Summer has come to a close and with it, vacation, warm weather, beaches and weekly movies worth your time and cash. Here's a mini-timeline of the handful of movies that may be decent enough to see this year:
10/3 The Express: Football movie about Syracuse University's #44 hero, Ernie Davis, the first African-American to win the Heisman Trophy. [See "Go Orange!" blog entry for more details.] As an SU grad, I can't help but be biased.
10/17 The Secret Life of Bees: Based on Sue Monk Kidd's 2002 bestselling novel, this film follows 14-year-old Lily Owens as she attempts to dig up the secrets of her mother's death and develop a true family at a South Carolina honey farm. This one is undoubtedly going to be a chick flicky tearjerker that I will most likely pass on. However, if you fall into the demographic of Oprah-watching, Dr. Phil-loving, middle-aged moms, grab a box of tissues and hit the theater.
11/12 Burn After Reading: This dark comedy focuses on a former CSI agent Osbourne Cox (John Malkovich) whose journal is discovered by two gym employees, one played by Brad Pitt. Cox's secrets are threatened to be revealed, and a blackmailing plot ensues. George Clooney plays another CIA agent who is given the task of recovering the memoir. The film is written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, the brothers who brought you "No Country for Old Men," "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" and "The Big Lebowski."
11/12 Christmas on Mars: A Fantastical Freakout Featuring the Flaming Lips: So this one will most likely be a complete disaster, but my guess is that it's going to be bizarre enough to be worth the watch. Wayne Coyne actually directs it, and the plot is just as freaky as their live shows: something about the colonization of Mars, hallucinations and aliens.
11/21 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: Oh wait--those assholes are actually making us wait til summer '09. Still bitter.
12/25 The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: Based on the 1922 short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald, this promising film is a weird and dark drama about a man who is born aging backwards. This made absolutely no sense to me either until I read further. Button, played by Brad Pitt, is actually an old man as an infant and becomes mentally younger as he becomes physically older. The story begins in 1919 but follows Button's life until 2000 and is directed by David Fincher ("Se7en," "Fight Club" and "Zodiac"). I'm shocked Tim Burton didn't snatch this one up, considering it's dark, sci-fi nature is exactly his style. Other big names: Cate Blanchett, Tilda Swinton and a cameo from the over-publicized Shiloh Jolie-Pitt.
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