Cinematical's Fall Preview: Scott's Picks
Every year is like clockwork for me: I struggle through the first quarter, desperately hoping to find some fun in the Dumping Grounds season (January through April) -- and then I start getting excited for the big-time summer tentpoles. By the time September rolls around, I'm usually fed up with superheroes, machine guns and CGI orgies -- and that's when we start getting ready for all the "prestige picks." From mid-September until the end of December (and all of its "NY/LA award-qualifying" releases) we're offered a pretty steady barrage of "grown-up" movies, several of which are quite welcome indeed.
But since I'm not much of a "grown-up," even my Oscar Season picks are pretty genre-intensive. Here are the three I'm most looking forward to:
The Prestige -- Based on a book that my friend Josh swears is "amazing, seriously," this big-screen adaptation comes from Christopher Nolan (Batman Begins, Insomnia, Memento) and stars folks like Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman, Scarlett Johansson and the always-fun Michael Caine. Toss in a few supporting players like Piper Perabo, Andy Serkis and David Bowie (as Nikola Tesla!) and you can color me officially intrigued. And then I saw the trailer. Wow. And the story sounds nifty enough: A pair of 19th-century London magicians start off as fast friends, only to have their friendship dissolve into vicious hatred with the passage of years. Plus, murder is involved. (Touchstone, October 20th)
The Fountain -- It's not just that Darren Aronofsky's previous films (Pi and Requiem for a Dream) pretty much floored me, but also that this outrageously ambitious-looking sci-fi adventure/romance has been percolating for the last 4+ years. Needless to say, I can't wait to see how the thing turned out. Then we get the one-two punch of Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz, combined with some contributions from reliable actors like Ellen Burstyn, Cliff Curtis and Mark Margolis -- and one helluva "high concept" conceit: A conquistador's 16th-century search for the fountain of youth leads to a modern doctor's mission to cure his wife's cancer, with a 26th-century astronaut's quest for the meaning of life thrown in there somewhere along the way. Okay, I might be off a little bit plot-wise, but all I have to go on is this dazzling trailer. Uh oh, and these brand-new reactions from festival-goers and critics alike. Argh. (Warner Bros., November 22nd)
Unaccompanied Minors -- I wrote out a whole big paragraph on how much I hope the new James Bond movie won't suck, but that series lost me with the wretchedness of the last two entries, so I chose to show some love for Unaccompanied Minors, which is the second feature from Paul Feig (after the little-seen I Am David). If Feig's name sounds familiar, it's probably because he's worked on some of the finest television comedies of the past ten years (Freaks and Geeks, Undeclared, Arrested Development and The Office), but I love the guy's work because of the way he writes young people. The movie's about a group of six children who get stuck in a Chicago airport when a massive snowstorm shuts the runways down. Ah yes, and on Christmas Eve, no less. This thing could turn out to be your typical "loud kids do predictably obnoxious things" schpiel, but I have a lot of faith in Paul Feig; I think Unaccompanied Minors could turn out to be a younger, warmer version of The Breakfast Club. Plus it's got a seriously colorful supporting cast of "grown-ups," too. (Warner Bros., December 8th)
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-05-2006 @ 4:59PM
bgdc said...
So pissed they changed The Prestige's storyline. They were never friends in the book.
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9-06-2006 @ 3:30AM
Gerry said...
So what if they weren't friends in the book? I love the book but know that you can't just transplant the story from one medium to another. To adapt means to retain the heart and character of the story whilst making the changes which make it work best as a film. Christopher Priest has given the script his blessing and until I see the film for myself that is good enough for me.
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9-06-2006 @ 5:51PM
Anne Hedley said...
The Fountain this film has been long awaited adn the story is enthraling and both Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weiss both play three different characters. Theri performances are incredible and particularly, I have read on the network, the performances of Hugh Jakman is so good is must surely be nominated at least for an oscar.
The date keeps changing for this films I am not sure how long I will have to wait to see this film of the year. The story, the stars, the director and all the crew will have made a classic I am sure
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9-06-2006 @ 5:52PM
Anne Hedley said...
I have heard a great deal about The Prestige and it sounds as though it will be one of the hits of the Season. The cast of Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, ScarletJohansen and David Bowie is tremendous.
The two magicians may well start off as friends in the film but they will not be friends for long - the passion of the ultimate trick, and wanting to be the possessor of this magical trick [if it is a trick] will claw at the characters with murder in mind ?
The costume and period also adds magic to the tale as this is indeed a tme of mystery and magic.
I am particularly looking forward to the performances of the very talented Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale who I have heard a lot about, Michael Caine and David Bowie these well established actors enhance the film evenmor. Can't wait
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9-07-2006 @ 12:03PM
MIlo said...
I'm a little surprised not to see "Children Of Men" on this list. I'm pretty damn excited for that, probably on par with "The Fountain". I do worry though, that it might be just another movie about escaping amid crazy obstacles with little substance and heavy on the fighting/struggle scenes. From the trailer it looks like it could go either way. But I have faith in Clive Owen. He just needs a good and deep role to really catapult him. Maybe this is it?
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