It's 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's 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's also when a few interesting and challenging works are opened to provoke discussion and debate during the most wonderful time of the year.
I'm practically on my knees, awaiting for some mighty movies to come out this year and fill up the "Best" column. I'm one film away from completely filling the "Worst" section, and the last thing I want is more bad movies in this bad movie year.
Let's check out and go thoroughly through all of the offerings coming out in the last four months of 2013.
September 6 only has one nationwide release: Riddick, the third entry in a sci-fi franchise no one really cares about anymore except for its star Vin Diesel. Apparently, he made Universal produce another movie of his favorite character just so he can continue appearing in the Fast & Furious series. I don't have high hopes but that was my same initial reaction to last year's near equal Dredd, which ended up being a surprise cult hit. The film's plot seems to match up with its better predecessor Pitch Black, as the outlaw titled character has to contend with some mercenaries and alien creatures on a deserted planet. The other big release, but in smaller markets, is Salinger, the documentary about the mysterious writer of the American classic The Catcher in the Rye. It has been hyped up with a please-don't-spoil marketing campaign by the Weinstein Company, even though some have already proclaimed the surprises within it. Damn internet.
September 13 has two films but it is clear which one will end up atop the charts, that being the one suited for a Friday the 13th release. Insidious: Chapter 2 is the sequel to James Wan's popular 2011 movie and the second horror film he directed this year. More unexplained supernatural events continue to plague Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne's family. Like The Conjuring, it will draw a crowd. The other movie is The Family, the newest film from the once mega-popular Luc Besson (The Professional, The Fifth Element). The French auteur has spent most of his long career writing and producing, to some highly mixed results, and his last noteworthy directing efforts were the dumb Arthur & the Invisibles films. Here, he sadly regurgitates The Whole Nine Yards, as Robert De Niro and Michelle Pfeiffer try to hide their mafia past under the Witness Protection Program.
September 20 will feature two early, expected Oscar-nominated features. Prisoners has Hugh Jackman searching for the kidnapper/killer(?) of two girls, including his daughter, and believes that he can get his strange neighbor Paul Dano to confess to the crime. Some might think it sounds like another Mystic River but to myself it feels another forgettable dark drama like Reservation Road. The big possible game-changer is who's sitting in the director's chair: Denis Villeneuve (Incendies). NY and LA get to receive the first roll-out of Ron Howard's Rush, the racing drama headlined by Chris Hemsworth, which will expand across the US next week. I may scoff at Howard's talents but I am always a sucker for Formula One racing and its history, as evident by my high praise for the 2011 documentary Senna. The eye-roller of the weekend will be Battle of the Year, where Lost's Josh Holloway has to coach Josh Peck and forever-hated Chris Brown to compete in the titled dance contest. Certainly not a worthy competitor to the Step Up series. Ip Man: The Final Fight is yet another telling of the life of Ip Man and literally is coming off the heels of the release of The Grandmaster. Strangely only in indie circles, Enough Said is the latest from Nicole Holofcener and features one of the last performances from popular character actor James Gandolfini before his untimely death.
September 27, oh boy, delivers to us Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2. The sequel to the mega vibrant and entertaining animated film has its characters return to the environmentally altered Swallow Falls, where the food leftovers have evolved into creatures, including sentient strawberries and screaming leeks. A new crew of directors and writers have replaced Phil Lord and Chris Miller, not to mention Terry Crews taking over Mr. T's role, so I hope they can continue the fun overall experience of the first one. The underdog is sure to be Baggage Claim, an African-American romantic comedy that I expect to have a good holdover in the coming weeks. The lovely Paula Patton plays a flight attendant searching for Mr. Right at every place her plane parks in. May not shock the world with its originality but it will probably be somewhat funny and a nice little treat. For the white boys looking for a bro rom-com, Don Jon will be up their alley. Triple-threat (Writer/Director/Star) Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays a porn-addicted douche who might try to change his lifestyle when Scarlett Johansson comes into his sights. I'm a fan for JGL but I haven't heard much raves about this back at Sundance. On the other hand, it does looks hilarious and I'm always a sucker for a film that features Marky Mark's "Good Vibrations". We Are What We Are is a strange remake of a Mexican horror flick and the even more strange Metallica: Through the Never is an IMAX exclusive, concert/punk film where Dane DeHaan (Chronicle) tries in vain to retrieve something while a decrepit metal band tries to stay relevant.
October 4 features the film currently ruling all over the Venice Film Festival. Alfonso Cuarón's Gravity has the terrifying endeavors of George Clooney and Sandra Bullock as they try to survive in space after a spacewalk accident. My only concern with the space horror film (sound doesn't travel in space) seems to be corrected in the latest trailer, so this looks to be a real winner for audiences. Runner, Runner also comes out, the goofy crime thriller where a college student (Justin Timberlake) loses his money at online poker and tries to confront the site's owner (Ben Affleck). The first poster made me laugh and it doesn't look really interesting, not even with Timberlake as the lead. It could be a sleeper hit, considering it's from the guy who did The Lincoln Lawyer. Meanwhile, down in the dregs, there's the boring Christian film Grace Unplugged.
October 11 has the highly anticipated Captain Phillips, the oddly named thriller starring Tom Hanks and directed by shaky-cam enthusiast Paul Greengrass. One of the many based on a true stories that are sure to easily draw Oscar contention, this account of the much publicized 2009 Somalia pirate hijacking of an American freighter is intriguing and may be this year's version of Zero Dark Thirty. Though she slightly suffered from the massive failure of Paranoia, Amber Heard gets to shine with two other releases this weekend. She's one of the many participants in Robert Rodriguez's Machete Kills, the sequel to a film that was expanded from a fake trailer, which was based on a recurring role for Danny Trejo in Rodriguez's films. The notably large and publicity-friendly cast (Mel Gibson, Sofia Vergara, Lady Gaga, Charlie Sheen under his real name) is the film's most important part but I really hope Rodriguez made a better script than Machete; the audience wants slapstick and gore, not more rambling discussions about illegal immigration. The second Heard feature is as the titled role in the limited release of All the Boys Love Mandy Lane, a horror film which was made seven years ago(!). There's also Romeo and Juliet, another modern remake of the much abused Shakespeare property. It's only highlight may be Hailee Steinfield, the True Grit star who has a more important release coming later this season.
October 18 is the new release date for Carrie, the horror remake that was pushed back from early this year. Most peculiarly, this is the only major horror release by Hollywood for the Halloween season. Young star Chloë Grace Moretz will continue to grow her stardom when this finally comes out. Escape Plan surely will be another Schwarzenegger and/or Stallone film to fail unless it says Expendables at the top. Here, the two former action heavyweights make a movie version of TV's Prison Break. Despite these two Hollywood releases, all of the hype and critical notices will come from the art/indie markets. 12 Years a Slave is latest Steve McQueen film after his acclaimed/mocked 2011 film Shame. Michael Fassbender returns once again to team-up with McQueen but now he will be in the supporting cast. All of the limelight will be on underrated British actor Chiwetel Ejiofor, who stars as Solomon Northup, a real-life 1800's freeman from my neck of the woods, who was unwillingly sold into slavery and fought to live free once again. Universal praise has already been given both to the film and Ejiofor. Other than Ejiofor, many people are also looking at Benedict Cumberbatch's lead performance in The Fifth Estate as a top pick for Best Actor. Often noted as one of the redeeming elements of this year's Star Trek Into Darkness, the tall handsome Englishman plays another notable individual but in our modern times, the WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Julian Assange. There's also the dark-horse favorite All Is Lost, J.C. Chandor's follow-up to his debut feature Margin Call. Though it stars Robert Redford and has a Cast Away-like premise, the film is an minimalist work, which will scare away and piss off anyone not accustomed to no talking.
October 25, the Friday before Halloween, has...Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa? Really? I've not partook in the Jackass franchise, since I'm not a big fan of candid-camera comedy, but this one is more like the mixed-bag works of Sacha Baron Cohen; Johnny Knoxville reprises an old-man character from the original MTV show, as he engages in obstructive public gags, including one at a child pageant. It will be the big weekend winner, similar to infamous outcome between Pacific Rim and Grown-Ups 2 back in July. The Pacific Rim in this scenario will be The Counselor, a thriller written for the screen by Cormac McCarthy (No Country for Old Men, The Road) and directed by Ridley Scott. The talent behind and in front of the camera (Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt, Javier Bardem) look enticing but I don't want to keep my hopes up for another Scott picture. I'll be looking more forward to the American release of Blue Is the Warmest Color, the Palm d'Or winner of this year's Cannes. It was given a NC-17 rating by the MPAA, because heavens to Betsy we see explicit sex.
November 1, oh boy, has a lot of questionable material. First, there's Ender's Game, the film adaptation of the young adult book that every child liked until they grew up and/or read the rest of the book series. That's because of the controversial history of the book's writer Orson Scott Card, who is a devout anti-gay activist and earlier this year sent out a press release for the public to mind his homophobic attitudes. I've never read the book, even after hearing about its juicy plot twist, and I don't want to give any money to Card. If I do take a chance to see it, I'll be like many other conflicted viewers and give double or triple the price of the movie ticket to a charity like GLADD. Then, there's Free Birds, one of the most bizarro stories ever for a feature-length animated film: two turkeys somehow use a time machine to go back and stop turkey from being served as the main course at the first celebration of Thanksgiving. History buffs have already been fuming up a storm with this one (i.e. turkey wasn't serve). Families desperate to leave the household may bring their kids to it but they will be better off watching some television holiday specials instead. Last Vegas is The Hangover for old folk. After the failure of Red 2 and the obscurity of Stand Up Guys this year, no one beyond the starving will seek it out. In limited release, before expanding next week, About Time is the other time machine film, but for those seeking a romantic comedy version of Next and The Butterfly Effect. Richard Curtis may have crafted some cute movies in the past but I'm not feeling it for this one. The best bet for the weekend is the slow burn run of Dallas Buyers Club. The film continues the hot streak for actor Matthew McConaughey and is expected to be the role that earns him an Oscar nom, thanks in part to his massive weight loss for it. McConaughey plays the real-life Ron Woodroof, a free-wheeling Texan cowboy who contracts AIDS during the 1980's epidemic and turns to smuggling in non-FDA-approved drugs from Mexico. Extreme actor Jared Leto, who also lost weight and plays a transgender prostitute, is also getting noticed.
November 8 is an one film show, that being Thor: The Dark World. Thor meets back up with his love Jane Porter before they are both sent back to Asgard to stop the latest threat to its world. The trailers and publicity have been good, thanks in large part to it matching the fantasy elements of Game of Thrones. No surprise there, given that it's being directed by Alan Taylor, a long-time television director who helmed several episodes of the HBO series, including the famous "Baelor". Recently, news came out that they were quickly shooting some additional scenes to beef up Tom Hiddleston's role as Loki, considering that the English actor has become one of the favorites with the public.
November 15 presents The Wolf of Wall Street, directed by Martin Scorsese, adaptated by Terence Winter (Boardwalk Empire), and starring the ever-lovable Leonardo DiCaprio. As presented in its trailer, this looks to be an insane, black comedy view of the tumultuous times of the 1980's yuppie movement and the New York Stock Exchange. It also looks to be added to my running favoritism of films this year that relish in debauchery and bad behavior. Next up is something more bizarre than time-traveling turkeys: a out-of-nowhere sequel to a 1999 film. The Best Man Holiday serves as a follow-up to the popular African-American rom-com and seems to be in the vein of Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married series. Hopefully it will be much, much better than director Malcolm D. Lee's other 2013 release Scary Movie 5. The third big release is The Book Thief, another young adult adaptation but this one is set in WWII Nazi Germany. Oh joy. It involves a precocious girl obviously stealing books and helps hide away a Jewish fugitive. I wonder if it will be filled with melancholy; possibly definite, considering Death was the narrator of the book. Judging from its early footage, it looks like one of the worst Oscar-friendly films to come out and has the same horrible qualities as The Reader.
November 22 certainly will be packed with long lines of people because its opening day for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. It is, after all, the highly anticipated continuation of the only young adult book series currently to translate well to the screen. We will see if Francis Lawrence can take over the reins of Gary Ross. The other big film is Delivery Man, a remake of the French Canadian comedy hit Starbuck, which was released stateside earlier in the year. It re-tells the story of a bum who finds out that his past sperm donations led to the birth of 500+ children, many of whom are suing to reveal his real name, since he donated under a pseudonym. The original's writer/director Ken Scott returns and Steven Spielberg is producing but there's one big problem. Of all the people to replace Patrick Huard, they picked Vince Vaughn. There's a possibility he might deliver here (no pun intended) but we are also talking about the unbearable guy from The Internship. In limited theaters is Nebraska, the winner of Best Actor (Bruce Dern) at this year's Cannes. Will Forte and Dern try to spend father-son time in black and white, all under the gaze of Alexander Payne (The Descendants).
November 27 is the day before Thanksgiving, hence the large crowd of films trying to overtake the long second weekend run of Catching Fire. Thankfully, they all are for different markets. For families, Frozen is Walt Disney Animation's take on the fairy tale "The Snow Queen". A second trailer hasn't yet been released here after the one involving a snowman and a reindeer, even though appearances of its characters in recent video games (namely Disney Infinity) and a Japanese trailer cut have popped up. For the cult-heads and the adults, Spike Lee presents his long-awaited remake of Oldboy. Josh Brolin is now the one who's strangely kidnapped one night, held hostage for 20 years, only to then be released and finally able to find those who punished him. I do believe the infamous twists and turns will pop up once again, ready to scare and confuse a new set of hearts and minds. For the action junkies, there's another Jason Statham 2013 feature, Homefront. Co-written by Sly Stallone, the movie doesn't look to stand out and will probably be the lowest in attendance. For those who wish to skip the turkey and get to the presents, Black Nativity delivers a musical where a teen heads off to NYC to spend the holidays with his grandparents. It's kinda weird but at least it's a nice experiment. And, for the Oscar voters, Grace of Monaco has Nicole Kidman playing as Grace Kelly during her royalty reign. Excuse me while I yawn at another vanity picture about a former Hollywood beauty.
November 29 has one Friday film but only as a limited release. Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom is geared to be a more action-packed biopic of the life of the famous apartheid protestor and future leader of South Africa. The mighty Idris Elba assumes the hefty role.
December 6 has been deliberately left open for the previous two crowded weekends to stretch out some more. The only new wide release is Out of the Furnace, a redneck thriller where Christian Bale tries in vain to retrieve his brother from a hostile gang. It will probably win over critics more than audiences. The more interesting fare is the Coen Brothers' Inside Llewyn Davis, a 1960's exploration of a folk singer in the NY music scene.
December 13 is a bountiful collection of new releases. The audience favorite will be The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. Sadly, even after nearly one full year, I haven't had the drive to see the first Hobbit, nor any more Peter Jackson/Tolkien works. Maybe I'll change my mind and finally give that 48 frames per second rate a try. The next audience favorite unfortunately will be Tyler Perry's A Madea Christmas, unless the continuing decline and acceptance of his films and brand also strikes this one out. Talk about a lump of coal. Meanwhile, NY and LA are treated to American Hustle, David O. Russell's latest movie; we will have to wait till Christmas to get a peek. Like last year's Argo, the movie is a based on true events story of con men working with the government, only this time they are after the mayor of New Jersey. It's filled with an all-stars lineup of his two previous films (Bale, Adams, Cooper, Lawrence, De Niro) while also adding in Jeremy Renner, Michael Peña, and Louis C.K. This weekend also has a limited run of the second Tom Hanks film this season, Saving Mr. Banks. This Disney-approved film re-tells the wining and dining Walt Disney (Hanks) had to do in order to get the film rights for Mary Poppins from its author P.L. Travers (Emma Thompson). Looks cute but might be too saccharine.
December 18 has two Oscar hopefuls: one that is a traditional example to get a lot of nominations and the other that is an oddity and may at least earn a possible nom for screenwriting. The Monuments Men recounts the exploits a group of individuals had to really do in order to recover works of art from the grasps of Hitler. Looks promising but it could be another Leatherheads for director/star George Clooney. As for the oddball, Her is certainly a Spike Jonze work: a brokenhearted man falls in love with his new artificial operating system, voiced by Scarlet Johansson.
December 20 will have the return of Ron Burgundy and his Channel 4 news team in Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues. Not much is known about the feature except that the main target of Ron's wrath will move from women in the newsroom to the 24-hour live coverage of cable television. If there's anyone who still wish to see the power of 3D or the money to burn paying for premiums, there's Walking with Dinosaurs, based on the famous BBC series. Foxcatcher is about the strange real-life murder tale of the death of an Olympic wrestler; unexpectedly, the murderer is to be played by Steve Carell. Dhoom 3 is the special Bollywood treat and The Past is given a shot for the Oscars after being a top draw at Cannes.
December 25, Christmas Day, brings a bunch of gifts but they all are questionable at best (where's the dark, violent rated R film?). The expected winner The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is clearly banking on Ben Stiller's appeal and his Night at the Museum past. However, the trailer is an eye-opening, delirious mystery and might scare away the kids unless they all suddenly desire to sit through Life of Pi. 47 Ronin is already the laughing stock of the group, as Keanu Reeves tries to ruin the famous Japanese story by giving it a Last Samurai spin. Not cool, Neo. August: Osage County is the adaptation of Tracey Letts' Pulitzer Prize-winning play. It might be good but it's already being overcome by the narrow public focus of Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts at the top of the cast. Jack Ryan is the weirdest runt of the liter because a trailer still hasn't come out, despite being a big-time action film and the latest attempt to keep the Tom Clancy character alive with the public. Now, it seems the title has been altered to feature the subtitle Shadow One. What's going on within Paramount? Finally, Grudge Match has De Niro and Stallone fighting each other in the boxing ring. Get it? Because they both played famous boxers in movies! Ha, ha, no.
December 27 solely features Lone Survivor, a sad re-telling of a failed military operation. Mark Wahlberg leads a macho cast of Navy SEALs (Eric Bana, Taylor Kitsch, Emile Hirsch, Ben Foster). It's directed by Peter Berg, who seems to be returning to the style he implemented for The Kingdom and trying his hardest to avoid another Battleship.
My Top Picks of Fall 2013
1. Gravity
2. 12 Years a Slave
3. The Wolf of Wall Street
4. Blue Is the Warmest Color
5. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2
6. American Hustle
7. Thor: The Dark World
8. All Is Lost
9. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
10. Captain Phillips
Of course, there are some films not mentioned here or included because I frankly have a hard time determining their release time frame. These films include the biopic Diana and that awful The Starving Games. Also, there is a possibility that any of the featured films will later be delayed.
I hope your movie experiences will be as good as mine, but probably less cynical.
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