7 films that have Dann Gire looking forward to fall
Just curious, but does anyone really want to see a sequel to John Carpenter's 1978 horror classic “Halloween” in which mad slasher Michael Meyers now qualifies for an AARP membership card?
In which Jamie Lee Curtis' teen baby sitter Laurie Strode could now be her own grandmother?
David Gordon Green's sequel (titled simply “Halloween”) will be one of many motion pictures coming to theaters this fall.
Two things traditionally define the autumn movie season that concludes when the holiday films kick in during the week of Thanksgiving.
First, the obligatory onslaught of scary movie wannabes cloistered around Halloween.
Second, the first salvos fired in the annual battle for Academy Awards voters' attention.
The current cinematic lineup also tells us something bleak about the state of theatrical releases in America.
This fall offers an abundance of commercially safe movies: sequels, prequels, superhero tales, remakes, bestseller-based projects.
Compare those to the radically innovative, sometimes jaw-dropping originality of cable network series, smart and daring shows that push boundaries, envelopes and our buttons.
The fall film releases reconfirm that Hollywood has conceded the title of “cultural provocateur” to the so-called small screen, just as movie theaters have downsized their once-massive silver screens.
OK. So, what am I looking forward to seeing this fall? Here's hoping the following films will be diamonds in the rough season ahead.
“First Man” (Oct. 12) - I named Damien Chazelle's “Whiplash“ best picture of 2014 and his “La La Land” best picture of 2016. So, I am abuzz with giddy excitement to see his dramatization of Neil Armstrong's historic mission to the moon. He re-teams with “La La Land” star Ryan Gosling, the best-looking astronaut ever to work for NASA. Let's see how Chazelle works in his exuberant obsession for music.
“The Hate U Give” (Oct. 19) - Chicago filmmaker George Tillman, Jr. still owes us big-time for directing 2000's “Men of Honor,” one of the most dishonest white savior movies ever produced. Maybe this drama - about a black student (Amandla Stenberg) who speaks out at her white private school after cops kill her unarmed childhood friend - will redeem him. Based on the novel by Angie Thomas.
“Widows” (Nov. 16) - “12 Years a Slave” director Steve McQueen delivers an old-fashioned heist movie that promises to transcend the genre with a broader examination of race relations, economic disparity and Chicago police shootings of blacks, a good reason to set the story on Chicago's South Side. The great Viola Davis leads a group of widows whose husbands have been killed along with hers (Liam Neeson) on a mission to settle accounts.
“The Front Runner” (Nov. 7) - Wolverine as a politician? Hugh Jackman plays 1988's favored-to-win Democratic presidential candidate Gary Hart in what now appears to be a slice of genuine political nostalgia - back when politicians could lose their careers over mere rumors of an extramarital affair. Jason Reitman directs.
“The House With a Clock in its Walls” (Sept. 21) - Let me get this straight. Eli Roth, infamous filmmaker of torture-porn horror tales “Hostel” and “The Green Inferno,” says Steven Spielberg inspired him to direct a witches and warlocks fantasy starring Jack Black and Cate Blanchett? Owen Vaccaro plays a 10-year-old who wakes the dead while staying with his strange uncle in an old house. What's not to love?
“Life Itself” (Sept. 21) - I realize this is Dan Fogelman's take on the family Thanksgiving dinner-turning-into-something-profound drama. But I cannot sit through a movie with the same title as Chicago film critic Roger Ebert's autobiography (and Steve James' excellent 2014 documentary based on it) without thoughts of title plagiarism. With Oscar Isaac and Olivia Wilde.
“A Star is Born” (Oct. 5) - Bradley Cooper's directorial debut looked like just another remake of the 1937 show biz classic starring Janet Gaynor and Fredric March. But the movie packed such a punch at the recent Venice Film Festival (“a total emotional knockout” critic Owen Gleiberman raved) that it's on the Oscar radar for Cooper and Lady Gaga as singers whose bumpy ride to fame tests their relationship.
Here are some additional suggestions for viewers who like movies with huge “want to see” ratings on Rotten Tomatoes:
Sequels/prequels: “Unbroken: Path to Redemption” (Sept. 14), “Goosebumps: Haunted Halloween” (Oct. 12), “Halloween” (Oct. 19), “Johnny English Strikes Again” (Oct. 26), “The Girl in the Spider's Web” (Nov. 9), “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald” (Nov. 16).
Remakes: “The Predator” (Sept. 14), “Little Women” (Sept. 28), “Suspiria” (Oct. 26), “Dr. Seuss; The Grinch” (Nov. 9)
Superhero/Animated: “Smallfoot” (Sept. 28), “Venom” (Oct. 5), “The Nutcracker and the Four Realms” (Nov, 2).
Oh, one last thought on the “Halloween 2.0” movie.
Carpenter's original tale was set in Illinois, but shot in California. Green shot his sequel in South Carolina, which begs the question: Will his trees also still have all their green leaves by Oct. 31?