Fall Movie Bonanza (Part 2)

After looking through yesterday's post, there was one thing I noticed that made me a little sad: the fact that it seems like all movies these days are remakes or sequels. It's nice to see new ideas every once in a while. With that in mind I'll start the second half of the preview with a new, original idea! Without further ado, #'s 6-10:

6. THE ORPHANAGE (EL ORFANATO)
Match the magic of last year's Pan's Labyrinth and add the backdrop of a ghost story and you get the Orphanage. Story concerns Laura, who moves back to the house in which she grew up with her husband Carlos and their adopted son Simon. When they move back, they become aware that Simon has made a few new friends. Of course the new friends are imaginary and the new friends have Simon relaying some really freaky stuff to his parents. When Simon goes missing, Laura realizes she must tap into the paranormal aura of the house, which leads to a dark and mysterious past, involving five orphans which used to live there. This Guillermo Del Toro produced project has everything going for it, including an International Critics' Week selection at the Cannes film festival. Not only that, it received a five minute standing ovation at the festival. Normally ghost stories don't get that honor, making this movie a can't miss. Expect a smart, intelligent horror film with tension throughout. No telegraphed scares here ;). But don't think for one minute we fully escaped the remake treatement here. New Line has set up an English language version of the film already.

7. THE GOLDEN COMPASS
Philip Pullman's best selling His Dark Materials fantasy trilogy looks to become the next Lord of the Rings in the cineplexes and this is the first installment of that trilogy. The pic starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig, was surrounded by controversy and a change of directors. The books contain a lot of what can be considered anti-catholic themes, and Chris Weitz stepped away from the project when New Line demanded that any reference to the church be taken out the film. After bringing in Anand Tucker, New Line realized they missed what they had with Chris Weitz, and decided to bring him back on board. The film reportedly has a budget of somewhere around $150 million, so expect a full fleshed out fantasy world full of magic and monsters for our viewing pleasure. The buzz for the film grew at Comic-Con, where this film became the so-called film to beat for the end of the year. Whether or not this can become the next LoTR is yet to be seen, but the anticipation is there nonetheless.

8. WALK HARD: THE DEWEY COX STORY
Fans of Judd Apatow, the man behind recent hits Knocked Up and Superbad will no doubt enjoy this Walk the Line spoof about fictional musician Dewey Cox. Played by none other than John C. Reilly, expect hilarious shenanigans spoofing the whole music scene of yesterday. Reilly is no stranger to comedy (as evidenced by last year's Talladega Nights) and will become a surefire star after this flick, if he isn't one already. Besides Reilly, the cameos are tremendous, with Paul Rudd as John Lennon, Justin Long as George Harrison, Jason Schwartzman as Ringo Starr, Jack Black as Paul McCartney and Jack White (of the White Stripes fame) as Elvis! Lately everything Apatow's touched has gone to box office gold and it won't be any different with this film. What are you waiting for, check out the hilarious trailer now!

9. GONE BABY GONE
Nice to see fellow Boston boy Ben Affleck has stepped away from the Gigli's and Surviving Christmas' in the world. After a rather impressive performance in Hollywoodland, Affleck steps behind the camera in his directorial debut, guiding brother Casey in the Dennis Lehane adaptation (you may know his work from a small little film called Mystic River). Story is about two Boston detectives played by Casey Affleck and Michelle Monaghan, who reluctantly take on the case to find a four year old who went missing in the tough neighborhood of Dor-chest-ah. Another thing going for the flick is the inclusion of Morgan Freeman and Ed Harris. This all adds up to being a huge comeback for Ben Affleck.

10. THERE WILL BE BLOOD
It seems forever since he tackled pornography in Boogie Nights and raining frogs in Magnolia, but Paul Thomas Anderson is back with his take on the story of a Texas oil tycoon. Daniel Day Lewis will play the lead role in PTA's follow up to Punch Drunk Love. Based on the Upton Sinclair novel "Oil!", expect greed and corruption to be at the focus of the film about a family which strikes rich in oil at the turn of the century. Not much else to say about the pic as little has been said, but with the director and the lead involved, know that it should turn out to be a quality flick.

There are many other flicks that look worthy this fall, so here's to a hopefully joyful movie season!

Fall Movie Bonanza (Part 1)

With the season of the blockbuster (and sequels, thankfully) officially coming to an end, it's time to look forward the fall movie season where adults flock to the theaters (ok maybe not so much). Let's not waist any time, here's my preview of the top 10 movies to look forward to for the FALL MOVIE BONANZA (in no particular order, 6 through 10 tomorrow):

*Note Fall Move Preview donates movies due to be released before 12/31/2007

1. THE MIST

The Green Mile. The Shawshank Redemption. The Mist? What do all three of these titles have in common? Besides all three being based on novels written by the master Stephen King, they were all directed by Frank Darabont. Adding his name on this project - in which a freak storm unleashes a pack of blood-thirsty creatures on residents of a small town, who shack up in a supermarket to fight for their lives - makes it seem like a sure thing. Not to mention the badass Thomas Jane takes on the lead role of David Drayton. And if you need any more reason, check out this quote from Edgar Wright (director: Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) who saw an unfinished version from Darabont himself: "I used to read Stephen King obsessively as a teenager, and The Mist was always one of those stories that struck a chord with me. And Frank's come up with a -- I don't know if you remember the ending of the story, it's quite open-ended conclusion -- but Frank Darabont has got an amazing ending, the final payoff is great. It's obviously unfinished; all of the effects [are] still unfinished, but the fact that it still worked in that state was great. And a great cast; Thomas Jane, Marcia Gay Harden -- just fantastic."

2. NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
The Coen brothers follow up to the dissapointing Ladykillers seems like a can't miss for the eccentric filmmakers. Based upon a Cormac McCarthy novel, story finds a hunter (played by Tommy Lee Jones) who stumbles upon two million dollars and a helping of heroin in a pile of dead bodies. One wonders why it took so long for TLJ and the Coen bros to work together, they almost seem made for each other. It gets better, as Javier Bardem plays the murderous man looking for the cash and drugs. Expect a character driven, bloody good time with this one. Reviews from Toronto have been very good and it feels as if this is the return of the Coen brothers that fans have been long anticipating.

3. SWEENEY TODD
You'd think that any studio behind a vehicle starring Johnny Depp and directed by Tim Burton would simply leave the damn movie alone. Especially when that movie is an adaptation of Sweeney Todd - the classic musical about a homicidal barber. Few can claim the genious and visual style of Burton (director of Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands and Sleepy Hollow just to name a few). Well as you know in the movie business nothing is sacred. For a while it appeared as if Warner Bros. was cutting some of the blood and guts out of the core of the story, aiming to trim Burton's film from an 'R' to a 'PG-13' rating. Well good news: those rumors are indeed false as the movie is going forward with an 'R' rating just in time for holiday season. And check out this piece from the Sunday Mail, detailing information that should grow your appetite for the murderous musical: "During filming at Pinewood studios, prosthetic lookalike limbs were used and they were so gruesomely lifelike that some of the crew became nauseous and had to take fresh air breaks...those on set were further spooked because there were piles and piles of sliced-up 'corpses', plus several spare 'necks' in case Burton wanted to shoot several takes of the same throat-cutting scene." I'm there.

4. I AM LEGEND
Will Smith's characters have had a pretty tough time dealing with some mega tough antagonists in the past. First it was aliens in Independence Day and Men in Black, then robots in I, Robot. Now in I Am Legend, Smith will play scientist Robert Neville who after a big outbreak of a deadly man-made virus must try to find the way to replicate his immune blood to save the human race. Oh and Big Willie has to face off against none other than vampires (known as the infected in this case). While some people may find Will tiresome, the man knows how to bring people to theaters. And after seeing the ultra-cool teaser trailer, I won't have any problem flocking to the theater to check out this flick.

5. AMERICAN GANGSTER
If you can't get excited about the team of Ridley Scott directing, Steve Zallian writing, Russell Crowe as a detective trying to bag Denzel Washington as a heroin kingpin, then I don't know what to tell you. This movie has Oscar written all over it. While the story details the true story of Frank Lucas - a drug lord who smuggled heroin in the coffins of soldiers returning form the Vietnam war - it's exciting to see the story goes deeper than that. “I saw it as a story about American business and race,” said Steven Zaillian, the principal scriptwriter, who also wrote Schindler’s List and more recently wrote and directed All the King’s Men starring Sean Penn. “If you substitute any other product for heroin, it’d be clear. It wasn’t the idea of doing a dope story so much as: What happens when a black businessman takes over an industry? It becomes something that’s not going to be allowed to continue. Frank became bigger than the Mafia and took over their business in a way that made it difficult for him to stay in business.”

6-10 tomorrow...