Film: Flight
Cast: Denzel Washington, Kelly Reilly, Bruce Greenwood, Don Cheadle, John Goodman, Melissa Leo, James Badge Dale
MPAA rating: PG-13
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2 November
Flight
The big news here is that former A-lister, Robert Zemeckis, has taken time away from his ongoing love affair with motion capture animation (read: The Polar Express, Disney’s A Christmas Carol) to make his first live action film in more than a decade (12 years, to be exact). The story centers around an airplane mishap and the pilot (played by Denzel Washington) who may… or may not.. be the hero the media makes him out to be. We know the director can handle such splash (the plane crash in Cast Away is still horrifying). With Denzel on board, so are we.
Film: The Man with the Iron Fists
Cast: Russell Crowe, Cung Le, Lucy Liu, Byron Mann, RZA, Rick Yune, David Bautista, Jamie Chung
MPAA rating: R
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2 November
The Man with the Iron Fists
RZA, the musical mastermind behind many of the Wu-Tang Clan’s most memorable beats, has always been a fan of Asian action films. Heck, his band is named after one of the classics of the genre. Now, he gets a chance to show his stuff, cinematically. He has written (with pal Eli Roth), co-produced, starred in, and is directing this tale of a weapons maker in 19th century China who joins forces with assassins and warriors to protect his small village. With Russell Crowe and Lucy Lui in tow, here’s hoping it’s a hip hop Kill Bill.
Film: Wreck-It Ralph
Cast: John C. Reilly, Jack McBrayer, Jane Lynch, Sarah Silverman, Adam Corolla
MPAA rating: PG
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2 November
Wreck-it Ralph
As they continue to trot out their previous Pixar releases in the unnecessary 3D format (namely, Finding Nemo and Monsters, Inc. ), Disney is determined to show their own CG mantle. This looks very promising indeed. We are introduced to the title character, the villain of a famous video game, who no longer wants to play the baddie. So he heads off on a journey through other platforms to find his place in the 8-bit world. Featuring cameos from several famous game faces, this looks terrific. One imagines both teens and adults enjoying the joystick homage.
Film: Lincoln
Cast: Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, David Strathairn, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, James Spader, Hal Holbrook, Tommy Lee Jones
MPAA rating: PG-13
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9 November
Lincoln
So far, all we have is an image. Replacing Liam Neeson (who apparently puts months of work into capturing the true “character” of our 16th President), we’ve only seen one sensational picture of Daniel Day-Lewis in the title role. Still, it’s so impressive that it has cinephiles free associating on potential Awards Season glory. Hopefully, director Steven Spielberg will deliver a trailer soon. We need to see how he will handle the period, the other performances (including Sally Field as Mary Todd) and the always delicate balance between truth and myth. Makes us dizzy just thinking about it.
Film: Skyfall
Cast: Daniel Craig, Javier Bardem, Judi Dench, Ralph Fiennes, Albert Finney, Naomie Harris, Bérénice Marlohe
MPAA rating: PG-13
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9 November
Skyfall
Bond is back – though, for a while, it didn’t look like he’d make it. Ongoing creative delays as well as the financial troubles of MGM meant that we’d have to wait nearly four years (Quantum of Solace was released in 2008) for the return of our favorite spy. This time, a definitive Daniel Craig brings baddie Javier Bardem along for the ride, and things are not looking good for the members of British Secret Intelligence. In fact, M is under fire for the mishandling of a disastrous mission. 007 must come to her defense…or die trying.
16 – 24 November
Film: Anna Karenina
Cast: Keira Knightley, Kelly Macdonald, Matthew Macfadyen, Ruth Wilson, Jude Law, Aaron Taylor-Johnson
MPAA rating: PG-13
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16 November
Anna Karenina
Oh, joy. What is it with classic literature? It seems that, every few months, another adaptation of something written several hundred years ago comes out from our friends across the pond, requiring audiences to, once again, sit through a story they’ve seen done dozens of times before. In this case, the classic Russian tale of a disheartened married woman and her affair with a savvy Count, pegs Keira Knightley, Jude Law, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson as its leads. Atonement/Hanna‘s Joe Wright is behind the lens, which is either good news or bad, considering your love for his previous work.
Film: Rust and Bone
Cast: Marion Cotillard, Matthias Schoenaerts, Bouli Lanners, Alex Martin
MPAA rating:
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16 November
Rust and Bone
Not much is known about this French entry for this year’s Cannes film festival except the storyline (a young man falls in love with a killer whale trainer), the short story collection it was based on, and the almost overwhelmingly positive reviews it received. While it did not win any awards at the annual film showcase this year, it does come with a compelling pedigree (co-writer/director Jacques Audiard won the Grand Jury Prize in 2009 for his devastating crime drama A Prophet). It could be a major player come Oscar time. It could also be just another foreign film looking for American arthouse respect.
Film: The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn (Part 2)
Cast: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Dakota Fanning, Ashley Greene, Maggie Grace
MPAA rating: PG-13
Image: http://images.popmatters.com/news_art/t/the-twilight-saga–breaking-dawn-part-2.jpg
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16 November
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn (Part 2)
YAHOO!!! Our long international nightmare is finally over. After five films, 10 hours, and numerous female shrieks, Bella Swan and her undead lover (now husband) Edward Cullen are departing the artform they have soiled for the last four years. Yes, this is the second half of the final installment, the story our newly vampired heroine and her battles with the Volturi over her child, Renesmee. Apparently, the kid’s a possible “immortal,” something these neckbiters can’t tolerate. It’s up to the Cullen clan to pool their resources, gather resistance, and battle against their misguided leadership. Wake us when it’s over.
Film: Life of Pi
Cast: Suraj Sharma, Shravanthi Sainath, Tobey Maguire, Gerard Depardieu, Irrfan Khan
MPAA rating: PG-13
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21 Novemnber
Life of Pi
Long considered “unfilmable,” Ang Lee takes this tale of an Indian boy trapped on a boat with a Bengal tiger and makes it his own. After a decade in development Hell, we will finally get to see author Yann Martel’s allegory for spirituality and practicality come alive. The trailer is beyond intriguing, showing the Oscar winner (for Brokeback Mountain) in full control of his creative faculties. Of course, the big question remains, will audiences respond to such ‘fantastical’ fare, or will they wonder why the beast doesn’t talk with a famous actor’s voice. It’s makes for an interesting aesthetic quandary.
Film: Red Dawn
Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Josh Peck, Josh Hutcherson, Adrianne Palicki, Isabel Lucas, Connor Cruise, Jeffrey Dean Morgan
MPAA rating: R
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21 November
Red Dawn
Since China got into a tizzy over being portrayed as the villain and MGM was mired in financial difficulties (see Skyfall), this remake of the ’80s fave was pulled from a possible 2010 release. This gave the filmmakers time to retool the enemy (they are now North Korean) and spin the story in their favor. Of course, those who remember shouting “WOLVERINES!” across their high school campuses way back when could probably care less about the production backstory. All they want to know is if longtime stunt coordinator turned first time director Dan Bradley did the ‘classic’ justice. We’ll see.
Film: Rise of the Guardians
Cast: Chris Pine, Isla Fisher, Hugh Jackman, Alec Baldwin, Jude Law, Dakota Goyo
MPAA rating: PG-13
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21 November
Rise of the Guardians
William Joyce is a wonder. He has three Emmys (for the adaptation of his kiddie character Rolie Polie Olie), served as conceptual designer for characters in Pixar’s Toy Story and A Bug’s Life… he even has an Oscar for the animated short The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore. This represents the first adaptation of his ongoing series The Guardians of Childhood. The premise takes the fictional heroes from our youth (Santa, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy) and pits them against various evil forces in the same world. The trailer tells it all, and it looks like a lot of fun.
Film: The Silver Linings Playbook
Cast: Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Anupam Kher, Julia Stiles, Jacki Weaver, Chris Tucker
MPAA rating: R
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24 November
The Silver Linings Playbook
Bradley Cooper again, doing his damnedest to confuse the fanbase that continues his commercial success. This time out, he’s not a character in a story within a movie. He’s a man just released from an insane asylum (as part of a plea agreement) who is desperate to get his life back. This means going to live with his somewhat understanding parents and trying to repair the damage to his marriage. It takes the help of a young girl, and an affinity for the Philadelphia Eagles football team, to supposedly set things right. Again, Cooper continues to confound.
* * *
Also Opening in November: Jack and Diane (11/2), This Must Be the Place (11/2), Coming Up Roses (11/9), A Royal Affair (11/9), The Collection (11/30)
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