2006 Fall Movie Preview
September 18, 2006
Reading over Entertainment Weekly’s annual Fall Movie Preview, my primary source for what to expect in theaters for the next three months, I’ve noted at least 45 films that should garner interest, either publicly through big box office, or critically for the purposes of handicapping the Oscar race, and at least another 20 that’ll get neither the bucks nor the Oscar votes but could very likely make this fall a saving grace after a typically weak summer season. But rather than spend 3,000 words going into detail on all 65 films (more like 5,000 words with long, windy sentences), I’ve whittled it down to three relatively breezy monthly paragraphs, highlighting only the films I personally deem essential, and the film’s that will likely contend for the end of the year awards. It’s a good list, many of which I could have seen already had I driven the three hours to the Toronto film festival last week, but like everyone else who couldn’t venture north, for now speculation is in order, and then finally anticipation for what should be a spirited final three months at the cinema.
October
Usually I’ll say that December is the month to beat, but this year October is absolutely loaded with high profile directors and intensely buzzed about pictures. On October 6th, Martin Scorsese returns to crime drama with “The Departed”, a star studded remake of the terrific Hong Kong action flick “Infernal Affairs”, that looks to be grittier and more realistic than his past few epic period pieces, while on the 20th Clint Eastwood follows his Oscar winning “Million Dollar Baby” with the WWII drama “Flags of Our Fathers”, about the company of men who raised the famous flag on Iwo Jima. If Eastwood fails to win his third Best Director Oscar for this film than he’ll have a second shot next year with “Letters From Iwo Jima”, a telling of the same story but from the Japanese P.O.V., a brilliant idea rarely undertaken by such an iconic American figure. Other notable big name directors premiering films this month include Anthony Minghella with the Jude Law romance “Breaking and Entering” (6th), Philip Noyce with the South African action drama “Catch a Fire” (25th), Todd Field, his first since the much acclaimed “In the Bedroom”, with the Kate Winslett drama “Little Children”, Sophia Coppola with the derisive “Marie Antoinette” (20th), Christopher Nolan, taking time between Batman flicks for a study of rival magicians with “The Prestige” (20th), Richard Linklater with the expose “Fast Food Nation” (20th), and the masterful Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu with the multicultural “Babel” (27th), a film that will grace more than a few top ten lists, I’m sure. Besides those obvious attention grabbers, my two personal choices will be Curtis Hanson’s “Lucky You” (27th), a poker movie that looks to finally challenge “Rounders” for fictionalized poker supremacy (it even features Doyle Brunson and Sammy Farha, amongst other top pros, myself not included), and “49 Up” (6th), the seventh film in Michael Apted’s continuing documentary experiment (started in 1964) following a group of people every seven years of their lives. The Up series, I think, is the single greatest long time achievement in the history of documentary filmmaking, so for fans of the series, and fans of great overall social examinations of the human condition, every seventh year is a celebration when Apted drops another continuation of his famed series.
November
November isn’t as loaded with potential gems as October, but it still has some big names, including Ridley Scott re-teaming with his “Gladiator” star, Russell Crowe, for the country wine comedy-drama “A Good Year” (10th), and Pedro Almodovar returning with “Volver” (3rd), the odds-on favorite for the year’s Best Foreign Film Oscar, if not more. Ridley Scott is hit or miss, but in the past ten years Almodovar has been one of the world’s very best directors, and based on raves from world film festivals, this Penelope Cruz drama may be his best words since “All About My Mother” garnered him worldwide fame and prestige. The big film this November should be “Casino Royale” (17th), Daniel Craig’s premiere outing as James bond in a remake of Ian Fleming’s very first 007 novel, but I’ve never been the biggest Bond fan, so my anticipation veers more towards stuff like Mark Forster’s supposedly surreal Will Ferrell drama “Stranger Than Fiction” (10th), the always hilarious Christopher Guest troupe with “For Your Consideration” (17th), the only comedy of the year capable of scoring a Best Picture nod, and the Larry Charles directed “Borat” (3rd), a showcase for the criminally funny talents of Sasha Baron Cohen, than it does for the umpteenth James Bond flick. Daniel Craig is a good actor, and the fan gripes about his relatively unknown body of work notwithstanding, he’ll make a good 007, but just don’t expect the likes of “Goldfinger” or “Dr. No”, the best days of Bond are long gone, and even a fresh start like this can’t change the fact that it’s a tiring series, and hardly the month’s must see event.
December
December is the month when the last ditch, highest prestige Oscar pictures come out, playing into the early new year, a time generally reserved for leftover junk, and this year looks to have three major contenders. The first two sound the same, and are both politically charged period pieces with impressive casts, but Steven Soderbergh’s “The Good German” (8th), and Robert DeNiro’s “The Good Shepherd” (22nd) have at least one striking difference – Soderbergh’s WWII drama is in black and white and stars George Clooney, a combination that led to last year’s “Good Night and Good Luck” scoring a bucketful of Oscar nominations. My pick would be ‘German’ because Soderbergh is the more accomplished director (DeNiro is a novice with just one film, “A Bronx Tale”, under his belt), and it co-stars Toby Maguire in a rare non-Spiderman role, but don’t discount the long gestating ‘Shepherd’, which boasts a roster topped by Matt Damon and Angelina Jolie and a script by Oscar winner Eric Roth. The other major contender will be Bill Condon’s “Dreamgirls” (21st), a much buzzed about musical about a Supremes-esque singing group, led by the prolific Beyonce Knowles, that could have voters remembering fondly the giddy thrills and brilliant craftsmanship of “Chicago”, for which Condon wrote the script. The 20-minute preview Condon showed at Cannes was a hit, and supposedly there may be an Oscar nomination in the future for Eddie Murphy as a James Brownian crooner, so there’s tremendous anticipation for this adaptation of the Tony winning 1981 musical. Also of note, but maybe not as Oscar attention grabbing will be the teen dragon fantasy “Eragon” (15th), this year’s ‘Chronicles of Narnia’, Edward Zwick’s African drama “Blood Diamond” (15th) with Leonardo DiCaprio and Djimon Hounsou, a live action adaptation of the all time children’s weeper “Charlotte’s Web” (20th), a recreation of the birth of Jesus by “Thirteen’s” Catherine Hardwicke “The Nativity Story” (1st) starring Keisha Castle-Hughes, and the year’s biggest wildcard, “Apocalypto” (8th), the epic 15th century subtitled drama from certifiably nutty superstar Mel Gibson. I’d usually say Sylvester Stallone coming back for “Rocky Balboa” (22nd) at age 60 was the year’s strangest idea, but if you’ve seen clips of Gibson’s Yucatec Mayan dialogue film – and the long white beard he was stroking while filming – than you’ll agree that Disney will have a hard time marketing this thing for a Christmas audience. If it lands than all the more to them, but as it stands, we’re looking at enough good films this season not to have to deal with Mel Gibson and his special peculiarities.