Looking Forward To...

Horns
Release: October 31, 2014
Distributor: Radius-TWC
Director: Alexandre Aja
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Juno Temple, Max Minghella, David Morse, Joe Anderson, James Remar, and Heather Graham

Looking Forward To...

Birdman
Release: October 17, 2014
Distributor: Fox Searchlight
Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu
Starring: Michael Keaton, Emma Stone, Zach Galifianakis, Andrea Riseborough, Merritt Wever, Amy Ryan, Naomi Watts, Lindsay Duncan, and Edward Norton

Looking Forward To...

Gone Girl
Release: October 3, 2014
Distributor: Fox
Director: David Fincher
Starring: Rosamund Pike, Ben Affleck, Carrie Coon, Patrick Fujit, Emily Ratajkowski, Boyd Holbrook, Scott McNairy, Tyler Perry, Sela Ward, Missi Pyle, Casey Wilson, and Neil Patrick Harris

Looking Forward To...

Fall TV Edition

The weather is starting to cool and suddenly everything is pumpkin flavored, which means that the Fall TV season is upon us. Of course, I'm excited for my returning shows, but I'm also eager to dive into whatever new shows TV has to offer. Below are just some of the shows I'm highly anticipating for one reason or another. 

Gotham (FOX)
Premieres: Monday, 9/22 8PM
Starring: Ben McKenzie, Donal Logue, David Mazouz, Robin Lord Taylor, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Cory Michael Smith
Time Period Conflict: Big Bang Theory, Mom
Why: A Batman show without Batman is a laughable concept, but so is a TV show about the Headless Horseman plus McKenzie is easy on the eyes.

How to Get Away With Murder (ABC)
Premieres: Thursday, 9/25 10PM
Starring: Viola Davis, Charlie Weber, Alfred Enoch, Billy Brown, Karen Cabrera, Katie Findlay, Jack Falahee, Matt McGorry, Liza Weil, and Aja Naomi King
Time Period Conflict: N/A
Why: VIOLA DAVIS. VIOLA DAVIS. VIOLA DAVIS. Also Paris from Gilmore Girl and Bennett from Orange is the New Black. But really... Viola Davis.

Selfie (ABC)
Premieres: Tuesday, 9/30 8PM
Starring: Karen Gillan, John Cho, Allyn Rachel, Joy Randolph, Tim Peper, and David Harewood
Time Period Conflict: N/A
Why: Modern retelling of My Fair Lady is a fun concept and I really like both actors. Plus I have nothing else to watch at that time.

Gracepoint (FOX)
Premieres: Thursday, 10/2 9PM
Starring: David Tennant, Anna Gunn, Nick Nolte, Michael Pena, Jacki Weaver, and Kevin Rankin
Time Period Conflict: A to Z
Why: As a Broadchurch viewer, this American adaptation is unnecessary and yet to see Tennant and especially Gunn weekly? I won't pass that up.

A to Z (NBC)
Premieres: Thursday, 10/2 9:30PM
Starring: Ben Feldman, Cristin Milioti, Lenora Crichlow, Henry Zebroski, and Christina Kirk
Time Period Conflict: Gracepoint
Why: The trailer is twee even for me and yet all I can hope for is that the show is as charming and adorable I find the two leads.

The Affair (Showtime)
Premieres: Sunday, 10/12 10PM
Starring: Joshua Jackson, Ruth Wilson, Maura Tierney, and Dominic West
Time Period Conflict: Revenge
Why: I don't know much about this show except all of the actors are great and it looks to be some excellent soapy drama.

The two new shows actually premiering tonight, Red Band Society and The Mysteries of Laura, aren't on my list, but I'll still check out their pilots. I'm going to do that for a bunch of new shows. The other shows on my radar include Madam Secretary, Black-ish, Manhattan Love Story, Bad Judge, Mulaney, Jane the Virgin, and Marry Me. I might see them all or just half, we'll see.

Looking Forward To...

The Skeleton Twins
Release: September 12, 2014
Distributor: Roadside Attractions
Director: Craig Johnson
Starring: Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader, Luke Wilson, Joanna Gleason, Boyd Holbrook, and Ty Burrell

Looking Forward To...

Guardians of the Galaxy
Release: August 1, 2014
Distributor: Buena Vista
Director: James Gunn
Starring: Chris Pratt, Karen Gillan, Bradley Cooper, John C. Reilly, Dave Bautista, Lee Pace, Zoe Saldana, Djimon Hounsou, Vin Diesel, Benicio Del Toro, and Glenn Close

I think I would categorize myself as a Marvel fanboy at least in terms of appreciating what Marvel has done to craft this shared cinematic universe. And while their first big risk in The Avengers paid off handsomely, everyone (including myself) agrees that Guardians of the Galaxy, finally opening this weekend, will be their biggest test yet in continuing this multi-billion dollar franchise. The film features characters such as a gun-toting, talking raccoon and a character that's essentially just a tall tree and while the general audience has been conditioned to accepting these sort of characters in Star Wars and Lord of the Rings, it's always still a sticky proposition (see John Carter).

Luckily, the marketing has been top notch from the gorgeous and cheeky teaser poster (above) to the earwormy and irreverent trailers which do a great job in not only introducing us to the characters, but also to the general tone of the film. Plus it seems some have already embraced the film and its characters as highlighted by the following impressive fan-made posters culled by Poster Posse (Phase 1, Phase 2):

Credits (l-r): Marie Bergeron, Matt Ferguson, Kaz Oomori

Credits (l-r): Doaly, Sharm Murugian, Matt Needle

Credits (l-r): Marko Manev, Matt Ferguson, Rich Davies

Looking Forward To...

Begin Again
Release: June 27, 2014
Distributor: Weinstein Company
Director: John Carney
Starring: Keira Knightley, Mark Ruffalo, Mos Def, Hailee Steinfeld, Catherine Keener, James Corden, and Adam Levine

Looking Forward To...

How to Train Your Dragon 2
Release: June 13, 2014
Distributor: Fox
Director: Dean DeBlois
Starring: Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson, America Ferrera, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Kristen Wiig, Kit Harrington, Djimon Hounsou, and Cate Blanchett

Looking Forward To...

Filth
Release: May 30, 2014
Distributor: Magnolia
Director: Jon S. Baird
Starring: James McAvoy, Imogen Poots, Jamie Bell, Eddie Marsan, Joanne Froggatt, Iain De Caestecker, Shirley Henderson, and Jim Broadbent

Looking Forward To...

Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Release: April 4, 2014
Distributor: Buena Vista
Director: Anthony & Joe Russo
Starring: Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Cobie Smulders, Hayley Atwell, Toby Jones, Robert Redford, Emily VanCamp,and Samuel L. Jackson

Looking Forward To...

The Lego Movie
Release: February 7, 2014
Distributor: Warner Bros.
Director: Phil Lord & Christopher Miller
Starring: Chris Pratt, Will Arnett, Elizabeth Banks, Channing Tatum, Will Ferrell, Liam Neeson, Jonah Hill, Charlie Day, Alison Brie, Morgan Freeman, Cobie Smulders, Will Forte, Dave Franco, Jake Johnson, and Nick Offerman

Looking Forward To...

 

Labor Day
Release: January 29, 2014
Distributor: Paramount
Director: Jason Reitman
Starring: Kate Winslet, Josh Brolin, James Van Der Beek, Gattlin Griffith, Clark Gregg, Tom Lipinski, J.K. Simmons, Dylan Minnette, and Tobey Maguire

Christmas Movie Glut

Desolation of Smaug, Peter Jackson's fifth foray into Middle Earth led the North American box office over the past weekend beating out the overly promoted sequel to Anchorman, which came in at the lower end of expectations. At least it did better than extinct on arrival Walking with Dinosaurs. In limited release, it was mixed fortunes as Spike Jonze's non-traditional love story Her, bolstered by its awards buzz, debut solidly, while Asghar Farhadi's The Past, recently  snubbed by the Academy's foreign language branch, had less the desirable results. All of these films and so much more are banking that people will come out in droves this upcoming Christmas week.

In terms of new releases, distributors thought it best to dump a whole bunch of films on Christmas Day. The most anticipated of these for cinephiles like myself would be Martin Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street starring Leonardo DiCaprio. Due to its delay coming out of the gates, it hasn't lit up the usual award precursors, but from everything I've been hearing it's not exactly a cuddly film. Probably a bit more tailored for general audiences is The Secret Life of Walter Mitty directed and starring Ben Stiller. The beautifully edited commercials and visually entrancing posters for this film feature grand adventures for its day-dreaming protagonist which should appeal to a broad audience or at least that's the hope. For those needing a bit more testosterone to their holidays, it's practically a smorgasbord with samurai action film 47 Ronin, sports comedy Grudge Match, and military film Lone Survivor (uh... spoiler alert?) all debuting. Ralph Fiennes' Charles Dickens film The Invisible Woman and the Justin Bieber documentary Believe are also coming out tomorrow. And yes, that's hopefully the first time Dickens and Bieber have appeared in the same sentence.

The competition doesn't end there, however, as there are plenty of holdovers appealing to families and/or Oscars enthusiasts that should do much business. Disney's animated hit Frozen should do extremely well this week coming off a weekend where it ranked third overall and already hitting the $200 million milestone today. Fellow November release, Catching Fire grossing over $370 million already, is still in the mix as well as recent release Saving Mr. Banks starring Emma Thompson as Mary Poppins' creator P.L. Travers and Tom Hanks as Walt Disney himself. American Hustle leads the Oscar-y holdovers after a successful expansion this past weekend where it ended up just behind Frozen. With a super starry cast and great reviews, it should do well in the next couple of months no matter what happens this week. Along with American Hustle and Her, other Oscar-y films looking for more people to watch them this week included Inside Llewyn Davis, Philomena, and Nebraska.

Finally, there's the long-awaited August: Osage County starring Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts. It was supposed to come out on Christmas, but it has since been pushed back to Friday the 27th. Did they see all of the competition above and decide to play it safe or perhaps it's a sign that the studio is slowly cutting its losses after the seemingly cool critical and awards reception the film has had to date. Also getting very little awards buzz relative to expectations is Jason Reitman's Labor Day starring Kate Winslet, which won't really open until next month save for a one-week Oscar qualifying run this Friday. For my part, as a Streep and Winslet fan I'll definitely see their films whenever they come out, but since it won't be on Christmas I'll need to decide which of the other films I'm going to watch. I'm leaning towards Walter Mitty to see with my parents then possibly Her, American Hustle, and/or Wolf of Wall Street just for me. So many choices! What will you do?

Looking Forward To...

Her
Release: December 18, 2013
Distributor: Warner Brothers
Director: Spike Jonze
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Scarlett Johansson, Rooney Mara, Chris Pratt, Olivia Wilde, Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig, and Amy Adams

Looking Forward To...

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Release: December 13, 2013
Distributor: Warner Brothers
Director: Peter Jackson
Starring: Martin Freeman, Richard Armitrage, Orlando Bloom, Cate Blanchett, Luke Evans, Lee Pace, Evangeline Lilly, Benedict Cumberbatch, Aidan Turner, Dean O'Gorman, Stephen Fry, and Ian McKellen

Looking Forward To...

Saving Mr. Banks
Release: December 13, 2013
Distributor: Buena Vista
Director: John Lee Hancock
Starring: Tom Hanks, Emma Thompson, Colin Farrell, Ruth Wilson, Paul Giamatii, Jason Schwartzman, B.J. Novak, and Bradley Whitford

Looking Forward To...

Inside Llewyn Davis
Release: December 6, 2013
Distributor: CBS Films
Director: Ethan & Joel Coen
Starring: Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, Justin Timberlake, Garret Hedlund, Adam Driver, Max Casella, Alex Karpovsky, Stark Sands, and John Goodman

Looking Forward To...

 

Oldboy
Release: November 27, 2013
Distributor: FilmDistrict
Director: Spike Lee
Starring: Josh Brolin, Elizabeth Olsen, Sharlto Copley, Hannah Simone, Michael Imperioli, Lance Reddick, Rami Malek, James Ransome, and Samuel L. Jackson

Looking Forward To...

Hunger Games: Catching Fire
Release: November 22, 2013
Distributor: Lionsgate
Director: Francis Lawrence
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Stanley Tucci, Woody Harrelson, Josh Hutcherson, Jena Malone, Elizabeth Banks, Liam Hemsworth, Sam Claflin, Amanda Plummer, Donald Sutherland, Lenny Kravitz, Lynn Cohen, and Philip Seymour Hoffman

Like most blockbuster films, Catching Fire has about a dozen or so posters used for its marketing. Most are character posters that highlight, you guessed correctly, the characters of said film, but everyone knows the real selling point is Katniss herself: Jennifer Lawrence. Below are two posters made to look like ads that would appear on Panem's Capitol:

Then there's the left one below which is a bit more traditional when you think of action movie one-sheets. The one next to it though is bit more interesting, which makes sense since it's the IMAX poster and they tend to be more visually experimental.

Finally, these last two are my favorites:

I just love the rich colors and painterly quality they both have. The first is part of a series of character posters with Katniss the only character standing up while everyone else is shot while sitting down. The second poster is probably my pick for best poster for the film. Again, the colors are eye-catching, and I just love how she's literally on top of the world with her bow and arrow, with the clouds looking like wings behind her.

How about you? Any favorites from this bunch? How excited are you about the film?