Labor Day is past and we all know what that means. Soon, the days will be short, the nights freezing and we'll have snow piled up to our doors, forcing us to shovel our way clear just to get the car outside. Oh, wait. That's those other places. Autumn here means Caesars' ceiling dims earlier, the pools close and we hope those damn crickets go away so we can get some sleep. Either way, though, it's a good time to take a look at the cultural season ahead. And so we do.
After a dreadful summer, some promising upcoming releases
It hasn't been a good year at the movies. In addition to the box-office slump that's been exhaustively dissected, the overall quality has been much lower and many high-profile, eagerly anticipated releases have been disappointments. Looking ahead to the fall, there's the usual slate of Oscar-baiting prestige pictures, with literary adaptations, epic biopics and heartstring-tugging movies based on true stories. But there are also some intriguing smaller films, a few promising genre products and even the possibility that some of the awards-baiting products will live up to their hype.
One name I'm happy to see behind a prestige picture again is director David Cronenberg, whose new film, A History of Violence (wide release September 30), got positive reviews at Cannes and is poised to be an Oscar contender. Based on a graphic novel, the film stars Viggo Mortensen as an average guy who may be hiding a dangerous secret. It looks to be Cronenberg's most accessible film in years, and possibly one of his best.
In the biopic category, there's George Clooney's second film as director, Good Night, and Good Luck (in Las Vegas November 4), which, like his first film, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, puts a stylish spin on a true story from pop-culture history. In this case, it's the showdown between news legend Edward R. Murrow (David Strathairn) and Communist-hunting Sen. Joseph McCarthy.
Writer-director Cameron Crowe, who made his early career with heartfelt comedic dramas about relationships, capped by his 2000 masterpiece Almost Famous, took a detour with his last film, the disappointing thriller Vanilla Sky, but he's back in familiar territory with Elizabethtown (October 14), about a young man who finds an unexpected romance when he heads home for a funeral. Although trailers make it look very similar to last year's Garden State, you can trust Crowe to put his own distinctive stamp on the material.
A little off the beaten path, but getting a healthy amount of publicity thanks to its recent ratings appeals, is Atom Egoyan's Where the Truth Lies (limited release October 14), about crime and cover-ups surrounding a 1950s showbiz duo. Rated NC-17 by the MPAA, the film may end up getting a truncated release if it can't appeal down to an R, but with a cast including Kevin Bacon, Colin Firth and the underrated Alison Lohman, it deserves a chance to be seen by a wide audience.
Although they aren't considered as prestigious, there are a few genre movies set for this fall that have the chance to redeem the lackluster summer for action and sci-fi. One-time superstar screenwriter Shane Black, who created the Lethal Weapon franchise, returns to both write and direct Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (wide release November 11), a tongue-in-cheek detective thriller with Val Kilmer and Robert Downey Jr. that looks as if it recaptures some of his old magic.
You wouldn't guess it from the description—an arms dealer (Nicolas Cage) trying to stay one step ahead of a cop (Ethan Hawke)—but the action film Lord of War (September 16) has the potential to be an unexpected gem. Writer-director Andrew Niccol made the excellent sci-fi film Gattaca and the underrated Simone, and also wrote the screenplay for Peter Weir's The Truman Show. Niccol has a knack for turning genre conventions into smart and provocative films.
Comic-book creators Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean adapt their inventive graphic novel MirrorMask limited release September 30) for the screen, with the Jim Henson Company behind them. Like Sin City, MirrorMask features the original creators as the driving forces behind the film (Gaiman writes and McKean directs), and a fantastical world created mostly with CGI. Unlike Sin City, it's a sweet tale about a girl in a mystical world, and is designed to appeal to all ages.