Sunday, August 31, 2008
A+E, In this Issue..., Movies

Fall Movie Preview

Our picks for the season’s top 20 flicks

If you’re looking for more superheroes, sequels, TV adaptations or Mike Myers vehicles, we’ve got news for you: Summer’s over, and it’s back to school—“High School Musical,” that is. With the changing of the leaves comes a changing of the guard at the multiplex, as well. Costume dramas (“The Duchess,” “Australia”) replace spandex bodysuits; dark epics (“The Road,” “Blindness”) step in for action vehicles; and big-name directors (Clint Eastwood, the Coen Brothers) roll out their latest awards magnets. Oh, and there are secret agents, vampires and some high-concept couplings (Leo and Russell, De Niro and Pacino) as well. As always, release dates are subject to change.

BURN AFTER READING (Sept. 12)

Starring: George Clooney, Frances McDormand, Brad Pitt, John Malkovich

The pitch: Health club employees (and dim bulbs) Pitt and McDormand find a diskette of classified CIA info belonging to Malkovich, then try to sell it.
Our take: Writer-directors the Coen Brothers gave us Oscar winners “Fargo” and “No Country for Old Men.” But their ventures into comedy can be waaaay uneven. For every “Raising Arizona” or “Big Lebowski,” they give us “Intolerable Cruelty” or “The Ladykillers.” Translation: Cross your fingers and hope this falls into the first column.—Steve Murray


TYLER PERRY’S THE FAMILY THAT PREYS (Sept. 12)
Starring: Kathy Bates, Alfre Woodard, Tyler Perry
The pitch: The Atlanta-based movie mogul’s latest involves two families “from different sides of the tracks” that become entangled thanks to shady business dealings and an extramarital affair.
Our take: Writer-director Perry aims for a broader demographic (a la “Why Did I Get Married?”), without abandoning the soap-operatic elements his core fan base loves. If this diverse outing proves a hit, it could erase the perception that his movies are dependent on black audiences.—Kevin Forest Moreau

RIGHTEOUS KILL (Sept. 12)
Starring: Robert De Niro, Al Pacino
The pitch: The cinematic icons team up as New York City cops. Donnie Wahlberg, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, John Leguizamo and Carla Gugino also star.
Our take: No offense to director Jon Avnet (“Fried Green Tomatoes”), but this rare pairing sort of demands Martin Scorsese. Still, this seems like a no-brainer, although such pairings often turn out to be anticlimactic (see 1995’s “Heat”).—K.F.M.

TOWELHEAD (Sept. 19)
Starring: Summer Bishil, Aaron Eckhart, Toni Collette

The pitch: Marietta native Alan Ball adapts this novel about a 13-year-old half-American/half-Lebanese girl (Bishil) undergoing the torments of adolescence, racism and sexual awakening in a Texas suburb. Eckhart plays the hearty Army reservist (and potential pedophile) next door.
Our take: Ball racked up an Oscar and Emmy for “American Beauty” and “Six Feet Under.” Here he’s adapting someone else’s work, and we’re not quite sure what to make of the tonally uneven results (yeah, we’ve seen it). But we’re gonna support a local boy made good—even if we’re more ramped about his upcoming HBO vampire series “True Blood.”—S.M. 

HOUNDDOG (Sept. 19)
Starring: Dakota Fanning, Robin Wright Penn, Piper Laurie, David Morse
The pitch: A 12-year-old girl (Fanning) escapes a life of abuse through the blues and Elvis Presley.
Our take: The outcry over Fanning’s rape scene (from an earlier cut of the film) is a difficult hurdle to overcome. But the controversy could attract curious mainstream viewers who don’t usually go to indie flicks.—K.F.M. 

LAKEVIEW TERRACE (Sept. 19)
Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, Patrick Wilson, Kerry Washington
The pitch: An interracial couple (Wilson, Washington) is terrorized by a disapproving next-door neighbor (Jackson), who happens to be a cop.
Our take: Director Neil LaBute (“In the Company of Men”) is no stranger to uncomfortable subject matter. But in the wrong hands, this premise could devolve into over-the-top farce. And LaBute’s recent track record (2005’s “The Wicker Man,” anyone?) is a little worrisome.—K.F.M.

THE DUCHESS (Sept. 19)
Starring: Keira Knightley, Ralph Fiennes
The pitch: The “Pride & Prejudice” star plays a real-life 18th century aristocrat trapped in an unhappy marriage to an abusive husband (Fiennes). Love triangles and melodrama ensue.
Our take: Another year, another Knightley period piece (with “King Lear” to come in 2010)—the “Pirates of the Caribbean” actress is in grave danger of being typecast by the public. Still, the film might be good (Fiennes’ involvement is always a promising sign). Regardless, expect an Oscar push for Knightley after being snubbed for “Atonement.”—K.F.M.

MIRACLE AT ST. ANNA (Sept. 26)

Starring: Derek Luke, Michael Ealy, Laz Alonso, Omar Benson Miller 

The pitch: Four black American soldiers stationed in 1944 Tuscany find themselves trapped behind enemy lines.
Our take: Yeah, this film is connected to director Spike Lee’s tiff about the absence of black characters in Clint Eastwood’s two Iwo Jima movies. We don’t know much about his latest drama, but it’s written by James McBride. Spike seems better when he’s directing other people’s scripts (“Inside Man,” “25th Hour”) or doing documentary work (“4 Little Girls,” “When the Levees Broke”). Nobody should ever have to sit through a Lee-penned script like “She Hate Me” ever, ever again. —S.M.

BLINDNESS (Sept. 26)
Starring: Julianne Moore, Gael Garcia Bernal, Mark Ruffalo
The pitch: An epidemic of blindness affects everyone—except for a doctor’s wife (Moore).
Our take: A talented cast and accomplished director Fernando Meirelles (“The Constant Gardener") have our interest piqued, although the artsy premise (adapted from Nobel Prize winner Jose Saramago’s novel) and gauzy trailer make “Blindness” seem a bit too weighty.—K.F.M.

APPALOOSA (Oct. 3)
Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Ed Harris, Renée Zellweger
The pitch: Harris directs this adaptation of the 2006 Western novel by crime writer Robert B. Parker, about a pair of lawmen hired to protect a small town from a murderous rancher (Jeremy Irons).
Our take: “Appaloosa” promises plenty of shoot-’em-up action, and the two leads are well cast for a story about two gunmen figuring out their own places in a violent new world. Zellweger, as Harris’ dangerous romantic interest, could spell trouble, depending on whether she leaves behind the cornpone accent and overacting she displayed in “Cold Mountain.”—K.F.M.
BODY OF LIES (Oct. 10)

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe 
The pitch: DiCaprio plays a CIA agent searching for a terrorist leader in Jordan. Crowe plays his desk-bound boss, who may not be giving Leo all the info he needs in this adaptation of Washington Post columnist David Ignatius’ well-regarded novel.
Our take: Ridley Scott (“Black Hawk Down,” “Gladiator”) usually delivers high-adrenalin (but intelligent) movies worth watching. Well, except for that lousy vineyard movie (“A Good Year”) he made with Crowe a few years ago.—S.M.

W (Oct. 17)
Starring: Josh Brolin, Elizabeth Banks, Ellen Burstyn, James Cromwell

The pitch: Oliver Stone gives George W. Bush (Brolin) the biopic treatment.
Our take: Last year’s unsung movie MVP (“No Country for Old Men,” “American Gangster” and “In the Valley of Elah”), Brolin gets his first lead role, and it’s a doozy. We don’t know yet if Stone is going for satire or a straightforward portrait. Either way, what we’re most buzzed about is that crazy supporting cast: Burstyn (Mama Bush), Cromwell (Papa Bush), Richard Dreyfuss (Dick Cheney), Thandie Newton (Condi Rice), Jeffrey Wright (Colin Powell), Toby Jones (Karl Rove) and Rob Corddry (Ari Fleischer). What, they couldn’t find a role for Stephen Colbert?—S.M. 


HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 3: SENIOR YEAR (Oct. 24)
Starring: Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens
The pitch: Troy (Efron), Gabriella (Hudgens) and the gang bid goodbye to Disney’s blockbuster series with a big-screen bang.
Our take: It’s already a given that “HSM3” will be a hit, given a built-in audience cultivated over the course of two hugely successful Disney Channel outings. Clearly, the franchise (which, let’s be honest, makes “Saved by the Bell” look edgy) is too big a cash cow for the House of Mouse to walk away from just because its biggest stars have graduated to other things. Who’s up for “HSM: The New Class”?—K.F.M.

CHANGELING (Oct. 31)
Starring: Angelina Jolie, John Malkovich

The pitch: Jolie plays a 1920s Californian woman whose young son goes missing, only to be returned by police some months later. Problem is, she’s convinced the new boy isn’t her boy.
Our take: Clint Eastwood directs, based on a true case of governmental blundering and corruption. While it’s odd not to see Jolie waving a gun around onscreen, we look forward to this one because Eastwood has the clout (and cojones) to make old-fashioned, heavyweight pictures with the kind of craftsmanship that’s disappearing from Hollywood.—S.M.   


ZACK AND MIRI MAKE A PORNO (Oct. 31)
Starring: Seth Rogen, Elizabeth Banks
The pitch: The title pretty much sums it up: Two roommates decide to shoot an amateur porn film.
Our take: Following 2004’s jumbled “Jersey Girl,” director Kevin Smith has retreated back to his comfort zone: raunchy, adolescent humor. Hopefully he’s retained a little of the sweetness of his best film, 1997’s “Chasing Amy,” although his last outing—2006’s irredeemably schmaltzy and puerile “Clerks 2”—has us skeptical.—K.F.M.

AUSTRALIA (Nov. 14)
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman
The pitch: Kidman plays a prim British aristocrat who teams with Jackman’s rowdy Aussie cattleman on a dangerous cattle drive across Oz prior to World War II.
Our take: Though the trailer features Kidman looking like a public service announcement on the dangers of Botox, we’re game to see what self-styled cinematic wild man Baz Luhrmann does with the Big Movie Epic genre. Here’s hoping this new flick makes up for the agony his “Moulin Rouge!” inflicted on us. (If you loved that movie, that’s OK. Just remember: Mixing your meds regularly can be dangerous.)—S.M. 


QUANTUM OF SOLACE (Nov. 7)
Starring: Daniel Craig, Judi Dench, Mathieu Amalric

The pitch: This second entry in the rebooted James Bond franchise reportedly picks up exactly where “Casino Royale” left off, as Craig’s 007 goes looking for the thugs behind the death of his beloved Vesper Lynd.
Our take: If they gave prizes for bad titles, this would be the 2008 winner. But you know what? The revitalized “Royale” was so much better than anyone expected, they can call it anything they want. Craig rules, and we’re looking forward to French veteran Amalric (fantastic in last year’s “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”) as Bond’s latest nemesis.—S.M. 


TWILIGHT (Nov. 21)

Starring: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson 

The pitch: Stewart is Bella, the new kid in town who falls for high school classmate Edward (Pattinson), a vampire. But he’s the good kind—a vampire who only drinks non-human blood, broods in handsome profile and kisses with a tenderness that makes overexcited teenage girls drop their copies of Stephanie Meyer’s book.
Our take: This one’s on our list because the Meyer juggernaut seems unstoppable. Two people might elevate the tweentastic book into a watchable movie: Kristen Stewart, who’s grown into a compelling, intelligent actress; and Catherine Hardwicke, whose movies “Thirteen” and “Lords of Dogtown” suggest she could give this swoony nonsense the earthbound edge it needs. (Don’t count on it, though.)—S.M.

MILK (Nov. 26)
Starring: Sean Penn, Emile Hirsch, Josh Brolin
The pitch: Gus Van Sant helms a look at the life of gay activist and San Francisco city supervisor Harvey Milk (Penn), who was assassinated in 1978.
Our take: This topical drama has “Oscar bait” written all over it. Whether it’s watchable or an exercise in pumping Penn’s cinematic ego remains to be seen.—K.F.M.

THE ROAD (Nov. 26)

Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Charlize Theron 

The pitch: Adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s Pulitzer-winning novel about a man (Mortensen) traveling with his young son (Kodi Smit-McPhee) through a blasted, post-apocalyptic landscape full of lawlessness … and cannibals. 
Our take: You thought McCarthy’s “No Country for Old Men” was bleak? Wimp. Biblical in its austerity, “Road” seemed almost unfilmable. But director Joe Hillcoat’s gritty and bloody Aussie Western “The Proposition” suggests he could make it work onscreen. Just don’t go expecting to see a lot of Theron; she plays Mortensen’s wife in pre-catastrophe flashbacks.—S.M.