Movies To Look Forward To

Here's a list of some of the movies I'm looking forward to over the next couple of months adapted and expanded from Rotten Tomatoes' fall preview feature... Synopses adapted from RT, Wikipedia and IMDb.


The Kingdom (Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner)
Release Date: September 28, 2007

Initially slated for a spring release, this Peter Berg-directed political thriller sends a squad of American federal agents to Saudi Arabia in order to investigate the bombing of a United States embassy. Based on the Riyadh bombings of 2003, the film was ostensibly delayed in order to better compete during awards season. With Berg behind the camera and a script co-written by Michael Mann, The Kingdom looks better than you might expect.

Lust, Caution (Tony Leung, Joan Chen)
Release Date: September 28, 2007

Lust, Caution is an award-winning 2007 film directed by Ang Lee. The film is an adaption of a 1950 short story of the same title by the famed Chinese author Eileen Chang, said to be loosely based on an actual event that took place in 1939-1940. The story is mostly set in World War II-era Shanghai. It depicts a group of Chinese students plotting to kill a powerful collaborator with the Japanese, using a young woman as a lure.

Michael Clayton (George Clooney, Tom Wilkinson)
Release Date: October 05, 2007

Corporate espionage and life-or-death courtroom drama get the George Clooney treatment in this tale of a burned-out legal fixer who finds himself dangerously in over his head after a colleague's sabotage leaves him scrambling to pull off the toughest case of his career.

We Own The Night (Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Wahlberg)
Release Date: October 12, 2007

Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Wahlberg square off as brothers on opposite sides of the war between the NYPD and the Russian mafia in the early 1980s. James Gray directs; Robert Duvall and Eva Mendes round out the cast.

30 Days of Night (Josh Hartnett, Melissa George)
Release Date: October 19, 2007

Based on a series of graphic novels, the story takes the vampire mythology we all know - bloodsucking creatures of the night with a deathly allergy to sunlight, etc. - and gives it a cool twist, sending a flock of fanged fiends to Barrow, a small town in northern Alaska where the sun dips below the horizon for more than a full month (hence the title). One by one, the invaders pick off Barrow's residents, who slowly begin to realize they're in for a very bad few weeks, and make it their mission to survive until the dawn; to that end, the dwindling group of survivors bands together in a desperate standoff against the bloodthirsty undead, led by their sheriff, Eben Olemaun (played by Josh Hartnett).

Gone Baby Gone (Casey Affleck, Michelle Monaghan)
Release Date: October 19, 2007

Ben Affleck takes another step on the road toward artistic redemption by directing this adaptation of the Dennis Lehane novel. Sure, he cast his brother Casey in the lead role, but if the trailer's to be trusted, this will be a nastier, higher-stakes version of Mystic River (no coincidence, seeing as how that was also a Lehane adaptation).

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke)
Release Date: October 26, 2007

Master filmmaker Sidney Lumet directs this absorbing suspense thriller about a family facing the worst enemy of all – itself. Oscar-winner Philip Seymour Hoffman plays Andy, an overextended broker who lures his younger brother, Hank (Ethan Hawke) into a larcenous scheme: the pair will rob a suburban mom-and-pop jewelry store that appears to be the quintessential easy target. The problem is, the store owners are Andy and Hank’s actual mom and pop and, when the seemingly perfect crime goes awry, the damage lands right at their doorstep.

Bee Movie (Jerry Seinfeld, Renee Zellweger)
Release Date: November 02, 2007

Nine years after pulling the plug on the sitcom that bore his name, Jerry Seinfeld returns with this computer-animated look at bee/human relations. Alongside Seinfeld in the vocal booth: Renée Zellweger, Matthew Broderick, Megan Mullally, John Goodman, Chris Rock, and Kathy Bates.

American Gangster (Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe)
Release Date: November 02, 2007

Introducing America to the inside story of the rise and fall of real-life drug kingpin Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington), the Harlem dealer who became notorious for smuggling heroin into the United States by hiding it in the coffins of soldiers killed in Vietnam. Rounding out the cast are Josh Brolin, Common, RZA, and - as Richie Roberts, the detective who doggedly pursued Lucas - Russell Crowe. Behind the lens is three-time Crowe director Ridley Scott.

The Kite Runner (Shaun Toub, Said Taghmaoui)
Release Date: November 02, 2007

An epic tale of fathers and sons, of friendship and betrayal, that takes us from the final days of Afghanistan's monarchy to the atrocities of the Taliban reign. This unforgettable story of redemption is based on the best selling phenomena The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.

No Country for Old Men (Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem)
Release Date: November 09, 2007

No Country for Old Men, adapted by Joel and Ethan Coen from a novel about the aftermath of a Texan drug deal gone wrong, marks the second time (after 2000's All the Pretty Horses) one of Cormac McCarthy's books has been made into a feature-length film. For a 74-year-old writer whose work didn't enjoy wide recognition until the early '90s, having Tommy Lee Jones and Woody Harrelson act out your prose must be somewhat surreal; for moviegoers, it's likely to be one of the most engrossing (and better-reviewed) films of the fall. Look for standout work by the film's two lesser known leads - Josh Brolin and Javier Bardem - who turn in impressive, memorable performances.

Lions for Lambs (Tom Cruise, Meryl Streep)
Release Date: November 09, 2007

Seeing Tom Cruise, Robert Redford, and Meryl Streep on the same screen is bound to be a powerful attractant for more than a few moviegoers, in what's shaping up to be another of the season's more controversial dramas. How do politics and journalism co-exist in today's atmosphere of cross-national tension? So asks the first United Artists release under the new management of Cruise and producing partner Paula Wagner.

Beowulf (Angelina Jolie, Ray Winstone)
Release Date: November 16, 2007

In a legendary time of heroes, the mighty warrior Beowulf battles the demon Grendel and incurs the hellish wrath of the beast’s ruthlessly seductive mother. Their epic clash forges the timeless legend of Beowulf. Groundbreaking director Robert Zemeckis offers a unique vision of the Beowulf saga in a way that it has never been told before.

Love in the Time of Cholera (Javier Bardem, Giovanna Mezzogiorno)
Release Date: November 16, 2007

One of the greatest love stories ever told, based on the timeless masterpiece by Nobel Prize-winning author Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Love in the Time of Cholera. Spanning a half-century in the complex, magical and sensual city of Cartagena, Colombia, the sweeping romantic epic tells the story of a man who waits over fifty years for his one true love.

Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium (Dustin Hoffman, Natalie Portman)
Release Date: November 16, 2007

Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium is the strangest, most fantastic, most wonderful toy store in the world. In fact, it's a magic toy store and everything in it comes to life – including the store itself. The Emporium only asks one thing of its customers; you must believe it to see it. Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, is written and directed by Zach Helm.

Hitman (Timothy Olyphant, Dougray Scott)
Release Date: November 21, 2007

Agent 47 (Olyphant) has been educated, from his genetically-engineered "birth", to become a professional assassin for hire, whose most powerful weapons are his nerve and a resolute pride in his work. 47 is both the last two digits of the barcode tattooed on the back of his head and his only name. The hunter becomes the hunted when 47 gets caught up in a political takeover. Both Interpol and the Russian military chase the Hitman across Eastern Europe as he tries to find out who set him up and why they're trying to take him out of the game. But the greatest threat to 47's survival may be the stirrings of his conscience and the unfamiliar emotions aroused in him by a beautiful, damaged girl...

Stephen King's The Mist (Thomas Jane, Marcia Gay Harden)
Release Date: November 21, 2007

Having already successfully adapted Stephen King's The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile, director Frank Darabont turns to the author for inspiration a third time, turning this 1985 short story about a malevolent fog into a starring vehicle for Thomas Jane, Andre Braugher, and Marcia Gay Harden.

I'm sure I have left out a couple, but hopefully nothing too important. If you think I have, please feel free to point out my omission in the comments section. Also remember I am not considering movies that will be released in December.

In anticipation,
Arjun