Autumn Film Releases
It’s September and that means the start of Autumn (meteorologically speaking), which means the last of the Summer blockbusters should, theoretically at least, be behind us. This means we can start looking forward to Christmas and the traditional overload of plot-heavy Oscar contendors [anyone looking for Best Supporting Actor had better wait til next year, Ledger's got that one sewn up]. What happens in between the Summer and Winter movie collections is normally a series of films the picture studios deem to be neither of the above; not big enough to be a Summer hit, nor deep enough to be Oscar-worthy. Yet what this season often throws up are the films you end up watching and re-watching on DVD and I have to say there does look to be some gems coming out. Here’s my rundown of the films coming out in the next few months I’m going to be keeping a special eye out for.
007 Is Back
Where better to start than with Mr Bond? Quantum of Solace, for those of you living under rocks, is the follow up to the incredibly successful ‘reboot’ of the Bond franchise; Casino Royale. Slated for an October 31st release date, this will be the crown jewel of what is normally a ‘quiet’ season for the movie industry. Filmed on a rumoured £113million budget (double what Casino Royale was filmed on), this film is going to explore the darker side of Bond. The grit that Daniel Craig captured in CR will no doubt be laid on in such quantities we could clear Alaska with it; but it looks very, very interesting. It also follows the classic Bond formula; foreign bad-guy? [check], disposable henchmen? [check], Bond girls? [double check]. Heck, this film will be worth seeing just to see Gemma Arterton, who grew up just down the road from me in Gravesend, trying to pull off the role of an MI6 agent. Need to be convinced? Click Here
Max Payne and the artist formerly known as Marky Mark
Video game to movie transfers don’t often work well. You need only look at the woeful Super Mario Bros. to be convinced of this. You can replace SMB with any from a list of Tomb Raider, Street Fighter, etc. However, here’s a newsflash and a half; Max Payne, due out here on November 14th looks quite good! For those who have a social life and haven’t had the chance to play the original PlayStation2 game, the story (which won a BAFTA by the way) revolves around a DEA agent who gets sucked into a drugs conspiracy that reaches the top of a very large and powerful corporation. What was amazing about the game was that the plot was actually quite good and the game itself lived up to it. It put into place the “Bullet Time” effects used in The Matrix [it actually claimed to have thought of them before the Wachowskis] and provided a very psychological shoot-em-up. How this translates onto the big screen remains to be seen but the trailers have looked damn fine. How Mark Wahlberg fares as the good-cop having a bad-day remains to be seen, but with Shawn Ryan doing the writing [he created the simply excellent Shield tv series which has been criminally buried by Five] I have high hopes. This is probably the film I’m looking forward to the most this Autumn on a purely popcorn level. You can pick up the trailer right here.
De Niro - Pacino - Enough Said
Remember that guy DeNiro? Remember that other guy Pacino? Remember how good they were in Heat? Now imagine them on the same side of the law, working together… need I say more? Righteous Kill is released in the UK on 26th September. The pant-wettingly good trailer is here
Zack & Miri - coming to a theatre near you. I hope
At the complete opposite end of the spectrum in absolutely every single sense of the word, is Kevin Smith’s new film Zack and Miri Make a Porno. The currently lacks a UK release date (criminally so), but that hasn’t stopped me bouncing up and down like a rabbit on too much coffee at the news coming out of it. It stars Seth Rogen (Knocked Up) and Elizabeth Banks (40 Year Old Virgin) as two life-long friends who are so short of cash they decide to make a porno movie. That is about as basic as a plot gets, but what should excite any film fan about this is that it marks Kevin Smith’s first attempt to do a proper non-Jersey comedy in his career. There will be no Jay and Silent Bob, nor will there be any of the Bennifer that allegedly hampered Jersey Girl (I liked it, but I may be alone in that). That’s not to say that Askewniverse (here’s where I lose casual film fans) regulars like Jeff Anderson and Jason Mewes won’t be in it, but they won’t be Randal and J. Hunt down the trailer if you can (it’s dirty and this is a family site) and if it doesn’t make you laugh, it won’t be for you.
Other films you guys should really be looking out for over the coming weeks include the latest Coen Brothers (No Country For Old Men) effort Burn After Reading, which has received very positive reviews on the festival scene. It features longtime Coen collaborator George Clooney, alongside such nobodies as Brad Pitt, John Malkovich, JK Simmons and Tilda Swinton. So, yeah… you might want to check that one out. Eagle Eye is Shia LeBouf’s latest effort. You have to feel for the guy, he was the best thing about last year’s Transformers (y’know, aside from the fact it had Transformers in…) and has suddenly fallen horribly out of favour after Indy 4. Regardless, hopes are high that this tense thriller will pick him back up again and it looks like it has a good chance. Both of these films come out on 17th October and are worth your attention, even if only at an Orange Wednesday event. At teh end of the autumn period is also the intriguing Body of Lies, with Ridley Scott, Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe (if he makes the rumoured Bill Hicks biography I’ll be pleasantly surprised) combining to produce what looks lack an action-packed thriller. And before those words turn you off, remember that Scott’s efforts at these films have resulted in the fine Black Hawk Down. Body Of Lies comes out on 21st November.
So, hopefully there’s enough there to entertain you over the ‘dry’ Autumnal months. As usual, all responses welcome.
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