Here’s a glimpse of the prestige fall movies, for those cinephiles and culture aficionados:
BIRTH OF A NATION
The Good: Nate Turner’s passion project about a slave rebellion pre-Civil War, a welcome return of minority voices to the Oscar discussion.
The Bad: The movie reeks of importance to the point that it might get overpraised.
Prediction:
A strong contender for the best movie you’ll see this year.
THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN
The Good: Adaptation of a stellar book, with a very strong lead in Emily Blunt.
The Bad: Tate Taylor isn’t the best director, and this could end up being a light Gone Girl.
Prediction:
Blunt almost always delivers, and the trailers promise fascinating twisty perspective changes.
DESIERTO
The Good: A strong thriller with a pointed political spin directed by the underappreciated Cuaron family.
The Bad: The trailer really doesn’t sell the movie very well, and the buzz is pretty bad.
Prediction:
I have high hopes for this one, the cast is excellent and the Cuaron’s usually put interesting spins on tired material.
MOONLIGHT
The Good: Ambitious tale that Hollywood normally doesn’t decide to tackle very often.
The Bad: Did the untested director bite off more than he could chew.
Prediction:
The movie will be a welcome story, but I worry there’s not enough time to cover the story’s ambition.
AMERICAN PASTORAL
The Good: Strong cast with a decent writer, based on a Pulitzer Prize winning novel.
The Bad: Some of the worst buzz I have ever heard, and Ewan McGregor has never directed and isn’t believable as a star athlete.
Prediction:
A wasteful adaptation of a very good Philip Roth novel.
LOVING
The Good: Relevant story with a strong cast and director, plus great word of mouth.
The Bad: Will this devolve into an after school special?
Prediction:
Jeff Nichols is an interesting director, and Ruth Negga is a star waiting to happen.
ARRIVAL
The Good: Strong director and yet further hope that Amy Adams will win an Oscar soon.
The Bad: A mostly horror director.
Prediction:
Denis Villeneuve has been consistently engaging, and the story is an interesting spin on Alien invasions. High hopes here hinging on Amy Adams? Sounds like a solid place to be.
BILLY LYNN’S LONG HALFTIME WALK
The Good: Anytime Ang Lee directs something, it’s going to be a splendor to look at at least.
The Bad: The cast is not dramatically tested.
Prediction:
I have high hopes for this one, with a strong story comparison to Slumdog Millionaire.
HACKSAW RIDGE
The Good: A fresh spin on the war movie.
The Bad: Can Mel Gibson return to directing without getting overtly preachy?
Prediction:
The early buzz is very promising, and the concept is strong enough to be at worst intriguing.
THE EDGE OF SEVENTEEN
The Good: There hasn’t been a great coming of age movie in a while, and the leads are well cast.
The Bad: Is there enough time between coming of age stories to make this one different?
Prediction:
These movies are hard to get right, and the trailer makes this movie look like retread material.
MANCHESTER BY THE SEA
The Good: Strong word of mouth coupled with a distinct sense of place.
The Bad: I rolled my eyes at how often I’ve seen movies like this one: troubled adult raises innocent child to both their benefit.
Prediction:
Strong acting and setting should carry this over its obvious cliches.
ALLIED
The Good: Strong leads, a cool story, and a stellar writer.
The Bad: Robert Zemeckis’s record as of late has been real sketchy.
Prediction:
Spy thriller set at WWII? Sounds like a can’t miss.
LION
The Good: Dev Patel gets a chance to not play a stereotype.
The Bad: The Weinstein Company hammers its Oscarness too heavily, and a relatively untested director.
Prediction:
This movie will be trying too hard.
TOWER
The Good: Animated documentary? Those don’t happen often, and the subject is certainly interesting.
The Bad: Documentaries are at their best when correcting a social ill, so the peak for this one is limited.
Prediction:
The material will be compelling and it will be well directed. Could usher in more animated docs.
LA LA LAND
The Good: Fantasical love story with Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, and the director of Whiplash? The pieces couldn’t fit better.
The Bad: This could become Sparksian, all the warning signs are there.
Prediction:
My hopes are sky high with this one. It sounds superbly adorable.
THE SALESMAN
The Good: One of the five best working writer/directors today, Asghar Farhadi, wrote and directed the screenplay.
The Bad: Farhadi doesn’t usually adapt works from other people, so that maybe?
Prediction:
Like Richard Linklater, I will see anything Farhadi puts on the screen.
COLLATERAL BEAUTY
The Good: Will Smith getting a chance to stretch his acting chops.
The Bad: The Devil Wears Prada wasn’t famous for its director, and the writer of this film has lots of Adam Sandler/Kevin James films on his resume.
Prediction:
I smell manipulative garbage on this one.
THE FOUNDER
The Good: A ubiquitous fast food chain, Michael Keaton, and deceptive business practice all should work nicely.
The Bad: Pairing a feel good Disney director with a dark writer might not work so well.
Prediction:
Michael Keaton will be great, and the McDonald brothers are also well cast, but the story feels mostly generic were it not for the Big Mac creator’s creation.
PASSENGERS
The Good: J-Law and Chris Pratt, the two most beloved actors on the planet now, starring in a movie together.
The Bad: Untested writer and bland director.
Prediction:
My gut says this is great only on paper.
PATRIOT’S DAY
The Good: A rousing jingoistic film to make you believe in America.
The Bad: 5 writers and a wishy washy director? Yeesh.
Prediction:
Will feel good to watch, but not say anything special.
GOLD
The Good: Another stellar McConaughey performance feels like it’s coming.
The Bad: Lots of TV writers/directors that may not translate to a cineplex.
Prediction:
McConaughey will get a “For Your Consideration” but the story looks ok.