The 2022 Fall Movie Season: The Top 10 Pure Entertainment Movies
Ah the fall movie season, October (I did cheat a little as one release is VERY late September) to December, usually the creme de la creme of what Hollywood has to offer. Yes obviously there’s the Oscar bait, but even the entertainment options are usually better these upcoming 3 months, because everyone’s back from summer vacation and into their routines for the rest of the year. After the incredible spring of 2022, can the entertainment of the fall measure up? Based on the list below, feels like a hard “No Way!” But Christmas time can be the season of hope, so I’m hoping for some high quality entertainment from the movie season.
Here’s 5 should be entertaining, but not as entertaining movies as the ones above it:
Yep, you read right. Peter Billingsley’s Ralphie is back as an adult this time, ready to tell his version of a Christmas Story, modernizing the tale to a younger generation hopefully. HBO Max did ok with 8-Bit Christmas last year, and here’s hoping they capture the magic of the 1983 film, my #1 movie that year.
Disney Animation has been on a roll since 2012, making some of the best films of the last 10 years. So there’s no reason to believe this latest one won’t have a shot. The trailer certainly got me excited: a space hopping family adventure that’s a feast on the eyes. The visuals alone are why animated films become so beloved, capturing that endless imagination children have for strange people places and things.
Speaking of visuals. After getting bored exploring Titanic wreckage, James Cameron makes his way back to the big screen, finally releasing one of the multiple Avatar sequels he’s supposedly made. It’s important to remember, everytime we count out Cameron, he usually delivers something amazing onscreen, so here’s hoping the Avatar sequel proves Cameron hasn’t lost his King of the World magic touch.
I know Disney’s really pushing their Robert Zemeckis/Tom Hanks remake of Pinocchio, but that’s lazy franchising. The reason Pinocchio is so special for me is how it’s not afraid to be a darker kids film: the scene with the donkeys/Monstro the whale are truly terrifying. And when Guillermo del Toro is involved, you know the fairy tale elements are going to be juxtaposed with strange ominous spirits and creatures that give the movie an edge that makes it that much more interesting. Netflix’s Pinocchio will mop the floor with Disney’s really dumb looking remake, you can quote me on that one.
Sweet, beautiful Whitney Houston. I’ve danced to my fare share of her amazing songs, both fast and slow. I suspect this will be a by the numbers music biopic. But, Kasi Lemmons has made great movies in the past and isn’t afraid to take risks, Anthony McCarten has written hella entertaining music biopics and great scripts in his time, and Naomi Ackie is overdue for a great leading role. I’m hoping the stars align here and we get something really magical, or at least a fantastic singalong to one of the great voices in music history.
In one of the great movie years of the new millennium, Enchanted captured my heart, finding that beautiful sweet spot The Princess Bride navigated, mocking fairy tale tropes while telling a lovely sweet fairy tale in its own right. The whole cast is back for the sequel, plus Maya Rudolph is involved, usually a great decision. My inner kid is beyond excited to see what 2022 has in store for Giselle!
This one’s not quite an Oscar contender, but it’s going after something big, so admittedly this is a cheat. Nicholas Hoult and Anya Taylor-Joy travel to a prestigious island to attend an even more prestigious restaurant run by Ralph Fiennes, but something strange, and maybe nefarious is afoot there. Adam McKay is producing, and despite the novice director/writers, the actors involved usually have good taste. Should be a potent amuse bouche before the heavy Oscar fare.
Billy Eichner wrote and starred in this studio comedy, a rarity in this movie landscape. Even more rare, studio comedies about LGBTQ people, which this movie creatively is brimming with. We’ll see if Eichner can play the straight man here (pun intended), but with comedy stalwarts Judd Apatow and Nicholas Stoller guiding this movie along, I’m pretty sure we’re gonna be in for a helluva great time.
After getting unfairly dragged through the franchise coals with The Last Jedi, Rian Johnson went to a house, with some amazing actors, and resurrected the great Whodunit? genre of movies with the totally wonderful Knives Out. Now partnering with Netflix, Johnson and Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc are back, with a whole new, great cast of people on a boat in Europe for this sequel. Johnson is a brilliant filmmaker, so I have no doubt this movie will be as entertaining as the first, and hopefully ends up as a perfect Christmas entertainment for families everywhere.
Marvel’s been on a cold streak (No Way Home excluded) since Avengers: Endgame, lost in how to move their big movie franchise forward. I was trepidatious with this Black Panther sequel, because of the heartbreaking loss of Chadwick Boseman and the weird/ironic Letitia Wright drama. But then the trailer below dropped, and I remembered Ryan Coogler is one of our great filmmakers working today, especially on big budget entertainment. I’m pretty sure Wakanda Forever will show why Coogler earns the big bucks he’s getting, and hopefully get Marvel out of their funk.
