With Labor Day come and gone, the summer movie season has officially ended. September marks the beginning of the fall movie season, which in turn slowly evolves into Oscar season. There were many great movies the past few months, but the final third of the year promises many great flicks such as Interstellar, Big Hero 6, Inherent Vice, Whiplash, Mockingjay Part 1, and many more. Check out all 66 films you can see this fall/winter season after the break.
September
The Identical (Dustin Marcellino) Rated PG – September 5 – Twin brothers are unknowingly separated at birth; one of them becomes an iconic rock ‘n’ roll star, while the other struggles to balance his love for music and pleasing his father. Starring Blake Rayne, Ray Liotta, Ashley Judd, and Seth Green
Melodramatic family drama and an A-typical, fictionalized biopic of a ’50s rock ‘n roll star. Reviewers are currently hammering the film and it looks mighty boring to me. and it looks mighty boring to me. Not a great way to kick-off the fall.
Forrest Gump (Robert Zemeckis) [IMAX Re-release] Rated PG-13 – September 5 – Forrest Gump, while not intelligent, has accidentally been present at many historic moments, but his true love, Jenny Curran, eludes him. Starring Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Gary Sinise, and Sally Field
However, seeing an unnecessary re-release on an IMAX screen of one Tom Hanks’ best movies ever could be worth your time and money. If it were up to Disney, they would re-release it with closed captioning so audiences could follow along to their favorite quotes. “Bit me right in the buttocks.”
No Good Deed (Sam Miller) Rated PG-13 – September 12 – Terri is a devoted wife and mother of two, living an ideal suburban life in Atlanta when Colin, a charming but dangerous escaped convict, shows up at her door claiming car trouble. Terri offers her phone to help him but soon learns that no good deed goes unpunished as she finds herself fighting for survival when he invades her home and terrorizes her family. Starring Taraji P. Henson, Idris Elba, Leslie Bibb, and Kate del Castillo
I don’t know if anything can really top The Strangers or You’re Next for great, recent home invasion thrillers, but Idris Elba will do his damnedest to give you a great performance.
Dolphin Tale 2 (Charles Martin) Rated PG – September 12 – The team of people who saved Winter’s life reassemble in the wake of her surrogate mother’s passing in order to find her a companion so she can remain at the Clearwater Marine Hospital. Starring Morgan Freeman, Ashley Judd, Nathan Gamble, and Cozi Zuehlsdorff
If you have the taste for overly corny, this uncalled for sequel – the original made less than $100 million worldwide – right up your alley. If you want to see the entire movie in less than four minutes, watch the trailer!
The Drop (Michaël R. Roskam) Rated R – September 12 – Bob Saginowski finds himself at the center of a robbery gone awry and entwined in an investigation that digs deep into the neighborhood’s past where friends, families, and foes all work together to make a living – no matter the cost. Starring Tom Hardy, Noomi Rapace, James Gandolfini, and Erin Darke
I don’t think The Drop looks like anything we haven’t seen before, but if you want to see Gandolfini’s final theatrical release postmortem be my guest. And then there’s also Tom Hardy. I would opt to seek out Gandolfini’s other latest picture, Enough Said, instead.
The Skeleton Twins (Craig Johnson) Rated R – September 12 – Having both coincidentally cheated death on the same day, estranged twins reunite with the possibility of mending their relationship. Starring Kristen Wiig, Ty Burrell, Bill Hader, and Luke Wilson
I’ve heard great things coming out of this year’s Sundance Film Festival about The Skeleton Twins, so it’s been on my watch list and I’m glad it’s finally releasing. You can’t really go too wrong with the likes of Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader together.
The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them (Ned Benson) Not Rated – September 12 – One couple’s story as they try to reclaim the life and love they once knew and pick up the pieces of a past that may be too far gone. Starring Jessica Chastain, Viola Davis, Ryan Eggold, and Bill Hader
So this is the third part of Benson’s Eleanor Rigby: Him, Her, and Them series. Apparently the other two will release later this year in select art house theaters. They originally debuted at TIFF last year, each film follows the characters from their own perspective. It seems like an interesting concept and McAvoy and Chastain can be solid performers.
The Guest (Adam Wingard) – September 17 – A soldier introduces himself to the Peterson family, claiming to be a friend of their son who died in action. After the young man is welcomed into their home, a series of accidental deaths seem to be connected to his presence. Starring Dan Stevens, Sheila Kelley, and Maika Monroe
The duo that brought us You’re Next is at it again. Director Adam Wingard and writer Simon Barrett are back, but this time they’ve distanced themselves from their horror roots and opted for more of a thriller based home invasion-ish movie. The trailer is pretty tension-filled, and I have faith that The Guest will be decent.
The Maze Runner (Wes Ball) Rated PG-13 – September 19 – Thomas is deposited in a community of boys after his memory is erased, soon learning they’re all trapped in a maze that will require him to join forces with fellow “runners” for a shot at escape. Starring Dylan O’Brien, Will Poulter, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, and Kaya Scodelario
Positive words came out of the San Diego Comic-Con screening, and I honestly have high hopes for this film. After a slew of terrible young adult films, I’ve had quite enough. But The Maze Runner feels different; mostly because there doesn’t seem to be a strong romantic element about the male/female leads. (Watch the trailer)
This Is Where I Leave You (Shawn Levy) Rated R – September 19 – When their father passes away, four grown siblings are forced to return to their childhood home and live under the same roof together for a week, along with their over-sharing mother and an assortment of spouses, exes and might-have-beens. Starring Jason Bateman, Tina Fey, Jane Fonda, Rose Byrne, and Adam Driver
August Osage County was a bit of a downer, but this family reunion story has a little more upbeat tone. The cast has the right groove from what we can tell in the trailer, but I can sense a stereotypical theme of “family bonding” coursing through this movie’s veins.
A Walk Among the Tombstones (Scott Frank) Rated R – September 19 – Private investigator Matthew Scudder is hired by a drug kingpin to find out who kidnapped and murdered his wife. Starring Liam Neeson, Dan Stevens, Briana Marin, and Boyd Holbrook
It’s Liam Neeson being Liam Neeson, just like Jason Statham being Jason Statham. You know what you’re going to get going in and there really won’t be anything that spectacular. Director Frank Scott has written screenplays for Minority Report, Get Shorty, and The Wolverine, but this second feature length film since 2007’s The Lookout.
Hector and the Search for Happiness (Peter Chelsom) Rated R – September 19 – A psychiatrist searches the globe to find the secret of happiness. Starring Rosamund Pike, Simon Pegg, Stellan Skarsgård, and Toni Collette
Simon Pegg’s previous dramedies, Run, Fatboy, Run and How to Lose Friends & Alienate People, haven’t done too well, but this version of Secret Life of Walter Mitty may be his ticket to the hearts of US audiences outside of Edgar Wright films, and the Mission Impossible and Star Trek franchises.
Tusk (Kevin Smith) – Rated R – September 19 – A man is captured by a maniac and tortured, physically and mentally, into becoming a walrus. Starring Genesis Rodriguez, Haley Joel Osment, and Justin Long
Look out everyone, it’s another Kevin Smith movie. Queue critic analyses of his past works and where the hate begins. I am not a fan of Red State, but Tusk piques my interest, sort of like a PG version of a Rob Zombie movie. I’d give it a whirl.
The Equalizer (Antoine Fuqua) Rated R – September 26 – A former black ops commando who faked his death for a quiet life in Boston comes out of his retirement to rescue a young girl and finds himself face to face with Russian gangsters. Starring Denzel Washington, Marton Csokas, Chloë Grace Moretz, and David Harbour
Denzel Washington plays Batman a vigilante who works in secret at a hardware retailer who seeks justice for the helpless and in turn shakes up the mob. I could see this having some potential as long as it has more energy than the trailer.
The Boxtrolls (Graham Annable and Anthony Stacchi) Rated PG – September 26 – A young orphaned boy raised by underground cave-dwelling trash collectors tries to save his friends from an evil exterminator. Based on the children’s novel ‘Here Be Monsters’ by Alan Snow. Starring Ben Kingsley, Jared Harris, Nick Frost, and Richard Ayoade
Who doesn’t love a stop-motion animated film? I liked Coraline and ParaNorman had some good takeaways, and The Boxtrolls looks like it’s a lot of fun. Care and devotion goes into these types of moving pictures and you can tell by the behind the scenes trailer. It could be a contender for Best Animated Feature. (Watch the trailer)
The Two Faces of January (Hossein Amini) Rated PG-13 – September 26 – A thriller centered on a con artist, his wife, and a stranger who flee Athens after one of them is caught up in the death of a private detective. Starring Kirsten Dunst, Viggo Mortensen, Oscar Isaac, and Daisy Bevan
The trailer for this film tells me it will most likely be very lifeless, uninteresting, and melodramatic. Perhaps there is something the marketing isn’t telling me based on the very positive reviews that have been released so far.
Pride (Matthew Warchus) Not Yet Rated – September 26 – UK gay and lesbian activists work to help miners during their lengthy strike of the National Union of Mineworkers in the summer of 1984. Starring Bill Nighy, Andrew Scott, Dominic West, and Imelda Staunton
Oh boy, a story of a close-minded town that works together with a group of LGBT activists learn to
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