Fall is not only just a change of season but it also a time where cinema begins to change colors and moods as we begin to see films that offer darker subject-matter, unconventional plots and exciting new works by respected and admired filmmakers. Lighter fare that is more commonly seen during the warmer months will most certainly continue to pop-up here and there but now we will have more opportunities to see rich, thought-provoking cinema that will stimulate, challenge and inspire.
Here are a small collection of films coming out over the next few months that I am highly anticipating. As always, the U.S. release dates for these films are subject to change:
"WUTHERING HEIGHTS"
Release date: October 12, 2012
A radical reworking of the classic British novel by Emily Bronte, "Wuthering Heights" now tells the story of a young black child taken in by a farmer where he develops a relationship with his young daughter. James Howson and Kaya Scodelario play Heathcliff and Cathy as adults in this film written and directed by Andrea Arnold who won an Oscar for Best Live Action Short in 2005. Although it's now just hitting our shores but the film has been screened at several film festivals (where it won Best Cinematography at the 2011 Venice Film Festival) and released theatrically in the U.K. last year to great acclaim.
"THE SESSIONS"
Release date: October 26, 2012
"The Sessions" premiered earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival where the film won the Audience Award for Best Feature as well as a Jury Prize for Best Acting Ensemble. Oscar-winner, Helen Hunt returns in her first lead in a film role in quite awhile as a sex surrogate hired by a paralyzed poet (John Hawkes) with his fortieth birthday approaching and deciding he wants to lose his virginity. William H. Macy also stars.
"CLOUD ATLAS"
Release date: October 26, 2012
Billed as "the most expensive independent film of all-time" with a budget of one hundred million dollars, "Cloud Atlas" is an all-star, sci-fi drama directed by Tom Tykwer ("Run Lola Run") and Andy and Lana Wachowski ("The Matrix" trilogy). Based on the novel by David Mitchell, the film follows different people from the past, present and future and how their actions effect the world through each of the following generations. Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Hugh Grant, Hugo Weaving and Susan Sarandon headline the large cast with each actor playing multiple characters.
"LINCOLN"
Release date: November 9, 2012
Director, Steven Spielberg is taking on the sixteenth President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln in this film which focuses on the last four months of the life of this great American with a screenplay written by the Pulitzer-Prize winning playwright, Tony Kushner. Daniel Day-Lewis plays the President and Sally Field as his wife, Mary Todd. Joseph Gordon- Levitt, Tommy Lee Jones, John Hawkes and David Strathairm are just a few of the actors rounding out the large, impressive cast of "Lincoln".
"ANNA KARENINA"
Release date: November 16, 2012
Keira Knightley and director, Joe Wright have teamed-up again for the third time in another retelling of the classic Russian novel by Leo Tolstoy, "Anna Karenina". The story of a nineteenth century married socialite (Knightley) who falls in love with a Count (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) remains the same but this version is a glossy and heavily stylized drama set almost entirely in a theatrical setting. Jude Law, Emily Watson and Kelly Macdonald (TV's "Boardwalk Empire") also star.
"SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK"
Release date: November 21, 2012
"Silver Linings Playbook" just took home the prize as the People's Choice Award at the just recently ended Toronto Film Festival. This is a good sign of things to come for this film by the talented but difficult writer/director, David O. Russell which is the follow-up to his Oscar-winning film from 2010,"The Fighter". This comedy-drama stars Bradley Cooper as a former teacher just released from a mental institution in to the care of his parents (Robert DeNiro and Jacki Weaver). He has difficulty trying to readjust to life when he meets a young woman (Jennifer Lawrence) who has some serious issues of her own. After being away for quite awhile, comedian, Chris Tucker makes his long-awaited return in this film.
"ZERO DARK THIRTY"
Release date: December 19, 2012
"Zero Dark Thirty" is a term from military time which means "thirty minutes after midnight" and it is also the title of the new film by the team of director, Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter, Mark Boal who both won Oscars with their last collaboration on the 2009 Best Picture winner, "The Hurt Locker". This story focuses on how after the September 11th attack on America, a top team, made-up of intelligence and military, was assembled with only one mission; to track down and terminate the al-Qaeda leader, Osama bin Laden. Jessica Chastain, Joel Edgerton, Kyle Chandler, Edgar Ramirez and Mark Strong star in this dramatic action-thriller.
"ON THE ROAD"
Release date: December 21, 2012
It has taken quite a long time but Jack Kerouac's classic 1957 novel, "On The Road" has finally been turned in to a film. The story was a fictional take on Kerouac's actual travels with his soon-to-be influential friends (like writers, Allen Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs) across the U.S. in the 1940's with Sam Riley as Sal Paradise and Garrett Hedlund as Dean Moriarty. "On The Road" is directed by Walter Salles ("The Motorcycle Diaries"), produced by Francis Ford Coppola and features Kristen Stewart, Amy Adams, Kirsten Dunst and Viggo Mortensen.
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