OCTOBER 26
The final weekend of the month is a mixed bag with yet another video game adaptation, a trio of films with questionable audience appeal, a definite Oscar contender and a film that looks as if it could be huge or falter dramatically. In fact, let’s approach them in that order.
First is Silent Hill: Revelation 3D, a sequel to the 2006 adaptation of the Konami video game, which had its moments, but that finale was such a mess the film suffered and died as a result. As for this sequel, Radha Mitchell is back and she’s joined by Sean Bean and Adelaide Clemens among others, but I can’t say this one immediately captures my attention, especially six years after a lackluster original.
As for the trio of films that look like they’ll only generate a small amount of interest, first there’s the surfer movie Chasing Mavericks from directors Curtis Hanson (L.A. Confidential) and Michael Apted (The World Is Not Enough). Now when I say they’ll “only generate a small amount of interest” I am speaking box-office wise as this is one I have some interest in. Being a fan of the 1987 surfing movie North Shore, this sounds like it could be a little similar as it centers on a professional surfer who recruits a local Santa Cruz surfing legend (Gerard Butler) to tame the mythic Mavericks surf break, one of the biggest waves on Earth.
The worst looking film of the lot is undoubtedly the cliche-driven ensemble The Big Wedding starring Robert DeNiro, Katherine Heigl, Diane Keaton, Amanda Seyfried, Topher Grace, with Susan Sarandon and Robin Williams. Based on the title and the names involved I don’t think I have to tell you much more. And I have no idea what I’m supposed to make of Fun Size, a Halloween night, teen comedy that looks like it touches on all the familiar tropes. No thanks.
Things become more interesting with the Oscar buzzy title The Sessions, which made a big splash at the Sundance Film Festival, particularly for stars John Hawkes and Helen Hunt. The film centers on a man (Hawkes) confined to an iron lung who is determined–at age 38–to lose his virginity. With the help of his therapists and the guidance of his priest (William H. Macy), he sets out to make his dream a reality. The story is based on the autobiographical writings of California-based journalist and poet Mark O’Brien.
And finally, the biggest question mark of the month is the collaborative efforts of directors Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run) and Andy and Lana Wachowski (The Matrix trilogy), Cloud Atlas. Reportedly budgeted around $100 million and based on the novel by David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas explores how the actions and consequences of individual lives impact one another throughout the past, the present and the future. Action, mystery and romance weave dramatically through the story as one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero and a single act of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolution in the distant future.
To say this film doesn’t sound immediately accessible to general audiences is an understatement, but hopefully it will wow us at the Toronto Film Festival and buzz will be high moving into its late October release. I have included the five minute extended trailer below, if you haven’t seen it yet give it a look.
And that does it for October. A lot to sort through and a much better looking month than September on the surface with at least three films that I have already seen and would say are worth seeing in Butter, The Oranges and Killing Them Softly. I plan on catching Argo, Seven Psychopaths, Cloud Atlas and maybe The Sessions and Smashed in Toronto at the beginning of September, so soon enough I may have a few more to suggest.
Stay tuned for my November preview tomorrow, but in the meantime if you haven’t yet browsed my September preview do so using the navigation below.
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Dec.
