Fall Film Preview

With the major summer movies behind us and Entertainment Weekly's Fall Movie Preview issue coming out this past weekend, I decided to preview the film's I'm most interested in seeing. The links send you to Comingsoon.net for the film's core info and then I add my personal thoughts afterwards.

1. Quantum of Solace (Nov. 7)
Personal thoughts: With the new Harry Potter movie moved back to July '09, this has become the movie to see this fall. There's no chance that I'm not in the theater to see it opening weekend.

2. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Dec. 25)
Personal thoughts: It's got a unique concept, a great director and a solid cast. This is either going to be big come awards season or a spectacular failure.

3. Body of Lies (Oct. 10)
Personal thoughts: Political movies have been the kiss of death lately. But if anybody can bring people into the theaters it's Crowe and DiCaprio. Let's just hope they share more screentime than Crowe and Denzel did in Ridley Scott's last film, American Gangster.

4. Burn After Reading (Sept. 12)
Personal thoughts: There was a time where this would have been dismissed as another kooky Coen brothers movie. But they're hot right now after No Country For Old Men. Plus it's got a stellar cast which gives this a more must-see feel to it.

5. Frost/Nixon (Dec. 5 in limited release)
Personal thoughts: This one seems like a can't miss. This has succeeded on Broadway and with Ron Howard doing the directorial duties, it seems like the perfect combination. It may not be a big box office hit, but it'll likely rack up a bunch of awards next year.

6. Zach and Miri Make a Porno (Oct. 31)
Personal thoughts: Kevin Smith could use a hit, or at least a good movie and this looks like it could be it. Having Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks in the lead roles is a good start.

7. Eagle Eye (Sept. 26)
Personal thoughts: Most know I'm not a big Shia LeBeouf fan. However, in a barren wasteland like September, this looks like it might be a decent thriller. This will be a true test to see if Shia can lead a film that's more directly aimed at adults.

8. Righteous Kill (Sept. 12)
Personal thoughts: It's hard not to get excited about seeing DeNiro and Pacino on the same screen. And unlike Heat, they'll actually spend a significant amount of screentime together. But the fact that this is coming out in mid-September makes me wonder if it'll be anything more than a sub-par crime thriller with a decent cast.

9. The Brothers Bloom (Oct. 24)
Personal thoughts: This looks very similar to Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, which isn't a bad thing. I'm always down with a good con movie as long as the con isn't on the audience. The cast is good, but none of them have been known to carry a film, so it'll be interesting to see if this does any business.

10. The Day The Earth Stood Still (Dec. 12)
Personal thoughts: I first got interested in this film after seeing the original 1950s version for a class last year. Since then, my interest has dwindled as they keep pushing back the release date (never a good sign). The trailer also makes it seem like this will be more of a dreary film with a message than a fun revisit to a B-movie classic. Let's hope they prove me wrong.

11. Bedtime Stories (Dec. 25)
Personal thoughts: Seems to be a film in a similar vein as Jumanji or Night at the Museum. Those can be fun films and it's likely to make decent money. But if it's too gentle or kid-friendly, I may end up skipping it.

12. Role Models (Nov. 14)
Personal thoughts: This is another man-child type comedy that are all the rage right now. It also stars Paul Rudd, Stiffler, and McLovin. All signs point to this being a winner, but the trailer didn't really instill a lot of excitement in me for seeing this. Hopefully it's funnier than the teaser seemed to indicate.

13. Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist (Oct. 3)
Personal thoughts: My thoughts are pretty similar to Role Models. This teen comedy starring Michael Cera has potential, but the trailer made it seem more sappy than hilarious. So for now, the jury's still out on this one.

14. The Road (Nov. 14)
Personal thoughts: This is a story of an adult and child in a postapocalyptic world, which seems awfully familiar (Children of Men, Babylon A.D., etc.) However, it's based off of a Cormac McCarthy novel (who also wrote No Country for Old Men), which was named by Entertainment Weekly as the best novel of the past 25 years. If this one is as good as No Country we could have another Best Picture contender on our hands.

15. Four Christmases (Nov. 26)
Personal thoughts: We couldn't have a list and not include at least one holiday film on it. This is a romantic comedy starring Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon about a couple who must spend time with each of their separated parents. For me to check it out though, this will need to be more comedy than romance.