We’ve made it through the summer movie season, and while the dearth of movies opening at the end of August gives us a bit of a reprieve (sorry,Tulip Feverfans), there’s not much time to breathe before we jump right back in with more movies we can’t wait to see. The fall movie season not only offers the starting point for most of the films we’ll see in the Oscar race; it also offers up some surprising diverse features from scary clowns to superheroes to replicants and much more.
We don’t know if all of these movies will deliver on their promise, but we’re eager to find out.
IT (September 8th)
mother! (September 15th)
Writer/Director:Darren Aronofsky
Cast:Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Ed Harris, Michelle Pfeiffer
I’m a pretty die-hard Darren Aronofsky fan, and while it’s only been a few years since his last feature, it looks like he’s lost none of his bite with his latest feature,mother!The movie is sending out a heavyRosemary’s Babyvibe in its marketing, but they’re also going to great lengths to keep the plot details under wraps. I’m not exactly sure what kind of movie this is going to be beyond psychological-horror-that-gives-me-nightmares. But as we’ve seen fromRequiem for a DreamandBlack Swan, Aronofsky never pulls his punches, and so I expectmother!to be thoroughly disturbing. –Matt Goldberg
Kingsman: The Golden Circle (September 22nd)
Director:Matthew Vaughn
Writers:Jane Goldman and Matthew Vaughn
Cast:Colin Firth, Julianne Moore, Taron Egerton, Mark Strong, Halle Berry, Sir Elton John, Channing Tatum, Jeff Bridges
The firstKingsmanwas a blast, and buzz on the upcoming sequel has been incredibly positive. Matthew Vaughn knows how to have fun with the spy genre, and if the sequel can just cut out some of the ickier aspects of the original (the massacre at the church that’s supposed to be fun, the sex reward at the end), it should be one of Vaughn’s finer features. He certainly already has a top-notch cast in place, and I’m eager to seeTaron Egertononce again steal the movie as the lovable Eggsy. –Matt Goldberg
The LEGO Ninjago Movie (September 22nd)
Director:Charlie Bean
Writers:Bob Logan, Paul Fisher, Kevin Hageman, Dan Hageman, Hilary Winston
Cast:Dave Franco, Justin Theroux, Fred Armisen, Abbi Jacobson, Olivia Munn, Kumail Nanjiani, Michael Peña, Zach Woods, Jackie Chan
I’m just a sucker for these LEGO movies at this point. Part of that is I genuinely enjoy LEGO, butThe LEGO MovieandThe LEGO Batman Movieare both wonderful. Now the biggest challenge arrives in the form ofNinjago, a property that’s familiar to younger fans of LEGO (there was an animated series on Cartoon Network), but doesn’t have the fresh start of something like the firstLEGO MovieorLEGO Batman. That being said, the trailers have been cute and funny, so hopefully this latest spinoff is up to par with the previous entries. –Matt Goldberg
American Made (September 29th)
Director:Doug Liman
Writer:Gary Spinelli
Cast:Tom Cruise, Domhnall Gleeson, Sarah Wright, Jesse Plemons, Caleb Landry Jones, Lola Kirke
The last time directorDoug Limanand starTom Cruiseteamed up we gotEdge of Tomorrow, so that’s certainly one big reason to be excited forAmerican Made. But beyond that, this looks to be a change of course for Cruise in that he’s tackling material that’s a drama first, action film second. Cruise is one of the best living actors in Hollywood history, and while he’s certainly carved out a tremendous niche as an action hero, it’s nice to see him back playing a complex character in a complicated drama again. The film itself is based on true events and takes place in the 1980s, during which a pilot pulls double duty working for the CIA and as a drug runner for the Medellin Cartel. Throw in a truly dizzying/chaotic aesthetic from Liman and cinematographerCésar Charlone, and it looks like we’re in for a feature film version of the cocaine scene fromGoodfellas. Yes please. –Adam Chitwood
Blade Runner 2049 (October 6th)
Director:Denis Villeneuve
Writers:Michael Green and Hampton Fancher
Cast:Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford, Ana de Armas, Jared Leto, Dave Bautista, Robin Wright, Mackenzie Davis, Sylvia Hoeks
While the concept of revisiting theBlade Runneruniverse 30 years later is intriguing enough, the talent involved inBlade Runner 2049is what really sells it. DirectorDenis Villeneuvehas shown a knack for crafting films that are thrilling and thoughtful in equal measure with movies likeSicarioandArrival, the cast here is stacked, and legendary cinematographerRoger Deakins(The Assassination of Jesse James,No Country for Old Men,Skyfall) is shooting his first sci-fi film in over 30 years. The story itself—which findsRyan Gosling’s LAPD detective tracking downHarrison Ford’s lost Rick Deckard—is indeed compelling, but the individual pieces of2049are really what sell it as a must-see. –Adam Chitwood
The Mountain Between Us (October 6th)
Director:Hany Abu-Assad
Writers:Chris Weitz, J. Mills Goodloe
Cast:Kate Winslet, Idris Elba, Beau Bridges, Dermot Mulroney
I’m not an outdoorsman in any sense of the word, and yet I can’t seem to get enough of survival dramas. Give me people versus the wilderness and I am in, and I’m especially on board when your entire movie needs to be carried by Kate Winslet and Idris Elba. The two play survivors of a plane crash in the mountains who must work together in order to make it back to civilization. That may seem like a spare premise, but in the hands of a director who knows how to capture the majesty and fearsomeness of the wild, it can be absolutely riveting. –Matt Goldberg
Marshall (October 13th)
Director:Reginald Hudlin
Writers:Jake Koskoff, Michael Koskoff
Cast:Chadwick Boseman, Josh Gad, Kate Hudson, Dan Stevens, Sterling K. Brown, James Cromwell
I don’t thinkMarshallis going to turn the biopic or the courtroom drama on its head, and I don’t really care. The story of Thurgood Marshall deserves to be told, and I’m all for givingChadwick Bosemanroles to flex his acting muscles. While the movie will be about Marshall’s days as a lawyer rather than the Supreme Court’s first African-American justice, I’m still excited to see what Hudlin does with this biopic. –Matt Goldberg
Wonderstruck (October 20th)
Director:Todd Haynes
Writer:Brian Selznick
Cast:Julianne Moore, Michelle Williams, Oakes Fegley, Tom Noonan, Millie Simmonds
Because a new Todd Haynes film is always a cause for celebration. That he’s making a childhood adventure story from the author ofHugoamps our excitement. But nothing can be more exciting than Moore reuniting with Haynes for a third time after he lens two of her career bests inSafeandFar From Heaven. I’m on record everywhere saying that Haynes’ last film,Carol, is a masterpiece and one of the best examples of pure cinema that’s existed this century. So hell yeah, whatever his follow up is, I’m there, hoping to be “wonderstruck.”— Brian Formo
The Snowman (October 20th)
Director:Tomas Alfredson
Writers:Hossein Amini, Peter Straughan
Cast:Michael Fassbender, Rebecca Ferguson, James D’Arcy, Chloë Sevigny, Val Kilmer, J.K. Simmons, Jamie Clayton, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Toby Jones, and David Dencik
Tomas Alfredsonhas been missing. In 2011, the Swedish filmmaker made a world-class spy masterpiece with his re-envisioning ofJohn le Carre’s belovedTinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, starringGary Oldmanas the masterful George Smiley in one of his best performances to date. Following the critical acclaim and cult status ofLet the Right One In, his exquisite, chilling tale of adolescent vampires, the warm reception toTinkershould have secured him a major title. His first plan was to adapt the famed Swedish children’s storyThe Brothers Lionheart, but that ultimately fell through. There was also talk of him starting to set upSmiley’s People, le Carre’s sequel toTinker, but then he got the chance to take over directingThe Snowman, an adaptation ofJo Nesbø’s bestseller, forMartin Scorsese.
From the looks of the trailer, he’s done a mighty fine job of bringing the eeriness of the grim serial-killer hunt at the center of the novel to frigid life. As withTinker, he’s working with a hell of a cast:Michael Fassbender,James D’Arcy,Rebecca Ferguson,Chloe Sevigny,J.K. Simmons,Charlotte Gainsbourg,Toby Jones, andVal Kilmer. What will ultimately elevate this movie above the bloody thriller fray is Alfredson, a brilliant, measured composer of shots and sequences and a diabolical builder of tension. Working alongside DPDion Beebe, a former collaborator withMichael MannandJane Campion, Alfredson looks to be making morbid art out of mayhem with this one. -Chris Cabin
