Movies Spotlight – Upcoming 2015 Films (Fall & Winter) – July 2015

Now that summer is winding down, let’s look at all the great films scheduled to be released this fall and winter – and there are a lot. I think 2015 will be remembered for its prestige films, looking back, even though, so far, it has been a year of blockbusters like Avengers: Age of Ultron, Jurassic World and Inside Out.

September

Starting with September, Gavin O’Connor’s new western is finally coming to theaters (after a very troubled production, including losing directors and multiple actors). The film stars Natalie Portman and Ewan McGregor and is about a woman who asks her ex-lover to help her save her outlaw husband from a lethal gang out to kill him. I’m looking forward to the film for a few reasons: I love westerns, it will be nice to see Portman is films again, and O’Connor’s last film was the excellent sports-drama Warrior.

Director Scott Cooper is known for his character driven dramas (Crazy Heart and Out of the Furnace). His new film, Black Mass, takes on the notorious South Boston criminal Whitey Bulger (an infamously violent man who became an FBI informant to stop the mob from infiltrating his territory). Cooper has assembled a fantastic cast, including: Johnny Depp (as Whitey Bulger), Dakota Johnson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Joel Edgerton, and Corey Stoll. Here is the trailer.

The film I’m most looking forward to in September is Denis Villeneuve’s Sicario, a mystery crime-drama starring Emily Blunt, Benicio Del Toro and Josh Brolin. It debuted at Cannes to critical acclaim and lots of positive buzz. Sicario looks like a brilliant, exciting and raw thriller. Here is the trailer.

A potentially fun comedy in September is Nancy Meyers’s The Intern. It is about a 70-year-old widower who is bored in retirement and looks to get back to work, joining an online fashion site as an intern. The film stars Robert De Niro as the Intern and Anne Hathaway as his boss (and founder of the company). Here is the trailer.

Closing out the month is Baltasar Kormakur’s action thriller Everest. The film looks intense and Kormakur has put together a strong cast, including: Jason Clarke, Jake Gyllenhaal, KeiraKnightley, Robin Wright, and John Hawkes. While Kormakur is known for making action films (like Contraband and 2 Guns), the great cast should bring a dramatic, character-driven dynamic to this thriller. Here is the trailer.

October

September features some potentially very good films, October has even better films, starting with Ridley Scott’s The Martian. Scott excels at creating epic and visually astounding space-set narratives and sci-fi imagery. The Martian tells the story of astronaut Mark Watney, who is abandoned on Mars after his crew believes him killed in a massive storm that pushed them off the planet. Now, Mark has to use his intellect and practical know-how to survive, while his crew races back to save him. The film sounds a little like Interstellar, and Matt Damon again plays the man left for dead alone on an alien planet, but thematically the films are completely different. In addition to Damon, Jessica Chastain, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Jeff Daniels, and Kate Mara also star. It’s among the five films I’m most looking forward to seeing. Here is the trailer.

Another film I cannot wait to see is Justin Kurzel’s William Shakespeare adaptation Macbeth, especially after playing well at Cannes. Kurzel’s film looks aesthetically phenomenal and boasts a super cast, including: Michael Fassbender (as Macbeth), Marion Cotilard (as Lady Macbeth), David Thewlis, Elizabeth Debicki, and Sean Harris. The play (and film) are about Macbeth, a duke of Scotland, who receives a prophecy that he will one day be King. Consumed by this ambition, he murders the King and takes the throne for himself. Here is the trailer.

I really like the work of British director Joe Wright. He helms a new version of the Peter Pan story, a prequel of sorts called Pan. On one hand, it looks great with astounding aesthetics and a strong cast, but on the other hand I'm a little worried that it might be too much of a kid's movie (something that has plagued many past Peter Pan films). I'm willing to give it a chance. Here is the trailer.

A film that I cannot quite pin down is Robert Zemeckis’s The Walk, which tells the story of Philippe Petit’s high-wire walk from the roof of one World Trade Center Twin Tower to the other. It is an incredible story, but it is already told wonderfully in James Marsh’s documentary Man on Wire. Zemeckis is a great filmmaker (Back to the Future, Cast Away, and recently Flight), but his film does not feel right thematically and how can he top Man on Wire? His film stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ben Kingsley, and Charlotte Le Bon. Here is the trailer.

Yet another highly anticipated film to be released in October is Danny Boyle’s Steve Jobs. The film went through directors and lead actors on the road to settling on Boyle and Michael Fassbender (although, I still would have liked to have seen the DavidFincher-Christian Bale iteration). The film is written by Aaron Sorkin and also stars Kate Winslet, Seth Rogen, and Katherine Waterston. It looks like an interesting biopic of one of the great innovators of our time. Here is the trailer.

Netflix made a play to get into the filmmaking business when it acquired the rights to Beasts of No Nation, which it will debut October 16^th. The film is written and directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga (who also directed the first season of True Detective) and stars Idris Elba. It’s about child soldiers fighting in an unnamed African nation’s civil war. As a big fan of Fukunaga’s work and Elba, I’m very much looking forward to this. Could Nexflix get an Oscar nomination?

Horror has always been a passion of writer-director Guillermo del Toro. His new film, Crimson Peak, looks like his version of the classic haunted house horror narrative. Aesthetically, it looks wonderfully gothic. It also features a top cast, including: Mia Wasikowska, Tom Hiddleston, Jessica Chastain, and Charlie Hunnam. Here is the trailer.

Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks have had one of the most fruitful partnerships in Hollywood, from films to producing excellent television (I’m specifically thinking of Band of Brothers). Their latest endeavor with Spielberg behind the camera and Hanks starring is the cold-war thriller Bridge of Spies. It’s about the man who negotiated an exchange of prisoners under extreme political pressures (with all-out nuclear war always looming). Here is the trailer.

November

Daniel Craig has enjoined his time as James Bond, starring in some of the best films of the series. Returning once again, along with director Sam Mendes, Craig next 007 adventure is called Spectre, where he will seek out the criminal organization behind the events that Bond faced in Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace. Most of Skyfall’s cast is returning (M, Q and Moneypenny) and joining the cast are Christoph Waltz, Lea Seydoux, Dave Bautista, Monica Bellucci, and Andrew Scott. It looks like another great Bond film. Here is the trailer.

Brooklyn was one of the Sundance Film Festival’s most buzzed about films, coming out of the festival as a potential Oscar favorite. The film is directed by John Crowley, written by Nick Hornby, and stars Saoirse Ronan, Emory Cohen and Domhnall Gleeson. It’s about a young Irish woman who leaves Ireland in the 1950s to come to New York, but she finds herself torn between the two places and two men, the man she has fallen for in Brooklyn and the man she loves when she returns to Ireland. Here is the trailer.

For many, November’s most anticipated film is The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2, the closing chapter of the saga. I’m particularly looking forward to the film because it will be interesting to finally see Katniss make tough decisions (presumably) and actually be involved in the action, as District 13 engages in all-out revolution against the Capital. Jennifer Lawrence is excellent as Katniss; Francis Lawrence returns behind the camera. Here is the trailer.

I really liked the Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, and Jonathan Levine collaboration 50/50. There are back with a new film called X-Mas. It’s about three friends who annually travel to New York City on Christmas Eve to get drunk and otherwise have fun. This year their tradition might be coming to an end, so they embark on a mission to find the biggest and best party. Joining Gordon-Levitt and Rogen in the cast are Lizzy Caplan and Anthony Mackie.

Pixar and Disney released one of their better recent films this summer with Inside Out. They have another film coming in November called The Good Dinosaur that sounds just as good. The logline of the film asks: What if the meteor that killed-off the Dinosaurs never hit the Earth, leading to a world in which humans and dinosaurs co-exist? Peter Sohn is heading up the creative team (directing his first feature, though he did make the great short Partly Cloudy which played in front of Up). Here is the trailer.

A film that sounds awesome but has so far flown under the radar is the new sci-fi drama from writer-director Jeff Nicholas called Midnight Special. It’s about a father and son who go on the run after the dad learns that his son has developed special powers. It stars Michael Shannon, Kirsten Dunst, Adam Driver, Joel Edgerton, and Sam Shepard. Nicholas also made the very good dramas Take Shelter and Mud.

Eddie Redmayne, who won the 2015 Best Actor Oscar for The Theory of Everything, is back again with what sounds like another Oscar-worthy performance. This time in Tom Hooper’s new film The Danish Girl, where he plays Einar Wegener, the husband of famous Danish artist Gerda Wegener who painted him as a woman. As the painting gained popularity, Einar began to change his appearance, dressing and associating more as a lady, which he named Lili Elbe. With the support of his wife, he attempted the first ever male to female sex reassignment surgery. The film also stars Alicia Vikander (who’s blowing up this year) and Matthias Schoenaerts. The film is likely an Oscar favorite.

December

And finally we get to December. To kick us off, here’s In the Heart of the Sea, a film scheduled to be released in the Spring but scored such outstanding reviews in its test screenings that Warner Bros. pushed it all the back to awards season to compete for Oscars. It’s directed by Ron Howard and stars Chris Hemsworth, Cillian Murphy, Brendan Gleeson, Benjamin Walker, and (your new Spider-Man) Tom Holland. The film’s about Thomas Nickerson, the ship captain that encountered the famous white whale Moby Dick, inspiring Herman Melville’s novel. Here is the trailer.

One of the best reviewed films at this year’s Cannes Film Festival was Carol, a romantic drama set during the 1950s in America. It’s about two women who fall in love and dream of a different world in which they could be together. It’s directed by dramatic filmmaking master Todd Haynes and stars Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara (who won Best Actress at Cannes).

The biggest and hopefully greatest blockbuster of the winter season is Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens. I cannot wait to see it. J.J. Abrams seems like a god choice to take over the creative reigns for the franchise. The film will mix characters we know (Luke, Leia, and Han Solo) with new characters, continuing the saga. The cast sees many of the original actors returning (Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford) and a mix of great new actors, including: Oscar Issac, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Adam Driver, and Gwendoline Christie. Here is the trailer.

It sure seems like Olive Stone’s best films are behind him. That said, he is back with a new politically charged biopic Snowden. It’s about Edward Snowden, the man who basically destroyed his own life to inform the American people what the government was doing (i.e. spying on them). The film stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Shailene Woodley, Zachary Quinto, Melissa Leo, and Tom Wilkinson. Let’s hope Stone finds his form again, as this is an important story that people need to hear/see. Here is the trailer.

Another very fruitful partnership between director and actor has been between David O. Russell and Jennifer Lawrence (and Bradley Cooper), they have made Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle together. Their new film is Joy. It’s about inventor and entrepreneur Joy Mangano, creator of the Miracle Mop and many other products.  The film seems like an Oscar favorite, with a great cast (in addition to Lawrence), including: Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro.

The film that I predicted would be the 2016 Academy Awards frontrunner for Best Picture is The Revenant. It’s the new adventure/western/drama from Alejandro G. Inarritu (who directed Birdman, last year’s winner). It stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Domhnall Gleeson, and Will Poulter. It’s about Hugh Glass, a frontiersman who is left for dead after he is severely injured in the wilderness by compatriot John Fitzgerald. Somehow he survives, regaining his strength, and sets out on a mission of vengeance against Fitzgerald.

2015 might be the year we finally see the resurgence of the western (with Slow West, Jane Got a Gun, and The Revenant); its most high profile entry is Quentin Tarantino’s new film The Hateful Eight, a post-Civil War narrative that sees a group of bounty hunters who find shelter from a blizzard only to get pulled into a plot of betrayal and deception. Tarantino has a great mix of actors with Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Walton Goggins, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Bruce Dern (among others).

Other Potential Releases

These two films don’t have firm release dates yet, but could very likely come out in 2015 and compete for awards. First is Derek Cianfrance’s new drama The Light Between Oceans, which stars Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander and Rachel Weisz. It’s about husband and wife lighthouse keepers who find a baby the washes ashore in Western Australia. The second is Lenny Abrahamson’s new drama Room about a boy who is raised exclusively with the small confines of a small shed. It stars Brie Larson, William H. Macy and Joan Allen.

Auteurs (The Great Directors of Cinema History): Part 3 – Movies Spotlight – April 2015

List is in alphabetical order.

Part I and Part II

Part III – The Modern Director (A.K.A. Blockbusters or Small Indies)

Paul Thomas Anderson

Style/system: American; works in American independent film; flawed characters, stylized moving camera, memorable use of music, an overall aesthetic flare

Active: 1988-Present

Key films to see: Boogie Nights, Magnolia, There Will Be Blood, and The Master

Wes Anderson

Style/system: American; works in American independent film; highly stylized aesthetics (down to the smallest detail), wonderful and ambitious camera moves, stylized blocking, youths with potential and adults not reaching their potential, memorable use of music

Active: 1994-Presnet

Key films to see: Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, The Darjeeling Limited, and The Grand Budapest Hotel

Jacques Audiard

Style/system: French; works in France; an aesthetic flare, but also an actor’s director, flawed characters looking for redemption, gritty settings, dramatically specific/effective use of violence

Active: 1994-Present

Key films to see: Read My Lips, The Beat That My Heart Skipped, A Prophet, and Rust and Bone

Kathryn Bigelow

Style/system: American; works in Hollywood; a terrific use of dramatic tension and suspense, gritty action, strong performances despite films being plot driven

Active: 1978-Present

Key films to see: Point Break, The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty

Danny Boyle

Style/system: English; works in England, American independent film and Hollywood; frenetic/up-beat editing, digital photography pioneer; leaves room for comedy in his dramas

Active: 1987-Present

Key films to see: Shallow Grave, Trainspotting, 28 Days Later…, Sunshine, and Slumdog Millionaire

James Cameron

Style/system: American; works in Hollywood; big action movies and grand epics, pushing technology forward (basically, singlehandedly resurrected 3D, for better or worse), an explorer at heart (especially in documentary work)

Active: 1978-Present

Key films to see: The Terminator, Aliens, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Titanic, and Avatar

Coen Brothers (Joel and Ethan)

Style/system: American; work in American independent film; highly stylized dialog and aesthetics, masters of composition and camera movement, as well as narrative storytelling that deviates from the norm (regardless of genre), oddball characters, leaders of America’s resurgence of independent cinema in the 1980s/1990s

Active: 1984-Present

Key films to see: Miller’s Crossing, Fargo, The Big Lebowski, No Country for Old Men, and True Grit

Sofia Coppola

Style/system: American; works in American independent cinema; highly stylized aesthetics, wandering/free form narratives that feel far more about character than plot, great use of music

Active: 1996-Present

Key films to see: The Virgin Suicides, Lost in Translation and Somewhere

Alfonso Cuaron

Style/system: Mexican; works in Mexico, England and Hollywood; brilliant long-take tracking shots, naturalistic feel to his work despite often making sci-fi, fantasy and actions films

Active: 1983-Present

Key films to see: Solo con tu pareja, Y Tu Mama Tambien, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Children of Men, and Gravity

David Fincher

Style/system: American; works in Hollywood; prolific music video director, a master of the mystery thriller, bleached out color schemes often on the cool side of the palate, brilliant, specific and expertly used camera moves

Active: 1985-Presnet

Key films to see: Se7en, Fight Club, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Social Network, and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Miyazaki Hayao

Style/system: Japanese; works in Japan; the master of Japanese animation, highly influential for today’s leading animation storytellers, an expert in narrative storytelling and use of drama/comedy

Active: 1972-Present

Key films to see: Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, and Howl’s Moving Castle

Todd Haynes

Style/system: American; works in American independent film; subversive narrative structure, provocative storytelling, complex eroticism, wonderful performances

Active: 1978-Present

Key films to see: Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story, Velvet Goldmine, Far from Heaven, and Mildred Pierce (HBO Miniseries)

Jean-Pierre Jeunet

Style/system: French; works in France; surreal narratives, exaggerated color palates, an aesthetic flare, odd characters and locations yet also charming

Active: 1978-Present

Key films to see: Delicatessen, The City of Lost Children, Amelie, A Very Long Engagement, and Micmacs

Spike Jonze

Style/system: American; works in Hollywood; a prolific music video director, narratives that push the boundaries – feeling as they might exist in our world but also strange and foreign, things are always just a bit off, elicits phenomenal performances

Active: 1991-Present

Key films to see: Being John Malkovich, Adaptation. and Her

Krzysztof Kieslowski

Style/system: Polish; worked in Poland and France; a magnificent use of color and sound (music), deeply emotional narratives and performances, striking aesthetic, powerfully moving storytelling

Active: 1966-1994

Key films to see: A Short Film About Love, A Short Film About Killing, The Double Life of Veronique, Three Colors: Blue, and Three Colors: Red

Ang Lee

Style/system: Taiwanese; works in American independent film, Hollywood, England, and China; conflict between tradition and modernity, repressed emotions, powerful dramatic storytelling, superb performances

Active: 1982-Present

Key films to see: Eat Drink Man Woman, The Ice Storm, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Brokeback Mountain, and Life of Pi

David Lynch

Style/system: American; works in American independent film; bizarre narratives, creepy characters, often surreal, violent, highly stylized aesthetics

Active: 1966-Present

Key films to see: Eraserhead, The Elephant Man, Blue Velvet, The Straight Story, and Mulholland Drive

Michael Mann

Style/system: American; works in Hollywood; a master of the crime drama, violent, stark, authentic, highly stylized aesthetics (often featuring wonderful photography)

Active: 1968-Present

Key films to see: Thief, The Last of the Mohicans, Heat, The Insider, and Collateral

Steve McQueen

Style/system: English; works in England and Hollywood; powerful, emotional dramas, wonderful long-take shots (often employing a static camera), garners sensational performances, a true artist

Active: 1993-Present

Key films to see: Hunger, Shame and 12 Years a Slave

Christopher Nolan

Style/system: English; works in England, American independent cinema and Hollywood; the master of the modern blockbuster/epic, psychological narratives, disjunctive narrative structures, grand action sequences, practical effects (in a world of cgi), a champion of film over digital

Active: 1997-Present

Key films to see: Memento, The Prestige, The Dark Knight, Inception, and Interstellar

Park Chan-wook

Style/system: Korean; works in Korea and American independent film; brutal, precise aesthetics, black humor

Active: 1992-Present

Key films to see: J.S.A.: Joint Security Area, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Oldboy, Sympathy for Lady Vengeance, and Thirst

Quentin Tarantino

Style/system: American; works in American independent film; violent, great dialog, highly stylized and referential aesthetics, a film fan first, a leader of the revitalization of America’s independent cinema, a champion of film over digital

Active: 1983-Present

Key films to see: Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill: Vol. 1, Inglourious Basterds, and Django Unchained

Thomas Vinterberg

Style/system: Danish; works in Denmark, England and American independent film; co-founder of Dogme 95 (a movement to simplify film production), champion and pioneer of digital photography, deeply dramatic narratives, character-driven films, an actor’s director

Active: 1990-Present

Key films to see: The Celebration, Submarino and The Hunt

Lars von Trier

Style/system: Danish; works in Denmark, England and American independent film; co-founder of Dogme 95 (a movement to simplify film production), a minimalist, often makes provocative narratives, pushes social boundaries, highly stylized aesthetics

Active: 1967-Present

Key films to see: Europa, Breaking the Waves, Dancer in the Dark, Dogville, and Melancholia

Wong Kar Wai

Style/system: Chinese; works in China, France and American independent film; a director’s director, emotionally dramatic narratives, solemn tones, tragic romance, a wondrous use of color, highly stylized aesthetics

Active: 1988-Present

Key films to see: Days of Being Wild, Chungking Express, Fallen Angels, In the Mood for Love, and 2046

Part I and Part II