The Fall movie season puts us smack dab in the middle of awards season. September begins with the Venice and Telluride Film Festivals underway and on the 6th day of the month critics descend on the Toronto Film Festival through the 16th. In the meantime, studios are ramping up for their fall slate with only a couple major titles throughout the month, a few more in October and then by November things really begin to roll.
With this 2012 Fall Movie Preview I’m going to take a look at one month at a time beginning with September and moving all the way through the end of the year. So you’re looking at four parts and it’s going to take four days. I hope you’re ready because there is a lot to get through.
In September there is one sure-thing Oscar contender, two classics returning to theaters (one in 3D, the other in IMAX), a little sci-fi, a video game adaptation, horror, raunchy comedy, animation, Clint Eastwood and there is one film specifically I have already seen and truly loved.
Let’s get to it.
SEPTEMBER 7
The first weekend of the month brings two films you can already watch On Demand if you so choose. The first is Bachelorette starring Lizzy Caplan, Kirsten Dunst, Isla Fisher and Rebel Wilson. It’s a film that’s sure to be compared to Bridesmaids, but for my money it’s a better film with a definite mean-spirited edge to it at times. Dunst and Fisher are fantastic and while it bumps up against cliche more often than it probably should it’s hard to go wrong here if you’re looking for comedy.
The other is already-available title is [REC] 3: Genesis and at this point it looks like Jaume Balaguero and Paco Plaza have taken their 2007 original, which inspired the remake Quarantine, and run it into the ground. REC 2 was no good and with Plaza taking this one on by himself it looks like they have decided to mix the “found footage” style of filmmaking they used on the first two with more traditional camerawork. I have little hope the third film will be too good as what started as a virus, turned into a religious film and now just appears to be straight-forward flesh-eating zombie mania looks incredibly tired.
CBS Films will release the Bradley Cooper and Zoe Saldana feature The Words, which they picked up out of Sundance earlier this year. The film centers on a writer (Cooper) that has written the next great American novel, the only problem is he stole it and the film explores the repercussions of that decision.
The Eye of the Storm is a film that’s been on the shelves forever and one that was looked at as far back as last year as a potential Oscar contender given the talent involved, which includes Charlotte Rampling, Geoffrey Rush and Judy Davis, but based on the ho-hum feelings I heard at least year’s Toronto Film Festival it doesn’t sound like this is worth the time.
The 7th also offers The Cold Light of Day, which looks like a direct-to-DVD title considering the talent and the fact it landed at Summit as Bruce Willis and Sigourney Weaver star alongside Henry Cavill whose name will mean a lot more next summer when he stars as Superman in Man of Steel. Here Cavill finds himself on vacation with his family when they are kidnapped and he eventually finds himself on the run. Eh, not interested.
Finally, the one I won’t be able to see as I’ll be in Toronto when it enjoys its limited release. Paramount is preparing to unleash a newly restored version of Raiders of the Lost Ark in IMAX ahead of the film’s upcoming Blu-ray release on September 18 as part of the Indiana Jones: The Complete Adventures (preorder here). Maybe there will be a screening before I leave.
