A spooky salutation to you all! It's the October now which means the colors of the trees are changing, everything all of sudden gets a Pumpkin Spice version (though in some cases they shouldn't), and awards season is well underway for us film lovers.
Now, I know not everybody loves this kind of stuff, but I can't help it. I've said this before and I'll say it again, the Oscars are my Super Bowl. So, obviously, I'm keeping an eye on movies getting buzz or might get attention for awards.
Sadly, I feel like I should reiterate, I don't get to do this for a living which means I won't be able to see all of these movies. But none the less I'm going to try and see as many as I can and try to get something written or maybe at least a little video.
But, anyway, here are the ones I'm looking forward to seeing for whatever reason. I'm listing these in order of release according to Rotten Tomatoes. * = Awards potential movie.
Blade Runner 2049 - dir. Denis Villeneuve*
Confession: I've never seen the original Blade Runner. Why? Well, I just haven't gotten around to it until now and I'm never sure which one to watch. For simplistic sake, I'm going to watch the theatrical cut and then I'll watch the others... eventually.
The Mountain Between Us - dir. Hany Abu-Asaad*
Idris Elba? Kate Winslet? Survival movie? Sign me up! Though there's a good chance if I don't see it during its opening week I won't see the week I have a flight.
The Florida Project - dir. Sean Baker*
While I didn't like of Baker's last film (Tangerine) as much as everyone else I am looking forward to this film. It looks it could be a sweet, heartfelt coming-of-age story. And it's nice to see Willem Dafoe take on this kind of role. I don't think I've ever seen him in the role of a grouchy but lovable guy. If I'm wrong then please correct me.
Better Watch Out - dir. Chris Peckover
Hey, who doesn't love a darker and more twisted Christmas movie? Come on, admit it. You're looking for something a bit edgier for the Holiday season in between whatever is showing on ABC Family's... oh wait I mean Freeform's 25 Days of Christmas. Why else would we watch something like Gremlins (1984) or the first two Die Hard movies? Outside of them being awesome of course.
Brawl in Cell Block 99 - dir. S. Craig Zahler
I dug S. Craig Zahler's first film Bone Tomahawk (2015) and this looks like another interesting film. It's cool to see Vince Vaughn trying out something different than his usual schtick. Also, Don Johnson is in it, that's a plus.
The Foreigner - dir. Martin Campbell
It's a Jackie Chan action movie! Why wouldn't I want to see it? Add that it's being helmed by Martin Campbell who gave awesome flicks like GoldenEye (1995), The Mask of Zorro (1998), and Casino Royale (2006), it should hopefully be a good film. But then again, some of Chan's more recent films haven't gotten the best reviews and Campbell has some stinkers in his filmography - lookin' at you Green Lantern (2011). But I'm an optimist about it.
Happy Death Day - dir. Christopher Landon
I had heard of this movie earlier in the year but didn't pay attention to it mainly because, 80% of the time, modern day horror films don't do it for me. But when I saw the trailer for this I was intrigued. It's basically Groundhog Day (1993, dir. Harold Ramis) but as a murder mystery and that sounds cool. If it does turn out bad, then I won't be too surprised - mainly because it's made by the guy that gave us Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse (2015). Here's hoping it's good.
Goodbye Christopher Robin - dir. Simon Curtis*
A look at the life of Winnie the Pooh creator A.A. Milne, his relationship with his family, and as he battles his PTSD. It also seems to look at the good and bad sides of obtaining success and how it can affect family life, especially if your child served as an inspiration for one of the characters. I won't lie, this does look a little Oscar Bait-like (I hate that term by the way. But that's how the film looks). The story and presentation may not be the best in the end, but it looks like it could give us some stellar performances.
Marshall - dir. Reginald Hudlin*
Thurgood Marshall was one of those historical figures I always heard about - mainly about how he was the African-American Supreme Court Justice - but I never really gave thought to a movie about him. But yeah, why not? He's an important figure and why not have it be about him as a young lawyer during one of his earliest cases? I'm looking forward to it. Though I will admit I was kind of thrown off by the action movie-like parts in the trailer. Regardless, I want to see it.
Breathe - dir. Andy Serkis*
Yes, you read that right. This film is directed by motion capture maestro Andy Serkis - his first outing as a director. Much like Christopher Robin, this looks a bit like an Oscar Bait movie but I really like Andrew Garfield and it looks like it could be good.
The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) - dir. Noah Baumbach*
It looks like a good film. Plus it looks like it's giving us that Adam Sandler we actually want. That's about it. It's going to premier on Netflix on Oct. 13, keep an eye out for it.
Professor Marston & the Wonder Women - dir. Angela Robinson*
Wonder Woman was a big hit, so why check out the story about how she was created.
78/52: Hitchcock's Shower Scene - dir. Alexandre O. Philippe
I'm not too sure this documentary can add much else to discussions about Alfred Hitchcock and his career, particularly with Psycho (1960) but I'm a sucker for documentaries about movies so of course, I'll see it.
Tom of Finland - dir. Dome Karukoski*
The main reason I'm adding this is that I've seen some buzz for it in the Best Foreign Language category.
Geostorm - dir. Dean Devlin
This movie looks so stupid I kind of want to see it. Although, given recent events - the multiple hurricanes, earthquakes, and fires - I may skip it. It'll just depend on my mood when it's release.
The Snowman - dir. Tomas Alfredson*
It looks like an awesomely creepy thriller. I've heard of the book is great which I've got a copy of it so I'll hopefully finish reading it before the premier.
Only the Brave - dir. Joseph Kosinski*
With Geostorm I said I may skip it because of recent events. The same thing may happen with this film, except this film doesn't appear to be using catastrophic natural disasters as cheap thrills. This movie is about actual firefighters who battled actual fires. It also looks like it goes into their training and their family lives, telling us about them. It could be good, but I imagine it'll be tough to watch as a well. Especially given that it's based on the Yarnell Hill Fire where 19 firefighters died.
Same Kind of Different As Me - dir. Michael Carney
Given that this is distributed by Pure Flix, I would normally avoid it and not give it much attention. I'll spare you all my rantings about them for now. But then I read an article by Stuart Heritage of The Guardian where he called the trailer, "the worst, most offensive thing I have ever seen." And having now seen it... oh boy. This is... certainly questionable at the least. Especially since Djimon Hounsou appears be only an animated sequence away from telling us about them zippity-doo-dah days. Oh hell, I'd rather watch Song of the South (1946), at least that film has catchy songs. As for the this, I may see because it could be a candidate for my worst of the year list and give me material for a rant fest. But if I don't see it, don't be surprised.
The Killing of a Sacred Deer - dir. Yorgos Lanthimos*
Another confession: I can't say I liked The Lobster (2015), also directed by Yorgos Lanthimos. It could be that it wasn't my cup of tea but to me, it just felt too overly dreary and it kind of prevented me from getting into the film. But looking at the trailer, it looks slightly more interesting than The Lobster.
Wonderstruck - dir. Todd Hayes*
I don't really have too many thoughts on this movie as of right now. It does look interesting and it has some award buzz surrounding it.
Suburbicon - dir. George Clooney*
In the Nostalgia Critic's review the 2004 Garfield movie, he opens it up with a parody of Coen Brothers movies (it'll make sense, trust me) that has the line "(the audience) won't know if they like the movie after seeing it. Buf after letting it sit for a while, they'll figure to themselves, 'Eh, it was f**ked up enough. I guess I like it fine.'" While watching the trailer to this movie, co-written by the Coens, that's how I felt and if that's how I felt when watching the trailer I'm hoping that's how I feel after the movie. As for now, it looks fine, I just don't know how to feel about it yet.
Thank You for Your Service - dir. Jason Hall*
This movie marks the directorial debut of American Sniper (2014, dir. Clint Eastwood) screenwriter Jason Hall. Again, he's going into the subject of soldiers and what the war can do to them. I know American Sniper is a very divisive film as for me, I liked it - though I'll admit it isn't Eastwood's best. I thought the film did an alright job at looking at how combat can affect veterans. But it looks like this film is keeping the home life stuff front and center which I think is something that does need to be covered more in movies.
The Square - dir. Ruben Östlund*
Yet another film I heard of mainly because of Best Foreign Language Film buzz. But I will say this, after watching the trailer, it looks bats**t crazy enough that it should interest me.
Novitiate - dir. Margaret Betts*
This movie looks like it could be this year's Silence (2016, dir. Martin Scorsese) and given how much I loved Silence I'm looking forward to this movie. That and I'm always up for seeing a Melissa Leo performance.
So there are the October releases that are on my watch list for whatever reason.
Which October releases are you looking forward to?
