Films to watch out for in the fall

Ah, Fall, the season when good films emerge from the tattered remains of the cinematic cesspool known as the summer. It is also during the fall when all those oscar hopefuls come out. Some of them are good while others become mediocre dissapointments.

Now, I will list what I think are the most interesting films coming out to theatres this fall along with their release date. If you wish to know more about these films, then head over to imdb.com. If it pleases my fancy, I will later attempt to provide a synopsis for each or trailers which often explain the film's premise. I will also add and update the list withh more films as I go on. Anyway, here are my picks.

September 1st

-This Film is Not Yet Rated-a documentary by Kirby Dick attacking the often arbitrary methods of the MPAA ratings system.

-Riding Alone for a Thousand Miles- film directed by Zhang Yimou (Raise the Red Lantern, Ju-Dou, Hero) about a father who travels to China to videotape a famous opera player's performance to compensate for his past actions towards his estranged son.

September 8th

Hollywoodland - Allen Coulter. Hearing some interesting things about this film, but I still have vague reservations, given that it features Ben Affleck (who dies in the film, which is a plus).

September 15th

Black Dahlia - a film directed by Brian DePalma. I know, I know, the film features Josh Harnett whom I hate and DePalma hasn't made a good film in quite awhile (I would say since the Untouchables), but this film could actually be good. Possibly. I don'k know anymore.

The Us vs John Lennon - a documentary about the repressive actions taken by the US government to silence John Lennon's antiwar activism.

September 22nd

The Science of Sleep- a film directed by Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine on the Spotless Mind) starring Gael Garcia Bernal. Although, the film has received mixed to negative reviews, many agree that the film is visually beautiful, but lacks proper narrative structure (which Kaufman may have provided) and competent performances. Still, it could be interesting...on a purely superficial level.

All The King's Men - Steve Zaillan. Although this may be a clear Oscar pony and it possesses the stigma of being known as a remake, the cast is too good to ignore. It features Sean Penn who seems to be overacting in every scene, but the rest of the cast such as Patricia Clarkson and Anthony Hopkins will probably compensate.

September 29

The Last King of Scotland - directed by Kevin Macdonald. Although the trailer is underwhelming and Forrest Whitaker seems to overact to an insane degree in it, there is very little else coming out this weekend of interest except the following film.

A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints- directed by Dito Mondiel. A Sundance hit and winner of two awards (best director and best ensemble) in the vein of Scorsese's Mean Streets, only set in the 198os. There has been a lot of praise for this film and Robert Downey Jr.'s perfomance as well as that of Shia LaBeouf. So, I'm quasi-interested (I should stop using the prefix "quasi").

Will continue fall preview soon.