Fall Movies Are Coming! Beetlejuice 2, Transformers, Clooney and Pitt, Wild (Animated) Robot, and Much More

Fall Movies Are Coming! Beetlejuice 2, Transformers, Clooney and Pitt, Wild (Animated) Robot, and Much More

Posted on September 1, 2024 at 10:00 am

Copyright 2024 Sony Pictures

Happy fall! Some of what we’re looking forward to in September, October, and November, with sequels, a prequel, some based on books, some on true stories, and some are the prestige productions we will be seeing at the Oscars. The teams from two beloved classics are reuniting. In 1988, Tim Burton gave us “Beetlejuice,” and now Michael Keaton, Wynona Ryder, and Catherine O’Hara join him for “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” with Jenna Ortega playing the daughter of Ryder’s character, Lydia. And Robin Wright and Tom Hanks, who starred in Robert Zemeckis’ Oscar-winning “Forrest Gump,” co-star again in a different story with Zemeckis directing. The trailer gives us a glimpse of some of the movie magic we’ll be seeing in a multi-generational family story called “Home,” showing their characters in their 20s.

We’re also getting a sequel to the DC Comics story of the Joker, played by Joaquin Phoenix, and a prequel with the origin story of the Transformers, and a look at a different kind of origin story, the very first episode of “Saturday Night Live” in 1975.

Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel about an abusive reform school, Nickel Boys, comes to the screen with Oscar nominee Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor and Jimmie Fails from “The Last Black Man in San Francisco.” And two family action comedies for Christmas!

Plus two of the most anticipated films of the year, releasing for Thanksgiving — part one of “Wicked” and “Gladiator 2.” Here’s a glimpse at what’s ahead.

September

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Michael Keaton, Wynona Ryder, and Tim Burton are back in another story of the ghost with the most. “Wednesday’s” Jenna Ortega joins the cast as the daughter of Ryder’s character.

His Three Daughters Elizabeth Olson, Natasha Lyonne, and Carrie Coon are three sisters who are very different but have to find a way to work together to care for their dying father.

I’ll Be Right There Wanda (Edie Falco) takes care of everyone. Who takes care of her?

My Old Ass Would your young self want to meet your older self? Would she listen? What would your older self want to tell your younger self? Aubrey Plaza gets a chance to find out when her younger self conjures her up.

Wolfs In “Pulp Fiction” there is a character called Wolfe, played by Harvey Keitel, who gets called in to fix dire and messy situations that seem un-fixable. In “Wolfs,” “Oceans 11” stars George Clooney and Brad Pitt play rival versions of that character who are forced to work together.

The 4:30 Movie Kevin Smith’s semi-autobiographical story is a nostalgic comedy about a group of teenagers in the 1980s.

Subservience An android housekeeper/nanny develops some dangerous ideas.

Omni Loop Mary Louise Parker and Ayo Edebiri star in a time loop story.

Also of note in September: The Neo-noir “Killer Heat,” the origin story/prequel “Transformers One,” an acerbic Ian McKellen as “The Critic,” “Continue” with writer-director-star Nadine Crocker based on her own life and mental health challenges, “Hounds of War” stars Frank Grillo in the story of mercenaries on a suicide mission, and festival favorite “A Different Man” with Sebastian Stan as a man with a disfiguring disease who has an operation to become handsome

October

Joker: Folie à Deux Lady Gaga joins Joaquin Phoenix in this sequel to the latest version of Batman’s most famous villain.

Saturday Night We’ve been staying up late to watch “Saturday Night Live” for half a century now, and characters, catch phrases, and stars from the show, still produced by Lorne Michaels and still live, are enmeshed in our culture. Jason Reitman wrote and produced the story of the very first episode.

We Live in Time Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield star in a romance from A24 that seems to have a mystical element.

Goodrich Michael Keaton plays the title character, who has to ask his estranged adult daughter (Mila Kunis) to help him take care of the children he had with his second wife.

Piece by Piece Music polymath Pharrell Williams tells his story — with LEGOs.

Also of note in October: “House of Spoils” a spooky story about a chef, “Nickel Boys” based on Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel, Tom Hardy returns in “Venom: The Last Dance,” “Brothers,” with Josh Brolin and Peter Dinklage as twins on the run, “Things Will Be Different, a sci-fi thriller, and Saoirse Ronin in “The Outrun,” based on Amy Liptrot’s bestselling memoir

November

Conclave A powerhouse cast brings us inside one of the most secret places on earth — the selection of a new pope.

Here Robert Zemeckis reunites with his “Forrest Gump” stars Tom Hanks and Robin Wright in this multi-generational family saga.

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever A remake of the beloved film based on the book about a riotous production features Judy Greer, Pete Holmes, and Lauren Graham.

Red One Santa is missing! And there’s only one person who can rescue him, Dwayne Johnson, of course, with some help from Chris Evans.

Spellbound A princess has to save the day when her parents are enchanted.

Wicked What were Glinda and the Wicked Witch of the West like as teenagers? Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo play the young witches in a movie based on the beloved Broadway musical, inspired by The Wizard of Oz. (Part 1 of 2)

Gladiator II Back to the arena! This time with Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, and Denzel Washington.

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Opening This Month Trailers, Previews, and Clips
Coming to Theaters in December 2023

Coming to Theaters in December 2023

Posted on December 1, 2023 at 1:00 am

Copyright 2023 Warner Brothers

December is a time for families and celebrating and time off from school and work. It is also a time that the movie studios like to release films they hope will win Oscars and other awards. So there will be great movies in theaters and on streaming for families to share over the holidays. Here’s some of what they can look forward to.

Already in theaters: Disney’s “Wish” and Dreamworks’ “Trolls Band Together” are already in theaters and both are sure to delight children and their parents. And for mature teens and adults, “The Holdovers,” one of the best films of the year, is the story of the most disliked teacher at a posh boys’ boarding school in 1970, and the students he is stuck with over the Christmas holidays because they cannot go home. Watch for Paul Giamatti and Da-Vine Joy Randolph to get some awards in a few months. Every performance in this movie is a gem.

December 1

Renaissance: A Film by Beyonce — Queen Bey’s concert film.

Candy Cane Lane — A comedy/horror film with Eddie Murphy as a man who sells his soul to have the best decorated house in the neighborhood.

How the Gringo Stole Christmas — George Lopez stars in this “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner”-style farce.

December 7

“Waitress” — The Broadway musical version of the beloved indie about the pregnant pie-maker will be in theaters for just five days.

December 8

The Boy and the Heron — The latest from Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli is a dreamy and sometimes nightmarish story of a boy mourning the loss of his mother who travels to an enchanted land.

Leave the World Behind — Oscar-winners Julia Roberts and Mahershala Ali star in a story about two couples stuck together as it seems the world may be ending.

December 15

Wonka — The people behind the “Paddington” films have made another endearing treat with this origin story of the world’s greatest candy-maker.

Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget — Finally, a sequel to the Aardman classic from the “Wallace & Gromit” studio.

American Fiction — Percival Everett’s satiric novel, Erasure, about a Black professor whose savage parody of “ghetto” literature, was written more than 20 years ago but this pointed, hilarious, and brilliantly acted film is sure to be one of the most talked-about of the year.

December 20

Maestro — Bradley Cooper wrote, directed, and stars as composer/conductor Leonard Bernstein, one of the central cultural figures of the 20th century. This film focuses on his loving but often fraught relationship with his wife, played by Carey Mulligan.

Copyright Disney 2023

December 22

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom — Marvel’s underwater superhero is back.

Anyone But You — Two people smarting from recent break-ups pretend to be a couple to make their exes jealous. I can’t imagine what happens next. Festival audiences loved the chemistry between Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney.

All of Us Strangers — Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal are sizzling as a couple tentatively exploring a relationship as Scott’s character finds a way to return to the house he grew up in, where his parents, killed before he turned 12, seem to be still there waiting for him.

The Iron Claw — Zac Efron and “The Bear’s” Jeremy Allen White star in the story of one of professional wrestling’s most cherished and tragic families.

December 25

The Color Purple — The Alice Walker book and Stephen Spielberg movie turned Broadway musical is now a movie musical with knockout performances by Taraji P. Henson, Danielle Brooks, and American Idol’s Fantasia.

The Boys in the Boat — George Clooney directed this fact-based story of an American rowing team in the 1936 Olympics, held in Berlin as Hitler was trying to show the world the superiority of the German athletes.

Freud’s Last Session — Anthony Hopkins plays the pioneering psychoanalyst and atheist and Matthew Goode plays “Narnia” author and Christian C.S. Lewis.

Ferrarri — Our year of movies about the origin stories of consumer products (including Air Jordans, Blackberry, Beanie Babies, and Flamin’ Hot Cheetos) concludes with Adam Driver as Enzo Ferrari.

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Movie Mom’s Top Picks for Families Movies for Grown-Ups Opening This Month Trailers, Previews, and Clips
April 2017: Coming to Theaters

April 2017: Coming to Theaters

Posted on April 1, 2017 at 3:40 pm

Copyright 2017 Sony Pictures
Copyright 2017 Sony Pictures

Happy April! Wishing you all a minimum of showers and a maximum of flowers. Here’s what I’m especially looking forward to in theaters this month.

April 7

Smurfs: The Lost Village
The smurfs are back where they belong — in a fully-animated feature set in their own magical world. Smurfette who was created by the evil wizard Gargamel but became a part of the otherwise all-male and all-named after one characteristic smurf community, wants to know who she is. And she discovers a whole village of female smurfs. It features the voices of Rainn Wilson, Jack McBrayer, Joe Manganiello, Demi Lovato, and Julia Roberts.

Going in Style
Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, and Alan Arkin star in a remake of the George Burns film about a retirees who rob a bank. Ann-Margret and Kenan Thompson also appear, and it was directed by Zach Braff (“Scrubs,” “Garden State”).

April 12

Gifted
Chris Evans and Jenny Slate star in the story of a man who cares for his intellectually advanced young niece, despite those who think she needs a different kind of environment.

April 14
The Fate of the Furious
Those Fast and Furious rascals are back, still fast, still furious. This time it appears Dom has become a bad guy, but don’t you believe it. We know he’d never turn on his family.

The Lost City of Z
Charlie Hunnam and Robert Pattinson star in the real-life story of Englishman who explored South America, the man who inspired dozens of adventure sagas, including the Indiana Jones films.

April 21

Born in China
DisneyNature releases a nature film every year in honor of Earth Day. This one is sure to elicit “awwws.” It’s about pandas.

Free Fire
Martin Scorsese produced this stylish and very violent story about illegal arms dealers, starring Oscar winner Brie Larson, Sharlto Copley, Jack Reynor, and Armie Hammer.

The Promise
It was 100 years ago, but it is more relevant than ever. The story of the Armenian genocide (the event that gave rise to that term and the need to have such a term) provides the background for a story of love and loss starring Christian Bale, Oscar Isaac, and Charlotte LeBon, directed by “Hotel Rwanda’s” Terry George.

April 28

The Circle

Tom Hanks, Emma Watson, and John Boyega star in a story that could not be more timely — about a company that knows everything about you and just wants to help…or does it?

Sleight

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Features & Top 10s Opening This Month

March 2017 — Here’s What’s Coming to Theaters This Month

Posted on March 1, 2017 at 8:00 am

Happy March! Here’s what I’m most looking forward to this month.

FRIDAY, MARCH 3

Before I Fall — Zoey Deutch plays a high school girl who lives the same day over and over until she learns to pay attention to what is going on around her.

Table 19 — Anna Kendrick stars in a romantic comedy about the people assigned to the worst table at a wedding.

The Shack — The Christian best-seller is now a film about a father devastated by grief who gets as message from God.

Logan — Hugh Jackman returns as Wolverine in a dark and violent story.

FRIDAY, MARCH 10

Kong: Skull Island — An all-star cast goes off in search of a giant ape.

The Sense of an Ending — Jim Broadbent, Michelle Dockery, Harriet Walter, and Charlotte Rampling give performances of elegance and grace in this touching story based on the award-winning best-seller by Julian Barnes.

FRIDAY, MARCH 17

Beauty And The Beast — The tale as old as time returns to the screen in this live action version with Emma Watson and Dan Stevens.

FRIDAY, MARCH 24

CHiPS — This raunchy comedy embraces and celebrates the unabashedly cheesy 70’s television series. Writer/director Dax Shepard stars with Michael Pena.

Saban’s Power Rangers — The cartoon series comes to the big screen with a live-action reboot.

FRIDAY, MARCH 31

The Zookeeper’s Wife — Jessica Chastain stars in this real-life story of Warsaw zookeepers who saved people and animals during the Holocaust.

The Ghost In The Shell — A cyborg policewoman attempts to bring down a nefarious computer hacker in this sci-fi story based on a manga.

The Boss Baby — Alec Baldwin plays a talking baby with a briefcase in this animated fantasy.

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Opening This Month

Coming to Theaters: February 2017

Posted on February 1, 2017 at 3:13 pm

Happy February! The movies this month start off slowly because the first weekend is the Super Bowl, but we have some very promising films coming to theaters after that, including three high-profile sequels on February 10 and two films from rising star Dane DeHaan. Some I am especially looking forward to:

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 3
“The Comedian” Robert De Niro plays a stand-up comic struggling with personal and professional challenges.

“The Space Between Us” Asa Butterfield and Britt Robertson star in a love story about an ordinary teenager and the boy she loves, who was born to an astronaut mother and has just come to earth for the first time.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10

“The LEGO Batman Movie” The folks from “The LEGO Movie” are back with a spin-off and I full expect that everything in it will be awesome!

“Fifty Shades Darker” The saga of the B&D power couple continues.

“John Wick 2” Keanu Reeves returns as the hired killer who can’t stay retired.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17

“Fist Fight” Charlie Day plays a teacher who is not at all prepared to stand up to Ice Cube, who has promised to beat him up.

“The Great Wall” This grand historical fantasy epic has Matt Damon leading an army of mercenaries in ancient China.

“A Cure For Wellness” An ambitious young executive (Dane DeHaan) is sent to retrieve his company’s CEO from an idyllic but mysterious “wellness center” at a remote location in the Swiss Alps but soon suspects that the spa’s miraculous treatments are not what they seem.

“A United Kingdom” David Oyelowo and Rosamund Pike star in the true story of an African prince who married a commoner from London in the 1940’s, creating family and geopolitical controversy.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24
“Tulip Fever” An artist falls for a young married woman (Alicia Vikander) while he’s commissioned to paint her portrait during the Tulip mania of 17th century Amsterdam. The cast includes Christoph Waltz, Zach Galifianakis, Cara Delevingne and Dane DeHaan. (Note: Cara Delevingne and Dane DeHaan also co-star in the upcoming fantasy “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.”)

“Get Out” Audiences at Sundance loved this terrifying new horror film written by Jordan Peele.

“Rock Dog” All-star voice talent including Luke Wilson, JK Simmons, Lewis Black, Matt Dillon, and Kenan Thompson are featured in this second animated story in three months about singing animals.

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Opening This Month
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