SEPTEMBER 28
The final weekend in the month seems to carry a little something for everyone beginning with the animated feature Hotel Transylvania featuring a voice cast that includes Adam Sandler as Dracula, the owner of the titular establishment, along with Kevin James as Frankenstein, David Spade as The Invisible Man, Jon Lovitz as Quasimodo and other talents including Steve Buscemi, Molly Shannon, Andy Samberg, Fran Drescher and Cee-Lo Green as Murray the Mummy. There seems to be a lot of room for this film to succeed and I wouldn’t be surprised to see it put up big numbers… if it’s any good.
The this same weekend brings a couple of long-gestating titles in Solomon Kane, which actually hit Video On Demand on August 24 and Joe Dante‘s The Hole in 3D, both of which have been completed for over three years and are finally hitting U.S. theaters. If I had to pick one over the other, the choice would certainly go to Solomon Kane, which looks like it could be a decent VOD watch with James Purefoy in the lead role as a “16th Century killing machine” and flanked by a supporting cast that includes Max von Sydow, Pete Postlethwaite, Rachel Hurd-Wood, Alice Krige, Mackenzie Crook and Jason Flemyng. Why not give it a shot?
Next is a possible Oscar contender in Won’t Back Down, a story of two mothers (Viola Davis and Maggie Gyllenhaal) who team up to help make a difference at a local school. If the message appeals to audiences and Davis delivers another performance like we know she can maybe she’s looking at another nom and perhaps even Gyllenhaal can get a second nomination.
Finally, one of my more anticipated features left this year is Rian Johnson‘s Looper, which is serving as the opening night film at the Toronto Film Festival and Johnson’s first film with a bonafide budget. The pic, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis and Emily Blunt, centers on Joe (Levitt), a time-traveling hired gun working for the mob in the capacity that when they want someone killed they send their target 30 years into the past, where a “looper” takes care of the rest. Joe is getting rich and life is good until the day the mob decides to “close the loop,” sending back Joe’s future self (Willis) for assassination.
That does it for September, to explore other months in the season use the navigation below, which will be updated as months are added. What films are you most excited to see?
