Saturday, August 22, 2009

Running Down Fall Movies.

It's that time again! Except it's fall, not summer, and now the source of my confusion is that December is somehow in the fall, just like May was in summer. Anyhoo, I've finally gotten a chance to thumb through EW's double ish that previews all the movies that are fit to print--or release during Oscar season. Here's a month by month of what I'm most looking forward to:

In September:
  • 9 (9/9). Dude, I totally just got that marketing! A bizarro post-apocalyptic CGI movie that totes makes me geek out. Shut up. It looks awesome.
  • The Informant! (9/18). I remember that episode where Dawson said he was going through a "Steven Soderbergh" phase. That was when Erin Brockovich, Traffic, and Ocean's 11 came out. Since then? Yeah, not so much. But this has Matt Damon. And I love his hair. So I'll go see this.
  • Fame (9/25). Done and done. And done.
In October:
  • Toy Story 1 and 2... in 3D! (10/2). Pixar is re-releasing awesomeness into the world, but this time in 3-D. I don't know if I'll be able to help myself. Why resist?
  • Whip It (10/9). I don't get why roller derby is a women's sport. Regardless, I have a weird fascination with it. So yeah, I'm down, even if Drew Barrymore directed it.
  • The Road (10/16). The first real "prestige" movie that I might want to see. I haven't read the book yet, but I plan to before hand. Sounds like a real pick-me-up.
  • Mary and Max (TBA). In the grand tradition of 9 (hmm... is a month long enough for a tradition?), this is another animated film for growed-ups. You know, us soulless ratracers. I just saw the trailer online, and you've got my curiosity piqued.
In November: (Here's where it gets brutal. Somehow, I'm going to have to not work, not sleep, and not eat to fit these all in.)
  • The Box (11/6). A Twilight Zone episode played out with a movie budget and length.
  • Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire (11/6). I've heard nothing but raves since Sundance about this movie about puppies and piglets and pandas and peaches and . . . Mariah Carey without makeup . . . and Mo'Nique being an Oscar contender. Oh, honey, just imagine her acceptance speech.
  • Fantastic Mr. Fox (11/13). So, everyone I know is obsessed with Where the Wild Things Are -- and granted, the trailer looks surreally good. But I was never into the book as a child. But FMF was one of those books that I read and re-read so many times that I had memorized the feel and smell of the library book copy that I kept checking out. I can still picture what it looks like right now. So yeah, color me psyched -- but cautiously so. I hate Wes Anderson's directing style (oh look! I'll frame everything in the center of the screen head on! I'm so avant-garde and unique!).
  • Broken Embraces (11/20). I'm not sure if I'll see this in the theaters, but Pedro Almodovar has allowed me to not only forgive Penelope Duckface Cruz, but to actually like her as an actress.
  • Nine (11/25). I like musicals. Sue me. And then I'll counter-sue you because I'm a lawyer, and that's how I roll.
  • The Princess and the Frog (11/25). You have no idea how happy I am that Disney is remembering that it's not the CGI of Pixar that makes their movies awesome -- it's the awesome stories they tell. And hey! Disney used to do that! In hand-drawn animation! I have every finger crossed that this is a success and starts another age--the platinum age maybe? (Pinocchio-ish era = Golden Age; Lion King-ish era = Silver Age)--of Disney animation.
  • Me and Orson Welles (11/25). Shut up. I liked 17 Again.
In December:
  • Avatar (12/18). James Cameron makes about 1 movie every 52 years. And they usually are fancy.
  • Tree of Life (12/25). Pro? Brad Pitt. Con? I still haven't finished Terence Malick's The New World--and that starred Colin Farrell, whom I love more than Kris Allen. I'll wait for the gasps to subside before I continue with...
  • Sherlock Holmes (12/25). You have no idea how much I want to see this.
Most anticipated: Sherlock Holmes. RDJ and Rachel McAdams on full-on charm-mode. *blush*

The big movies I'm so-so on: New Moon (People, Twilight was terrible); Shutter Island (I'm not a Scorcese acolyte); Where the Wild Things Are (Meh); The Lovely Bones (How this was ever a best seller -- ugh -- I listened to it as a book on tape driving from Durham to Boston and back -- and was vachement unimpressed).

3 comments:

Mr. Cooper said...

Perhaps you haven't heard, but "Shutter Island" was pushed to February. So you'll have to be so-so on it in your spring movie preview instead.

Andy said...

Yeah, I just saw that news. Now I'm even more skeptical that the movie will be any good, what with it being put out to pasture in the land of dead movies.

Mr. Cooper said...

They claim it has to do with balance sheet-related finances -- they'll apparently post a loss for the quarter if they release it in the fall based on the way the studios do accounting. I don't know, I'd tend to agree with you though.