My editor asked me to put together a fall preview piece that consisted of my top 10 choices of films opening between the end of September and Thanksgiving. Sorry, boss, but with close to 70 movies — of both mainstream and art house variety — set for release during that period, I just couldn’t limit myself to such a small number. Let’s go with 20. They’re listed alphabetically.
SEPTEMBER
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2: The first (animated) sequel of the season brings back Flint (voice of Bill Hader), who tries to clean up the food-related mess of the original film but finds out that someone else is operating his weird invention, which is now creating such oddities as shrimpanzees and living pickles. (9/27)
Don Jon: Joseph Gordon-Levitt writes, directs and stars in the comedic story of a would-be ladies man who sees the world through porn movies, till he meets a woman (Scarlett Johannson) who sees it through romantic movies. (9/27)
OCTOBER
Captain Phillips: The title character (Tom Hanks) is Richard Phillips, whose American cargo ship was hijacked by Somali pirates in 2009, and who stood up to them in heroic fashion. Catherine Keener plays his wife. Directed by Paul Greengrass (“United 93″). (10/11)
Carrie: OK, here’s that first remake, and the story of the meek, friendless high school girl (Chloe Grace Moretz) whose life is tightly controlled by her religious fanatic mom (Julianne Moore), until all kinds of payback is meted out by Carrie’s rather special powers. Directed by Kimberly Peirce (“Boys Don’t Cry”). (10/18)
Escape Plan: They’re getting a little crotchety for this kind of thing, but Sly Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger star in a story of a prison designer who’s locked away in one of his own creations, and must escape, then find out who’s responsible. (10/18)
Gravity: Sandy Bullock and George Clooney are shot up to the Hubble space telescope to do some repair work when, compliments of those pesky littering Russians, things go very wrong. Incredibly nerve-racking and claustrophobic, with excellent 3-D. Directed by Alfonso Cuaron (“Children of Men”). (10/4)
Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa: The title kind of says it all, don’t ya think? Johnny Knoxville plays a pesky, troublemaking 86-year-old man who travels across America with his 8-year-old grandson (Billy Nicoll). With Spike Jonze as an old woman. (10/25)
Kill Your Darlings: A dramatic look at the 1940s college days of Allen Ginsberg (Daniel Radcliffe), William Burroughs (Ben Foster), and Jack Kerouac (Jack Huston), and the manipulative student (Dane Dehaan) whose lifestyle led to murder. (10/16)
Machete Kills: Yup, another sequel, and the second raunchy feature to come from the fake trailer embedded in “Grindhouse.” Once again starring Danny Trejo as the knife-wielding mercenary who now works for the American government to, you know, save the world. (10/11)
Metallica Through the Never: The band’s fans will get plenty of concert footage, but this also features a narrative about one of the roadies (Dane Dehaan) who sets off on an “errand” during a show, and finds the unexpected. Directed by Nimrod Antal (“Predators”). (10/4)
Twelve Years a Slave: All kinds of Oscar nominations are looming for this tale of a Northern pre-Civil War black man (Chiwetel Ejiofor) who is brought down South and sold into slavery. The cast includes Brad Pitt, Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, Alfre Woodard, Paul Giamatti and Paul Dano. (10/18)
NOVEMBER
Black Nativity: The Langston Hughes “gospel song play” is given a contemporary treatment, telling of a teen (Jacob Latimore) who leaves his mom (Jennifer Hudson) and travels to New York to live with other relatives (Forest Whitaker and Angela Bassett), then must find a way to get home and find the faith. (11/27)
Dallas Buyers Club: Matthew McConaughey stars as a full-of-himself rodeo dude who has his way with the ladies, but gets AIDS in the early ’80s, then turns his life around as a crusader to help others. Oscar noms for him and for an unrecognizable Jared Leto as Rayon. (11/1)
Ender’s Game: Almost a century after Earth is invaded and almost destroyed by an alien race, a young boy (Asa Butterfield) is turned, against his will, into a fighter intended to save the rest of mankind. With Harrison Ford, Ben Kingsley, Viola Davis and Abigail Breslin. (11/1)
Free Birds: An animated comedy about two dumbbells (voices of Woody Harrelson and Owen Wilson) who travel back in time to figure out how to change the ways of holiday-celebrating Americans, and get them to eat something other than turkey on Thanksgiving. (11/1)
Homefront: A DEA agent (Jason Statham) takes off his badge and puts down his gun. But his retirement is short-lived when he must go up against a menacing drug czar (James Franco) who puts his family in jeopardy. (11/27)
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire: Part two of the three-part series (unless they stretch it to four) follows Katniss and Peeta (Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson) as they go on the run from the government after they inadvertently cause a rebellion of the People. (11/22)
Last Vegas: Three longtime pals (Robert De Niro, Morgan Freeman, Kevin Kline) head to the gambling mecca to party down when a fourth pal (Michael Douglas) finally decides to end his bachelorhood by marrying a woman half his age. (11/1)
Old Boy: Spike Lee puts his stamp on the totally strange, decade-old Korean thriller from Chan-wook Park. In this version, Josh Brolin is kidnapped and held captive for 20 years (15 in the original), then released and given a set amount of time to find his unseen captor. (11/27)
The Wolf of Wall Street: Martin Scorsese reconnects with Leo DiCaprio in the true story of penny stockbroker Jordan Belfort, who got caught up in a big-time securities fraud case in the 1990s, the kind that would later lead to corruption on Wall Street. (11/15)
From www.hollandsentinel.com