Autumn 2007 preview Part 1

Historically the best films are released in the autumn months. This is the run up to the Oscar and awards season and the studios roll out their prestige pictures from their most respected directors. It also seems to be a time when some great cult and genre cinema gets released. Last year we had Children of Men, Pans Labyrinth and The Host. Previous years have brought us the likes of Oldboy, Kill Bill volume 1, Donnie Darko and Fight Club. Its the time of year I look forward to the most because lets face it, the summer is usually massively disappointing, more so this year than any other (but more on that later).

The following is my personal pick of the films which I am most looking forward to this Autumn.

Shoot 'Em Up

                                                      

Starring: Clive Owen, Paul Giamatti, Monica Belluci. Directed By: Michael Davis

The Plot: Shoot em up is the idea of Monster Man director Davis and was previously described as John Woo's wet dream. The story concerns a drifter Mr Smith played by Clive Owen, who comes across a woman in labor with several hitmen trying to kill her. The baby is born and the mother killed. The drifter must then go on the run with the baby as several hitmen led by Paul Giamatti's mob boss fire lots and lots of bullets at him. He is aided by prostitute DQ played by the most beautiful woman on the planet Monica Belluci.

Why So Excited: Are you kidding me?? Have you seen that trailer?? Before this film went into production Davis went round the studios with an impressive Animatic showing just how he envisioned the carnage in this film. New Line Cinema were so impressed they took him up on his offer. Combine that with the fact that Clive Owen is the coolest thing with a gun since Chow Yun Fat, Belluci gets naked and Paul Giamatti is always good value and this is gold. Seriously I don't know about its box-office chances but hopefully this will be the film we all wanted Smokin Aces to be and its been a long time since we had a good old fashioned gun-fest.

Released: UK – 14th September, US – 7th September.

3:10 to Yuma

                                                         

Starring: Russell Crowe, Christian Bale, Peter Fonda and Ben Foster. Directed by: James Mangold

The Plot: A remake of a 1957 western based on a short story by Elmore Leonard. The plot follows cripple rancher Dan Evans (Christian Bale) who agrees to guard captured outlaw Ben Wade (Russell Crowe) and wait for the titular train to take him to jail in Yuma. Wade's gang closes in lead by psychotic Charlie Prince (Ben Foster) as Wade tries to outpsyche Evans.

Why So Excited: Early word from the internet is fantastic. Word is this is closer to The Outlaw Josey Wales or Tombstone than Unforgiven or Open Range. I.e its an action packed Western as opposed to something thoughtful and slow. Its been a long time since we had a good western too ( apart from now defunct Tv series Deadwood). Plus if you have seen Sam Raimi's The Quick and The Dead then you know how cool Crowe is as an outlaw and the prospect of him and Christian Bale squaring off is mouth watering. Its probably not going to win any awards but this is sure to be a badass good time at the flicks. In terms of box office its not clear. Crowe and Bale have an audience but it comes out the same time as Shoot Em Up and in the UK it comes out the same day as not only Shoot em Up but Superbad as well!!

Released: UK – 14th September, US – 7th September.

Deathproof

                                                          

Starring: Kurt Russell, Rosario Dawson, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Zoe Bell. Directed by: Quentin Tarantino

The Plot: Originally one half of the box-office failure Grindhouse. The story follows some hot women in Texas who are stalked by the scarred Stuntman Mike (Kurt Russell) who kills them using his Death Proofed car.

Why So Excited: Although I would love to have seen this as a double bill with the AWOL Planet Terror as intended, I am at least happy now that this is getting released. 20 minutes or so has been restored from the Grindhouse cut and it met with enthusiastic response when it premiered at Cannes last May. The word from the time of Grindhouse's release was mixed, people said Death Proof was too talky and didn't really fire up until the spectacular final car chase. Either way this is a new Tarantino film and one with Kurt Russell who is excellent at playing badass mofo's.

Released: UK – 21st September, US – 18th September (DVD Premiere)

The Kingdom

                                                          

Starring: Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman and Chris Cooper. Directed by: Peter Berg.

The Plot: An elite team of US government agents are despatched to Saudi Arabia to investgate the bombing of a US facility. However they find their invesigation hampered by the local authorities who regard them suspicously.

Why So Excited: Peter Berg made the underrated Welcome to the Jungle and Friday Night Lights, here he has finally delivered his classic. The early word on this one is stellar. It engages as a political thriller as well as a Bourne like action movie. It all kicks off in the final third with some spectacular action sequences. Plus you have the reliable Jamie Foxx and Jennifer Garner kicking ass for the first time since Alias ended. Look for this to be one of the Autumns biggest hits.

Released: UK – 5th October, US – 28th September.

Hitman

                                                         

Starring: Timothy Olyphant, Dougray Scott, Robert Knepper and Olga Kurylenko. Directed by: Xavier Gens

The Plot: Based on the popular video game series Agent 47 (Timothy Olyphant) is hired by a group known as the agency to kill targets for cash. He then finds himself pursued across Eastern Europe by both Interpol and the Russian Military and is ensnared in a political conspiracy.

Why So Excited: Ordinarily I couldn't give a toss about the latest video game adaptation but after seeing the trailer for this I am intrigued. The way they are selling it gives me hope. It looks like vintage John Woo crossed with early Luc Besson films Nikita and Leon. Could be seriously great if they remember to give it heart as they have the stylised action in spades. This could be the film that makes Timothy Olyphant a big star and a bankable action hero. The role was originally earmarked for Vin Diesel.

Released: UK – 19th October, US – 17th October

Stardust

                                                          

Starring: Claire Danes, Robert DeNiro, Michelle Pfeiffer, Charlie Cox. Directed by: Matthew Vaughan.

The Plot: Matthew Vaughan's second film as a director is based on the Neil Gaiman novel. In a magical realm a young man named Tristan promises his beloved that he will catch her a falling star. He then journeys into a land of witches, goblins and talking animals.

Why So Excited: The americans didn't exactly flock to this when it was released in August but it got some of the best reviews of the year and features the best Robert De Niro performance for a while. Matthew Vaughan proved with Layer Cake that he could direct and he has made the best romantic fantasy since The Princess Bride and finally brought a Neil Gaiman novel to the screen accurately. This is going to be a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon with the girlfriend this October.

Released: UK – 19th October, US – Already Out.

Eastern Promises

                                                       

Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Naomi Watts, Vincent Cassel. Directed by: David Cronenberg

The Plot: A Nurse (Naomi Watts) finds the diary of a woman who died during childbirth. Reading the diary leads her into a shadowy world of sex trafficking in London masterminded by Russian mobster Nikolai (Viggo Mortensen) who is none too happy about the trouble this causes him.

Why So Excited: Cronenberg does London mafia movie. This reunites him with Mortensen and the last film they collaborated on was the acclaimed A History of Violence. This should be a great little film for adults with great performances as well as harsh shocking violence that comes with Cronenberg films. This is the opening movie of the London Film Festival in October.

Released: UK – 17th October, US – 21st September.