The Twelve Must-See Fall Movies
Fall movies bring out something different in the minds of Hollywood studio execs. Besides making money, this is the season that makes the suits want to be loved. By Oscar, specifically. Of the more than 100 movies opening between now and New Year's Eve, the chosen ones are those with art as well as commerce on their agendas.
With that in mind, I've picked a dozen fall movies that I believe have the right stuff. I've also added five with a bad vibe — let's face it, crap doesn't take a holiday, even during Oscar season. Here are the golden dozen that deserve your attention.
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The Social Network
In Theaters: October 1st
This film is better than the movie of the year. The Social Network also defines the decade. Director David Fincher, working brilliantly from a dazzlingly complex script by Aaron Sorkin, uses the rise and rise of Facebook to examine a generation that can't communicate despite its obsession with social networking. The performances are award caliber, led by Jesse Eisenberg as Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. The squabbling between Zuckerberg and his friends who want a piece of the site, including Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield is outstanding) and Napster co-founder Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake, a revelation), makes for a fierce and funny powerhouse, a modern Rashomon that will pin you to your seat. -
Jackass 3-D
In Theaters: October 15th
OK, Oscar will likely pay no mind to Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O, Bam Margera and the gang. More's the pity. Just imagining what the Jackass crew can accomplish in three dimensions is enough to push that stick even further up the Academy's ass. I for one can't wait to watch Knoxville and company try. Show some spunk, Oscar voters. How about a nomination for Jackass 3-D as Best Documentary?
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Hereafter
In Theaters: October 22nd
The fall season wouldn't be half as fun or classy without a new movie directed by Clint Eastwood. The legend may have turned 80 in May, but he hasn't slowed down. Hereafter, which stars Matt Damon as a psychic in touch with dead people, is crafted to bring out Eastwood's spiritual side. Don't expect any Dirty Harry-type blood and guts. Cynics can just get off his lawn.
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127 Hours
In Theaters: November 5th
Director Danny Boyle follows up his Best Picture-winning Slumdog Milionaire with a true-life survival story. James Franco plays Aron Ralston, the mountain climber who made headlines back in 2003 when he had to cut off part of his arm to escape the boulder in Utah that trapped him for 127 hours. Any discussion of Franco's acting would have to start with this tour de force.
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Due Date
In Theaters: November 5th
Comedy doesn't get much respect at Oscar time. Where were the nominations for the gut-busting The Hangover last year? Director Todd Phillips could see his luck change with Due Date. He's given his breakout Hangover star Zach Galifianakis the role of his career as a struggling actor who drives Robert Downey, Jr. up the wall on a road trip from Atlanta to Los Angeles. John Hughes' Planes, Trains & Automobiles is an obvious reference point. But Phillips, lacing the laughs with a touching gravity, flies on his own steam.
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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
In Theaters: November 19th
The seventh and last of J.K. Rowling's Potter books hits the screen, but there's more to come. The studio, wary of losing its golden goose, just sawed the final novel in half to make two movies. (Part 2 closes the cinematic door on July 15th). I'm not complaining. It's been fun watching Daniel Radcliffe's Harry, Emma Watson's Hermoine, and Rupert Grint's Ron rage their hormones all through Hogwarts. Deathly Hallows lets us watch their growing pains, with director David Yates unafraid of plunging into darkness. The Academy has been stingy rewarding the accomplishments of this series. Wake up.
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The King’s Speech
In Theaters: November 24th
All of us who've been touting the acting gifts of Colin Firth, from Pride and Prejudice to last year's A Single Man, will be pleased to see him become the man to beat for 2010's Best Actor Oscar. Firth plays George VI, the stutterer who would never have been King if his brother Edward (Guy Pearce) hadn't abdicated the throne to marry an American. Director Tom Hooper focuses on the King in speech therapy with Lionel Logue (a barking mad Geoffrey Rush). The Academy won't need any prodding about this one.
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Black Swan
In Theaters: December 1st
Natalie Portman has been winning raves on the festival circuit for playing a ballerina at the breaking point. Is the film art or an experiment in terror as Portman vies with Mila Kunis for the lead in Swan Lake? Don't worry your pretty heads. Trust that director Darren Aronofsky will take you on a wild ride, much like he did with Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler.
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The Tourist
In Theaters: December 10th
I was glamoured as soon as they announced the cast: Johnny Depp as an American tourist in Venice being followed by Angelina Jolie as, of course, a woman of mystery. But the filmmaker seals the deal: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, 37, the Austrian-German director whose 2006 Oscar-winning debut feature, The Lives of Others, is enough to make me sign up for whatever web he chooses to spin.
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The Fighter
In Theaters: December 10th
For half a decade, Mark Wahlberg has put himself in training to play lightweight boxing champ "Irish" Micky Ward, famous for his 2002 comeback fight against Arturo Gatti. At different points, Matt Damon and Brad Pitt were almost signed to portray Ward's half-brother Dickie Eklund, another Massachusetts boxer with a hardknock life who helped train Micky for the title. Christian Bale eventually won the role. Now it's all award talk for both actors, and director David O. Russell.
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Tron Legacy
In Theaters: December 17th
For those like me who pledge allegiance to the cult of Tron, the 1982 videogame puzzler that laid the groundwork for The Matrix and every movie centered around a computer screen, this sequel is a must-see. Jeff Bridges is back as Flynn and his digital avatar Clu. For all I know, director Joseph Kosinski could screw this up royally. But with Bridges doing double duty, I'm sold.
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