It is that time once again, where the public shrugs their way through a new season of life before back-to-back holidays bring back the fun and festivities. It is when the Oscar-bait, family fantasies, and boffo popcorn material come out to take up the theater screens and to divvy up the spoils. It is also when a few interesting and challenging works are opened to provoke discussion and debate during the most wonderful time of the year.
Let's check out and go thoroughly through all of the offerings coming out in the last four months of 2012.
September 7 is one of those weekends you feel bad for the premiering films, even if they look/are boring. The most heavily hyped release, especially on television, is The Words, a film that was extremely mixed at Sundance and feels like an after-school special about the dangers of plagiarism and the troubles prevailing aspiring white writers. Of course, you might have a slight laugh viewing it as the alternate universe of Bradley Cooper's character in Limitless, who also was a hungry novelist. The Cold Light of the Day has a direct-to-DVD plot and a super-generic title but is from the director of the very offbeat action film JCVD. You will have better luck finding fare in the limited theaters: Bachelorette has three good actresses in the lead (Kristen Dunst, Isla Fisher, Lizzy Caplan) and recalls last year's Bridesmaids (especially since Rebel Wilson is in it as well), Hello I Must Be Going is getting buzz thanks to Melanie Lynskey's performance, and the cult crowd get to indulge in their love of British humor and zombie gore with The Inbetweeners Movie and [REC] 3 Genesis respectively.
September 14 was going to feature Gangster Squad, but that film sadly fell into trouble by a scaredy-cat studio. Instead, and a bit thankfully, The Master has been moved up and will be an appetizing entree for film critics. Its long on-going controversial take on Scientology and off-beat teaser trailers certainly brought a lot of attention both to the film and the "religion", especially since Tom Cruise has a movie coming out later. The Resident Evil franchise continues it slowly-dying run with Resident Evil: Retribution, the fifth installment which is catering to nostalgia by bringing back previously dead characters (zombie genes!). Finding Nemo 3D is a circus act, born to get the suckers, Arbitrage looks to be a cookie-cutter thriller of white people problems with slumming Susan Sarandon and Richard Gere, Liberal Arts is a indie snore, despite featuring Elizabeth Olsen, and then there's Stolen. I may have gleefully enjoyed him in the Ghost Rider sequel, but this Nicolas Cage starring Taken rip-off, which is actually getting a sequel this season, doesn't look good, especially after his other output this year, Seeking Justice.
September 21 is bringing the law. Dredd looks for redemption to the comic-book character after the so dumb/so good Sly Stallone flick and seems to have it with Karl Urban in the title role and a plot that bares similarities to The Raid: Redemption. David Ayer brings out yet another, another L.A. cop film with End of Watch. I know it must be easy to make these films, considering all Hollywood has to do is place a camera outside their studios, but I have had enough of these mediocre films about corrupt cops and urban dread. Oh, and look, here's another thing I hate seeing nowadays: the PG-13 horror film. House at the End of the Street may have Jennifer Lawrence and is expected to get a good first run but there is no hope for it being good. Trouble with the Curve so far looks to be a sports snore, as Clint Eastwood grunts his way through his strained relationship with daughter Amy Adams. The Perks of Being a Wallflower is fueled by a best-selling book and some talented young stars but it looks to be another yawn-inducing indie trip of an awkward white boy while the documentary How to Survive a Plague pays attention to a period where AIDS was a guaranteed death sentence before some activist groups tried to say otherwise.
September 28 will be the biggest break for writer-director Rian Johnson, as he unleashes Looper. Working with a clever sci-fi twist involving mob hits and time travel, the film is another starring role for Joseph Gordon-Levitt, as he plays cat and mouse with his future self, played by Bruce Willis. I am interested but hesitant for Hotel Transylvania. It is directed by famed animator Genndy Tartakovsky, who is still big in the animation industry but has fallen on hard times, and has a fun and cute premise. However, Adam Sandler and the Friends of Sandler Brigade are in the voice cast, so yeah. Won't Back Down isn't a new MMA film but harkens back to the once popular teacher films of the past. Speaking of sports, The Other Dream Team, a documentary that lacks the egotism of Michael Jordan for the tale of the 1992 Lithuanian basketball team, looks engaging.
October 5 will feature first place winner Taken 2. It may not be good, but at least Liam Neeson continues his badassery on the screen, which reached nearly peak position with this year's The Grey. Since it is the start of the Halloween season, multiple horror-themed releases are coming out, with Tim Burton's Frankenweenie upfront. An updated adaptation of one of his earliest short films, I can only pray that the animated film lives up to be far better than his take on Dark Shadows. Then there is the dueling found footage films, where the blah Ethan Hawke-starring Sinister is trampled heavily upon by the horror anthology V/H/S. But the truly horrifying is The Paperboy, the Lee Daniels melodrama/exploitation flick that has been mocked since its premiere at Cannes. The scene where Nicole Kidman pees on Zac Efron has already become legendary. Then, there is the few comedies based on peculiar social activities, whether it is college glee club (Pitch Perfect) or butter carving (Butter).
October 12 seems a bit odd when you look at its releases. There is Argo, Ben Affleck's latest directorial effort after The Town that boasts a well-sized cast and an interesting based on a true story premise, where CIA had to extract six Americans from Iran through a fictitious sci-fi film. Seven Psychopaths is the latest from Martin McDonagh (the excellent In Bruges), surely to bring grim humor through violent conflicts. Then, there is the latest from Frank Coraci, who spawned the abysmal Zookeeper. Here Comes the Boom is another stab by Hollywood to make a popular MMA film, this time starring Kevin James. I should be wary of it but I frankly like James and wish him well. Also, the trailer may be audience-friendly, not to mention a carbon-copy of Nacho Libre, but James looks committed and it may be okay.
October 19 will host Paranormal Activity 4. The trailer is laughably bad but the series has somehow avoided condemnation from myself, achieving creepy scares through a very simple approach. This entry is the first sequel from the original film, the other two were technically prequels, as some familiar-looking new neighbors move in next door to a gullible family. Killing Them Softly looks to be more up the alley for adult audiences, with a possible Oscar-winning role for Brad Pitt, as he goes after two idiots who robbed a mob-run poker game. For the best comedy of the season, check out Alex Cross, the wannabe new thriller franchise with Tyler Perry of all people as its star. Its trailer had me in stitches, though I do think and believe it may not be as funny and just be a forgettable film.
October 26 has Cloud Atlas, a film so big, its trailer had to be six minutes long just to convey some of its plot about reincarnation and multiple time periods. I was let down by Prometheus earlier this year, so I am taking two steps back from this. It also is probably not going to do well audience-wise. After two weeks of no horror films comes Silent Hill: Revelation, a movie that is proving to be a mental nightmare for fans of the first film and video-games. Sean Bean returns as someone completely different yet Radha Mitchell remains the same? For the kiddies, Fun Size might be a silly Halloween walk but its unoriginality (Adventures of Babysitting much?) is too much to bear for now. I would rather skip these films for The Sessions, an interesting Sundance fave that has been drawing raves for stars John Hawkes and Helen Hunt (Remember her?). Its plot is a little sickening, an iron lung patient looks to lose his virginity before dying, but the performances could overcome it or make it worthwhile.
November 2 could be a walk-off for Denzel Washington but I will place my bets on Disney. Wreck-It Ralph has been winning video-game fans with its clever premise and awesome first trailer while Disney has pushed the film heavily for general audiences during the Olympics. Flight will have Denzel Washington using his charisma to sell a picture about an airline pilot who saves a plane but gets into trouble. If it fails or is less than stellar, it will be no biggie for Denzel but another disaster for director Robert Zemeckis. Rapper RZA's The Man with Iron Fists is at least a nice distraction from the rest of the outputs for simply being a martial arts flick. The trailer didn't completely wow me though. Then, there's the curious cases, with This Must Be the Place, a dramedy with Sean Penn as an aged rocker looking for someone, and the far late Halloween arrival/second horror anthology The ABCs of Death.
November 9 is a two film race, the commercial versus the critical. Skyfall looks to be a return to form for the James Bond franchise. The trailers look awesome and it is retaining the Daniel Craig style of a dark and depressing world for the secret agent. The latter proved toxic with Quantum of Solace, so hopefully director Sam Mendes will learn from past mistakes. Steven Spielberg's new epic Lincoln is already astonishing people simply with a profile; Daniel-Day Lewis' uncanny resemblance to the 16th President is drawing good notices. There is no trailer yet but the fantastically large cast and being an adaptation of a popular history book seem to shut up those fears.
November 16 is all for the women, as three female-lead films are released. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2 will break some records, even with the on-going tabloid fever of Kristen Stewart cheating on Robert Pattinson. Maybe this controversy will finally clear the diluted minds of fans that the Twilight films have major problems and that Bella is an awful human being. The other two are art-theater and Oscar bait: Joe Wright delivers another book adaptation with the heavily-abused Anna Karenina, again teaming up with Keira Knightley. It has the potential to be effective but no one was really asking for it beyond some desperate costumers and art directors who wanted an Oscar on their mantles. I heard mixed feelings for Rust & Bone, though Marion Cotillard is getting good reviews as a woman who finds love and disaster in the ocean.
The week of November 23 will have two big-time fantasy epics battling each other and with a film of dire realism. My pick goes to Rise of the Guardians, a film that obviously will have a long run into all of December. Dreamworks' strategy for the film has been commendable: Start with a teaser poster, than an effective teaser trailer, than with some glorious character posters. Life of Pi may win over some but not myself so far. Its style over substance approach doesn't work for me in this instance, despite having Ang Lee in the director's chair. This may be Hugo all over again, where the 3D is more important than everything else. David O. Russell's Silver Linings Playbook may be a dark horse but I have not heard much about it.
November 30 has......nothing? Really?
December 7 has two new releases, but it really is just another week for Guardians to rule over. Kinda odd that the two expected seasonal favorites have "Rise" in the title, huh? Hyde Park on Hudson is purely Oscar-bait. Real-life politician? Check. Two big and talented actors? Check. Romance with problems? Check. I do like and wish the best for Bill Murray and Laura Linney but this film will be drawing more blue-hairs than the normal public. As for Playing for Keeps, another attempt to sell Gerard Butler in romantic-comedies, it will certainly be highly forgettable.
December 14 has the two biggest heavyweights of the season, vying for that first place position. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is going to be that lucky film, though I personally am not hyped up for it at all. I was never a fan of the original book as a child and I really do not need an adaptation of it. This, plus all of the news stories about its 48 frames/per sec format and the story now being stretched into three films, makes this film a skip for me, though I will try to change my mind. Right now, I rather go with the female crowd to Les Miserables, the musical adaptation that has been expected since the musical's premiere on Broadway in 1987. That has its share of problems, namely filling up the roles with actors who shouldn't be near a musical and having Helena Bonham Carter and Russell Brand once again sing. At least they have Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjean.
December 19 and 21 has some fare for parents and adults to kick back to except for one. Zero Dark Thirty is given the special Wednesday release and is sure to ruffle some feathers and crowds. This is Kathryn Bigelow's big Hollywood film after making history at the Oscars with The Hurt Locker and its subtle marketing campaign seems to be working. Not to mention, the film will benefit from the recent controversy with one of the Navy Seals, who wrote a book and claims that the death of Osama Bin Laden played out differently. Monsters, Inc. 3D is another Disney sucker. Judd Apatow unleashes This Is 40, a sequel to Knocked Up that focuses on Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann's characters, because Apatow can't make one thing without his wife. Since I still haven't seen the earlier film, I won't be seeing this. There's also the fact that comedy sequels during the Christmas time tend to be really awful (Little Fockers anyone?). There's also Jack Reacher, which tries to sell Tom Cruise as the Shetland pony version of the popular pulp hero written by Lee Child, and The Impossible, which is based on the experiences of a family that survived a tsunami in 2004.
December 25 features the feel bad movie of Christmas 2012, Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained. Like last year's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, this film will do well with adults but suffer from a perplexed and uncouth general public. Those losers would rather see more comedies, which are a mixed bag. The Guilt Trip looks interesting with the duo of Seth Rogen and Barbra Streisand but Parental Guidance appears to be dreadful, featuring a money-grubbing Billy Crystal in a generic babysitting plotline.
My Top Picks of Fall 2012
1. Wreck-It Ralph
2. Django Unchained
3. Lincoln
4. Zero Dark Thirty
5. Rise of the Guardians
6. Skyfall
7. Looper
8. Argo
9. The Master
10. Killing Them Softly
Of course, there are some films not mentioned here because I frankly have a hard time determining their release time frame. Such include the remake of Red Dawn, which I might see despite its long shelf life and lame trailer, and the two very realistically devastating films, Smashed and Amour.
I hope your movie experiences will be as good as mine, but probably less cynical.
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