The hopeful hits, award contenders and campy entertainment at the movies this fall
Summer has become the traditional release season of big movies, but fall? Fall is often reserved for good movies. Not exclusively, of course, but it’s often when prestige pictures get rolled out. (The last best picture Oscar winner released before October? The Hurt Locker in 2009.) So the films you see on this list are probably the ones you’ll be hearing more about during awards season. Of course, release dates get moved (dates here are mostly scheduled debuts, not necessarily when they will actually open in Dallas), and many movies are just meant for entertainment, but here’s our curated list of what to look forward to from now through Christmas
ARNOLD WAYNE JONES | Executive Editor
jones@dallasvoice.com
SEPT. 1
Dolores. Documentary about women’s rights pioneer Dolores Huerta, who bucked gender roles.
SEPT. 8
It. Stephen King’s horrifying book becomes a feature film. Beware of Pennywise.
SEPT. 15
All I See Is You. A blind woman regains her sight and realized the man she’s married to isn’t what she thought.
Beach Rats. A gay teen hides his sexuality from his rough-and-tumble crew.
Brad’s Status. Director/screenwriter Mike White, who wrote the best film so far this year (Beatriz at Dinner) is the man behind this comedy with Ben Stiller.
Rebel in the Rye. Kevin Spacey stars with Nicholas Hoult in director Danny Strong’s (Empire) profile of the young author J.D. Salinger.
SEPT. 22
Kingsman: The Golden Circle. Sequel to the comic spy adventure.
Battle of the Sexes. Newly-minted Oscar winner Emma Stone stars as Billie Jean King opposite Steve Carell’s Bobby Riggs in this true-life story of tennis as a metaphor for equal rights.
Victoria and Abdul. Queen Victoria (Judi Dench) strikes up an unlikely friendship with a Muslim man. Directed by Stephen Frears (Philomena).
SEPT. 29
American Made. Action-comedy with Tom Cruise as a CIA pilot who runs drugs and weapons.
Flatliners. Remake of the 1990 sci-fi film about coming back from death. Co-stars Ellen Page.
OCT. 6
Blade Runner 2049. Director Denis Villeneuve (Arrival) tackles this sequel to the iconic sci-fi epic, again with Harrison Ford but also Ryan Gosling.
The Mountain Between Us. Idris Elba and Kate Winslet as survivors of a plane crash who must try to survive together.
Marshall. Chadwick Boseman as the first black U.S. Supreme Court justice.
Goodbye Christopher Robin. How A.A. Milne came to write Winnie-the-Pooh.
OCT. 20
Wonderstruck. Todd Haynes’ follow up to the masterful Carol, a mystery about two children connected across 50 years while searching for the same thing.
Geostorm. Gerard Butler stars in this sci-fi adventure about satellites that attack the earth.
The Snowman. Michael Fassbender stars in director Tomas Alfredson’s (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) crime-horror about a detective searching for a missing woman.
OCT. 27
Suburbicon. George Clooney directs this drama that tracks the impact of a home invasion.
The Killing of a Sacred Deer. Writer/director Yorgos Lanthimos (The Lobster) reunites with Colin Farrell for a mystery drama.
BPM (Beats Per Minute). Profile of the Act Up-Paris movement in the 1990s.
NOV. 3
Thor: Ragnarok. The third Thor film, with Chris Hemsworth and his pecs.
Bad Moms Christmas. Sequel to the hilarious comedy.
LBJ. Woody Harrelson as the famed Texas politician.
Roman Israel, Esq. Denzel Washington stars in Dan Gilroy’s (Nightcrawler) legal drama.
NOV. 10
Murder on the Orient Express. Kenneth Branagh’s much-anticipated adaptation of Agatha Christie’s mystery with an all-star cast.
The Star. An animated telling of the first Christmas.
Lady Bird. Indie actress Greta Gerwig directs this comedy with Saoirse Ronan as a woman living for a year in Northern California.
NOV. 17
Justice League. DC Comics’ brings together its major superheroes in this much-anticipated actioner.
Wonder. Stephen Chbosky (The Perks of Being a Wallflower) directs this heartwarming story of a facially deformed boy who shows great courage. With Julia Roberts and Owen Wilson.
NOV. 24 (Thanksgiving)
Last Flag Flying. Richard Linklater (Boyhood) wrote and directed this comedy-drama with Bryan Cranston and Steve Carell.
Darkest Hour. Gary Oldman as Winston Churchill.
Coco. Pixar-Disney film about a 12-year-old boy setting off a chain of events ending in a family reunion.
Villa Capri. Shot in New Mexico, this film features Morgan Freeman, Tommy Lee Jones and the late Glenne Headley.
Molly’s Game. Aaron Sorkin wrote and directed this true story of an international high-stakes poker player (Jessica Chastain).
The Disaster Artist. James Franco directs and stars in this film about the making of the worst movie of all time, 2003’s The Room.
Wonder Wheel. Woody Allen’s latest, set on Coney Island.
The Man Who Invented Christmas. How Charles Dickens came to write A Christmas Carol.
Dec. 8
All the Money in the World. Kevin Spacey, Michelle Williams and Mark Wahlberg star in Ridley Scott’s political thriller set in the 1970s.
The Shape of Water. Guillermo Del Toro directs this fantasy set against the Cold War of 1963. With Michael Shannon and Octavia Spencer.
Dec. 15
Ferdinand. The children’s book about a sensitive bull becomes an animated feature.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi. C’mon.
Dec. 22
Bastards. Owen Wilson and Ed Helms play brothers who go to search for their missing father.
Downsizing. Alexander Payne directs Matt Damon and Kristen Wiig in this comic fantasy about a man who decides to shrink himself.
Pitch Perfect 3. Threequel to the tuneful series about a capella singers.
The Six Billion Dollar Man. A comedy remake of the 1970s show, with Mark Wahlberg.
The Current War. Edison, Westinghouse and Tesla battle over how to electrify the modern world.
Happy End. Michael Haneke directs Isabelle Huppert in this drama with refugees as the background
The Papers. Steven Spielberg directs the much-awaited story of the Washington Post and New York Times’ handling of the Pentagon Papers case.
The Greatest Showman. Hugh Jackman stars as P.T. Barnum in this biopic co-written by Bill Condon.
ALSO
P.T. Anderson project. In what will reportedly be his final acting role, Daniel Day-Lewis stars in Paul Thomas Anderson’s untitled drama set in the fashion world of the 1950s.
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition September 01, 2017.