And here we are to the Fall. Awards season and the time when we put down the popcorn and turn our attention to deeper and more substantive films that we can later brag to our friends about having actually seen them when Oscar pools are starting. But I kid awards season. Obviously the fall is where they put all the meat so that it is present in people’s minds for voting time. The process is pretty cynical when you get down to it but the fact remains that this is generally when the best movies of the year come out and if you are a fan of film it is the time to get excited. As always I like to put out a list of movies I am looking forward to and then match it up with how things shook down.  This fall has some heavy hitters coming up but like the summer it feels a little light. Like my summer list, some of these movies are not typical awards season fare and I think that is kind of nice to have more of a variety. Still, with 2015 looming in the distance, this year feels a little light. Here we go, comment below and give us your list. I have included trailers where possible.

 

10. Fury 10/17

David Ayer has become one of my favorite directors and while his films have not been the most consistently popular, he has a definite way with blending action with drama and going to genuinely heavy places while delivering exciting material.  In this case the material fits his style pretty much perfectly as it follows a tank crew trying to disrupt Nazi operations in 1945. The film stars Brad Pitt and uses authentic tanks from the war and frankly it looks pretty awesome.

 

 9. The Interview 12/25

Releasing on Christmas, the Interview is an incendiary piece of comedy from Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg about two journalists who are tapped by the CIA assassinate Kim Jong-un during an interview.  With Rogen also starring along side James Franco, this looks like it is going to be pretty solid especially considering how good This is the End was. This movie has been saddled with some controversy already with some threats from North Korea and some editing of scenes. Even if the trailer didn’t look hilarious I would be excited to see this just to see what all commotion was about. Besides if anyone gets bombed over this, I would like to have seen why.

 

8. St Vincent 10/24

A cranky and inappropriate Bill Murray befriending a lonely kid sad after divorce sounds pretty great right off the top and I don’t really care if it is generally well worn material. The trailer looks awesome and I am hoping for a great performance out of Melissa McCarthy. I think she can be amazing when she steps out of the schtick she has become known for and I really hope that this movie shows us that. This looks like it is going to have a good mix of comedy and drama and I am all for that.

 

7. Nightcrawler 10/31

The story of a man so desperate to find work that he makes his own by covering crimes as they happen to sell to the news, Nightcrawler looks like an intense study of a person so desperate in his ambition that he is willing to do whatever it takes even if it means crossing the line. Or crossing all of the lines. After Jake Gyllenhaal’s performance in Prisoners I am really looking forward to what he brings to the table here. He has always been solid but he looks absolutely unhinged here and I am very excited to see where it goes. With support from Renee Russo and Bill Paxton I would be very surprised to see this fail.

 

6. Tusk 9/19

The Human Centipede by way of a Walrus and Kevin Smith, Tusk came from a discussion on Smith’s podcast that caught fire and now here it is. Starring Michael Parks, Justin Long, Haley Joel Osment, Genesis Rodriguez and (I think) Johnny Depp, Tusk is about a crazy old sailor who is obsessed with walruses who lures a podcaster who does shows about strange people telling their stories into his house to turn the poor bastard into a walrus. The concept is batshit crazy but the trailer looks great and I loved Smith’s last horror outing with Red State.  I am a huge Kevin Smith fan in general and I am pretty much on board for whatever he does. This looks quirky and weird and awesome.

5. Birdman

Another off kilter but incredible looking film is Birdman a story about a down on his luck actor, Riggan Thompson (Michael Keaton), who is known for playing a super hero in his past and has never been able to get out from under the shadow of the role. As he prepares to re-take his credibility through a Broadway play that no one believes in, Thompson  starts hallucinating his old character. I have not been a big fan of director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s films but Birdman looks fantastic and I am very excited to see Keaton tackle this material. I was of the opinion that if DC had been looking for an older Batman they should have tapped Keaton and brought him back to the role so it is interesting to see him take on this material. Further, I just really love Keaton and I am excited to see anything he does at this point.

 

4. The Guest 9/17

 The next film from director Adam Wingard and writer Simon Barrett, the team behind last year’s terrific ‘You’re Next,’ The Guest has me ridiculously excited. I loved You’re Next and the Guest looks like it may offer some of the same level of surprise and intensity that the last one did. It looks like it is less a horror movie and more a thriller but regardless of the specific genre the pedigree from this team is enough to get me excited. This isn’t awards season stuff typically but it looks better than typical September films. This should help get through the doldrums. 

 

3. Horns 10/31

Based on the novel of the same name by one of my favorite authors, Joe Hill, I have been waiting for this movie for a long time. It is a bit strange and off kilter as it focuses on a man accused of killing his girlfriend who wakes up with devil horns on his head which allow him to hear people’s darkest secrets as well as make suggestions that the person will follow. With Daniel Radcliffe in the lead role, the director of High Tension and a great looking trailer I am excited to finally be getting this movie. I am concerned about the reception to the movie or people passing it by but if it manages to pull off even a portion of the book’s quality then I will be very happy.

 

2. Interstellar 11/7

Only in a year in which a David Fincher movie was launching would a Christopher Nolan movie take the second place spot. I have been a fan of Nolan since Memento and I have enjoyed all of his movies up to this point and Interstellar looks like it will be no different. Matthew McConaughey is on fire right now just turning killer performance in after killer performance and the rest of the cast is bursting with talent and quality. Nolan has proven time and again that he can handle action, drama and story with equal levels of skill. I cannot wait to see what he does with a space epic and I am pretty excited to see more original material from Nolan and his brother Jonathan. I will be shocked if this is anything other than tremendous. 

 

1. Gone Girl 10/3 

Gone Girl would be number one  on this list just by virtue of the fact that my favorite director, David Fincher, is at the helm. You add in that it is adapted from a great book and stars Ben Affleck, who I have never turned my back on and you have a movie for which I cannot wait. The trailers have looked great, the casting looks to be pretty spot on and the script was adapted by the book’s original author. Oh and Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross are doing the score. I am really glad this one is only a few weeks away because the wait is killing me. 

 

So that is my list. Let me know what you think down below and as always show us your most anticipated list if you disagree.