Tag Archives: Phantom Thread

2010s, Action, Article, Best Movie Bracket, Biopic, Comedy, Drama, Heist, Lists, Musical, Prison, Reviews, Romance, Sports, True Story

Best of 2017: Insiders 6-10

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After getting a bit sidetracked with Oscar predictions, let’s get back to the Best of 2017. You can see my 11-15 and 16-20 as well, but as we enter the coveted top 10, we find some truly remarkable films that resonated with me personally. I am proud of the diversity of films from drama to action to biopic. Let’s go!

10. Logan Lucky

Steven Soderbergh comes out of retirement to make his best since the original Ocean’s Eleven remake. He shows off his flair for visual storytelling and gives us a hillbilly fairy tale wrapped up in a heist movie. The cast of characters is outrageous, the premise is outlandish, and the film is outstanding.

The film centers around the Logan brothers played by Adam Driver and Channing Tatum and their plan to rob Charlotte Motor Speedway in efforts to break the 100 year old Logan family curse. Other cast members include Riley Keough, Daniel Craig, Seth MacFarlane, Sebastian Stan, Hillary Swank, Katie Holmes, Dwight Yoakam, and so many more deliciously funny characters.

I know many people who might not be as stereotypically country as these characters are but who suffer from a curse nonetheless. This curse of living paycheck to paycheck and being overlooked and derided is turned on its head as they mastermind a heist that would make Danny Ocean jealous. It is a hilariously wild ride, with a strong focus on family and a message about changing your station in life that might surprise you.

9. Phantom Thread

In opposition to the previous entry, Phantom Thread is set in the alluring world of 1950s British couture. Paul Thomas Anderson helms what is supposed to be Daniel Day-Lewis’ final performance. The previous collaboration of these two produced one of my favorite movies of all time, There Will Be Blood. I hope this isn’t the last we see from Daniel Day-Lewis because he is one of the greatest actors of our time and he has much more to give. However, if he did choose to make this film his last it would be a fitting close to an amazing career.

Hey plays Reynolds Woodcock who is a fictional mashup of several real designers from this time-frame. He is an exacting personality, he is brilliant but petulant and spoiled. The best thing about this film was the surprising humor. It arises from places you would not expect and the whole story goes in a direction that subverts the viewers expectations. It is a twisted picture of love, relationships, and power.

8. I, Tonya

Much like Phantom Thread, in I, Tonya we have a unique character study with dark humor that springs from odd places. People my age and older may think they know this story. We watched much of it play out on television. It happened right at the beginning of this new trend of 24/7 news coverage. So for weeks, you could not escape the saga of Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding.

The story is so strange because of the varied and conflicting versions of the story that come from all sides. Instead of trying to present the truth, it seemed to leave us in an ambiguous place where we are rooting for the good in Tonya while still seeing he faults and part to play in the whole fiasco. Violence was the language that these people spoke and while that does not excuse any actions, it does provide a picture of the twisted mindset that could commit this crime.

Part of me wonders how much coverage this story would have received without the media coverage that it received. Did our thirst of “news” as entertainment feed into this? Because just as soon as a bigger story came along we were off on our next witch hunt. Today, this thirst has grown exponentially to the point that this story would have been nothing more than a blip on our Twitter feeds that would disappear within a few moments as soon as the next viral video appeared.

Margot Robbie and Sebastian Stan were very good, and the visuals could almost fool me to think that Margot Robbie trained to actually complete a triple Axel just for this film. The way that they filmed the skating sequences was captivating as well with the camera moving fluidly around the skater as the perform on the ice. However, the real star and one of the best overall performances of the year was from Allison Janney who played the cartoonishly evil mother of Tonya. She was wickedly delightful.

7. Baby Driver

The more I think about this movie the higher I want to put it on my list. Looking back in a couple of years after I own this Blu-Ray and watch it 5-6 dozen times it will probably find its way well into the top five. I love that it came in with a modest budget and blew it out of the water showing that you can make original and artful cinema and still make loads of money.

When I mention Edgar Wright, you might recognize the name from Shaun of the Dead, or Hot Fuzz. Here Edgar wright uses more of his distinct visual style and uses it to craft a musically choreographed heist film. Do yourself a favor and watch the first 6 minutes of the film. If it strikes your fancy then you will love the whole film. If it doesn’t then you may be doing something wrong.

My one issue with the film is that the whole thing isn’t presented as a musical. There are certainly musical elements and complete scenes that are linked directly to the music we hear, but I would have loved to see a full blown action centered La La Land type film.

6. Lady Bird

I have to admit that I jumped pretty hard on the Lady Bird bandwagon, and it’s hard not to. It is delightful. Its simplicity is part of its charm. However, I think that the simplicity might keep it from taking home any of the 5 Oscars it is nominated for on Sunday. But that is okay. It doesn’t need to be controversial or flashy to draw attention.

I feel like Lady Bird was so well loved because the characters albeit quirky are so accessible. Have you ever wanted to spread your wings and escape from your town or your school or your family? Everyone has! So much of this comes from the performances of Soairse Ronan and Laurie Metcalf. Ronan manages to capture that odd teenage limbo between the confidence in their own abilities and the realization that they are clueless as they prepare to leave.

Did anyone else feel like Metcalf appeared out of nowhere like someone had her locked in a time capsule since Roseanne. She was so good. She was warm and motherly and cold and calculated all in the same scenes. I have to give a small shout out to Tracy Letts as well as the dad. With three teenagers or nearly teenagers of my own I always look out for great father figures and he is now up there with the likes of Stanley Tucci from Easy A.

Did you hate any of these movies? Am I out of touch because I chose an Oscar bait movie like Phantom Thread or do I need to give up my Movie cred because I liked a trailer trash movie like Logan Lucky? I want to see your top 10 lists, leave me a comment here or shoot me a message on social media!

2010s, Awards, Great Movies, Television

Oscar Outlook: Best Picture

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The Oscars are almost here and I’m excited to talk about the biggest award of the night. We sit through all the other awards to see which film is going to take home Best Picture. I remember my father having a poster of all the Best Picture Academy Award winners from 1927 – 1991. I studied that list of films, many of which I had never even heard of, much less seen. But it gave me a sense of this world of films that I was stepping into at just 10 years old.

I remember watching Billy Crystal hosting that next year’s Oscars. I remember asking about some of these films that I was too young to watch and begging my parents to let me see them. My father was a collector of VHS films during those days and once I could get my hands on it, one afternoon as a latch-key kid, I remember watching the Best Picture winner of 1992, Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven. I think 10 year old me probably would have ranked Aladdin above Unforgiven (35 year-old me might just do the same thing), but I was hooked and wanted more.

Since those days, I remember watching all kinds of films from Hitchcock and Kubrick to westerns and war films. I had developed a taste and would never go back. Perhaps this year, there will be another 10 year old boy who might watch to hear “Remember Me” from Coco, but will stay up late to hear the proclamation of the Best Picture of the year and might ask his parents if he can see Dunkirk or Lady Bird. The Oscars are a love letter to the cinema that we adore so deeply and cherish so fondly.

Best Picture

And the nominees are…

  • The Shape of Water
  • Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
  • Darkest Hour
  • Call Me By Your Name
  • Dunkirk
  • Get Out
  • Lady Bird
  • Phantom Thread
  • The Post

Who Will Win

When nominations were first announced the clear favorite seemed to be The Shape of Water. However, it seems that the tides have turned towards my pick which is Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. I’m happy with this change because I did not enjoy The Shape of Water as much as many of my movie loving friends. Three Billboards, on the other hand, has grown on me and found itself squarely in my top five movies of 2017. It could very easily be the big winner of the night with Best Picture, Actress, and Supporting Actor. What a shame that Martin McDonagh was not even nominated for direction. This original screenplay is also nominated but will most likely lose to Get Out.

Outside Chance

Of course, it is very possible that The Shape of Water could hold onto its original popular sentiment and win. The film is gorgeous, but I think Guillermo Del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth was so much better. I would be shocked if Get Out squeaked away with the victory, but it is not out of the realm of possibility. I really enjoyed Get Out, it was one of the best theater going experiences of the year. It is currently ranked just below Three Billboards in my top 10 of 2017.

Who Should Win

This is probably cheating, but if I had one wish, it would be for Warren Beatty to come out with Faye Dunaway for their second chance to announce the Best Picture award after last year’s fiasco, and I want him to rip up the ballot and declare that The Florida Project is the best movie of the year. It is available for streaming right now on iTunes, and many other sites. It has so much heart, imagination, and despair all wrapped up in a seedy hotel nestled just off I-4 in sunny Orlando, Florida just outside the Happiest Place on Earth.  Watch the trailer below and try not to fall in love with Brooklyn Prince and forget everything you ever though you knew about Willem Dafoe. It was criminal that his performance was their only nomination. This was the only glaring snub that I saw this year.

What do you think? Who will take home all those little golden statuettes tomorrow? Do you care? Will you even be watching? Do you remember some of the first movies that made you love film? Share with me below or send me a message on social media.

2010s, Actor/Actress, Awards, Television

Oscar Outlook: Male Performance

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What’s happening on Sunday night? That’s right. It’s time for the 90th annual Academy Awards more commonly called the Oscars. The one television program that I make arrangements to watch every year. It is a night to celebrate the movies and to a lesser extent, politics, and other social issues. This is the very reason that I have to watch this without my wife.

Let’s keep looking at the nominees in the major categories, because nobody is talking about Best Adapted Screenplay at the water cooler on Monday, that is unless Logan pulls off a major upset to beat Call Me By Your Name. Instead, all eyes are on the big awards like the two male performance categories that we are going to look at in this post.

Best Actor

And the nominees are…

  • Timothee Chalamet in Call Me by Your Name
  • Daniel Day-Lewis in Phantom Thread
  • Daniel Kaluuya in Get Out
  • Gary Oldman in Darkest Hour
  • Denzel Washington in Roman J. Israel, Esq.
Who Will Win

This is another category with a clear favorite. Gary Oldman will most likely take home his first Oscar on Sunday night after already winning the SAG, BAFTA, and Golden Globe. I loved Darkest Hour. I’m a fan of history (when presented to me in 2-3 hour segments in a dramatic way). When I first saw the makeup that transformed Gary Oldman into Winston Churchill, I was amazed and knew that we were going to see them nominated and probably winning for Best Hair and Makeup.

After watching the film though, I forgot it was Oldman under that makeup. I was completely enthralled with the story and sold on his passion and eccentricities. Oldman is known for being immensely flexible in his range and he has sunk deeply into characters before. Think of Dracula, True Romance, Sid and Nancy, and many more, but he has never been this electric and transparent in such an accessible and moving film.

Outside Chance

There are some rumors that the new kid on the block Timothee Chalamet could pull an upset. I think this is highly unlikely. While Call Me By Your Name does tick a lot of the Oscar’s boxes for being relevant politically and socially, when those anonymous votes get tallied, I don’t think the voters  ) find a majority to vote for the most pretentious and self-indulgent movie of the year. Fun fake fact: Peach sales have increased by 15% since the movie’s release.

Who Should Win

The Academy is probably trending towards the correct choice at this point. Part of me would love to see Daniel Day-Lewis take home his fourth Oscar in six nominations. That would give him the best nomination/win batting averages of those with more than five nominations. Compare that to Meryl Streep with her 21 nominations and only three wins. No offense to either Daniel Kaluuya or Denzel Washington who I thought were great in their roles but they don’t have a chance of winning.

Best Supporting Actor

And the nominees are…

  • Willem Dafoe in The Florida Project
  • Woody Harrelson in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
  • Richard Jenkins in The Shape of Water
  • Christopher Plummer in All the Money in the World
  • Sam Rockwell in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Full disclosure: This is the only category in which I still have a blind spot. I missed All the Money in the World so I can’t comment on Christopher Plummer’s quick exchange for Kevin Spacey. I’m going to try and catch it before Sunday. I’m sure he is wonderful, but part of me thinks this is one of those political statement nominations.

Who Will Win

Sam Rockwell is the odds on favorite to win this and I couldn’t be happier for him. I’ve been keeping an eye on him ever since I saw him play Guy in Galaxy Quest back in 1999. Then when he played Zaphod Beezelbrox in Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy I loved it. But his breakout role was for Duncan Jones criminally underrated sci-fi thriller Moon. Perhaps after he gets the win people will know him by his name instead of “you know, that one guy.”

Outside Chance

As much as I like Sam Rockwell and would love to see him win, in my heart of hearts I want to see Willem Dafoe pull out the victory for his role in the film that affected me more deeply than any other this year. Sean Baker’s The Florida Project was humanistic and rich. Dafoe plays an On-Site Manager for a small slum hotel called the Magic Castle in the shadow of Orlando’s Disney World.

The film was created with many non-actors, and actual residents of the hotel. I was shocked when this wasn’t even nominated for Best Picture because it is worth that accolade and more. There has been some groundswell of support for him in recent days, but I ultimately think that it was just too small of a film to make the impact that the Oscars are looking for.

Who Should Win

Rockwell and Harrelson both provide quality supporting roles to Frances McDormand’s powerhouse performance, but I’m going to go with the little guy and and say that Willem Dafoe should win this category for his supportive and compassionate father figure.

This is all just my speculation and it is all about what amounts to a fancy human horse race. The Academy invariably gets things wrong, they vote based upon popular tides and political leanings. They vote to make statements, and often that means that the true best of the year go by overlooked and under appreciated except by those of us who champion them. Let your voice be heard! Sound off in the comments below or find me on any of the major social media platforms and let’s talk about movies (or other stuff… but mostly movies.)

2010s, Awards, Director, Television

Oscar Outlook: Best Director

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The 90th Academy Awards are this Sunday night. I’ve already made my picks on a couple of the contest sites including the Official Oscar Challenge and Gold Derby where you can play the odds on all kinds of entertainment contests. If you’re feeling old fashioned, you could just print out a ballot and pass it around your office this week. Whether you are going to a fancy Oscar party or just watching in your pajamas, it’s always fun to play along.

With that in mind, I thought in these few days leading up to the biggest night in Hollywood, I would take a few minutes to look deeper at the top categories. Best picture, the four top actor nominations, and of course…

Best Director

Among most of my non-movie friends the Best Director category holds just as much mystery as the Best Production Design might. “Normal” people don;t go around talking about movie in terms of their director. Oftentimes they go unnoticed in the background, and that is how most of them would like to keep it, the exceptions being those few directors that almost demand that their name be read before their movie’s title, like Lee Daniel’s The Butler.

I however, directors do so much to create the films that we see everyday, it is good that they have a few moments in the sun to take credit for the pictures that they have painstakingly collaborated and toiled for years to create.

Even if you have no idea who these people are, you should at least be happy that this isn’t a panel of old white guys. That’s what we usually see, but with last years Oscars so white controversy we have a great deal more diversity this year. I think it certainly helps those efforts that many of the best pictures of the year came from diverse sources and were made by a varied group of individuals. This is a good thing because we need to see films highlighted that reflect our country’s population.

Without further ado, the nominees are…

  • Christopher Nolan for Dunkirk
  • Jordan Peele for Get Out
  • Greta Gerwig for Lady Bird
  • Paul Thomas Anderson for Phantom Thread
  • Guillermo Del Toro for The Shape of Water

Will Win

There is not a doubt in my mind that Guillermo Del Toro will take home the gold on Sunday night. We’ve seen a trend of Hispanic Directors over the last few years with Alejandro G. Innaritu and Alfonso Cuaron. Del Toro should have been Nominated (and probably won) for Pan’s Labyrinth. That movie was better than this one, but the Oscars have a way of righting past wrongs through new awards. See John Wayne’s only Oscar for one of his last films, a good role in True Grit but far from his best.

Outside Chance

If the Academy voters are keen to just hand out diversity nomination but not awards, they could give the trophy to Christopher Nolan for Dunkirk. I think that would be the wrong move, Dunkirk is not Nolan’s best film by far, but he’s been snubbed previously and they could try to make up for that.

Should Win

I’m not one for pandering, but I would love to see either Greta Gerwig or Jordan Peele take home the win. They are only the 5th nominee that is female or African American respectively. Gerwig would be second only to Katherine Bigelow who won a few years ago for The Hurt Locker.

However, my should win has to go to Jordan Peele for his outsanding Directorial debut in the completely original and seamlessly crafted Get Out. He weaved comedy, drama, horror, and political satire into one massively entertaining film and seemingly didn’t even break a sweat. I’m looking forward to what we will see from him next. Part of me wishes the Oscars had a category for best new director so he could at least get full credit there., but unfortunately, he would still be up against Greta Gerwig and the juggernaut that was Lady Bird.

What’s Your Pick?

Who do you think will win? What was your favorite of the year? Do you think that it’s a good thing that we are seeing more diversity represented in these awards? Let your voice be heard in the comments below.

2010s, Article, Biopic, Coming Soon, Drama, Lists, Political, Romance, True Story

Fall 2017 Movie Preview: Drama Part 2

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Sorry for the delay in getting the last part of this Fall Movie Preview finished and published. I live in Florida and things are a little bit crazy with Hurricane Irma preparations. There were just too many dramatic films coming out over the next few months to capture them all in one post.

You can read the first part here. Or read the other sections of the preview : Action/Adventure, Horror/Thriller, or Family/Comedy. I hope you’ll let me know which of these sound interesting to you and which you’ll wait to stream on Netflix.

November

LBJ – 11/10

The story of U.S. President Lyndon Baines Johnson from his young days in West Texas to the White House.

This was originally scheduled to come out in 2016. I don’t know the actual reason it was delayed, but I can only think that it had something to do with something else going on in the world of politics that was slightly more entertaining than history. There was also another film focusing on this period of time, Jackie. I for one would have never imagined Woody Harrelson as LBJ, and it’s directed by Rob Reiner (Princess Bride, A Few Good Men, and When Harry Met Sally).

Murder on the Orient Express – 11/10

A lavish train ride unfolds into a stylish & suspenseful mystery. From the novel by Agatha Christie, Murder on the Orient Express tells of thirteen stranded strangers & one man’s race to solve the puzzle before the murderer strikes again.

The second film adaptation of Agatha Christie’s most famous story of legendary detective Hercule Poirot. The 1974 film directed by Sidney Lumet is already legendary for its stunning cast and claustrophobic feel. This version looks like it is trying to capture that essence. I’m really excited to see what they do with it, and with a cast featuring the likes of Johnny Depp, Daisy Ridley, Willem Dafoe, Michelle Pfeiffer, Penélope Cruz, Kenneth Branagh, Judi Dench, and Josh Gad it’s going to have to try really hard not to be at least good.

Lady Bird – 11/10

The adventures of a young woman living in Northern California for a year.

Well, that’s not much of a description to go off. It should say something like, “Jackie from Roseanne (Laurie Metcalf) is raising a teenage daughter of her own played by Saoirse (it’s pronounced “seer-sha”) Ronan. She doesn’t feel like she belongs in the little Northern California town. She feels as though the walls are closing in. She longs to be on the east coast in a city where writers live out in the woods.” That’s a movie I want to watch. It looks funny and sad and warm and rich. Saoirse Ronan is a fantastic actress and is going to bring so much heart to the titular character of Lady Bird. The whole thing is written and directed by Greta Gerwig as something of an autobiography. Man, I love this time of year!

The Darkest Hour – 11/22

Within days of becoming Prime Minister, Winston Churchill must face his most turbulent and defining trial: exploring a negotiated peace treaty with Nazi Germany, or standing firm to fight for the ideals, liberty and freedom of a nation.

A Winston Churchill biopic starring Gary Oldman. Need I say anything else? I mean, just look at that picture. He’s is a master of sinking into a role whether it is Dracula, Sid Vicious, Pontius Pilate, Sirius Black, or Commissioner James Gordon. Watch the trailer and see if you don’t get chills.

Molly’s Game – 11/22

The true story of an Olympic-class skier who ran the world’s most exclusive high-stakes poker game and became an FBI target. Her players included movie stars, business titans and unbeknownst to her, the Russian mob.

Idris Elba and Jessica Chastain are great, but I’m excited about this one because Aaron Sorkin is attached to direct. He adapted the book by the real Molly Bloom. Normally he is happy to write and have someone else direct, but this marks his directorial debut. What a cool story. It should be lots of fun and full of amazing lightning fast dialogue.

Call Me by Your Name – 11/22

It’s the summer of 1983 in the north of Italy, and Elio Perlman (Timothée Chalamet), a precocious 17- year-old American-Italian boy, spends his days in his family’s 17th century villa transcribing and playing classical music, reading, and flirting with his friend Marzia (Esther Garrel). Elio enjoys a close relationship with his father (Michael Stuhlbarg), an eminent professor specializing in Greco-Roman culture, and his mother Annella (Amira Casar), a translator, who favor him with the fruits of high culture in a setting that overflows with natural delights. While Elio’s sophistication and intellectual gifts suggest he is already a fully-fledged adult, there is much that yet remains innocent and unformed about him, particularly about matters of the heart. One day, Oliver (Armie Hammer), a charming American scholar working on his doctorate, arrives as the annual summer intern tasked with helping Elio’s father. Amid the sun-drenched splendor of the setting, Elio and Oliver discover the heady beauty of awakening desire over the course of a summer that will alter their lives forever.

I’ve got this here because it is sure to get a lot of love from the LGBT community. It will be called groundbreaking and monumental. However, when it is boiled down it sounds like the story of a man taking advantage of a kid who is still figuring out who he is for his own pleasure. I just can’t get behind that. I’ll probably see it at some point because it will most likely be nominated for an Oscar but I’m not expecting much.

December

The Current War – 12/8

The Current War is the epic story of the cutthroat competition between the greatest inventors of the industrial age over whose electrical system would power the new century. Backed by J.P. Morgan, Edison dazzles the world by lighting Manhattan. But Westinghouse, aided by Nikola Tesla, has seen fatal flaws in Edison’s direct current design. Igniting a war of currents, Westinghouse and Tesla bet everything on risky and dangerous alternating current.

Benedict Cumberbatch, Michael Shannon, and Nicholas Hoult as Thomas Edison, George Westinghouse, and Nikola Tesla. The battle between alternating current and direct current. The trailer looks great with amazing cinematography playing with the light. If there isn’t at least one song by AC/DC in the film, it will be a missed opportunity.

The Shape of Water – 12/8

An other-worldly fairy tale, set against the backdrop of Cold War era America circa 1962. In the hidden high-security government laboratory where she works, lonely Elisa (Sally Hawkins) is trapped in a life of isolation. Elisa’s life is changed forever when she and co-worker Zelda (Octavia Spencer) discover a secret classified experiment.

This looks like it could be the best most innovative thing that Guillermo del Toro has done since Pan’s Labyrinth. I’m afraid that the creature (played by Doug Jones, look him up his work is amazing) is going to be too grotesque for mainstream audiences to get behind the love story aspect. It is kinda far out there and I just don’t now if we’re ready for it. Either way, I’m looking forward to it because it’s an original story that we’ve never seen coming from a visionary director with a star-studded cast. What do you think?

The Greatest Showman – 12/25

Inspired by the imagination of P.T. Barnum, The Greatest Showman is an original musical that celebrates the birth of show business and tells of a visionary who rose from nothing to create a spectacle that became a worldwide sensation.

Apparently this musical based on the life of P.T. Barnum was supposed to come out last year around November or December, but they decided to wait to unleash Hugh Jackman’s vocal stylings on the world in part because of competition with a little movie called La La Land. I don’t think this will do quite as well, but it should be a feel good story with singing and dancing to end our 2017 on a positive note.

Phantom Thread – 12/25

Set in the couture world of 1950s London, the story illuminates the life behind the curtain of an uncompromising dressmaker commissioned by royalty and high society.

This is shrouded in mystery. We don’t have much to go off, but it is believed that Daniel Day Lewis will be playing Charles James. He will be teaming up with Director P.T. Anderson. The last time these two joined forces they created one of the best movies of all time in my opinion, There Will Be Blood. To add anticipation, Daniel Day Lewis has stated that this will be his last film. If that is the case, I sincerely hope he goes out with a bang and wins his 4th Best Actor Oscar.

Others to Watch:

My Friend Dahmer coming on November 3rd. Before Jeffrey Dahmer became a notorious serial killer, he was a shy, alcoholic teen who never quite fit in. Based on the acclaimed graphic novel by Derf Backderf, this is the true, haunting story of Jeffrey Dahmer in high school. This could be the start of a whole cinematic universe of teenage serial killers. Seriously, Ross Lynch looks disturbed as the young Dahmer. It could be a surprise success.

Roman J. Israel, Esq. coming on November 3rd. Denzel Washington stars as Roman Israel, a driven, idealistic defense attorney who, through a tumultuous series of events, finds himself in a crisis that leads to extreme action. Written and directed by the mind behind Nightcrawler, Dan Gilroy. This will be another heavily character driven role, like Fences, that Denzel can sink his teeth into.

Last Flag Flying coming on November 3rd. Thirty years after they served together in Vietnam, a former Navy Corpsman Larry “Doc” Shepherd re-unites with his old buddies, former Marines Sal Nealon and Reverend Richard Mueller, to bury his son, a young Marine killed in the Iraq War. Steve Carell, Bryan Cranston, and Laurence Fishburne in a road trip movie directed by Richard Linklater (Dazed and Confused and Boyhood). It’s hard not to get a little excited for this.

The Man Who Invented Christmas coming on November 22nd. The journey that led to the creation of Ebenezer Scrooge (Christopher Plummer) and other classic characters from “A Christmas Carol.” The film shows how Charles Dickens (Dan Stevens) conjured up a timeless tale. Looks like it could be a good family film retelling the often told Christmas story through the eyes of the man who created it.

There will be other films that come onto the radar in the final months of the year and some of these will inevitably be pushed to 2018 but I think this is a very good list to work off as you prepare for the season and decide which films are the most enticing. Please let me know which ones sound great and which you will pass on. Now that I’m done with this, I may decide to make a calendar will all of the films I’ve featured listed by their release date. The obvious problem with that is many of these films will be limited releases and so they will likely not be playing outside of major markets for a week or two after their actual premier unless they are tracking very will and the studios believe they can risk a wider opening.