Your Ten “Must-See” Films This Fall. I honestly don’t know any life form higher than a single-celled protoplasm that isn’t beyond excited to see the long-awaited “Star Wars” reboot from JJ Abrams, but this holiday season is packed with some really excellent releases. Have a look…
1. Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens: the big bad mamajama of them all in the sci-fi world gets a reboot from JJ Abrams, the man who did the same for the somewhat elderly “Star Trek” franchise. Shiny new heroes, beloved old robots and the questions about Luke Skywalker – who is not in any of the trailers or movie art we’ve seen so far. Release date: December 18, 2015
2. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2: I am dying to see how the film version matches the book – because there’s some pretty brutal revelations. Are they going to keep it all shiny for the big screen? Release date: November 20, 2015
3. Spectre: an increasingly cranky Daniel Craig keeps threatening that this is his final James Bond installment. It’s extra intriguing because the insanly gorgeous Monica Belluci plays a “Bond Girl,” though the 51 year old actress is correcting that to “Bond Woman.” Nice to see middle age is sexy! Release date: November 6, 2015
4. By The Sea: Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt reunite for drama and angst. It’s set in France, so there’ll be…uh…French things. Release date: November 13, 2015
5. In The Heart Of The Sea: Chris Hemsworth teams up again with director Ron Howard. I could tell you that it’s based on a true story of a whaling crew from 1820 who must survive at sea for 90 days, or I could just mention that Chris Hemsworth wears a lot of thin white shirts and gets wet a lot. Release date: December 11, 2015
6. 33: Remember being glued to the TV, watching the incredible ordeal of the Chilean miners in 2010? They were trapped underground for 69 days – and they worked together beautifully to survive. It’s such a wonderful story of what amazing things can happen when the human spirit thrives during incredible hardship. Release date: November 13, 2015
7. Creed: Sylvester Stallone’s dusting off his Rocky Balboa porkpie hat for a more senior role in Creed – where Rocky ends up training the grandson of his former boxing buddy, Apollo Creed. Release date: November 25, 2015
8. The Hateful Eight: Quentin Tarantino’s creepy Western followup to Django Unchained – where bounty hunter Kurt Russell is taking his prisoner to face justice. Knowing Quentin Tarantino, I’m sure we all understand nothing of the sort will happen as planned. Release date: December 25, 2015
9. Point Break: Johnny Utah’s BACK, baby! Still hard for me to accept they can make a better version than the one with Patrick Swayze and Keanu Reeves, but whatever. Release date: December 25, 2015
10. Victor Frankenstein: Daniel Radcliffe and James McAvoy play Igor (!) and Frankenstein. Aside from the beautiful Victorian outfits, you know things are going to go horribly, horribly wrong. Release date: November 25, 2015
