Summer is over and fall is here, which means we’re starting the awards season part of the year where really really good movies all come out at the same time to vie for their share of the limelight, in hopes of Oscar glory, with some crowd-pleasing year-end blockbusters thrown into the mix. Which also means another edition of my “Movies Coming Soon” posts. As usual, I’ve ranked them in categories of my level of interest.
One day, I should do a post-mortem of all the movies that I actually watched, as compared to what I said I wanted to watch. Maybe at the end of the year.
Movies I’m excited for:
Gone Girl (Oct 9)
It’s a David Fincher movie with Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike in the lead roles — of course I’m going to watch it. It has been getting great reviews everywhere, despite most critics also thinking the ending could have been better, so I’m really eager for it. The author of the original bestselling book adapted the screenplay, so you know that whatever is shown on screen is true to the book’s essence, which can’t be said for a lot of other book adaptations. (Which makes me wonder why more authors — those who aren’t dead yet — aren’t the screenwriters for their books’ film adaptations, rather than giving control to outsiders to kill their darlings.)
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-_-1nJf8Vg]
The Judge (Oct 16)
I’ve watched this already, and I’ll post a review when the movie has been released; but I’m putting it here because if I hadn’t, I would have wanted to watch it for Robert Downey Jr. I voiced my skepticism about the movie when the trailer first came out, but having watched it, I see now that the trailer got the whole tumultuous yet heartwarming relationship drama vibe right. It’s the synopsis which threw me off, misleading me into thinking the film would be more sombre than it actually is, while being completely accurate at the same time. Just know that the focus really isn’t the murder, it’s RDJ and Robert Duvall’s father-son relationship. Both of them are *fantastic* in it, especially if you like watching RDJ be RDJ, and Robert Duvall be the screen titan that he is.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBvK6ni97W8]
John Wick (Oct 23)
Keanu Reeves is an ex-assassin who goes back into the business for revenge after Theon Greyjoy from Game of Thrones, assholic son of his former boss, kills his dog while stealing his car, and beat him half to death. Sign me up! I’m pumped to see Keanu in a fun, badass action role again, unlike whatever he was thinking when he did Man of Tai Chi and 47 Ronin.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AUmvWm5ZDQ]
Horns (Oct 30)
Usually, a movie like this will end up in my “Acclaimed movies I will most likely be skipping” list, but I had the benefit of watching Horns before its wide release, and boy, it really surprised me! The IMDb synopsis really didn’t do it justice, and even made it sound kind of boring, so let me give you a better one. Daniel Radcliffe plays a guy who is accused of murdering his girlfriend. One day, he wakes up to strange horns sprouting from his temple, which imbues him with mysterious powers — which I will let you discover for yourself, because I was about to fall asleep during the movie when I found out what those horns did, and oh I was *awake* for the freaking rest of it! There are twists and turns and shocking revelations galore — seriously, just go and watch it.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8s_1UcdoNI]
**Interstellar** (Nov 6)
HELL YES I’M WATCHING THIS, because I truly think Christopher Nolan is one of the most brilliant filmmakers living today, after blowing our minds in Memento, The Prestige, and Inception, and directing the best comic book film trilogy to ever grace our screens. And from the way they are hyping up Interstellar — Matthew McConaughey said in an interview with Empire that “This is the grandest adventure I think any of us will ever see on film… This is the biggest film I’ve ever been a part of. This is one of the biggest films anyone’s ever been a part of” — if it doesn’t replace, or at least match up to Inception as one of my two favourite movies of all time, I will be highly disappointed.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSWdZVtXT7E]
Big Hero 6 (Nov 13)
This movie looks ADORABLE. The first trailer was fine, made it seem fun and exciting and all, but the second trailer gave the lead character a sob story and I was SOLD. The cat looks so fat and fluffy too. I hope it doesn’t start talking and ruin things.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IdMPpKMdcc]
**The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1** (Nov 20)
Was there ever any doubt, after I lavished so much praise on the series? The heartbreaking events of the book’s ending haven’t happened yet, so I will still enjoy this.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_Tsj_wTJkQ]
Exodus: Gods and Kings (Dec 11)
Frankly, I hate the subtitle of “Gods and Kings”: it sounds super cheesy, and the black and gold posters they came up with makes the film feel even more kitschy. They should have left it as just Exodus. If it weren’t for Christian Bale, I would be out of here.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4iSzHXOUEE]
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (Dec 18)
Since I’ve already watched 2/3s of the trilogy, might as well finish it. I’m really watching out of loyalty to the greatness of the original Lord of the Rings trilogy, not because of any real hope that this last installment will be any better than the previous two films, because having unnecessarily blown this prequel adaptation out of proportion (especially in The Desolation of Smaug, which still pains me when I think about it), it’s unlikely that Peter Jackson will scale it down now that the big battle he was building up to has finally arrived.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSzeFFsKEt4]
Movies I’m not exactly excited about, but am interested in watching (there’s a 50-50 chance I may just wait till the DVD is out instead):
Kill the Messenger (Nov 13)
This sort-of biopic about a reporter who becomes the target of a vicious smear campaign after he exposes the CIA’s role in arming Contra rebels in Nicaragua and importing cocaine into California looks great, but depressing. But hey, I love Jeremy Renner, so I may watch it anyway.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VW4XO-52ubE]
The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him & Her (Nov 13)
I love James McAvoy and Jessica Chastain too, but moody relationship dramas don’t really draw me into cinemas. I’m perfectly fine watching them at home, when I feel like.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KrhMbS9uh8]
The Imitation Game (Nov 27)
It’s a buzzy film which has emerged as the early frontrunner on the awards circuit, made up of a cast of actors I like: Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley, Charles Dance, Allen Leech (Branson in Downton Abbey!), Mark Strong and Matthew Goode. But Alan Turing, whom the film is about, came to a sad end, so it also sounds like a downer.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5CjKEFb-sM]
Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (Dec 25)
These movies are silly, but it’s the last big film we’ll see Robin Williams in, so I’ll probably watch it. Also, Matthew from Downton Abbey (Dan Stevens) is in this one as Sir Lancelot, and I like him.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMKk7Dn__-Y]
Look to my next post for the movies that I will probably catch on DVD, if at all, or that I would really rather not watch at all.
