Fall films deliver demons, dancing and deadly diseases
We've got your Oscar bait (“J. Edgar”).
We've got your remakes (“Footloose”).
We've got your sequels (“Happy Feet 2”).
We've got your prequels (“The Thing”).
We've got your docs (“Limelight”).
We've got your pox (“Contagion”).
And we've got 3-D out the yin-yang.
Must be the fall film season.
Here are the confirmed local release dates for every movie on the docket through mid-November.
Some dates will change, so keep reading the Daily Herald movie ads for updates.
Meanwhile, grab a pen (or mouse) and mark your calendars for the movies you'd like to see. (Hint: Put “Warrior” on your list. You'll thank me.)
Sept. 9
“Bucky Larson Born to be a Star” — A bag boy at a small town grocery story (Nick Swardson) discovers that his conservative parents used to be porn stars. So he heads off to L.A. to keep the family tradition going. With Christina Ricci, Don Johnson and Stephen Dorff. Rated R for pervasive crude sexual content. Don't get your hopes up.
“Circumstance” — Kids will be kids, even in Iran where Atafeh and Shireen deal with their emerging sexual desires and rebellious feelings in their restrictive society. Winner of the 2011 Sundance Audience Award.
“Contagion” — Steven Soderbergh directs an impressive cast of actors in a 2011 version of the those grand 1970s disaster movies. This time, a virus wipes out zillions of people in a matter of days. Who will survive? Kate Winslet? Matt Damon? Gwyneth Paltrow? (Not looking good.) Marion Cotillard? Jude Law? Partially shot in Elgin last year. Hideous sick makeup from Hoffman Estates native Suzi Ostos.
“The Hedgehog” — Sorry, not a biography of legendary porn actor Ron “Hedgehog” Jeremy. A bitter young girl named Paloma (Garance Le Guillermic) uses a camcorder to chronicle the hypocrisy of adults, but the camera begins to capture a surprising world beneath the facades. Based on Muriel Barbery's “The Elegance of the Hedgehog.”
“Mozart's Sister” — Sexism in old Europe is the topic in this speculative drama about Nanneri Mozart (Marie Feret), Wolfgang's more talented older sister, forbidden to compose or play musical instruments while her little bro (David Moreau) becomes a star.
“Warrior” — A movie experience where your heart beats faster and you want to scream just to release the tension. Two estranged brothers (Joel Edgerton and Tom Hardy) wind up among the finalists for a $5 million purse to determine the greatest mixed martial arts fighter in the world. Co-starring Arlington Heights native Jennifer Morrison. Nick Nolte will get an Oscar nomination as the brothers' alcoholic, estranged father.
Sept. 16
“Bellflower” — Two buds (Evan Glodell and Tyler Dawson) who would love the “Jackass” movies spend their time blowing off flame throwers and racing cars while waiting for an apocalypse to end their world. Then one falls for a woman (Jessie Wiseman) and their world does end, metaphorically.
“Drive” — Ryan Gosling plays a Hollywood stunt driver by day, getaway car driver by night. He falls for a young mother (Carey Mulligan) and decides to protect her from two thugs (Ron Perlman and Albert Brooks?) trying to find and hurt her. Things get tougher than he expects.
“Gun Hill Road” — A macho Bronx denizen (Esai Morales) returns home after a three-year stint in the Big House only to find his wife (Judy Reyes) had an affair and his son (Harmony Santana) has experienced a sexual transformation. He has a little bit of adjusting to do.
“The Lion King 3-D” — I've seen the entire opening sequence in its 3-D makeover and it looks amazing, even with the loss of light through the 3-D glasses. The 1994 2-D musical, winner of two Oscars, returns to the silver screen — with a new dimension, of course.
“Mysteries of Lisbon” — This mystery/drama traces a jealous countess, a wealthy businessman and an orphaned lad as they travel across Europe, meeting people. Not exactly a thrill-a-second plot description, is it?
“Straw Dogs” — Sam Peckinpah's violent 1971 classic (threatened with an X rating until he trimmed the footage) contains one of the most disturbing rape scenes on film. Now, under director Rod Lurie, James Marsden and Kate Bosworth play the visiting couple under assault by hooligans in the deep South in a story about the inevitability of violence.
Sept. 23
“Abduction” — A high school senior (“Twilight” star Taylor Lautner) discovers his photo on a missing persons website. So he goes on a perilous mission to find out exactly who he really is. Lily Collins, Alfred Molina and Sigourney Weaver help him. Sort of.
“Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame” — An epic murder mystery inspired by the true story of a soon-to-be empress (Carina Lau) who hires a formerly exiled detective (Andy Lau) to solve a politically sensitive crime before her coronation. It's wisdom and martial arts in the same movie!
“Dolphin Tale” — The true story of how a bunch of marine-loving humans saved a dolphin after its tail gets mutilated in a crab trap. Without a tail, the animal is plankton's meat. The solution not only helps the dolphin, but lots of humans, too. With Morgan Freeman, Ashley Judd, Harry Connick Jr., Kris Kristofferson and Nathan Gamble.
“I Don't Know How She Does It” — Sarah Jessica Parker stars as a Boston woman juggling a job with a finance company, a marriage to a downsized husband (Greg Kinnear) and motherhood to two kids. The kicker? Her working mom pal (Christina Hendricks) can do it all.
“Killer Elite” — A Special Ops agent (Jason Statham) leads a crack team of fighters to rescue his mentor and partner (Robert De Niro) while also shutting down a cell of rogue agents in the British Special Air Service. Inspired by true events.
“Love Crime” — In Alain Corneau's last movie, Kristin Scott Thomas plays a corporate executive who underestimates her young assistant (Ludivine Sagnier) when she passes off the assistant's smart ideas as her own. It's “The Office” on psychotic steroids.
“Moneyball” — Two of the greatest screenwriters in Hollywood — Steve Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin — worked on the script, about Oakland A's manager Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) trying to jump-start his sparkless team during the 2000s. Jonah Hill and Philip Seymour Hoffman co-star.
“Restless” — Gus Van Sant examines the fleeting nature of life in this supernaturally poignant look at a romance between two teens: one who's dying, the other who's already died once. Amazing performances by Henry Hopper (Dennis Hopper's son) and Mia Wasikowska.
“Thunder Soul” — Mark Landsman's doc chronicles the Kashmere Stage Band out of the Kashmere High School in Houston, Texas, where the jazz band became legendary during the 1970s.
Sept. 30
“Dream House” — It's worse than a short sale! A family buys a new house, unaware that a mother and her children were murdered there, and the killer might not be finished with his violent rehabbing project. Erstwhile James Bond Daniel Craig, Rachel Weisz and Naomi Watts star. An unusual genre to be directed by Jim Sheridan.
“50/50” — Will Reiser's bout with cancer (a 50/50 chance of survival) serves as the inspiration for this story about friendship, love and survival starring Seth Rogen and Joseph Gordon-Levitt as buddies whose relationship gets tested by the Big C. Could be one of the season's big touchy/feely hits. Reiser wrote the screenplay.
“Happy Happy” #8212; A young woman (Agnes Kittelsen) accepts her unhappy life living with a man who won't have sex with her because he thinks she's unattractive. Then, a loving couple moves next door, giving her a glimpse of better possibilities.
#8220;Machine Gun Preacher#8221; #8212; An ex-biker gang member (Gerard Butler) risks his life to save East African children from the ruthless Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) that would train them as child soldiers. Based on a true story. With Kathy Baker and Chicago's own Michael Shannon.
#8220;Margaret#8221; #8212; A young woman (Anna Paquin) believes she's responsible for a fatal accident, and her guilt manifests itself in her behavior as she emotionally brutalizes her family, friends and herself. Mark Ruffalo, Matt Damon, Allison Janey and Matthew Broderick star.
#8220;Weekend#8221; #8212; A young man (Tom Cullen) picks up an artist (Chris New) at a nightclub and spends the next 48 hours having sex and forming a relationship with him. Andrew Haigh's movie is being compared to Richard Linklater's #8220;Before Sunrise.#8221;
#8220;What's Your Number?#8221; #8212; When Ally (Anna Faris) reads that women with more than 20 relationships have missed their chance for true love, she embarks on a quest to find the special ex she shouldn't have X-ed off her lovers list. Chris Evans co-stars.
Oct. 7
#8220;Dirty Girl#8221; #8212; Two misfit friends (Juno Temple and Jeremy Dozier) take a cross-country trip to California where Danielle wants to find her father and Clarke wants to avoid military school mandated by his homophobic dad.
#8220;The Ides of March#8221; #8212; George Clooney directs a political thriller about a press secretary (Ryan Gosling) handling a scandal that could cost his candidate a shot at the White House. Gotta see this one. With Clooney, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti, Marisa Tomei and Evan Rachel Wood.
#8220;Puncture#8221; #8212; After a nurse (Vinessa Shaw) gets pricked by a contaminated needle, her two attorneys (Chris Evans and co-director Mark Kassen) get caught up in a drug conspiracy case that's way over their abilities. A legal underdog drama from directors Adam and Mark Kassen.
#8220;Real Steel#8221; #8212; In the future when 8-foot-tall robots take over prizefighting, an ex-fighter (Hugh Jackman) helps his estranged son (Dakota Goyo) build a super robotic contender by giving him his human moves. Sounds like an old 1963 #8220;Twilight Zone#8221; TV episode. Wait! Both were based on Richard Matheson's short story #8220;Steel.#8221; Now it all makes sense.
#8220;Take Shelter#8221; #8212; Curtis (Chicago's own Michael Shannon) seems to be a normal dad and husband. Until he starts having terrifying dreams about an apocalyptic storm approaching. His obsession to build a shelter strains his marriage to Samantha (#8220;The Help#8221; co-star Jessica Chastain) and relationship with his deaf daughter (Tova Stewart). With Kathy Baker.
#8220;Tucker Dale Vs. Evil#8221; #8212; Two best pals stay at a house in the mountains where they're mistaken for murderous hillbillies by preppy college kids. A misunderstanding creates an impressive body count in this self-proclaimed #8220;hilariously gory, good-spirited horror comedy.#8221;
#8220;Wanderlust#8221; #8212; Judd Apatow produced this comedy about a stressed Manhattan couple (Jennifer Aniston and Paul Rudd) who wind up in a strange commune called Elysium #8212; a place where cares and clothes are options. With Westchester native Kathryn Hahn.
#8220;The Way#8221; #8212; An American doctor (Martin Sheen) decides to finish a historical pilgrimage called The Way of St. James started by his adult son (director Emilio Estevez, Sheen's son) shortly before his death in the Pyrenees during a storm.
Oct. 14
#8220;Blackthorn#8221; #8212; Turns out that Butch Cassidy (actor/playwright Sam Shepard) survived the Bolivian military at the end of #8220;Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,#8221; and went on to live out his years as James Blackthorn. A criminal (Eduardo Noriega) shakes up his retirement plans.
#8220;The Big Year#8221; #8212; Three guys (Jack Black, Owen Wilson and Steve Martin) get tired of the rat race and decide to spend a year following their dreams. Directed by Dave #8220;Marley and Me#8221; Frankel, who passed on Brad Pitt's #8220;Moneyball#8221; to do this project.
#8220;Footloose#8221; #8212; Noted #8220;Hustle and Flow#8221; director Craig Brewer thankfully took over this remake of Kevin Bacon's 1984 original mini-classic from #8220;High School Musical#8221; director Kenny Ortega. Ren (Kenny Wormald) returns to fight for dancing rights in a small town that has outlawed terpsichorean acts. #8220;Dancing With the Stars#8221; vet Julianne Hough plays Ariel. Dennis Quaid plays her uptight preacher daddy.
#8220;Limelight#8221; #8212; Billy Corben's documentary about Peter Gatien, owner of legendary New York clubs such as Limelight, Tunnel and Club USA, up until he was deported to Canada.
#8220;The Thing#8221; #8212; Nope, not a second remake of Howard Hawks' 1951 science-fiction classic. This is a #8220;prelude#8221; to that film, remade in 1982 by John Carpenter. An alien organism capable of assuming a human appearance wreaks paranoid havoc on scientists at an outpost in Antarctica.
Oct. 21
#8220;Margin Call#8221; #8212; J.C. Chandor directs a lesson in ethics through the story of Peter Sullivan (Zachary Quinto), an investment analyst who uncovers information that could destroy the lives and careers of his colleagues in the days before the 2008 financial crisis. With Kevin Spacey, Jeremy Irons and Paul Bettany.
#8220;Martha Marcy May Marlene#8221; #8212; The Olsen twins' younger sister Elizabeth Olsen stars as an escapee from a charismatic cult leader (John Hawkes). Known by different names to different people, she reaches out for help to her sister (Sarah Paulson) and brother-in-law (Hugh Dancy).
#8220;Paranormal Activity 3#8221; #8212; Wasn't the second one boring enough? This time the two guys who gave us the strange and wacky doc #8220;Catfish#8221; take over the directing duties.
#8220;Texas Killing Fields#8221; #8212; New York cop (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) teams with a Texas cop (Sam Worthington) to stop a serial killer before he can kill and mutilate a young girl (Chloe Grace Moretz). Produced by Chicago's Michael Mann. Co-starring the ubiquitous Jessica Chastain.
#8220;The Three Musketeers"#8212; How many movies can possibly be made out of Alexandre Dumas' tale of three rogues who fight against the evil Richelieu? How many baddies can Christoph Waltz play well? Will the #8220;French#8221; Musketeers speak with stupid British and American accents again? Can Orlando Bloom even act without a sword by now? How many 3-D foils will be thrust into our faces? Answers are coming.
Oct. 28
#8220;Anonymous#8221; #8212; Director Roland Emmerich stops invading the Earth and destroying cities long enough to tell the story behind who really wrote all of those sonnets and plays under the name of William Shakespeare. Rhys Ifans, Vanessa Redgrave, Joely Richardson and David Thewlis star.
#8220;Gainsbourg#8221; #8212; Pop star Serge Gainsbourg (Eric Elmosnino) is the subject of comic book artist/director Joann Sfar's drama about the singer, painter, jazz musician and bon vivant who had relationships with Brigitte Bardot (Laetitia Casta) and Jane Birkin (Lucy Gordon).
#8220;In Time#8221; #8212; From the brilliant mind of filmmaker Andrew #8220;GATTACA#8221; Niccol comes a futuristic tale of time is money in which people stop aging at 25. They get one more year to live ... unless they can buy more minutes of life from others. Not likely when you're poor like Justin Timberlake's Will. With Amanda Seyfried.
#8220;Johnny English: Reborn#8221; #8212; When British agents discover a plot to kill a Chinese leader, they lure spy Johnny English (Rowan Atkinson) back into service. He's the British version of Inspector Clouseau. Except he doesn't talk very much. With Gillian #8220;X-Files#8221; Anderson.
#8220;Like Crazy#8221; #8212; The U.S. government deports British citizen Anna (Felicity Jones), prompting her American lover and fellow college student (Anton Yelchin) to participate in radical measures to keep their love alive.
#8220;The Rum Diary#8221; #8212; Johnny Depp became buds with gonzo writer Hunter S. Thompson during the filming of #8220;Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.#8221; The author showed him an unpublished manuscript about a journalist who goes to Puerto Rico to find his true voice. Now, it's a movie starring Depp, Aaron Eckhart and DeKalb native Richard Jenkins.
Nov. 4
#8220;Le Havre#8221; #8212; A Bohemian author (Andre Wilms) takes a job as a shoe shiner while waiting for his muse to kick in and give him a literary breakthrough. His life changes when he meets an underaged immigrant refugee from Africa, and redirects his life to help. From director Aki Kaurismaki.
#8220;My Week With Marilyn#8221; #8212; In 1956, when playwright Arthur Miller (Dougray Scott) left his wife Marilyn Monroe (Michelle Williams) in England with 23-year-old film assistant Colin Clark (Eddie Redmayne), he introduces MM to a week of fun in the UK. Kenneth Branagh plays Sir Laurence Olivier in this fact-based comic drama.
#8220;Puss in Boots#8221; #8212; After playing second feline to the green ogre named Shrek, the cat finally gets a movie of his own. Antonio Banderas reprises his title role in an animated movie that takes place before Puss meets up with Shrek. Voices by Salma Hayek and Zach Galifianakis.
#8220;Tower Heist#8221; #8212; When a Wall Street billionaire steals retirement accounts from working people, a Central Park condo manager (Ben Stiller) seeks out a criminal (Eddie Murphy) to help settle accounts by taking back what belongs to the victims: $20 million. With Matthew Broderick.
#8220;A Very Harold and Kumar 3-D Christmas#8221; #8212; Stoner pals Harold and Kumar accidentally burn down Harold's father-in-law's prized Christmas tree. Sounds like someone's getting a corn cob in the Christmas stocking now. With John Cho, Kal Penn and, of course, the ubiquitous Neil Patrick Harris.
Nov. 9
#8220;J. Edgar#8221; #8212; Clint Eastwood directs Leonardo DiCaprio as Hoover, creator of the FBI and the man at the top of the USA's most famous crime-fighting institution. But was J. Edgar gay? #8220;Social Network#8221; star Armie Hammer plays Clyde Tolson, Hoover's confidant and assistant, the rumored partner. Naomi Watts co-stars.
Nov. 11
#8220;Immortals#8221; #8212; A bloodthirsty king (Mickey Rourke, looking even more like a genetic experiment gone awry) searches for a magic bow that will make him invincible. A young stonemason (Henry Cavill), anxious for payback for his mother's murder, leads the opposition forces to bring him down. With Stephen Dorff and John Hurt.
#8220;Jack and Jill#8221; #8212; Press notes say that Adam Sandler plays #8220;identical#8221; twins, even though one's a woman named Jill, the other a man named Jack. They meet every Thanksgiving, and Jill drives Jack nuts. Directed by Dennis Dugan, one of the most talent-challenged filmmakers still working in Hollywood.
#8220;Women on the Sixth Floor#8221; #8212; A culture clash romantic comedy about two Spanish maids who turn a conservative French couple's lives upside down during the Soaring '60s.
Nov. 18
#8220;Happy Feet 2#8221; #8212; In 3-D, this sequel brings back those lovable animated penguins, with the addition of the Mighty Sven, a penguin that can fly. (Hey, if penguins can dance, why not fly?)
#8220;Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy#8221; #8212; Gary Oldman, Tom Hardy and Colin Firth star in another film version of John le Carre's novel about veteran spy George Smiley, yet another agent brought back from retirement to flush out a Soviet spy among the ranks of MI6 during the Cold War.
#8220;The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1#8221; #8212; The final two movies in this vampire franchise (based on Stephenie Meyers' best-seller) come from director Bill Condon, who had his human hands full of pivotal developments, such as Bella's long-awaited wedding to toothy Edward, her pregnancy with a half-vampire fetus and the strange bond between Bella's unborn offspring and the hunky Jacob. #8220;Breaking Dawn Part 2#8221; comes out November, 2012. Let's hope it's nothing like #8220;Breaking Wind.#8221;
Also in November
#8220;Melancholia#8221; #8212; A psychological disaster film from Lars von Trier. Wait! Aren't all Lars von Trier movies psychological disasters? Kirsten Dunst won best actress at the Cannes Film Fest as a new bride whose wedding implodes just as the planet Melancholia is headed on a collision with Earth! With Kiefer Sutherland, Udo Kier and John Hurt.