What are we to do in a movie season without Batman, Hancock, Iron Man, The Hulk, Wall-E, Carrie Bradshaw and Indiana Jones? The summer of 2008 was indeed full of blockbusters and Hollywood heavyweights, but can the fall season bring the same gusto?
Not quite. But with fall should come a few films that are worthy of attention.
September will feature the romantic comedy The Accidental Husband starring Uma Thurman, Colin Firth and Isabella Rossellini in a film about marriage counseling. This will likely be a good date movie for the 30-and-up crowd. Dane Cook, Kate Hudson and Jason Biggs will star in My Best Friend’s Girl, a date movie for younger crowds, also slated for September.
The hype machine is in full effect as legends Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino work together as cops in Righteous Kill. While the pairing of DeNiro and Pacino is sure to bring in a lot of box office dough, this may be an example of style over substance.
Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever, the follow up to Eli Roth’s 2003 film, will be released sometime before Halloween. This time, the fever has spread to a high school prom via bottled water. This could be interesting – especially since the repetitive Saw franchise will be coming out with Saw V.
Tyler Perry fans will be satisfied with the man-of-many-faces. The Family That Preys is about intertwining families and the friendships they keep.
Samuel L. Jackson plays a bad cop who tortures his neighbors in Lakeview Terrace. Doesn’t this plotline sound like that Ray Liotta film from the early 1990s? Well, if no one remembers it, it couldn’t have been that good anyway.
Fanboys will finally be released. Kristen Bell stars in the film about a bunch of hard core Star Wars fans and their trek to break into Skywalker Ranch and watch Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.
Disney will let the dogs out starting in October with Beverly Hills Chihuahuas, featuring the voices of Drew Barrymore, Salma Hayek, Andy Garcia and George Lopez.
Ridley Scott’s Body of Lies features big names Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe, but early trailers indicate this film looks like something we have all seen before.
Oliver Stone is no stranger to controversy and his possible too-soon bio-pic on George Bush, W. will star Josh Brolin in the role as the president. This will be an interesting release right around the time of the coming election.
Dance of the Dead is a highly touted independent horror film that will be released Oct. 20. The film centers around a prom (hey, Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever you have a date!), in which a neighboring graveyard unleashes the undead on a high school.
A Halloween tradition continues with the aforementioned Saw V. The franchise that just won’t die is back again. Speaking of cringe worthy, High School Musical 3: Senior Year will be released on the same day.
If you aren’t already sick of Seth Rogen, he will star in yet another film. This time, a Kevin Smith film titled Zack and Miri Make a Porno. The title alone should be reason enough to check this one out.
Halloween will have a thriller release in The Haunting of Molly Hartley. If this is rated R, like all good horror movies should be, it may be worth a look.
Nov. 7 is a fitting release date as Daniel Craig returns as "007" in the latest James Bond film, Quantum of Solace. Bond will have some stiff competition with Dreamworks’ animated Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa.
For comic movie fans, summer 2008 was a landmark season. In December, Punisher: War Zone hopes to keep up the streak of solid films about Marvel characters, just in time for the holidays. Hopefully Marvel can deliver yet again.
The Day The Earth Stood Still has blockbuster written all over it. The question remains as to whether Keanu Reeves and crew can live up to the original of this 1951 remake.
Bryan Singer’s historic tale about the plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler, Valkrie will round up the year. Tom Cruise stars in this controversial film that will likely garner a lot of buzz.
