Fall Movie Preview

Movies coming to the big screen this fall are mostly predictable in terms of success. Big wig movie companies are desperately trying to recover from a less than favorable summer line-up of half-ass comedies and less-than-stellar movie remakes. Fall will come with a bunch of “straight to video” flicks built around “copycat plots” in Hollywood’s vain attempt to duplicate the success that was once lost, yet there are always the movies of the season that catch one’s interest.

A movie with a “copycat plot” previously mentioned is a picture that a movie-goer can easily pass by on an outing, sit down and predict the ending and all if it’s characters or compare to a movie in it’s likeness.This Fall we have the comedy copycats who have taken the off-beat success of it’s predecessors Napoleon Dynamite and The Office and generated relatable counterparts where the goofy, nerdy character finds himself, gets the girl and ends in an unrealistic happily ever after. Employee of the Month has the hot chick singer-turned-actress Jessica Simpson pared with Dax Shephard’s less-than-threatening character while in School for Scoundrels, Napoleon himself Jon Heder is pared with straight-faced Billy Bob Thornton in the competition for the affections of Jacinda Barrett who also stars in Fall’s The Notebook knock off The Last Kiss with oddball actor Zach Braff. Following along the counterfeit design comes The Rock with his traditional seasonal disaster Gridiron Gang, taking the hope, determination and good, wholesome family triumph of The Longest Yard with smaller players and Xzibit tagging along.

Next are the “Why Did They Even Bother?” movies where avid movie buffs can only sit back and shake their heads and raise their lips in sheer disdain. Although there aren’t near as many as there have been this season, bringing back not-so-successful remakes by simply slapping a “2” on the end, like The Grudge 2 from The Grudge, in order to solidify success is just plain lazy. Kutcher is back in The Guardian, with Kevin Costner, desperately trying to prove himself as a serious actor with another boring movie about absolutely nothing and water, Costner’s handicap. And last but not least, is a powder-faced Kirsten Dunst playing a teenage Marie Antoinette, Hollywood’s Fall attempt at biographical pictures, going through what else, but what all teenage characters that the ever-so-young Dunst is primed to portray: high school.

Lastly are my personal picks for a movie I would actually pay eight bucks to sit in a dark room full of strangers watch and maybe even enjoy. I can honestly say that I am “the horror type:” show me a good murder with an honestly good plot and I’ll clap my hands and giggle like a schoolgirl. Saw was that good horror movie for me since, I believe, The Exoricist. The murders, the characters, the villain, the motive and best of all, the fact that they never found the true killer before he died in the sequel makes Saw III, the third chapter in the trilogy, all the more exciting. There are certain rules to bringing back the past in a murder drama, but I have my own expectations for The Black Dahlia. Although one could argue that is a bunch of today’s young hotties trying their best to portray times and events they’ve never lived through, another could argue that that is the definition of acting. Now, I’m not so much the action type, but I am looking forward to Jet Li’s Fearless and hope it to be one of Li’s amazing martial arts masterpieces that everyone will be able to aesthetically admire instead of fully understand through subtitles or that insignificant thing called a plot.

Sept 15
The Black Dahlia
The Last Kiss
Gridiron Gang

Sept 22
Jet Li’s Fearless

Sept 29
The Guardian
School For Scoundrels

Oct 4
Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning

Oct 6
Employee of the Month

Oct 13
The Grudge 2

Oct 20
Marie Antoinette

Oct 27
Saw III