It used to be that the Fall was a time when kids went back to school and the studios trotted out their academy Award-hopeful films. Well, that still happens, but the expanse of blockbuster season from just the summer months to a year round affair means that there is a wide variety of offerings at your local cineplex to enjoin over the months between now and the Thanksgiving holiday. Here are the ones we are most looking forward to.
It! (September 8)
Stephen King novel can be adapted into unmitigated classics (Carrie, The Green Mile, Misery), camp classics (Cujo, Pet Sematary, Christine) or outright disasters (Maximum Overdrive, Sleepwalkers, Graveyard Shift). Few filmmakers can capture the creepy magic that King does so well. However, judging by the trailers, this film might be one of the better ones. — William Gatevackes
Battle Of The Sexes (Sept 22)
If you are a certain age, you’ll remember the “Battle of the Sexes” match between Bobby Riggs and Billie Jean King. Played out against the background of the women’s rights movement, the match between the tennis stars struck a blow for the myth that men are superior to women in everything. If you are not of that certain age, then this film will show you the history of the struggle and how far the cause has come. — WG
Kingsman: The Golden Circle (September 29)
We are going into new territory here. While Kingsman: The Secret Service wasn’t a pure adaptation of the comic, it capture some parts of the series. This film is not based on a comic because there is not comic book to adapt (there was only one series in comics). It will be interesting to see where they go with the characters and if it would be where Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons would have gone with them.– WG
Blade Runner 2049 (October 6)
The understandable kneejerk reaction to the idea of a sequel to Ridley Scott’s 1982 science-fiction noir classic is that it would be a bad idea. But Scott is overseeing Arrival director Denis Villeneuve with co-screenwriter Hampton Fancher and star Harrison Ford returning, so if anyone should be up to the task of creating a worthy followup it should be these folks. What has Dekker been up to all these years? Will we learn if he really is a replicant?
The Florida Project (Oct 6)
Sean Baker made a splash with his debut film Tangerine, and it is a testament to his storytelling skills that the fact that that skill was shot on cell phones never overshadowed discussion the film’s sensitive portrayal of its characters. This time Baker is working with full-sized cameras to tell the story of a group of children living in a cheap motel near Walt Disney World in Orlando. We don’t need to know about the advance buzz already swirling around the film and for the performance from Willem DaFoe to know that this is one film you don’t want to miss.
My Little Pony: The Movie (Oct 6)
Hasbro has been trying to build film franchises out of their toy lines for years. Which is surprising that we got films for Battleship and Jem before this toy line. I’m not what you’d call a “brony” but I do have an eight-year-old daughter. I know how huge and pervasive the My Little Pony phenomenon is. Hopefully, this will have some of the wit and subversive humor of the TV cartoon. — WG
The Foreigner (October 13)
Jackie Chan has not the best of luck in Hollywood. At best, he delivered the mildly entertaining Shanghai Noon/Knights movies with Owen Wilson, at worst we were stuck with disasters like The Tuxedo and the Rush Hour films. More recently in his Hong Kong work, Chan has been moving towards roles that require more emphasis on acting rather than his famed stunt work. (He is 63 after all.) Here he stars as a man who demands answers from government official Pierce Brosnan after his daughter is killed in a terrorist bombing in this Martin Campbell-directed adaption of Stephen Leathor’s 1992 political thriller novel. — RD
Marshall (October 13)
Much like Battle of the Sexes details an early battle in the struggle for women’s rights, this film highlights a trailblazer in the civil rights movement. Thurgood Marshal was the first African-American Supreme Court Justice. But his legal career began far earlier. This film lists the struggle for acceptance in his early law career. — WG
The Snowman (October 20)
Michael Fassbender has a pretty impressive track record for picking projects – Assassin’s Creed being the outlier. And him teaming with Let The Right One In director Tomas Alfredson for the story of a detective investigating the disappearance of a woman where the case shows disturbing similarities to a decades-old serial killer case is intriguing enough on its own. But add in a cast featuring Val Kiler, Rebecca Ferguson, JK Simmons, Chloe Sevigny and Charlotte Gainsbourg and you’ve got something that demands your attention. — RD
Suburbicon (October 27)
Leatherheads aside, it is always nice to see George Clooney in the director’s chair. And what’s especially exciting is that this time around he is working from a script by the Coen Brothers. The three have worked together previously on a number of films, just with Clooney in front of the camera. Between Clooney’s mercurial directing style and the casting of Coen Brothers vet Matt Damon in the lead, this could easily feel like a Coen Brothers without actually being one. — RD
Professor Marston And The Wonder Women (October 27)
Did you like Wonder Woman? Would you be interested in seeing how she was created? Then this film is for you. The film focuses on William Moulton Marston, his life, and how his wife and live-in girlfriend (yes, you read that right) helped form the character. — WG
The Killing Of A Sacred Deer (October 27)
After numerous delays, director Yorgos Lanthimos’s The Lobster was finally released last year with the savage satire about societal pressures over relationships rocketing up many critics’ “Best Of The Year” list. His quick turnaround on The Killing Of A Sacred Deer means we don’t get to savor the anticipation of of waiting for the new film, but instead get to dive right into this new story of a man who opens his home to a troubled teen with no particularly good results. — RD
Thor: Ragnarok (November 3)
The Thor franchise is the red-headed stepchild of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. They don’t do that well at the box office and they seem to be a slight rung below the other films in quality. This third installment might just change that. The film seems jammed packed with MCU goodness and is bound to set up next year’s Avengers: Infinity War. That makes it worth seeing. — WG
Murder on the Orient Express (November 10)
It is one of Agatha Christie’s greatest stories. It is directed by one of the best directors in the land. And it features an all-star cast. If you haven’t seen any of the previous adaptations – or even if you have and would like to compare – this would probably be a good use of your film going budget. — WG
Justice League (November 17)
Oh, the DC Extended Universe. Coming off a hugely successful Wonder Woman, things looked bright for Warner’s DC film franchise. Then there were rewrites for the film done by Joss Whedon. Then Whedon taking over as director of the reshoots when Zack Snyder had to step down. Then came the rumors that Whedon was filming a whole lot more than just reshoots for the film. And just like that, all momentum they had going into the film is lost. Now, “I Can’t Wait to See It” has turned into “I Hope It Will Be Good.” — WG
Wonder (November 17)
On the surface, the film seems like a treacly adaptation of a tear-jerker book. After all, it is about a disfigured boy who enters public school for the first time and teaches everyone lessons about life. But the addition of Julia Roberts to the cast offers hope that this will be a cut above what you’d expect. — WG
