Saturday, September 3, 2011

Top 10 Fall Movies - Part One

With the Summer movie season now officially over it's time to look at some of the top movies that are coming out this Fall/Winter. There's a pretty big difference between the two season's as the summer tends to be heavy loaded with special FX and 3D while the movies later in the year tend to feature Meryl Streep and movies set in 19th century England. This is ok though most of the movies that are going to be released over the next three months will probably be front and center at the Academy Awards in the Spring.

Earlier in the year I did a list of the top Summer movies that I was looking forward to (here and here). This list isn't based on what I think will be tops at the box office or will win the most awards. It's just a list of the movies that I think will be the most entertaining and ones that you should keep your eye out for.

So without further ado here's my most eagerly anticipated movies this fall. Spoiler alert; "Twilight: Breaking Dawn" is nowhere to be found on this list.

#10 - Warrior (September 9)
I'm a sucker for a good sports movie. Most of the time you know how they're going to end but that's ok because the journey there is so entertaining. Even the worst sports movie is fun (hell, go watch Mighty Ducks 3 and tell me that you didn't enjoy it just a bit). Warrior has an interesting story line of two brothers (Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton) who are MMA fighters that end up having to fight each other. Don't worry though because this isn't a Van Damme kickboxing movie. The movie has been playing screening to a lot of preview audiences with rave reviews. With it's strong buzz and the popularity of UFC this could be one of the biggest surprise hits of the year.
#9 - 50/50 (September 30)
Normally a movie about a someone who is dealing with a cancer diagnosis doesn't sound like a fun time at the movies. This looks a bit more uplifting as it stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt as man who discovers he has cancer and Seth Rogen as his friend who helps him during his treatment. The movie is based loosely on some experiences that Rogen went through with a friend who was diagnosed with cancer. The trailer looks pretty good as it shows how Gordon-Levitt's character uses his cancer to try and pick up women. This could be a tough sell but it looks like they've taken a light approach with a downer subject.

#8 - Moneyball (September 23)
I recently did a post on Moneyball ( click here) on why I thought it would probably make a better TV show than movie. But as I mentioned with "Warrior", I'm a sucker for a sports movie. This is the ultimate of the underdog sports tales as it centers on the real life story of Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane and how he revolutionized how MLB clubs build their teams. Beane had a shoestring budget to work with and had to compete with the big spending teams like the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox every year. For sports geeks like myself this is my Lord of the Rings.

#7 - The Muppets (November 23)
I grew up watching and loving the Muppets. When I wasn't watching re-runs of the Muppet Show I was watching the Muppet Babies on Saturday mornings. It's a shame that the Muppets really haven't been culturally relevant since the mid-90's when they had a short lived show on ABC. Actor Jason Segel was a huge Muppets fan and decided to re-introduce the Muppets to kids who may not know who or what a Gonzo is. The movie promises to have quite a few celebrity cameo's like the first Muppet movies from the early 80's but the producer's have promised that the real stars of the movie are the actual Muppets. Seriously though, who doesn't love the Muppets?!?

#6 - Drive (September 16)
Wow, there's a lot of good movies coming out in September. Normally, September is nothing but four weeks of Happy Madison movies but this year there's quite a few great looking movies during the month (there's also one more that pops up in the top 5). I became interested in this one after I first saw the preview for it a few weeks ago. The movie stars Ryan Gosling as a stunt driver who is also a for-hire getaway driver in his spare time. He ends up having to go head-to-head with a crime boss played by Albert Brooks. One of the interesting things about the movie is that director Nicolas Winding Refn won the award for Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival for this movie. You can't go wrong with a classy action movie.

I'll be back in a few days with the top 5. What are you most looking forward to seeing in the next few months?

No comments:

Post a Comment