2013 Fall Movie Preview (September)

I know this is a little later than when I normally do this, but I'll be looking at the major movies coming out for the remainder of this year over the next few days. There looks to be some good stuff, so let's get right to it.

CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS 2 (September 27)
Plot: "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2" picks up where Sony Pictures Animation's mouth-watering comedy left off. Inventor Flint Lockwood thought he saved the world when he destroyed his most infamous invention -- a machine that turned water into food causing cheeseburger rain and spaghetti tornadoes. But Flint soon learns that his invention survived and is now creating food-animals - "foodimals!" Flint and his friends embark on a dangerously delicious mission to battle hungry tacodiles, shrimpanzees, hippotatomuses, cheespiders and other foodimals to save the world again!

Quick thoughts: I'll admit that I was only lukewarm on the first Cloudy movie, but the story is based on a clever idea. When the first trailer came out a few months ago, I legitimately laughed at some of the clever word play and 'foodimals' that they came up with. The kids will not doubt eat this one up, but let's hope that this sequel serves up a bit more for the adults as well.


DON JON (September 27)
Plot: Jon Martello (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a strong, handsome, good old fashioned guy. His buddies call him Don Jon due to his ability to "pull" a different woman every weekend, but even the finest fling doesn't compare to the bliss he finds alone in front of the computer watching pornography. Barbara Sugarman (Scarlett Johansson) is a bright, beautiful, good old fashioned girl. Raised on romantic Hollywood movies, she's determined to find her Prince Charming and ride off into the sunset. Wrestling with good old fashioned expectations of the opposite sex, Jon and Barbara struggle against a media culture full of false fantasies to try and find true intimacy in this unexpected comedy written and directed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

Quick thoughts: I'll admit the film's plot doesn't scream mainstream audience, but the fact the Gordon-Levitt wrote and directed this film has me intrigued. He has been able to show a good amount of range on-screen, now we'll see if he has the same success behind the camera as well. The film has already played at some film festivals and has earned good buzz so this may become an unlikely success.


HELL BABY (September 6)
Plot: Rob Corddry ("Children's Hospital," "Hot Tub Time Machine") and Leslie Bibb ("Iron Man") star in "Hell Baby," a horror comedy about an expectant couple forced to enlist the help of the Vatican's elite exorcism team after they move into a haunted fixer-upper in New Orleans. The hilariously zany feature directing debut of writing-acting duo Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon ("Night at The Museum," "Reno 911!: Miami"), "Hell Baby" also stars Keegan Michael Key ("Key and Peele," "Due Date"), Michael Ian Black ("This Is 40"), Riki Lindhome ("Million Dollar Baby"), Rob Huebel ("Children's Hospital," "The Descendants") and Paul Scheer ("The League").

Quick thoughts: We have already seen the horror genre played for laughs several times this year, but I'm hoping the talent behind this film is enough to have it rise above those other mediocre efforts. Lennon and Garant have proven with Reno 911 that they now how to mine comedy out of more serious material. Just like with Cloudy, I found myself laughing a lot at the trailer, so I'm hopeful that translates well when seeing the full length film.


RUSH (September 20)
Plot: Two-time Academy Award winner Ron Howard ("A Beautiful Mind," "Frost/Nixon"), teams once again with fellow two-time Academy Award nominee, writer Peter Morgan ("Frost/Nixon," "The Queen"), on "Rush," a spectacular big-screen re-creation of the merciless 1970s rivalry between James Hunt and Niki Lauda. The epic action-drama stars Chris Hemsworth ("The Avengers") as the charismatic Englishman James Hunt and Daniel Bruhl ("Inglourious Basterds") as the disciplined Austrian perfectionist Niki Lauda, whose clashes on the Grand Prix racetrack epitomized the contrast between these two extraordinary characters, a distinction reflected in their private lives.

Quick thoughts: I can't say that I typically go for a lot of racing movies, but this one has a pedigree behind it that helps it stand out from those others. I typically am very impressive with Ron Howard's films and I'll be interested to see what he brings to the table when it comes to filming the racing scenes. It seems like someone from the Hemsworth family is in every film that comes out these days, but there's no denying that Chris has good charisma and should do well in this daredevil playboy role. If this film meets its potential, it could be a major player come awards season


OTHER POSSIBLE FILMS OF INTEREST
Riddick (September 6)
Insidious Chapter 2 (September 13)
A Single Shot (September 20)
Prisoners (September 20)