With a diverse slate of flicks dominating the box office landscape (Deadpool 2, The Incredibles 2, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Mission-Impossible: Fallout, The Meg, Crazy Rich Asians) and a pretty consistent level of quality maintained from May-August (Sorry to Bother You was the only title I saw during this time that I truly hated), I'd say that Hollywood had itself a nice little summer. 2018's fall slate looks similarly promising. September-December is heavy on potential gems that range from high-profile biopics (First Man, Bohemian Rhapsody) to star-studded crime thrillers (Bad Times at the El Royale, Widows) to an axe-wielding Nicolas Cage going apeshit on the deranged cult that kidnapped the love of his life (Mandy). Here are the 10 movies I'm most excited to see this fall.
10.Aquaman (12/21): James Wan (The Conjuring, Insidious) is a talented director that proved with his work on Furious 7 that he can admirably handle over-the-top spectacle and Jason Momoa's performance in Justice League left me wanting more of the character. Plus I can't help but get excited about something that features aquatic warriors going into battle on the backs of sharks.
9.Suspiria (10/26): Sorry A Simple Favor, you got bumped at the last minute by a renowned German ballet company that's harboring a grisly secret. Suspiria could very well end up being a pretentious snoozefest that spawns hours of rant material that the poor souls in my social circle will have to repeatedly suffer through for the rest of the year, but the strong, polarizing reactions following its premiere at the Venice Film Festival over the weekend paired with its eerie marketing campaign has made me very curious about this remake of the 1977 cult horror classic.
8.Hold the Dark (9/28): I'd argue that no director working today make more brutally intense films than Jeremy Saulnier (Blue Ruin, Green Room) and applying this rare gift for manufacturing suffocating suspense to a mysterious thriller about a string of murders in Alaska believed to be committed by wolves could yield some fantastic results.
7.Apostle (10/12): It may take place in a different time period (early 1900's) and not feature the jaw-dropping martial arts fighting/stuntwork of Iko Ukwais, but the English-language debut of The Raid writer/director Gareth Evans features a straightforward premise (man seeks revenge against the mysterious religious cult that kidnaps his sister) that seems like it could be loaded with the brutal, inventive action sequences that has helped him build such a sterling reputation among the genre's rabid fans.
6.Creed 2 (11/21): This would've been a lock for a top three spot on this list if Ryan Coogler returned as writer/director. On the plus side, the excellent primary cast (Michael B.Jordan, Sylvester Stallone, Tessa Thompson) from the 2015 original are all back and the premise of Adonis Creed (Jordan) facing off against the son of Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren) is one hell of a hook for longtime fans of the Rocky series.
5.Mandy (9/14): Nicolas Cage headlining a psychedelic B-action movie where he gets to engage in a chainsaw battle, kill supernatural beings and has ample opportunity to show off his trademark craziness could prove to be the peak of what the medium of cinema has to offer.
4.First Man (10/12): Even with the all positive buzz coming out of Venice and Telluride, the abundance of period pieces (The Favourite, Mary Queen of Scots, Peterloo) and works from directors that I'm not overly fond of (If Beale Street Could Talk, Boy Erased, The Front Runner) has me currently feeling pretty indifferent towards this year's awards slate. First Man is one of the few prestige pics currently on the calendar that I'm really looking forward to. This creative team spearheaded by Damien Chazelle, Ryan Gosling, Claire Foy and Josh Singer are in a great position to capture the multiple layers of harrowing psychological drama that were bubbling underneath Neil Armstrong's one giant leap for mankind.
3.Widows (11/16): While I find Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave, Shame) to be a pretty overrated director, the pedigree of the people surrounding him on this production is so strong that I can easily overlook his presence. This massive ensemble cast (Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debicki, Cynthia Ervio, Daniel Kaluuya, Brian Tyree Henry, Liam Nesson, Colin Farrell, Robert Duvall, Jon Bernthal, Carrie Coon, Jacki Weaver) is simply unreal, co-writer Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl, Sharp Objects) has penned some of the sharpest stories I've seen this decade and both trailers seem to indicate that this could end up being a tense, powerful heist thriller.
2.Bad Times at the El Royale (10/12): The sophomore effort from The Cabin in the Woods writer/director Drew Goddard looks like an absolutely bonkers noir thriller and outside of Widows, features the most stacked cast (Jeff Bridges, Jon Hamm, Dakota Johnson, Chris Hemsworth, Cynthia Ervio, Caliee Spaney, Nick Offerman) of the season.
1.The Predator (9/14): I've been uncomfortably excited for this movie since it was first announced back in 2014. Predator is a franchise that I generally love, writer/director Shane Black has a strong track record of making clever, absurdly entertaining movies and the ensemble cast is loaded with snarky, charismatic actors (Boyd Holbrook, Sterling K.Brown, Keegan Michael-Key, Trevante Rhodes) that should be perfect for this type of no-holds-barred action horror flick.
Also interested in:
The Nun (9/7)
Peppermint (9/7)
The Land of Steady Habits (9/14)
A Simple Favor (9/14)
White Boy Rick (9/14)
Assassination Nation (9/21)
The House with a Clock In Its Walls (9/21)
Life Itself (9/21)
The Sisters Brothers (9/21)
All About Nina (9/28)
Hell Fest (9/28)
Monsters and Men (9/28)
Night School (9/28)
The Old Man & the Gun (9/28)
Private Life (10/5)
A Star is Born (10/5)
Venom (10/5)
Beautiful Boy (10/12)
The Oath (10/12)
An Evening with Beverly Luff Linn (10/19)
Can You Ever Forgive Me? (10/19)
Galveston (10/19)
Halloween (10/19)
Mid90s (10/19)
Serenity (10/19)
Wildlife (10/19)
Hunter Killer (10/26)
Bodied (11/2)
Bohemian Rhapsody (11/2)
Boy Erased (11/2)
The Front Runner (11/7)
The Girl in the Spider's Web (11/9)
The Long Dumb Road (11/9)
Outlaw King (11/9)
Overlord (11/9)
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (11/16)
Instant Family (11/16)
Green Book (11/21)
Robin Hood (11/21)
The Favourite (11/23)
Shoplifters (11/23)
If Beale Street Could Talk (11/30)
Ben is Back (12/7)
Mary Queen of Scots (12/7)
Tyrel (12/7)
Under the Silver Lake (12/7)
Backseat (12/14)
Roma (12/14)
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (12/14)
Alita: Battle Angel (12/21)
Bumblebee (12/21)
Holmes & Watson (12/21)
Welcome to Marwen (12/21)
Destroyer (12/25)
On the Basis of Sex (12/25)
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