Let's jump right in...
October 5th
October 12th
October 19th
October 26th
Cloud Atlas: Directed by Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run) and Lana Wachowski (The Matrix Trilogy, the same Wachoswki Brother that had a sex change), it's a sweeping epic that spans several centuries and boasts a 5-Star all-star cast. The trailer can be confusing as it takes place in different locations and different centuries but the cinematography and SFX look amazing. The premise is that people's actions affect the lives of others across time. Tom Hanks and Halle Berry are just a few of the stars in this one. Other than Argo, October doesn't have a lot of big films but this one looks to be it. Be advised...it is nearly 3 hours long so it may not be for everyone but rest assured I will check it out. My only Hope is that it doesn't turn out to live up to the hype like Tree of Life or The Fountain, not that those were bad films but a bit hard to grasp.
Pusher: Set in England its about a mid-level drug dealer living the good life who hits a snag during a deal. h Due to the snag, he owes his European mobster boss $50k and if he doesn't pay, you can probably guess the rest. This plot seems at bit used but it's British so it should have a little more grit to it based on the trailer. Who knows what kind of release this will get but it might be worth checking out.
Chasing Mavericks:Directed by Curtis Hanson, this based on a true story film is about Jay Moriarty. Moriarity was a famous surfer who died while free diving in the Indian Ocean in 2001. At 16 he made the cover of Surfer Magazine because of a wipeout at Mavericks. Not being a surfing aficionado I've never heard of this guy but it stars Gerard Butler (who's talented but for some reason pops up in rom-coms) and Hanson is a solid director. This could be a good change of pace.
Silent Hill: Revelation 3D: This is another installment of the franchise. It has much of the original cast (in varying degrees of onscreen time) and it deals with Heather Mason's 18th birthday and her "revelation" that she may not be who she seems. Through her nightmares she's able to enter the alternate dimension of Silent Hill (???) and face off against the evil forces that run the town. I vaguely remember seeing the 1st one and know almost nothing about the video game. I guess if you like the video game and the franchise you should check it out. Films based on video games are hot or miss. Occasionally you get an interesting one like Resident Evil but then they keep churning out installments until the horse dies and it's summarily beaten into the ground (much like Resident Evil).
That about does it for October. There seems to be a lot of smaller films and documentaries out there as well that I didn't mention. As we get closer to the Holidays the films that are looking to get Oscar buzz will start to come out. There might be a few keepers this month but who knows. Argo & Cloud Atlas looked to be the epics of the month and may get some early Oscar buzz. Thank you for your time.
October 5th
- Taken 2: Taken came out in January (usually a dead month for the film industry) of 2009 and quite frankly was a solid action film. This time Liam Neeson meets his wife, Famke Janssen (are they back together?) and daughter, Maggie Grace, in Istanbul for a family get together. What should be a nice family gathering in an exotic foreign country quickly turns ugly when Boris 'The Bullet Dodger' Yurinov turns up and wants revenge on Neeson for killing his son in the 1st picture. Neeson and Janssen get "taken" but not before Neeson calls Grace to inform her that he & her mother are going to be taken (don't ya just love it when they work the title of the film into the dialogue). Of course, Grace tries to elude her captors by going out on a ledge in her underwear. As you might expect, Neeson frees himself and sets about Istanbul killing the minions of the man who has his wife. I suspect that this film is very predictable and will most likely take the violence up a notch from the first one. Rest assured, I will see this film. I may regret it but I know what I'm getting into.
- V/H/S: I've seen this trailer a few times and here's the premise, a bunch of dudes break into a facility to steal a VHS tape. I'm not sure how far they had to travel to find out who still has a VHS in this day & age but it's a movie so let's just go with it. The group has to soft through stacks of weird tapes to find the correct one and suffice to say weird sh*t starts to happen. This film looks likes it taking different themes from different horror films and putting them together in an "orignal" package. As I've said before with these types of films, BE CAREFUL. They are all hit or miss. Co-Directors, Adam Wingard & Glenn McQuaid , have been involved with some other films of this genre (none that I've heard of) and the cast is relatively unknown to me. V/H/S got a 75% on RottenTomatoes.com but I will probably pass on this film unless the buzz after it's release is something I can't ignore.
- The Paperboy: Stars McConaughey, pretty boy Zac Ephron, John Cusak and Nicole Kidman (in a To Die For type role) in a steamy drama about an alleged innocent man on Florida's death row. I've seen this preview a few times and the Kidman exudes sexuality. Cusak plays the husband who's on death row. The trailer gives away the fact that Cusak gets out. Hard to say about this one. It looks a lot like Just Cause so the premise has been done before. The trailer piques my interest but I'm not sold on Ephron's acting ability. I'm going to take a wait and see (or not see) approach.
- Pitch Perfect: This film actually had a limited release on September 28th but it's nationwide release is set for this weekend. I suspect that 16-24 boys/men will go see Taken 2 while their girlfriends will see this one. Pitch Perfect looks as if it's trying to cash in on the Glee crowd. You've got a diverse group of young ladies (insecure Caucasian hotties, an Asian girl who can belt it out, a confident & funny plus size lady and an Afro-American lady) putting aside their differences and stereotypes to come together to show off their singing talents at some televised show. You can pretty much figure this one out but watch the 90 second trailer. There's some crude humor and I'm sure there's a pretty boy love interest thrown into the mix. Think Sisterhood except instead of nuns it's young girls. I'm not the demographic they're shooting for with this.
October 12th
- Argo: Has Ben Affleck at the helm of his latest directorial feature, a spy type thriller that takes place during the Iranian hostage crisis of 1979. Six Americans escape from the embassy and are hidden by the Canadian ambassador. Affleck plays the CIA agent charged with getting the out before they are found and executed. Affleck's plan is to go in disguised as a Canadian film crew scouting locations for a sci-fi film. It's based on a true story and sports an all-star cast. I remember this happening when I was in grade school, those were tough days in the US. I liked The Town so I'm probably going to see this one. If it's as good as The Town then it will make me wonder why Affleck wasted 10 years of his post Good Will Hunting Life on mostly garbage.
- Here Comes the Boom: Kevin James stars as a loveable teacher who wants to save the arts programs at his high school. His solution...become an MMA fighter. The 90 second preview tells you all you need to know about this film. You get to see him start off in low level fights and working his way up to the big time in a comic way. Henry Winkler is there to help him out and Selma Hayek is another teacher that he has the hots for and who also fixes his dislocated shoulder. This looks a lot like an updated version of Nacho Libre, which wasn't very good. Unless you're a Kevin James devotee then stay away.
- Sinister: Yet another film about a family that moves into a creepy house and bad things happen (this plot line is a never ending cycle that should go away for awhile). Ehtan Hawke plays the patriarch that discovers some old 8mm films in the attic and finds some weird stuff so he takes it to the cops. Eventually weird things begin to happen involving his kids and a spooky demon. Scott Derrickson directs and he's had some experience in this genre but nothing all that fantastic. It got high marks on Rottentomatoes.com but I am going to pass on this unless someone I trust tells me it's worth it.
- Seven Psychopaths: Martin McDonagh directs an ensemble cast of quirky criminals that involve dog-napping and other hi-jinx. McDonagh directed Colin Farrell in In Bruges which was a really good film. I've seen the trailer for this a few times and I'm lukewarm at best. Sometimes when you get an ensemble cast in a comedic type caper film and it works (Get Shorty), then again sometimes it doesn't (Big Trouble). Again this title got high marks but I'm wary of it.
- Smiley:Yet another urban legend comes to life. "Smiley" is a serial killer that can be summoned via the internet. Well apparently a group of nubile 20 something hotties try to break the monotony of their lives by doing just that. The kicker here is that all this may just be in the head of Ashley. No one believes her until the bodies start piling up. I guess someone came up with this premise because 2012 is the 30th or so anniversary of the emotcon. There's nothing new here and this should probably go direct to DVD.
Other titles that open on this date include a film called Smashed, about a hard drinking couple that take it too far. Special Forces stars Diane Kruger as a war correspondent who faces execution from the Taliban and a special forces unit is dispatched to rescue her. Hotel Noir stars Carla Gugino and Rufus Sewell (who are talented) but it also has Mandy Moore in a 1950's LA film noir about a guy who crossed the mob. There not much on Rotten Tomatoes about this film. I mention it because I like Gugino and Sewell but who knows how many screens this will open on.
October 19th
- Paranormal Activity 4: The 4th installment of the franchise. I have a feeling that we may see more of these because they're relatively inexpensive to make so whatever they get at the box office is gravy. It's pretty much like the 1st 3 which at least told a story of the cursed sisters. Judging by the preview one of the sisters (not sure which one) comes back to haunt the family living in her old house. Let's put it to rest already. They had a nice run with the first two, the 3rd was so-so but enough already.
- Alex Cross: Suffice to say I dig a good crime thriller and I like the character of Alex Cross (originally portrayed by Morgan Freeman in 1997's Kiss the Girls). Tyler Perry will be taking up the role of Alex Cross in what I think is pretty good casting. Mathew Fox plays the killer he's after. The preview looks pretty interesting but it's directed by Marc Moss, who's got a long if not underwhelming resume so who knows. I will probably check it out but wait til after the opening weekend to see what the buzz is like.
October 26th
Cloud Atlas: Directed by Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run) and Lana Wachowski (The Matrix Trilogy, the same Wachoswki Brother that had a sex change), it's a sweeping epic that spans several centuries and boasts a 5-Star all-star cast. The trailer can be confusing as it takes place in different locations and different centuries but the cinematography and SFX look amazing. The premise is that people's actions affect the lives of others across time. Tom Hanks and Halle Berry are just a few of the stars in this one. Other than Argo, October doesn't have a lot of big films but this one looks to be it. Be advised...it is nearly 3 hours long so it may not be for everyone but rest assured I will check it out. My only Hope is that it doesn't turn out to live up to the hype like Tree of Life or The Fountain, not that those were bad films but a bit hard to grasp.
Pusher: Set in England its about a mid-level drug dealer living the good life who hits a snag during a deal. h Due to the snag, he owes his European mobster boss $50k and if he doesn't pay, you can probably guess the rest. This plot seems at bit used but it's British so it should have a little more grit to it based on the trailer. Who knows what kind of release this will get but it might be worth checking out.
Chasing Mavericks:Directed by Curtis Hanson, this based on a true story film is about Jay Moriarty. Moriarity was a famous surfer who died while free diving in the Indian Ocean in 2001. At 16 he made the cover of Surfer Magazine because of a wipeout at Mavericks. Not being a surfing aficionado I've never heard of this guy but it stars Gerard Butler (who's talented but for some reason pops up in rom-coms) and Hanson is a solid director. This could be a good change of pace.
Silent Hill: Revelation 3D: This is another installment of the franchise. It has much of the original cast (in varying degrees of onscreen time) and it deals with Heather Mason's 18th birthday and her "revelation" that she may not be who she seems. Through her nightmares she's able to enter the alternate dimension of Silent Hill (???) and face off against the evil forces that run the town. I vaguely remember seeing the 1st one and know almost nothing about the video game. I guess if you like the video game and the franchise you should check it out. Films based on video games are hot or miss. Occasionally you get an interesting one like Resident Evil but then they keep churning out installments until the horse dies and it's summarily beaten into the ground (much like Resident Evil).
That about does it for October. There seems to be a lot of smaller films and documentaries out there as well that I didn't mention. As we get closer to the Holidays the films that are looking to get Oscar buzz will start to come out. There might be a few keepers this month but who knows. Argo & Cloud Atlas looked to be the epics of the month and may get some early Oscar buzz. Thank you for your time.
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