Big Picture Big Sound

This Fall is going to have to be about surprises. Aside from the typical cookie-cutter rom-coms ("My Best Friend's Girl", "Four Christmases") and kid's stuff ("High School Musical 3", "Beverly Hills Chihuahua"), most of the big-buzz, big-budget, big-studio offerings this season reek of either blatant Oscar bids or desperation.

I'll watch anything Ridley Scott does but he can be uneven, and the trailer for the espionage thriller "Body of Lies" is a mess. Likewise, Baz Luhrmann and Nicole Kidman delivered with "Moulin Rouge!" but she's been on a downward slope recently and Baz doesn't strike me as the "historical epic" type. Sam Mendes' relationship drama "Revolutionary Road" seems to exist more to put big-name stars together (Kate and Leo!) than anything else. Gus Van Sant's "Milk" and Joe Wright's "The Soloist" show promise, but those are clear shots across the bow of Oscar.

On the other side of the coin, I'm equally worried about the smaller films like "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist". I'll watch anything Michael Cera does, but the preview for this one is less than compelling (except the moment Cera says "this isn't a taxi, my friend, I promise you"). And lastly, do we really need to see Kevin Smith's take on homemade porn in "Zack and Miri Make a Porno"?

Still, I'll hold out hope. Clint Eastwood has been unstoppable lately, and he's got two coming out this year ("Changeling" and "Gran Torino"), both of which have potential, particularly the latter which puts him in front of the camera as a bigoted Korean War vet. And while I'll watch Keanu in the remake of "The Day the Earth Stood Still", I won't be happy about it.

In fact, nothing in my Top Ten list hits the four-star mark. Most hover happily around three-stars like underachieving slackers. Here's hoping we'll all be pleasantly surprised this season.

"Burn After Reading"
What's not to love about the trailer for this latest Coen Brothers spectacle? The plot, about blackmail, murder and a missing CD of CIA secrets, looks right up their alley and a return to lighter fare after last year's pitch-black Oscar winner, "No Country For Old Men". As long as they don't try to out-"Fargo" themselves, this could be a gem.
Prediction:
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0887883/
Trailer: http://www.apple.com/trailers/focus_features/burnafterreading/
Release Date: 9/12

 

"Righteous Kill"
De Niro? Pacino? More than two scenes together? Sign me up. Watching these two warhorses spar in a buddy crime thriller should be worth the price of admission alone. I just hope the familiar-sounding story (about a serial vigilante on the loose in New York City) can support them.
Prediction:
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1034331/
Trailer: http://www.apple.com/trailers/independent/righteouskill/
Release Date: 9/12

 

"Religulous"
I never miss Bill Maher's politics-skewering HBO show "Real Time", so a feature-length doc about religion should be a treat. Without a panel of guests to temper him, however, this could also be too much of a good thing.
Prediction:
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0815241/
Trailer: http://www.apple.com/trailers/lions_gate/religulous/
Release Date: 10/3

 

"W."
Here's hoping one positive side-effect can come from the George W. Bush presidency: a return-to-form for Oliver Stone. The trailer - with a rocking cast and an unexpectedly spot-on Josh Brolin - looks like it achieves the unthinkable: a political film from Stone that doesn't take itself too seriously.
Prediction:
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1175491/
Trailer: http://www.apple.com/trailers/lions_gate/w/
Release Date: 10/17

 

"Synecdoche, New York"
I'm wary of this Charlie Kaufman vehicle about a man inspired to build a model of New York to save his marriage. But the cast is super (Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Catherine Keener), and Kaufman rarely lets me down.
Prediction:
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0383028/
Release Date: 10/24

 

"The Road"
I'll admit, this one is mostly buzz-related. I've heard mixed things about the Cormac McCarthy novel, but director John Hillcoat's 2005 "The Proposition" is an under-seen gem. If he brings half the brutality of that previous film to "The Road", this could be one tough time at the movies. And, of course, there's Viggo.
Prediction:
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0898367/
Release Date: 11/14

"Quantum of Solace"
Picking up where 2006's home-run of a franchise reboot "Casino Royale" left off, this latest Bond actioner seems like a sure thing. Hiring untested action director Marc Forster (and saddling him with that nonsensical title - even by Bond standards) is risky, but taking risks is what Bond does best.
Prediction:
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0830515/
Trailer: http://www.apple.com/trailers/sony_pictures/quantumofsolace/
Release Date: 11/7

"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Like Charlie Kaufman, David Fincher is always worth watching. And though the trailer for this Brad Pitt, reverse-aging vehicle looks potentially treacley, the Fincher/Pitt combo has paid off before.
Prediction:
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0421715/
Trailer: http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/thecuriouscaseofbenjaminbutton/
Release Date: 12/25

"The Spirit"
The posters are silly and the trailer is basically a "Sin City" knock-off, but Frank Miller directing a stylized adaptation of Will Eisner's lauded 40s and 50s masked crimefighter series? Yeah, I might see that one.
Prediction:
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0831887/
Trailer: http://www.apple.com/trailers/lions_gate/thespirit/
Release Date: 12/25

 

"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince"
There's some minor naysaying around this latest entry in the boy-wizard series (is it still hot in a "Twilight"-obsessed, post-Book-7 world?), but this series has continued to grow and improve movie-after-movie against all odds. If it happens again, I might just forgive them for splitting Book 7 into two movies.
Prediction:
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0417741/
Trailer: http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/harrypotterandthehalfbloodprince/
Release Date: moved to Summer 2009! But I'm keeping it on the list because I'm upset about it.