October's Most Anticipated Films
by Brian Eggert
There’re some titles conspicuously absent from the below list of October recommendations. Namely A-list productions like Amelia, Law Abiding Citizen, and The Vampire’s Assistant, which all have positive pre-release buzz, but all seem too common somehow to make the cut. Watch their trailers and discover for yourself how generic-if-entertaining they seem. In the titles below, who knows what to expect (aside from Zombieland, which is guaranteed to send you rolling into the aisles). So forgo your usual helping of formulaic romantic comedies and another Saw sequel. This year, October ushers-in the awards season with a few artistically composed hits.
For a complete list of upcoming releases, visit the Calendar.
October 2nd:
The Invention of Lying
Ricky Gervais is one of the funniest people in the world right now. It’s hyperbole, but sort of true. He created Extras and The Office. He starred in the underseen supernatural rom-com Ghost Town. He writes a clever blog, where he isn’t afraid to look like a goon. He’s always aware of his image, even if he is “obsessed with his own celebrity.” Now he’s writing and directing his own movies. This can only be a good thing. The Invention of Lying earns a recommendation on concept alone. In a world where everyone tells the truth and therefore believes whatever you tell them, Gervais plays a man who discovers the lie. Now doesn’t that sound funny? Click here for the trailer.
A Serious Man
A welcomed trip home brings the Coen Brothers back to their roots, to the Jewish neighborhood of St. Louis Park, MN. A Serious Man stars almost no “name” actors and doesn’t seem to appeal to a wide market. It concerns the fraught eyes of Larry Gopnik (Michael Stuhlbarg), a physics professor whose wife is leaving him, whose son is a delinquent, whose deadbeat brother won’t get off his couch, and whose job is in jeopardy from an anonymous letter-writer sending nasty messages to the tenure board. In the realm of the Coens’ Barton Fink, something tells me we’ll be hearing about this blacker than black comedy all the way to the Oscars. Click here for the trailer.
Zombieland
Every bit as good as Shaun of the Dead, here’s another hilarious comedy that just-so-happens to be set in a zombie nightmare. Like that now-classic Simon Pegg movie, scares are occasional, but the script is more rooted in the relationships of its curiously optimistic central characters. (Still, there’s a Haunted House scene that’ll frighten the bejesus out of you.) There isn’t much by way of horror movie fare out in time for Halloween this October, besides your typical Saw sequel and the remake of The Stepfather. And while Zombieland doesn’t splatter on the gore as heavily as some genre fans might like, it plays with convention and keeps audiences laughing throughout. Next to I Love You, Man, this is the funniest movie of 2009. Click here for the review.
October 16th:
Where the Wild Things Are
Maurice Sendak’s beloved children’s book comes to life in Spike Jonze’s new film Where the Wild Things Are. After considering various approaches to the production for years, a live-action shoot began in 2006 using Jim Henson’s puppet studios, however the faces of said Wild Things were finally rendered via flawless computer animation. The film was pushed around in 2008, then later delayed until fall 2009. Now we’re finally here, and pending any last-minute delays, we’re finally going to see a film several years in the making. And by what we’re seeing in the trailer, and Sendak’s praises of the film, we’re all in for something special. Click here for the trailer.
One Film You Shouldn't See
October 23rd:
Saw VI
What could you possibly get from another Saw movie? Another series of victims. More darker-than-dark lighting. More elaborate devices of suffering. More bloody gore for gore’s sake. Another 90-minutes of gristly torture porn. Another helping of endless flashbacks. Another nonsensical explanation as to what it all means. More underdeveloped characters. More scenes describing the Jigsaw Killer’s contrived past. Another twist ending. Frustration with how shoddily the script pieces itself together with the other films. Another low-budget horror experience that turns a profit on opening weekend. Puzzlement over how commercially successful this franchise remains. More sequels on the way. Is any of this worth it? Click here for the trailer.