Fall doesn’t start officially for another few weeks, but the fall movie season won’t wait that long. Traditionally, fall is when we start seeing some movies for grown-ups after all of the chases and explosions of the summer. Let’s take a look at what’s coming, including some prestige dramas with Oscar-worthy performances, some silly comedies, some scary thrillers, some romance, and even a superhero or two and a couple of high-profile sequels coming in September, October, and November.
Dramas:
“Rush” is written by Peter Morgan, who specializes in real-life stories of conflict between two strong characters like “The Queen” and “The King of Scotland.” Here he re-teams with his “Frost/Nixon” director Ron Howard for the true story of competing Formula One race car drivers.
“Gravity” stars Sandra Bullock as an astronaut stranded in space. Director Alfonso Cuarón wowed the fans at Comic-Con with early footage.
“Captain Phillips” is based on a chilling real-life story of an American ship taken over by Somali pirates with nothing to lose. Tom Hanks plays the merchant marine captain.
“12 Years a Slave” has Chiwetal Ejiofor in the true story of a free black man from New York who was sold into slavery, and wrote about it after he was freed.
“The 5th Estate” is the story of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, played by Benedict Cumberbatch.
“All is Lost” has just one actor: Robert Redford, as a man lost at sea.
“Diana” stars Naomi Watts as the Princess of Wales, focusing on her relationship with an Indian doctor (Naveen Andrews), who may have been her greatest love.
“Grace of Monaco” stars Watts’ BFF, Nicole Kidman, as another royal blonde icon, actress-turned princess Grace Kelly.
“Last Vegas” has an all-star cast of Oscar-winners: Kevin Kline, Robert De Niro, Morgan Freeman, and Michael Douglas in the story of a Las Vegas bachelor party they swear is not another version of “The Hangover.”
“The Wolf of Wall Street” reunites director Martin Scorsese with Leonardo DiCaprio in this fact-based story of the rise and fall of a financial crook. This may be Matthew McConaughey’s year for an Oscar — in this film and in “Dallas Buyer’s Club” he looks very impressive.
Big books about teenage heroes:
“Catching Fire” is the second chapter in “The Hunger Games,” with Jennifer Lawrence returning as Katniss Everdeen.
“Ender’s Game” stars Harrison Ford, Ben Kingsley, and “Hugo’s” Asa Butterfield in the story of a boy trained to defeat alien invaders.
“The Book Thief” is about a girl in Nazi Germany who steals to help her family.
“Great Expectations” is yet another version of the Dickens classic, with Helen Bonham Carter as Miss Havisham.
Comedies:
“Anchorman 2” takes Ron Burgundy and his clueless colleagues enter the era of 24-hour news channels in this sequel. The 70’s clothes, I’d like to point out, are not exaggerated.
“The Family” stars Robert De Niro and Michelle Pfeiffer as a mob couple in the witness protection program, under the supervision of federal agent Tommy Lee Jones.
“Delivery Man” has Vince Vaughn as (what else) a slacker. He is stunned to learn that through a bureaucratic oversight, his donations to a sperm bank have resulted in 533 children.
Romance:
“Enough Said” stars James Gandolfini in one of his last performances — his first as a romantic lead, opposite Julia Louis-Dreyfus, with Catherine Keener as his ex-wife.
“About Time” may feel like deja vu for Rachel McAdams, who once again finds herself falling in love with a time traveler.
Documentaries:
“Salinger” is the story of the 20th century’s most famously reclusive author. One bombshell has already been reported. There may be five unpublished novels coming from the man who wrote Catcher in the Rye.
“Inequality for All” documents the growing income inequality and its consequences.
“Metallica Through the Never” combines 3D performance footage with a fictional story about a roadie.
For the Whole Family:
“Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2”
“Frozen” is an animated musical from Disney inspired by the classic fairy tale, “The Snow Queen.”
Stay classy, San Diego! There is going to be a sequel to Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, the goofy film starring Will Ferrell, Steve Carell, Paul Rudd, and Christina Applegate that many fans can recite from memory, even though they are much too young to remember the 70’s it satirizes. Here’s hoping everyone returns, including the dog.
Another sequel was announced this week as well. Twins, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito in the title roles, was never more than a sight gag in search of a storyline, so it is hard to get excited about the notion of a follow-up called “Triplets” with the original stars and Eddie Murphy.
Remember the old “Spanky and Our Gang” episodes where the boys wouldn’t let Darla into the treehouse? Imagine that plot set in the all-white-guys world of 1970’s television news, when there were only four stations to watch and “everyone believed what they saw on TV.”
Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell) has got it all. He is the anchor of the top-rated news program in San Diego alongside his His best pals, sportscaster Champ Kind (David Koechner), weatherman Brick Tamland (Steve Carell), and reporter Brian Fantana (Paul Rudd). They cover stories like a water-skiing squirrel and a pregnant panda. He gets to go to lots of swinging parties. And he has great hair. Life is just about perfect.
And then there comes that pesky word “diversity.” Ron learns that diversity is not a famous Civil War battleship but the reason that for the first time the news team will include a woman, the beautiful, talented, and very ambitious Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate).
There are a bunch of “no girls allowed” jokes and a bigger bunch of “weren’t the 1970’s a hoot” jokes, including a soundtrack of cheesy oldies and references to the importance of musk-fragrance cologne. The story runs out of steam and disintegrates into a bunch of uneven skits, not surprising as Ferrell and his co-scriptwriter, director Adam McKay come from “Saturday Night Live.” But there are moments of inspired looniness (a dog named Baxter has the funniest lines in the movie) and Ferrell the performer keeps hitting enough comic moments out of the park to keep it very watchable.
Most comedians, especially those gifted in physical comedy, have a show-offy “look at me!” quality that bespeaks years of practice in distracting and even disrupting whole classrooms filled with their earliest audiences. But what makes Ferrell so endearing is his complete and fearless absence of any ego. He has a complete absence of vanity in allowing himself to appear to be vain. He doesn’t throw himself into the character as much as hurl himself into it, utterly and completely. The result is magnificently funny. He laughs, cries, fights, falls in love, and sings so whole-heartedly that it is mesmerizing and hilarious at the same time.
It’s too bad that the script does to the talented Christina Applegate what the newsroom guys to do Victoria. She is primarily called upon to look as though she is trying to maintain her composure despite being surrounded by idiots. Carell is a stand-out as the dimmest of the news crew’s dim bulbs, and there are several guest appearances to help hold our interest.
Parents should know that the movie has extremely mature material for a PG-13, even for this “slob comedy” genre. Characters use very strong language and there are especially graphic sexual references and situations and crude humor. The movie has comic peril and violence. Characters drink and smoke a great deal and there is a reference to drug use. One character’s arms are hacked off and others are killed.
Families who see this movie should compare the opportunities and expectations for women in the era of the movie to today’s and talk about how much has changed and what still needs to change. How has the way we get our news changed since the 1970’s? What is better and what is worse?
Families who enjoy this movie will also enjoy Ferrell’s appearances in Old School (mature material) and Elf. They will also enjoy a less silly take on television journalism in Broadcast News.