Summer 2014 was filled with some incredible movies, but fall looks to be even more packed. Here’s Hypable’s quintessential guide to every movie we’ve been waiting all year to finally see.
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September
‘God Help the Girl’
September 5 (limited)
Written and directed by Stuart Murdoch of the band Belle and Sebastian, God Help the Girl stars Emily Browning as a girl who escapes from a hospital where she is being treated for anorexia nervosa and starts down the path of achieving her dream of becoming a musician.
The film is likely to result in diverging opinions. Early reviews have called the film incredibly twee; those who embrace its tweeness will likely love the film and others may be put off my the movie. The trailer seemingly does a good job of showing the tone of the movie without giving too much away, but we haven’t seen it so we can’t verify that for sure.
‘The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby’
September 12 (limited)
The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby is a unique movie. In the next two months, three different versions of the movie will premiere. On September 12, The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them will hit limited release. On October 10, The Disappearance Of Eleanor Rigby: Him/Her will see its limited release.
Him/Her is two different movies that tell the story of an unraveling marriage from each spouse’s perspective, and Them is the combination of the two films into one, cut-together narrative piece. Written and directed by Ted Benson and starring Jessica Chastain and James McAvoy, The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby looks to be a movie worth seeing in any format. Them received a 10-minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival in May.
‘The Skeleton Twins’
September 12 (limited)
When Bill Hader followed Kristen Wiig out the Saturday Night Live door, it was only a matter of time before the two SNL stars with incredible chemistry made a movie together. And it didn’t take long either as The Skeleton Twins made its debut at the Sundance Film Festival this year, a little over a year and a half since Hader walked away from SNL.
Given Wiig and Hader’s rapport The Skeleton Twins will be worth watching no matter the quality, but luckily the reviews out of Sundance were incredibly positive. The film was directed by Craig Johnson who co-wrote the script with Mark Heyman, and it also stars Ty Burrell and Luke Wilson.
‘The Maze Runner’
September 19
Of the movies yet to be released this year, there are few with a more passionate fanbase than that of The Maze Runner, an adaptation of James Dashner’s novel of the same name. Starring Teen Wolf lead Dylan O’Brien, this is an adaptation fans have been waiting for.
But does its September release date bear a curse? Traditionally a September release isn’t one studios give projects they are confident in, nor is its original February release. Will this be another The Mortal Instruments (which had an August release last year)? We certainly hope not. The film was directed by Wes Ball from a screenplay by Noah Oppenheim, Grant Pierce Myers, T.S. Nowlin, and it also stars Kaya Scodelario, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, and Will Poulter.
‘This is Where I Leave You’
September 19
With a cast that includes Jason Bateman, Tina Fey, Jane Fonda, Adam Driver, Rose Byrne, Corey Stoll, and Kathryn Hahn, where can This is Where I Leave You go wrong? The answer is likely one obvious place: under Shawn Levy’s direction.
Levy has helmed a few moderate successes like Date Night, but he’s also directed some huge duds like the Steve Martin Cheaper by the Dozen and Pink Panther movies, the successful but objectively terrible Night at the Museum movies, and, recently, The Internship.
There is hope that reteaming with Tina Fey will prove successful for Levy, and the fact that Jonathan Tropper adapted his own book for the screen will prove to be the best choice. With the cast it’ll be worth watching, but we certainly will have our reservations going in.
‘Tusk’
September 19
Tusk looks absolutely bizarre. This Kevin Smith project shows that the writer/director is completely rejuvenated as he plans to follow it up with Yoga Hosers and Moose Jaws, completing the “True North Trilogy,” a series “steeped in Canadian myths and culture.”
Tusk stars Justin Long as one half of a podcasting duo (the other is played by Haley Joel Osment) who goes up North to Canada to interview an eccentric man played by Michael Parks. Upon being skeptical at the man’s claims about the Walrus’ powers, Long’s character is kidnapped. He’s then named Mr. Tusk and the man starts trying to turn him into a Walrus. The movie looks weird and we can’t wait.
‘A Walk Among the Tombstones’
September 19
Say what you will about the quality of many of the films he stars in, Liam Neeson is a bonafide movie star who brings people into theaters. While not as big of a success as the Taken films, his last film Non-Stop nearly quadrupled its $50 million production budget, showing that even the lesser Neeson starrers are successful films.
The hope is that success will continue with A Walk Among the Tombstones, an adaptation of the book of the same name by Lawrence Block. The adaptation written and directed by Scott Frank will star Neeson as an ex-NYPD cop working as an unlicensed private investigator working outside the law. The film will also star Dan Stevens.
‘The Zero Theorem’
September 19 (limited)
The Christoph Waltz starrer The Zero Theorem has already been released in several countries, but it’s finally seeing its U.S. theatrical release September 19 (it’s already available for VOD rental or purchase). The film looks bizarre, but those who have followed the career of director Terry Gilliam should not be surprised.
Known for films like Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Twelve Monkeys, Gilliam has made a name for himself for not telling stories in a traditional way. Reviews have been mixed to this point, but for fans of Gilliam it will still be a must watch.
‘The Boxtrolls’
September 26
If “from the creators of Coraline and Paranorman” doesn’t give you a good feeling about The Boxtrolls, there’s something wrong. Those two movies were stellar, and The Boxtrolls looks like it will have the same look and tone.
We’ll have to wait and see if first time directors Graham Annable and Anthony Stacchi and first time screenwriters Irena Brignull and Adam Pava will be able to pull off the same magic, but the trailer looks promising. The vocal cast that includes Ben Kingsley, Jared Harris, and Tracy Morgan looks great.
‘The Equalizer’
September 26
Everything said about Liam Neeson in the Walk Among the Tombstones entry can be echoed for Denzel Washington. Washington doesn’t make nearly as many movies as Neeson (he’s been on an about one movie a year pace for the last few years), so if anything that makes his films something of a mini-event.
We’ll still have to wait a while for him to appear in another Oscar-bait role (with his latest coming in 2012 with Flight) last year’s 2 Guns proved that Washington in frivolous action roles is always a lot of fun.
Reteaming with his Training Day director Antoine Fuqua for The Equalizer may prove to be a great move. The Equalizer is based on the ’80s television series of the same name and also stars Chloë Grace Moretz.
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