Good grief! Gire sizes up fall film game plan
Sure, the fall movie season packs some anticipated punches - the fourth Daniel Craig 007 thriller, the final “Hunger Games” chapter, the next disappointing “Paranormal Activity” sequel.
But let's be honest: Three generations of “Star Wars” fans are merely biding their time until “The Force Awakens” on Dec. 18.
Until then, here are the movies starring at theaters near you, all the way up to the official start of the holiday film season Nov. 25. Please remember that distributors change opening dates with the frequency that “Game of Thrones” kills off characters.
SEPT. 18
“About Ray” - Talk about perfect timing in light of Caitlyn Jenner. Elle Fanning's young woman decides to become male. Her mom (Naomi Watts) and her lesbian grandmother (Susan Sarandon) grapple with the consequences.
“Black Mass” - A virtually unrecognizable Johnny Depp plays Irish mobster Whitey Bulger, who cooperates with Joel Edgerton's FBI agent to take out South Boston's Italian mob during the 1970s.
“Captive” - The power of reading becomes the topic of this thriller when a fugitive (David Oyelowo) takes a meth addict (Kate Mara) hostage, and she recites inspirational passages from Rick Warren's “The Purpose Driven Life.”
“Coming Home” - Husband Chen Daoming goes to a labor camp as a political prisoner. Wife Gong Li develops amnesia after an accident. She continues to wait for her husband's return, unaware that he has been freed and is already with her.
“Cooties” - “You can't eat the teachers, man!” Rainn Wilson screeches as a chicken-nugget-born virus transforms grade-school kids into bloodthirsty savages. Elijah Wood, Alison Pill and co-writer Leigh Whanell play the at-risk teachers in a screenplay written by Mount Prospect native Ian Brennan.
“Everest” - A docudrama set in 1996 when eight climbers died during expeditions up Mount Everest. The cast includes Jake Gyllenhaal, John Hawkes, Josh Brolin and Keira Knightley.
“Hellions” - A pregnant student (Chloe Rose) stays home on Halloween, only to have a gaggle of pint-size demons show up at her door demanding her baby! Good thing “X-Files” star Robert Patrick is in the cast.
“Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials” - The next chapter in this futuristic saga takes the Gladers to a land of hidden dangers they must cross to battle the mysterious WCKD (but is that AM or FM?).
“Pawn Sacrifice” - Tobey Maguire plays chess master Bobby Fischer in Ed Zwick's fact-based drama. It's the USA vs. the USSR for world chess champion bragging rights. Liev Schreiber plays Russian chess master Boris Spassky.
“The Second Mother” - Class distinctions become frayed when the feisty daughter of a Sao Paulo house servant shows up and refuses to accept the “upstairs/downstairs” mentality her mother has adopted.
“Sleeping With Other People” - A stellar cast leads this romantic comedy about a troubled couple (Jason Sudeikis and Alison Brie) who agree to keep their relationship platonic after years of infidelity.
“Time Out of Mind” - Richard Gere tests his versatility by playing a homeless, mentally ill man who befriends a has-been jazz musician (Ben Vereen), now also living on the streets.
SEPT. 25
“Ashby” - Ed (Nat Wolff) discovers his mysterious neighbor (Mickey Rourke) used to be a CIA assassin. How can this help him in school?
“Finders Keepers” - Apparently, this movie recounts an amputee's fight to reclaim his mummified leg from an entrepreneur who found it in a grill he bought at an auction. Uh, what???
“Goodnight Mommy” - Nine-year-old twins think there's something fishy about Mom when she returns from cosmetic surgery. She seems to be someone else.
“Hotel Transylvania 2” - Drac (Adam Sandler) returns in a tolerance lesson disguised as an animated comedy in which his monsters-only hotel policy is lifted to include humans. But Drac's worried about his half-human, half-vampire grandson.
“The Intern” - A comedy about a retired businessman (Robert De Niro) who lands an internship with a chic fashion website run by Anne Hathaway. What use can he be? Wait until someone tries to take over the company.
“Mission to Lars” - Kate and Will Spicer promise their brother Tom (who suffers from Fragile X syndrome) they'll help him meet his hero, Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich.
“Misunderstood” - Allegedly the good, the bad and the ugly parts of growing up for 9-year-old Aria (Giulia Salerno), dealing with the unraveling marriage of her temperamental artist parents.
“The New Girlfriend” - In Francois Ozon's humorous psychological drama, a recent widower begins to gravitate toward his feminine side, leading to complications with his late wife's best friend.
“Sicario”- Emily Blunt plays an idealistic FBI agent enlisted by a task force official (Josh Brolin) to win the war against drugs in Mexico. Benicio Del Toro plays an enigmatic consultant.
“Stonewall” - Jeremy Irvine stars as a young man caught up in the 1969 Stonewall Riots, starting a crusade for gay equality.
SEPT. 30
“The Walk” - Chicago's Robert Zemeckis directs the fact-based story of a high wire walker (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) determined to stroll on a wire between New York's World Trade Center towers.
OCT. 2
“Gravy” - It's been a while since we've had a cannibal movie. On Halloween, costumed misfits invade a Mexican cantina and force the staff to prepare a night of gluttony.
“The Martian” - It's “Robinson Crusoe on Mars” with astronaut Matt Damon stranded on the angry red planet, except that he figures out a way to phone home, setting in motion a desperate Mission: Impossible attempt by NASA to rescue him. With Jessica Chastain, Kristin Wiig, Jeff Daniels, Kate Mara. Directed by Ridley Scott.
“Mississippi Grind” - Two poker players (Ryan Reynolds, Ben Mendelsohn) head to the big game in New Orleans, making personal discoveries along the way.
“Narcopolis” - While investigating a drug death, a cop (Elliot Cowan) stumbles upon a conspiracy involving a lethal new super-drug.
“99 Homes” - Ramin Bahrani's dramatic ethics lesson, set during the 2008 financial collapse, concerns an honest man (Andrew Garfield), who loses his family house to a bank shark (Michael Shannon) but is offered a job taking homes away from other families. Oh, the pressure.
OCT. 9
“Big Stone Gap” - Ashley Judd plays a small town spinster (whoa, talk about miscasting) resigned to lead a quiet, single life until she discovers a long-buried family secret that probably has something to do with co-star Patrick Wilson. Whoopi Goldberg, Jenna Elfman, Chris Sarandon star.
“Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead” - Douglas Tirola's documentary on the creation and impact of the National Lampoon magazine empire.
“Freehold” - The true love story of a cancer-stricken New Jersey police detective (Julianne Moore) who wants to leave her pension to her domestic partner (Ellen Page), but county officials conspire to block it.
“He Named Me Malala” - Davis Guggenheim documentary on Malala Yousafzai, shot in the head by Taliban gunmen for speaking out for girls' education in Pakistan.
“In My Father's House” - A documentary on hip-hop artist Che “Rhymefest” Smith - co-writer of the 2015 Oscar-winning song “Glory” from the movie “Selma.”
“Labyrinth of Lies” - A classic honest-man-against-the-system story based on the only German public prosecutor willing to bring Nazi war criminals to trial in 1958.
“Pan” - Director Joe Wright tries his hand at the Peter Pan story with Levi Miller as Peter, Hugh Jackman as Blackbeard, Garrett Hedlund as Hook and Rooney Mara as Tiger Lily.
“Steve Jobs” - The talented Michael Fassbender plays the enigmatic titular character. With Seth Rogen, Kate Winslet and Jeff Daniels.
OCT. 14
“A Ballerina's Tale” - A behind-the-scenes look at how Misty Copeland made history as the first African-American woman to be named principal dancer of the legendary American Ballet Theatre.
OCT. 16
“Beasts of No Nation” - Filmmaker Cary Fukunaga writes and directs a drama about a young boy whose father is killed before his eyes, then he's forced to become a child soldier for a sadistic mercenary commander (Idris Elba) in West Africa.
“Bridge of Spies” - Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks team up again to present the fact-based drama about the American attorney charged with negotiating the release of a U-2 spy plane pilot shot down over Russia at the height of the Cold War.
“Crimson Peak” - It could be the scariest movie of the season, if there's more to it than the frights already ruined in the trailers. A woman (Mia Wasikowska) gets whisked away to an old drafty castle that looks like we just stepped onto the Haunted Mansion ride at Disneyworld. Directed by Guillermo del Toro and co-starring Jessica Chastain.
“Goosebumps” - Jack Black plays “Goosebumps” author R.L. Stine, who keeps monsters imprisoned in his books - until one night they escape, and it's up to the kids to save the day.
“James White” - A troubled New York twenty-something is forced to take control of his life as his mother battles a serious illness.
“Quay Brothers” - Christopher Nolan curates this four-pack of movies, three from the Quay brothers, identical twins known for their stop-motion animated works.
OCT. 23
“Asthma” - Two New York City rebels hit the road in a stolen Rolls-Royce in a rock 'n' roll romance. Krysten Ritter, Nick Nolte and Rosanna Arquette star.
“Burnt” - Bradley Cooper stars in this comedy about a rock star master chef who can only obtain his own restaurant and earn the coveted three-star Michelin rating if he works with the beautiful Helene (Sienna Miller). With Emma Thompson, Uma Thurman and Alicia Vikander.
“Jem and the Holograms” - The 1980s animated TV music series comes to the silver screen with Aubrey Peeples supplying the voice and personality of Jerrica Benton, alias Jem.
“The Last Witch Hunter” - That would be Vin Diesel, out to stop the resurrected Queen Witch. With Elijah Wood and Michael Caine.
“Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension” - “For the first time, you will see the Activity!” the creepy trailer promises. Katie Featherston will be in a walker before she stops making these found-footage horror movies.
“Rock the Kasbah” - Bill Murray shines as a down-on-his-luck rock manager in Afghanistan where he discovers a talented local singer and guides her through the auditions for the reality TV series “Afghan Star.” With Bruce Willis, Kate Hudson and Zooey Deschanel.
“Room” - Are we really ready for Joan Allen to play a character called “Grandma”? Brie Larson is raising a 5-year-old in a windowless room. When they decide to step out, what can happen?
OCT. 30
“Bare” - An innocent small town Nevada girl falls for a female drifter who leads her into a life of stripping, drugs and psychedelic spiritual experiences. (Not written by Diablo Cody.)
“I Smile Back” - Caustic comedian Sarah Silverman displays her dramatic chops as a mom who takes drugs, sleeps around and disappears without notice. Only when her family begins to collapse does she make a desperate attempt to save it and herself.
“Nasty Baby” - An English-language indie from Chilean director Sebastian Silva about New York bohemians trying to get pregnant while fending off intrusive neighbors. Kristen Wiig can't conceive with her friend (Silva), so they must choose a third party to do the honors.
“Our Brand is Crisis” - David Gordon Green directs a drama inspired by the 2005 documentary (of the same title), an expose of a bungled election campaign in South America. With Sandra Bullock and Billy Bob Thornton.
“Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse” - A horror comedy in which scouts band together to save their town from the undead. Not just undead people, either. Undead kitty cats and other forms of former life.
“Truth” - College students break into a secret government facility and accidentally release a deadly virus designed as a truth serum. Robert Redford, Cate Blanchett, Dennis Quaid and Topher Grace star.
NOV. 6
“The Hallow” - A London conservationist (Joseph Mawle) and his wife (Bojana Novakovic) move to a remote house near the Irish forest, where “zombie fungus” grows and banshees, baby snatchers and demons hang out.
“Miss You Already” - Two lifelong friends (Drew Barrymore and Toni Collette) have their relationship tested when one develops breast cancer.
“The Peanuts Movie” - The crew behind those “Ice Age” animated comedies produce the first silver screen movie starring Charles Schultz's beloved comic strip characters in 3-D! Cue the Red Baron for his close-up.
“SPECTRE” - Inspired casting highlights Daniel Craig's fourth outing as 007 as he tracks down the mysterious international criminal organization called SPECTRE. Who else but Christoph Waltz could be the chief baddie?
“Trumbo” - The true story of Hollywood screenwriter Dalton Trumbo (Bryan Cranston), blacklisted during the 1940s and 1950s for his political beliefs, until producer/star Kirk Douglas put his name on the screenplay to “Spartacus.” Diane Lane, John Goodman, Helen Mirren and Elle Fanning co-star.
NOV. 13
“Love The Coopers” - Four generations of a family come together for a Christmas Eve party. Will they be able to strengthen their bonds after an insane night of surprises? With Amanda Seyfried, Ed Helms, Olivia Wilde, Diane Keaton and John Goodman.
“My All American” - From the writer of “Hoosiers” and “Rudy” comes the fact-based story of a small lad (Finn Wittrock) whose dreams of playing football for the University of Texas collide with fateful reality.
“Rings” - “Big Bang Theory” star Johnny Galecki is in the cast of this horror sequel, the second sequel to the English remake of the haunted VHS tape terror tale “Ringu” from Japan.
“The 33” - Antonio Banderas, Jennifer Lopez and Martin Sheen star in a drama detailing the daring rescue of 33 Chilean miners trapped for 69 days in 2010.
“Victoria” - Sebastian Schipper directs a desperate bank robber thriller shot in real time in a single two-hour, 18-minute take with reportedly not a single cut and no CGI effects. Really.
NOV. 20
“#Horror” - Based on a true story of preteen girls living in a suburban world of money and privilege, until their obsession over an online game turns virtual terror into the real deal.
“The Hunger Games” Mockingjay Part 2” - The final chapter pits an angry Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) against the brutal President Snow (Donald Sutherland). Directed by Francis Lawrence, who gave us the dopiest chapter so far.
“Secret in Their Eyes” - Investigators Ray (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and Jess (Julia Roberts) have a tough case to solve after someone brutally kills Jess' daughter. Thirteen years later, Ray thinks he has a break. Let's hope that supervisor Nicole Kidman doesn't turn out to be the culprit.