The Films Of The Fall Season

Well the Summer is coming to a close, and it has been one heck of a movie season. Now we head into fall, when Hollywood rolls out less big budget spectacles, and more "serious" film fare. That is not to say the fall won't have its share of summer type fare, just less than the summer season puts out. So let's take a look at some of the upcoming films on the fall schedule.

"Quantum Of Solace"- The next James Bond flick, comes out November 14th. This is the second 007 movie with new Bond Daniel Craig, the first being 2006's excellent "Casino Royale". This film has 007 on the revenge trail, while also trying to stop an environmentalist from gaining control of a country's water supply. I loved "Casino Royale" and am really looking forward to this one as well, Craig is the best Bond since Sean Connery, in my opinion.
"Madagascar:Escape 2 Africa"- (November 7th) The sequel to 2005's "Madagascar" finds Alex, Marty, Melman and Gloria escaping from Madagascar only to end up in Africa, where they discover their roots and long lost family members. Ben Stiller and Chris Rock reprise their roles in the film. I am not sure what to make of this, I liked the first one, and it seems like they are at least trying to do something different with the sequel. I will probably wind up taking my kids to see this, so I will let you know how it is.
"Valkyrie"- (December 26th) Director Bryan Singer's WWII drama stars Tom Cruise as a Nazi(?) involved in a plot within the German army to assassinate Hitler. Bryan Singer is capable of making really good drama ("Apt Pupil", "The Usual Suspects") and this seems like a real interesting story. I have heard complaints that the actors portraying the Nazis do not even attempt a German accent. I am not too keen on that myself, but if the story and performances are good, I can overlook it. Tom Cruise is riding high after his appearance in "Tropic Thunder", and he is a very capable actor, so this may be worth checking out.
"Twilight"- (November 21st) The first film based on Stephanie Meyer's mega popular novel, this film tells the story of a family of vampires who are different, as they choose to not feed on human blood to survive. When one of the vampires falls in love with a mortal girl, it seems he starts to have problems resisting his natural urges. I have not read any of the "Twilight" books, but I am a bit cautious about this. The trailer kind of looks like Beverly Hills 90210 vampires, and right off that really doesn't interest me. I will probably see it, but it's gonna have to really be the opposite of what it looks like for me to enjoy it.

A few other films I am looking forward to are "Righteous Kill" (September 12th) with Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino, about cops tracking down a vigilante killer. Sounds like the plot of "Magnum Force" but I will go see anything that teams up two of our best actors. "Max Payne" (October 17th) the movie adaption of the gritty, violent video game. Mark Wahlberg stars as the title character out to avenge his family's death. Video game movies usually suck, but this one at least looks like it could break that tradition. What are you looking forward to this fall movie season. If you want to see any of the trailers for any of the movies I just talked about, click on the links below.
"Quantum Of Solace", "Valkyrie", "Madagascar:Escape To Africa", "Twilight", "Righteous Kill", "Max Payne"