Fall Flicks

So, what is coming up this fall? More for the chicks, one can only hope. Usually, post-summer we get back to having adult fare and start the march to the Oscar race. The list below is wide releases. If you are in New York or Los Angeles, you will have a much wider choice. For the rest of us, there are a few gems and a bit of dreck. But that’s just my opinion. What do you think?

My choices as chickflix are marked with **. Others I would see are ***.

September 25

Fame — You know. I expect Mainstream chick to see this one. See the trailer.

**The Other Man – The story of a husband (Liam Neeson) who suspects his wife (Laura Linney) of adultery, and sets out to track down the other man (Antonio Banderas) in her life.

Pandorum -A pair of crew members (Dennis Quaid and Ben Foster) aboard a spaceship wake up with no knowledge of their mission or their identities.

***The Surrogates – A cop (Bruce Willis) through his surrogate robot, investigates the murders of others’ surrogates, and is forced to venture from his own home for the first time in years and unravels a conspiracy.

October 2

***Capitalism: a Love Story Michael Moore Documentary

The Invention of Lying – The film is set in an alternate world where there is no concept of lying or dishonesty – no one has ever said anything that wasn’t true. Mark Bellison (Rick Gervais) is a loser who can’t get a date, can’t hold a job, and is facing eviction from his apartment – until he tells the first lie. As the only person on the planet who can deceive others, he discovers that lying gives him enormous power to control people, advance himself, and shape the world to his liking. With Jennifer Garner, Rob Lowe

**Whip It – Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut – An indie-rock loving misfit (Ellen Page) finds a way of dealing with her small-town misery after she discovers a roller derby league in nearby Austin. Watch the trailer.

Zombieland – The most frightened guy (Woody Harrelson) on earth leads a crew of survivors in a world overrun by zombies.

October 9

**Couples Retreat – The comedy follows four Midwestern couples (Includes Vince Vaughn, Jason Bateman, Jon Favreau) who embark on a journey to a tropical island resort. What follows is a hilarious look at real world problems faced by all couples.

October 16

Law Abiding Citizen – Revenge thriller with Gerard Butler as a sociopath.

The Stepfather (Remake) A seemingly normal guy (Dylan Walsh) wants the perfect family, but when his new wife (Seal Ward) and stepchild don’t measure up, he makes plans to eliminate them and move on to the next.

***Where the Wild Things Are – The Maurice Sendak Fantasy directed by Spike Jonze. I am thrilled about this one since it was my favorite kids’ book ever.

October 23

**Amelia –Amelia Earhart story with Hilary Swank, Richard Gere, and Ewan McGregor – see my preview.

Astro Boy – Animation/ children’s story

Cirque Du Freak: the Vampire’s Assistant – Vampire movie.

Saw VI – Horror, cause we just need more and more of these, don’t we?

October 28

Michael Jackson This Is It

November 6

A Christmas Carol w/ Jim Carrey

**The Box –-A small wooden box arrives on the doorstep of a troubled married couple, who open it and become instantly wealthy. Little do they realize that opening the box also kills someone they do not know. Cameron Diaz

The Fourth Kind – Fact-based thriller involving an ongoing unsolved mystery in Alaska, where one town has seen an extraordinary number of unexplained disappearances during the past 40 years and there are accusations of a federal cover up. Milla Jovovich. Looks kind of Blair Witch to me. What do you think?

***Men Who Stare at Goats – A story set amongst the U.S. Army’s First Earth Battalion, a unit that employs paranormal powers in their missions. George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Kevin Spacey, Jeff Bridges,

November 13

***2012 – A global cataclysm brings about the end of the world in 2012. John Cusack

***The Boat That Rocked – A period comedy about an illegal radio station in the North Sea in the 1960’s and a band of rogue DJs that captivated Britain, playing the music that defined a generation and standing up to a government that, incomprehensibly, preferred jazz. With fantastic ensemble cast including Bill Nighy, Kenneth Branagh, Philip Seymour Hoffman.

November 20

The Blind Side – The true story of football player Michael Oher, who is projected to be one of the first players selected in this year’s NFL draft. Oher was a homeless black teen from a broken home who was taken in by a well-to-do white family that saw extraordinary promise in him. Sandra Bullock, Kathy Bates, Tim McGraw, Quinton Aaron

Planet 51 The inhabitants of Planet 51 live in fear of alien invasion. Their paranoia is realized when an astronaut arrives from Earth. Befriended by a young resident, he has to avoid capture in order to recover his spaceship and try to return home. Animation

**The Twilight Saga: New Moon – The sequel to Twilight centers on Edward Cullen leaving Bella Swan in order to keep her safe from other vampires.

November 25

The Fantastic Mr. Fox – Clooney, Streep Animation

**Nine – Musical adaptation of Fellini – Daniel Day-Lewis, Nicole Kidman, Penelope Cruz, Kate Hudson, Judi Dench, Sophia Loren, Marion Cotillard, Stacy Ferguson See my hopes.

Ninja Assassin – A young ninja turns his back on orphanage that raised him, leading to a confrontation with a fellow ninja from the clan.

Old Dogs – Best friends and business partners (Robin Williams, John Travolta) are seeing their lives turned upside down when they find themselves in the care of 7 years old twins. The trailer looks horribly bad.

***The Road – The post-apocalyptic nightmarish road trip of a man (Viggo Mortensen) who tries to transport his son (Kodi Smit-McPhee) to safety while fending off starving stragglers and marauding packs of cannibals. , Charlize Theron, , Guy Pearce, Robert Duvall. It is a brilliant book. I just hope they do it well.

December 4

Armored – A guard for an armored truck company is coerced by his veteran coworkers to steal a truck containing $10 million. Matt Dillon, Laurence Fishburne, Jean Reno, Skeet Ulrich,

***Brothers – The powerful story of two siblings, thirty-something Captain Sam Cahill (Tobey Maguire) and younger brother Tommy Cahill (Jake Gyllenhaal), who are polar opposites. It is their compelling tale of coming to terms with issues of love, loyalty, and manhood–and with the woman caught between them.

December 11

***Invictus – A look at life for Nelson Mandela after the fall of apartheid in South Africa during his first term as president when he campaigned to host the 1995 Rugby World Cup event as an opportunity to unite his countrymen. Morgan Freeman, Matt Damon

**The Lovely Bones – Adaptation, the story of a murder girl watching from heaven as her killer is caught and her family deals with her loss. Rachel Weisz, Mark Wahlberg, Saoirse Ronan, Stanley Tucci, Susan Sarandon, Another good book I hope they’ve adapted well. You still have time to read it first.

The Princess and the Frog – Disney Animation – A fairy tale centered on a young girl named Princess Tiana who lives in New Orleans’ French Quarter during the Jazz Age.

December 18

Avatar From James Cameron. Jake Sully, a paraplegic war veteran, is brought to another planet, Pandora, which is inhabited by the Navi, a humanoid race with their own language and culture.

**Did You Hear About the Morgans? – An estranged high-powered New York couple witness a murder and are placed in a witness-protection program in a small Wyoming town. Hugh Grant, Sarah Jessica Parker, Mary Steenburgen, Elisabeth Moss, Michael Kelly Watch this.

December 25

Alvin and the Chipmunks: the Squeakuel

***The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus – Heath Ledger’s last role. The film is about Dr. Parnassus and his extraordinary ‘Imaginarium’, a travelling show where members of the audience get an irresistible opportunity to choose between light and joy or darkness and gloom. Heath Ledger, Christopher Plummer, Tom Waits, Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell, Jude Law

**It’s Complicated – A romantic comedy in which two men (Alec Baldwin & Steve Martin) vie for the affection of a woman (Meryl Streep).

***Sherlock Holmes – In a dynamic new portrayal of Arthur Conan Doyle’s most famous characters, “Sherlock Holmes” sends Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.,) and his stalwart partner Watson (Jude Law) on their latest challenge. Revealing fighting skills as lethal as his legendary intellect, Holmes will battle as never before to bring down a new nemesis and unravel a deadly plot that could destroy the country. See my take.