assault by Olsson’s protégée Maggie Price (Edebiri — winner of an Emmy and a Golden Globe for her role as Syd in “The Bear”). In trying to deal with that situation, Olsson must face up to some long-buried secrets from her past. Even if none of the cast manage to bag an Oscar, then composers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross probably have a good shout. 

‘Good Fortune’ 

Starring: Keanu Reeves, Seth Rogen, Aziz Ansari 

Director: Aziz Ansari 

In cinemas: Oct. 17 

Ansari’s feature debut as director is a comedy about a low-ranking angel called Gabriel (Reeves) who comes down to Earth to try and show Arj (Ansari) that money can’t solve your problems by allowing him to swap places with his rich tech-bro employer Jeff (Rogen). It doesn’t quite go the way Gabriel expected, and he ends up having his wings taken off him and being banished to live among humans. Gabriel and the now-homeless Jeff move in together as all the work Gabriel did as an angel is undone. Keke Palmer and Sandra Oh also star.  

‘A House of Dynamite’ 

Starring: Idris Elba, Rebecca Ferguson, Gabriel Basso 

Director: Kathryn Bigelow 

On Netflix: Oct. 24 

Little has been revealed about Netflix’s upcoming thriller, but the stars and director alone are enough to build hype. Bigelow made history in 2009 when she became the first woman to win the Best Director Oscar (for “The Hurt Locker”) and “A House of Dynamite” will be her first feature since 2017’s “Detroit.” And with Elba and Ferguson heading the cast list, it’s a safe bet there’ll be some seriously strong performances in this tale told in real time about a group of White House officials frantically dealing with a missile attack on America.  

‘Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere’ 

Starring: Jeremy Allen White, Stephen Graham, Jeremy Strong 

Director: Scott Cooper 

In cinemas: Oct. 24 

Timothée Chalamet has already wowed critics with his portrayal of Bob Dylan this year in “A Complete Unknown,” and now “The Bear” star Jeremy Allen White takes on Dylan’s closest contender for the title of greatest living US songwriter: Bruce Springsteen. Cooper’s biopic isn’t the tale of how Springsteen became a star — at the time the film begins he’s already a hit. Instead, it’s the story of the making of his stripped-back 1982 masterpiece “Nebraska,” recorded on a four-track in his bedroom at a time when he was struggling with his fame and the demons of his past. White has already received praise from The Boss himself, as has Graham as Springsteen’s domineering father.  

BEIRUT: When you consider all the ways humans communicate — from memes to smoke signals to shared glances — the task of categorizing them becomes overwhelming.

To explore how truth is constructed through communication, Alfredo Cramerotti, director of the Media Majlis at Northwestern Qatar, the Middle East’s first museum dedicated to media, reflects on the challenges and privileges of leading such an institution.

“Directing the Media Majlis Museum is an immersive commitment … not a job that neatly divides into categories,” Cramerotti told Arab News.

Unlike traditional museums that present information and leave visitors to draw their own conclusions, the Media Majlis delves into the mechanics of how truth itself is shaped — and sometimes manipulated.

“We are not adjudicating truth but rather unpacking the means through which truth is constructed, circulated, and challenged,” Cramerotti explained.

Truth, as he sees it, is endlessly complex and often travels through unexpected, even mundane, vehicles. One such vehicle? Memes.

“Memes operate as a currency of commentary, at once ephemeral and enduring, local and global,” he said, discussing the museum’s upcoming exhibition “Memememememe,” opening Sept. 1.

As Cramerotti points out, the meme’s clickability — its blend of humor and urgency — has made it one of today’s most powerful tools of communication. It’s exactly the kind of cultural artifact worthy of deeper study.

“That kind of recognition, both reflective and disruptive, is what museums should be capable of generating,” he said.

While humor certainly infuses much of today’s communication, there is also a decisive political backdrop that sets the scene for a media-dedicated museum in the Arab world — namely, the silencing of Arab journalists across the Middle East.

“Rather than speak on behalf of others, we work to create conditions where their words, images, and decisions speak for themselves,” Cramerotti noted.