Fall Movie Preview: Part One

Well, summer is over and my Summer Movie Preview went well, it got a few views and now I have decided to do a Fall Movie Preview. Yes, I know, I'm from the UK and we don't say Fall. But, meh! I do what I want. So yeah, This piece like the Summer Movie Preview will be split into two parts. There are a lot of great films coming in the next few months and things look more optimistic than the past summer. Many of the Oscar contenders will feature on the preview and most of the films that are released in Fall are usually better than the banal sludge of the summer.So let's start this rundown!

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

Tomas Alfredson's follow up to the 2009 Swedish Vampire masterpiece Let The Right One In sees him tackle the classic novel John Le Carre. With an all star cast including Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, John Hurt, Mark Strong, Tom Hardy and Benedict Cumberbatch playing spies in the cold war era, the story takes the characters all over the world looking for the mole that is embedded into there agency. If any film had the cast that TTSS has, I would be excited. Then add in Tomas Alfredson who's last film LTROI was my favourite film of 2009 and the first two trailers for TTSS and that altogether makes me very excited for this film. I cannot wait!

Drive

One of the most exciting directors around right now is Denmark's Nicholas Winding Refn. His films Bronson and Valhalla Rising are amongst my favourites of the last few years. The director has a great eye for beautiful frames and the way he portrays violence on screen is all but masterful. His latest film Drive sees Ryan Gosling as The Driver, a stuntman by day and a getaway driver by night. A job goes wrong and The Driver is dragged into an underworld of crime. With a great cast involving Bryan "Badass Walter White" Cranston, Carey Mulligan, Ron Perlman, Christina Hendricks an Albert Brooks. Drive looks brilliant and I will be seeing it in the next few days, so look out for my review.

Red State

Kevin Smith takes a huge detour from his usual thing to direct a horror thriller based on the cult religious monsters "West Borough Baptist Church" . Red State follows three sex obsessed teenagers who reply to an ad online that is looking for three men to have a foursome with a lonely woman. They set it up and head out to a trailer were they meet Melissa Leo's character Sarah Cooper. They are drugged and wake up in the compound of  The Five Points Church led by Pastor Abin Cooper. From the trailers this film looks really interesting and it seems like Michael Parks owns the role of Abin Cooper.

Melancholia

Lars Von Trier is one of the most outspoken directors around today. He goes to Cannes nearly every year and says outrageous comments like "I'm the best director in the world" and "I may have some Nazi in me". He loves controversy. But his films are hit and miss for me. His latest film looks pretty insane. The cast is pretty impressive, Kirsten Dunst stars in the apocalyptic drama that revolves around the wedding of one of two sisters, whilst Earth collides with a rogue planet. The film looks interesting and strange. I will be sure to catch it when it hits theatres in the next few months.

Warrior

If I were to have a Achilles heel of film. It would be sports drama, it doesn't matter how cliched they can be. I just love it and fall for it. Remember The Titans starring Denzel Washington is one of my favourite films. So, Warrior directed by Gavin O'Connor and starring Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton as MMA fighters. Warrior follows the two men in there journey through an MMA tournament. The story is a story we have seen a thousand times, but it's the performances I am looking forward to. Tom Hardy was great in Bronson and Joel Edgerton was equally great in Animal Kingdom. Warrior should be entertaining!

The Three Musketeers

I'm not personally interested in Paul W.S Anderson's latest screen belch. He's a hack of a director, it's in 3D (Pointless), it has Orlando Bland, I mean Bloom. It just looks incredibly stupid. I don't want to see this film, but I had to include it. It is considered one of the major films coming out in the next few months. But, it looks terrible! So I shall not continue.

Real Steel

Hugh Jackman, giant robots boxing, in October you say? This sounds like it should be next to the summer blockbusters like Harry Potter and Transformers. But it's not. I'm gonna be honest. I have no desire to see this film. It looks silly and directed at kids. Sure it could be fun, but for now. I'm not too excited.

Contagion

Steven Soderbergh is apparently retiring soon. He is bowing out with a series of films. Contagion is the beginning of the end at it looks great. It takes a realistic look at a virus outbreak. The film also has a stellar cast. Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Marion Cotillard, Laurence Fishburne, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Bryan Cranston and John Hawkes. So many Oscar winners and nominees. The trailer is really effective in portraying the horror of a virus. I'm really looking forward to this film, I hope it's great.

Tintin: The Secret Of The Unicorn

The famous European children's comic finally makes it's way to the big screen. Steven Speilberg and Peter Jackson bring Tintin to the silver screen. With the technology used in James Cameron's Avatar. Speilberg and Jackson aren't going for realistic CGI characters, they want the film to lok like the original comics. Add in a score by the legendary John Williams, a script written by Edgar Wright (Shaun Of The Dead, Hot Fuzz), Stephen Moffat (Matt Smith's Incarnation In Doctor Who) and Joe Cornish (Attack The Block). This film is looking hard to resist. The trailer isn't brilliant, but conveys the tone of the film. An with the people involved, I'm definitely going to be seeing this film.

The Ides Of March

This film has "OSCAR BAIT" written all over it. Starring George Clooney, The Ides Of March follows Clooney as a Democratic Candidate to the Presidency, Gosling is his assistant and mastermind behind his campaign. Clooney also directs the film and he is a favourite with Oscar voters. I will watch the film just for Gosling, he's a great actor and is an instant screen presence. the rest of the cast includes Paul Giamatti, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Evan Rachael Wood and Marisa Tomei. I'm not completely excited about this film. But I will watch it.

Anonymous

Roland "Disaster Movie" Emmerich takes a detour from his usual forte and directs a historical thriller that ponders whether William Shakespeare actually wrote his most famous plays. Yes, it sounds very silly and it's directed by a man who's last film had a limousine driving through a collapsing building. But, the film has hit some festivals and early reviews indicate it's a good film which shocks me. Apparently it's a tense thriller that is a good romp and is not like anything Emmerich has done before. I'm willing to give this film a chance. Hopefully we get a fun film.

Well, that's the end of the part one. Eleven films to sink your film going teeth into. There are blockbuster, bait and bloody horror. For me, out of these eleven films. The ones I am most looking forward to are Tinker, Tailor, Solider, Spy and Drive. Be sure to look out for Part Two of my Fall Movie Preview next month sometime.

Thanks.

Chris