After a pause of almost fifteen months, the pages of otsoNY will once become active, and it all starts this month with a host of new movies; “Anna”, “My Salinger Year” and “Tom & Jerry: The Movie”.

Starting with the action thriller “Anna”, staring newcomer Sasha Luss. A catwalk model in her day job, Luss, secured the role of Anna Poliatova, a young Russian woman and victim of domestic abuse, willing to do anything to escape the life she was trapped in. After a KGB agent, Alex played by Luke Evans, discovered Anna’s predicament and recruited her as a field operative, she was told that for five years, she would have to work under senior KGB handler Olga, played by Helen Mirren. Set mainly in Russia, the film does have one so-called scene shot in New York. Since the success of “Anna”, Luss has featured in “Shattered”, a 2022 film directed by Luis Prieto, written by David Loughery, and starring Cameron Monaghan, Frank Grillo, Lilly Krug, and John Malkovich. Her next film project is “Sheroes”, which is due for the release in 2023 and follows four girlfriends as they set out for an adventure in paradise. Their paradise is quickly turned upside down when they find themselves in the crosshairs of the local cartel. Employing their own unique set of skills, the girls fight to save their lives and, if possible, their friendship.

Next up is the 2020 drama, “My Salinger Year” written and directed by Philippe Falardeau, based upon the memoir of the same name by Joanna Rakoff. It stars Margaret Qualley, Sigourney Weaver, Douglas Booth, Seána Kerslake, Colm Feore and Brían F. O'Byrne. Set in New York City's late nineties, a young aspiring writer lands a day-job at J.D. Salinger’s literary agency. While her eccentric and old-fashioned boss tasks her to process Salinger’s voluminous fan mail, she struggles to find her own voice. The majority of the film was shot in Canada, though there are a few scenes that were shot in New York, in particular outside the New York Public Library and on the Circle Line Ferry.

And finally, the live-action computer-animated slapstick comedy film based on the titular cartoon characters of the same name created by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, produced by Warner Animation Group and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures joins the pages of otsoNY. It is the second theatrical film based on the characters, following “Tom and Jerry: The Movie” in 1992, and the third to animate them in the contemporary real world with humans, following “Anchors Aweigh” in 1945 and “Dangerous When Wet” in 1953, like the original cartoons. The film’s story follows Tom enlisted to catch Jerry, before his presence ruins New York City’s fanciest hotel and its planned wedding. The film was directed by Tim Story and written by Kevin Costello, and starred Chloë Grace Moretz, Michael Peña, Colin Jost, Rob Delaney, Pallavi Sharda, Jordan Bolger, Patsy Ferran, and Ken Jeong in live-action roles, with Nicky Jam, Bobby Cannavale, and Lil Rel Howery in voice roles. The titular characters were voiced by William Hanna via archival recordings, with additional vocals from Kaiji Tang and André Sogliuzzo. Locations in New York City are limited though there are scenes shot layered with the cartoon characters at Sutton Square and in Central Park, in particular The Mall and the Bethesda Terrace.