What's worth your time? Well, as the cliché goes, there really is something for everyone coming soon to a theater near you. But here's a primer list of 25 movies that, for one reason or another, we think you'll want to see.
-3:10 to Yuma, 09/07 – Play Trailer A few good reasons to see this western: it's currently 100% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, the trailer pitting Russell Crowe's smooth baddie against Christian Bale's noble everyman looks phenomenal, and this is the same filmmaking team who brought you Walk the Line.
-The Brave One, 09/14 – Play Trailer The buzz is building for this thriller which stars Jodie Foster as a wronged radio host seeking vengeance on the men who killed her fiancé. The Crying Game director Neil Jordan knows how to create a stir, and Foster is always reliable for making smart, audience-friendly mega-hits.
-Across the Universe, 09/14 – Play Trailer It all sounds a bit ambitious, as Broadway’s Lion King director Julie Taymor uses Beatles songs to create a musical about a Romeo and Juliet-styled love story set in the '60s. But this preview looks intriguing, and we're curious to find out if it really is, as advertised, "the most original, exhilarating, spectacular, groundbreaking motion picture of the year."
-In the Valley of Elah, 09/14 – Play Trailer This movie features another knockout trailer, A-list cast (Academy Award winners Tommy Lee Jones, Charlize Theron and Susan Sarandon), hot filmmaker (Crash writer-director Paul Haggis) and an important subject...the effect of the Iraq war on the men and women who fight it, and their loved ones at home.
-The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, 09/21 – Play Trailer Contemplative is the early word for this one starring Brad Pitt as the infamous outlaw, and Casey Affleck as the man who'll ultimately kill him. We're just glad to see Pitt stretch his chops in a less showy role, and now seems as good a time as any to take a closer look at hero worship and its follies.
-The Kingdom, 09/28 - Play Trailer Director/actor Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights) gives international politics and action his best shot with this thriller about a secret U.S. investigation of a bombing in Saudi Arabia. Terrorism is a common theme this season, but Berg's a competent filmmaker, and the cast, including Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Chris Cooper, Jason Bateman and Jeremy Piven, should make this a worthwhile entry.
-Michael Clayton, 10/05 - Play Trailer Lest there be not enough drama already this Fall, A-listers George Clooney and director Tony Gilroy (writer of the Bourne series) will ratchet up the tension a few more degrees with a timely story about big business legal wrangling. Clooney plays a coporate attorney 'fixer' who faces his biggest challenge when a peer decides to follow his conscience, and sabotages a major case.
-We Own the Night, 10/12This isn't this season's The Departed (that honor should go to American Gangster). But it's a nice warm-up, with Mark Wahlberg and Joaquin Phoenix as two estranged sons -- a cop and a nightclub owner -- who must work together when policeman father Robert Duvall and family are targeted by the Russian mafia.
-Elizabeth: The Golden Age, 10/12 - Play Trailer Cate Blanchett returns to the role that won her an Oscar nomination. Elizabeth director Shekhar Kapur is back, too, for what could be lightning in a bottle once more. The preview looks action-packed, as the Queen dallies in romance with an adventurer, while putting on her war face against those trying to dethrone her.
-Rendition, 10/19 – Play Trailer The establishment comes under fire again in this message movie about an American wife (Reese Witherspoon) frantically searching for her missing husband, who's being interrogated by CIA new guy Jake Gyllenhaal. Tricky material, but director Gavin Hood also made the affecting, Oscar-winning Tsotsi.
-Reservation Road, 10/19 - Play Trailer Don't say Walk the Line Oscar nominee Joaquin Phoenix isn't trying to live up to his promise. This psychological drama pits two fathers, Phoenix and Mark Ruffalo, on a collision course after a hit-and-run accident. Jennifer Connelly and Mira Sorvino play the wives caught between them.
-Dan in Real Life, 10/26 - Play Trailer Steve Carell, in a more character-based comedy than Evan Almighty, plays a single dad advice columnist who finds the perfect woman...who happens to be dating his younger brother (Dane Cook). Opening in late October, this family-friendly film could be just the warm-hearted gem audiences cozy up to straight through the Thanksgiving holiday.
-American Gangster, 11/02 – Play Trailer Just when you thought Russell Crowe vs. Christian Bale sounded cool, here comes an even more intense clash of ultra-titans. This time, Crowe (as a top dog detective) is pitted against Denzel Washington as a smart mobster whose evasion of the authorities has the Aussie tough guy all in a fuss. By the end of the preview, you're salivating to see who will lay the smack down in a heavyweight contender directed by Ridley Scott.
-Bee Movie, 11/02 - Play Trailer Alright, so you’ need some laughs this season, too. Jerry Seinfeld’s here to provide them in this DreamWorks CGI-animated tale. Seinfeld plays an adventurous bee who falls for a florist (Renee Zellweger), but has serious reservations about the rest of the human race and their never-ending pursuit of honey.
-No Country for Old Men, 11/09 – Play Trailer The Coen Brothers’ latest pic was nominated for the Golden Palm at this year's Cannes Film Festival. Now everyone can see how good it is. From the preview, we're psyched to witness Javier Bardem chewing the scenery and everything else in his path as a psychopath who demands potential victims call their fate on a coin toss.
-Fred Claus, 11/09 – Play Trailer If Bee Movie plays a little young for you, well, this might, too - but it should be funny, in what looks like a cross between Elf and Swingers. Vince Vaughn hams it up big time as Santa's forgotten older brother, but we wouldn't want it any other way.
-Lions for Lambs, 11/09 – Play Trailer Oscar loves these message movies, and if they’re made right, so do we. Screen legends Robert Redford, Meryl Streep and Tom Cruise do their best to get under our skins in another war-time tale about the rights, wrongs and in-betweens that comprise and/or compromise our battle against terrorism.
-Beowulf, 11/16 - Play Trailer CGI can be a crutch for some filmmakers, but Robert Zemeckis, from the early days of Forrest Gump, has been one of the technique's foremost innovators. Here, he uses CGI and 3D to make lead Ray Winstone look 20 years younger and 70 pounds lighter. Angelina Jolie still looks the same, and that’s a good thing in 3D.
-August Rush, 11/21 – Play Trailer The story is familiar: an orphan seeks his real parents. But there's something about the trailer. Maybe it's that the boy finds them because of his musical gift, which has been passed down from his folks. Or maybe it's that Robin Williams doesn’t look all that weird sporting earrings and sideburns. Whatever it is, the preview really is moving.
-Atonement, 12/07 Another great buzz movie, hailed as another winner from Pride and Prejudice director Joe Wright and star Keira Knightley. The decades-spanning plot -- about a 13-year-old's wrongful accusation and the changes it causes to several lives -- sounds interesting. After Pirates 3, it's great to see Knightley tackling a more complex character role.
-The Golden Compass, 12/07 - Play Trailer Don't feel too bad for Invasion co-stars Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig. That thriller may have failed at the box office, but this family fantasy, about a young girl's incredible, otherworldly adventures, is based on a highly popular novel by Philip Pullman. With two more books ready for adaptation, distributor New Line's praying for their next Lord of the Rings-type franchise.
-I Am Legend, 12/14 – Play Trailer For those missing the summer popcorn movies, Will Smith brings back the big budget actioner in this adaptation of the classic story about “The Last Man on Earth” who fights a dark presence know as The Infected. Will Mr. Smith save the human race? See the movie, and read the book.
-Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, 12/21 Judd Apatow caps off the 1 - 2 punch of Knocked Up and Superbad with his 3rd movie of the year - a parody of musical biopics starring serious thespian / seriously funny guy John C. Reilly (hilarious in both Talladega Nights and the decade-old Boogie Nights).
-Sweeney Todd, 12/21 Johnny Depp reteams with frequent collaborator Tim Burton in this highly anticipated and eccentric version of the popular stage musical, about a victimized barber who turns the table and his razor blade on the corrupt officials who wronged him. Expect an R-rating for heavy gore.
-Charlie Wilson's War, 12/28The last of the year's (hopefully) great political war dramas stars Academy Award winner Tom Hanks as a Texas congressman who helps the CIA train Afghan freedom fighters. Later, those same rebels empower such entities as the Taliban, and Osama Bin Laden. Mike Nichols' adaptation of the highly-praised novel also stars Oscar winners Julia Roberts and Phillip Seymour Hoffman...ladies and gentlemen, start your 'For Your Consideration' ads.
Those are our picks...which movies make the top of your list?
