Fall Movie Preview

This week, I received the annual Fall Movie Preview edition of Entertainment Weekly magazine. There's a ton of great movies that I'm anticipating so I wanted to highlight my top picks...

Top Ten List

1. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (Link)
This is far and away my first choice. Peter Jackson recently announced that they will be doing 3 movies rather than 2. Some people were worried about elongating the relatively short novel into two movies, and even more people are whining about splitting it into three flicks. To them I say: Bah! Everyone hit the LOTR series out of the park so there's no reason to assume they don't know what they're doing this time around. Anyone that loves the idea of a Hobbit film should be happy that they will be spoiled with three movies - that's how I see it. Dec14

2. Skyfall (Link)
This is the latest Bond movie, and it supposedly completes the pseudo-trilogy for this particular storyline. I have fond movies of many movie nights with my family watching this series, and I really like Daniel Craig in the roles so of course I want to see this on the big screen. Nov9

3. Django Unchained (Link)
Quentin Tarantino isn't exactly my favourite director but I do have plenty of respect for the way he blends his own originality with classic genres. In this case, though, the story really piqued my interest from the beginning and they have a wide cast of actors that I look forward to seeing, especially Jamie Foxx. Dec25

These first three movies are the ones that I will insist on seeing in theatres. I hope to see the rest of my Top Ten list as well, but I can be persuaded to watch the others at home if I can't find companions.

4. Trouble With The Curve (Link)
Baseball, scouts, Client Eastwood, Justin Timberlake, Amy Adams, John Goodman... and the trailer looks fantastic. Hmm, I just changed my mind after reviewing the trailer again. This is a Must-See in the theatre, too. ;) Sep21

5. Wreck-It Ralph (Link)
This is the "Roger Rabbit" of the video game era, featuring oodles of cameos and co-stars from various old-school video games. It follows the "bad guy" in a Donkey Kong style game when he escapes his video game world and tries to become a hero. Geek references galore, should fun oodles of fun for anybody that played those old 8-bit games. Nov2

6. Looper (Link)
A straight-up sci-fi story involving time travel. The description is the hook for me: "In 2072, when the mob wants to get rid of someone, the target is sent 30 years into the past, where a hired gun awaits." Bruce Willis gets sent back in time to face Joseph Gorden-Levitt and hijinks ensue. Yep, I really love my science fiction. (That reminds me: Need to expand my collection of Isaac Asimov.) Sep28

7. Les Misérables (Link)
Despite being half French, I never got into this novel. I remember my mom re-reading it in French numerous times over the years but this is the first time that I actually care about it. Looks rather epic and emotional. Dec14

8. Cloud Atlas (Link)
This is a more artsy and weird-a$$ sci-fi story. It supposedly follows the same people (like Tom Hanks and Halle Berry) as they reiterate across different eras. As I said, tres weird but I'm into it. Oct26

9. The Man With The Iron Fists (Link)
This Russell Crowe movie came out of left field for me but it looks like a cool geeky genre martial art thing. Funky! Nov2

10. Resident Evil: Retribution (Link)
My brother-in-law and I have made a point of watching all of the movies in this series and in the Underworld series. What can I say? They deliver the type of action movie that they promise so yes, I will almost certainly see this with my bro-in-law. Sep14

Beyond that preferred list, there are a number of other flicks that I would like to see at some point, either in the theatre or at home. In order of release date...

Sep14 The Master (Philip Seymour Hoffman and a fictional version of Scientology.)
Sep21 Dredd 3D (Starring Karl Urban's helmet, gotta be better than the absurdly funny Stallone version.)
Oct5 Taken 2 (Liam Neeson kickin' ass again in the most logical sequel ever.)
Oct12 Argo (Real-life thriller, and Ben Affleck continues to surprise me.)
Oct19 Killing Them Softly (Brad Pitt all gangsterly.)
Oct26 Frankenweenie (Tim Burton redoes his own short animation film from his early career.)
Oct26 The Big Wedding (Robert De Niro in another comedy but the trailer looks surprisingly funny.)
Nov9 Lincoln (Spielberg's biopic - My appetite for the real version was whetted by Vampire Slayer.)
Nov16 Breaking Dawn: Part 2 (Might as well - at least this one will have some fighting, right?)
Nov21 Life Of Pi (I own the book and haven't read it yet but the trailer looks incredible.)
Nov21 Rise Of The Guardians (Animated movie starring Santa, Jack Frost, Tooth Fairy, etc.)
Nov30 Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning (The original stars return and the trailer looks creepy-cool.)
Dec7 Hyde Park on Hudson (Bill Murray as Roosevelt, and I'm a big fan of latter-years Murray.)
Dec7 Deadfall (Eric Bana and Olivia Wilde in a little heist movie.)
Dec19 Zero Dark Thirty (Director Katherine Bigelow's fictional movie about the hunt for Bin Laden.)
Dec21 Jack Reacher (Tom Cruise kicking off  book franchise - and fans of the book already hate it.)
Dec21 Cirque Du Soleil: Worlds Away (Gotta love La Cirque!)

And finally, here are the recent movies and August releases that are on my to-do list...

Expendables 2 (Sooo gotta see this. And if Eastwood joins #3, so much the better!)
Hope Springs (Streep, Tommy Lee Jones, Steve Carrell in a true-to-life romance.)
Total Recall (Filmed in Toronto, died at box office, but I hear the futuristic action is cool even if plot is meh.)
The Campaign (I opted to see Bourne 4 instead of this but I wonder if I made the right choice.)
ParaNorman (Stop-motion "kids flicks" that is too scary for kids.)
Robot & Frank (Highly acclaimed sci-fi heart-tugger.)
Lawless (Shia LaBeouf, Tom Hardy, Guy Pearce in an old timey gangsta movie.)