Looking Ahead: September and October Preview!

This year was a little odd with a lot of mediocrity and a few excellent films.  Now looking through the rest of the year, there are a few films that can offer redemption just before the awards season. 

I'M STILL HERE dir. Casey Affleck starring Joaquin Pheonix (9.16.2010)


This could be genius.  Pheonix has been an enigmatic figure in Hollywood for a couple years now.  From his retirement to his hip hop exploits to his hilarious appearance on Letterman, no one knows what is up with this guy...except Joaquin.  If he really is this insanely eccentric dude than I want to watch this documentary, but he could be putting on an act.  If he is putting on an act worthy of the great Andy Kauffman than I want to see this mockumentary.  Either way this should be good.

WALL STREET: MONEY NEVER SLEEPS dir. Oliver Stone starring Michael Douglas and Shia Lebouf




I honestly don't know how to feel about this one.  Oliver Stone is a very good filmmaker who has made some amazing films (the original WALL STREET, ANY GIVEN SUNDAY, JFK, and BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY) as well as a few that I do not care for (W, ALEXANDER, and NATURAL BORN KILLERS).  In my opinion, the original WALL STREET is Stone's best film.  It is a wonderful character study on the influences of greed.  Now he releases a sequel.  My favorite part about the original is the performance of Michael Douglas as Gordon Gekko, and I assume I will like his performance in this film as well.  I do not have anything against Shia Lebouf at all.  I feel he is a good young actor who will be around for a long time and be great in many things, but how will everything mesh in this film?  Releasing another Wall Street film in these economic times sounds like it sense, but there are a few issues I have with it.  First of all, I want to look at a good film released recently, THE INTERNATIONAL.  This was a good movie with good performances, it was exciting, and it was very good looking, but it failed...bad.  My theory is that audiences do not want to see a movie about people getting robbed by banks.  Now apply that theory to WALL STREET, a film that gets a sequel 23 years later, and failure could be on the horizon.

NEVER LET ME GO dir. Mark Romanek starring Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield, and Keira Knightley





This will be the film that will make me the most angry.  I have already seen this when it premiered at Telluride.  Its not good.  Its loaded with melodrama, mediocre acting, directionless directing, and a horribly sappy score.  The only redeeming feature is the beautiful cinematography.  I planned on writing a review for this, but every time I started I got too angry.  Lots of people will love this for its Britishness, its moodiness, and for its cast.  See it if you like, but hopefully you won't be so jaded.

THE TOWN dir. Ben Affleck starring Ben Affleck, Jon Hamm, and Jeremy Renner





The biggest movie of September is the newest directorial pursuit from Ben Affleck (GONE BABY GONE).  This has everything you want in an early fall blockbuster; the big name cast, the academy buzz, and a great complex story.  Everyone always talks about the films of the summer as the great ones, well films like this occupy the fall, and I prefer them.  This looks exciting and complex enough to be one of the best of the year.

JACK GOES BOATING dir. Philip Seymour Hoffman starring Philip Seymour Hoffman 




I absolutey love Philip Seymour Hoffman.  He is so watchable and likeable, and when I heard he was directing a film I got mixed feelings because he is such a good actor I wasn't sure if he was wasting his time directing.  Not many actors become great directors (except maybe Clint Eastwood), but JACK GOES BOATING looks great.  It has the sweetness that Philip brings with nearly every role.  It looks like this could contend with THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT for the best indie drama of the year for me.

THE SOCIAL NETWORK dir. David Fincher starring Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, and Justin Timberlake




Ok...we have all heard about this.  This is the new David Fincher film about Facebook starring Jesse Eisenberg and Andrew Garfield, the new Spider-man, and Justin Timberlake.  What makes me so excited about this?  David Fincher rarely makes a bad film.  The guy has a nose for projects that allow him to do amazing things with.  I love Jesse Eisenberg as well.  Many people have been trying to compare him to Michael Cera, but i believe Eisenberg has much more range and is much more enjoyable to watch.  A lot of people are hoping for this to fail, but I don't see how.  This could be amazing.

LET ME IN dir. Matt Reeves starring Kodi Smit-McPhee, Chloe Moretz, and Richard Jenkins





I am very excited about this movie.  This is the american remake of LET THE RIGHT ONE IN, an incredible film about a young vampire.  With the saturation of vampires in pulp culture lately another vampire movie does not sound like something the public needs, but this should be a great twist on the phenomenon.  Chloe Moretz (KICK-ASS) plays a young vampire who befriends a young human.  I can't give too much away, but this should be a wonderfully scary film.  The question is Matt Reeves (CLOVERFIELD).  Can the director of a JJ Abrams led "found footage" horror film allow LET ME IN to be the deeply nuanced horror film it needs to be?

HEREAFTER dir. Clint Eastwood starring Matt Damon and Bryce Dallas Howard






I am always excited when I see Clint Eastwood is releasing another movie, which has been a frequent accurance.  This one looks to be exceptional to say the least.  Its a supernatural about how differently three people deal with death.  Eastwood is such a nuanced director and is able to tell a story with such subtlety that the plot does not worry me.  I'm sure it will be deeply contemplative, look beautiful, and wonderully acted.  When that is expected of you as a filmmaker you know you are good.

YOU WILL MEET A TALL DARK STRANGER dir. Woody Allen starring Anthony Hopkins, Josh Brolin, Antonio Banderas, and Naomi Watts

 





I don't know too much about this movie aside from what I've seen in the trailer, but from what Woody Allen did with VICKY CHRISTINA BARCELONA I am pretty excited about this.  It has a wonderful cast, a priveledge of being Woody Allen, with Antonio Banderas, Anthony Hopkins, Naomi Watts, Josh Brolin, Frida Pinto, and Gemma Jones.  Anthony Hopkins could really knock it out of the park with a Woody Allen script, and he really needs to.  Lately it seems that Hopkins has just been collecting pay checks with his roles, but this could be different.

LEAVES OF GRASS dir. Tim Blake Nelson starring Edward Norton

 



This looks like a film that I could really like. Tim Blake Nelson directs Edward Norton and lets him have fun. Norton plays an Ivy League professor who is lured back to his Oklahoma hometown where his twin brother, a pot grower also played by Norton, tries to convince him to help him take down a local drug lord. I don't know if there will be any Oscar buzz surrounding this movie, but it could be one of those fall gems that make for a great viewing experience.