Six "Must See" Movies This Fall

Life of Pi

Sandy put the kibosh on plans to see Sinister with Dear D for his birthday this week, though I am hoping we get to go one night before I am off to L.A. next Friday. 

Still, there are at least six films on my "Must See" list for this fall. While I doubt I will get to see all of them, a boy can dream... In no particular order they are:

Skyfall. This much-delayed and highly anticipated entry into one of the most successful film franchises of all time finds Daniel Craig's James Bond up against Javier Bardem's Silva, a possibly gay villain who wants to take down MI6. Most who've seen the film agree that it's a return to the dazzling gadget-filled, action-packed Bond movies of the early Connery days. With director Sam Mendes (American Beauty; The Road to Perdition) at the helm, I have high hopes for this entry in the long-running franchise. Of course, it doesn't hurt that Adele has recorded an awesome theme song, reminiscent of Shirley Bassey's best.

Life of Pi. Based on the novel by Yann Martel, Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain) brings the tale of of a young Indian boy who survives a s shipwreck along with several animals from the the zoo his family was moving from India to Canada. Lee has consistently proven to be an exemplary director (despite 2003's Hulk) and the trailer's visuals are simply remarkable.

Rise of the Guardians. I have always been a fan of imaginative animation and Dreamworks Animation seems to have another hit on their hands with a story about Santa Clause; the Easter Bunny; the Tooth Fairy; Jack Frost and other childhood favorites banding together to defeat an evil being known as 'Pitch' Featuring the voices of Chris Pine; Hugh Jackman; Isla Fisher; Alec Baldwin and Jude Law, Rise of the Guardians seems like the perfect film for the Holidays.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Director Peter Jackson's first of three parts of J,R.R. Tolkien's 'prequel' to "The Lord of the Rings" has fanboys and geeks drooling at the bit. The story of Bilbo Baggins and his first encounter with the Ring has been adapted (less than successfully) by animator Ralph Bakshi. Given Jackson's track record with Tolkien's work, I can only imagine his Hobbit trilogy will be just as good.

Les Miserables. The most successful stage musical of all time, based on the novel by Victor Hugo, finally comes to the screen in this film adaptation from The King's Speech director Tom Hooper.  Starring Hugh Jackman; Anne Hathaway; Helena Bonham Carter; Sacha Baron Cohen; Russell Crowe and Amanda Seyfried, the film is being touted for using live performances, rather than lip-synced singing. The last musical to do so (Peter Bogdanovich's At Long Last Love) was a massive flop. I hope Hooper knows what he's doing.

Django, Unchained. Quentin Tarantino's tale of a freed slave seeking revenge on the men who took his wife looks like it will be both brutal and hilarious, following in the footsteps of the director's best films. With a cast that includes Christoph Waltz; Jamie Foxx; Leonardo DiCaprio; Samuel L. Jackson; Kerry Washington; Amber Tamblyn; Jonah Hill; James Remar; Don Johnson; Michael Parks; Tom Savini; Robert Carradine and Bruce Dern, Django may well be Tarantino's most entertaining film since Pulp Fiction. 

What movies are you looking forward to seeing this fall?

More, anon.
Prospero