Fall Movies: The Ten I'm Most Looking Forward To!

I think the most annoying thing about me as a moviegoer (and considering all of the rants I get in about my theater-going, it’s worth pointing out that I can see faults in my movie practices as well) is that I rarely know a lot about a movie before I see it.  Granted, I know the stars of the film and the director, but as far as plot of a film, I know next to nothing-in fact, the more I want to see a film, the less I typically know.

This is a weird thing to confess both because I see 100-150 movies a year and because I love learning about movies-I thrive off of the IMDB Trivia page.  After I see a film, I have a routine of writing my review, then hitting Wikipedia, IMDB, and Rotten Tomatoes to see how the rest of the world has reacted and what nuggets I may have missed.  But I don’t learn about the movie beforehand, and this is because I consider everything to be a spoiler.  People frequently will say "this won’t ruin the movie for you,” but I want everything to be a surprise.  I will occasionally go to a movie late because I’m positive the trailer to a movie I’ve been avoiding is going to play, or I’ll put my fingers to my ears and close my eyes through one to avoid the seeing anything (though I don’t hum, so it’s only distracting if you’re looking at me-you can’t hear me).

This aversion to spoilers and learning the plot to a film makes writing a “Movies I’m Most Looking Forward To” a bit curious and also rather odd.  I cannot pretend I didn’t watch the first trailers of most of these films (it’s usually the subsequent trailers that get you-the teasers or first trailers typically don’t have too many spoilers), but I also know very little about most of these films.  Because of this, I’m going to keep the explanation of why I’m looking forward to these films fairly brief, and hardly plot-based at all (so you should feel free to read without too much of a spoiler reveal).  These are in descending order of how much I want to see them, but don’t take that as lack of enthusiasm for the lower ranked ones-I’m definitely looking forward to all ten!

10. Foxcatcher

Steve Carell continues to be a bit of a puzzle to me.  He’s a very talented actor, and he’s oddly well-attuned to dramatic acting for someone who has clearly been most successful in comedy.  I have this sneaking suspicion that this role may be his George Clooney moment-the film that marks him as a serious film actor, and not just as someone whose most successful cinematic moment involves “Kelly Clarkson!”  Throw in Channing Tatum (who couldn’t possibly be higher on my personal list of actors to be enthused about) and Mark Ruffalo (always high on said list), and I’m there.

9. The Wolf of Wall Street

I rarely find myself disliking a Leo DiCaprio movie (J. Edgar being a large exception), and the trailer looks most interesting-Leo is better when he’s having fun, and this seems to be that sort of film.  The supporting cast is intriguing too-I think we’re all a little bit more interested in Matthew McConaughey after his terrific turn in Magic Mike, and Cristin Milioti/Margot Robbie both have that glow of an actress about to become a “big deal.”  Plus, you put Scorsese’s name on a movie, and it goes on my Top 10, end of story.

8. American Hustle

I didn’t want to put this film on my list-David O. Russell and I are on strained terms at the moment (you all read the OVP’s with my deteriorating relationship with Silver Linings Playbook), but this trailer looks damned good, doesn’t it?  Jennifer Lawrence is someone I’m loving more and more (I feel like her range is continuing to grow, which is exciting), and Amy Adams, who I thought was great in The Master, seems like bombshell fun here (has she ever looked better?).  The men I’m undecided on (I run hot-and-cold with Cooper, Bale, and Renner), but the actresses I’m generally in their camp, and I cannot wait to see them duke it out.

7. Inside Llewyn Davis

That Scorsese rule-it applies whenever the Coen Brothers go for an original story, which is what this is.  Carey Mulligan is someone I’m wildly enamored with (even though the rest of the world seems to have forgotten that she’s been consistently good since An Education), and the overall story behind this film looks divine.  I’m really into the whole Beat renaissance that’s been happening at the movies recently (Howl, On the Road, and later this fall, Kill Your Darlings), and think this could marry up well with that renewed interest.

6. Twelve Years a Slave

I haven’t seen Hunger yet (I know, I should have my Cineaste card revoked on that one-it’s somewhere on the Netflix list, I swear), but Steve McQueen made magic with Michael Fassbender two years ago in Shame (how did he miss that Oscar nomination?!?), and this film, his largest and most sprawling, will show if McQueen can work with a different medium and a period piece.  I have confidence in both, and think this will be the film that finally lands Fassy his first Oscar nomination.

5. Short-Term 12

This is cheating a bit, but it hasn’t come out in Minnesota yet, and so it’s part of my fall schedule, even if you people on the coasts have already obsessed over the movie.  Brie Larson is a fascinating actress, and John Gallagher Jr. (whom I’ve only seen on stage) is both a talent crush and an actual crush lately.  This should be superb, and I suspect it will be one of those movies that shows up on my year-end shortlists.

4. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

I am one of those rare people who thoroughly enjoyed Peter Jackson’s first installment in the latest Tolkien saga, so I’m really looking forward to this movie.  I suspect, though, that of the three it will be my least favorite (oddly enough, I regularly find myself loving The Two Towers the best of the other three, though, so who knows).  Either way, more back story could be strong if they keep the movie moving, and the fight scene will be epic if it’s in this film.  How he handles the third installment is still anyone’s guess.

3. The Counselor

Cormac McCarthy’s stories are the stuff of my cinematic dreams-complicated, bitter noir with vivid, hell-bound characters.  No Country for Old Men is still my favorite film of 2007 (my favorite year for film in that decade), and despite some worries that this film would be generic, the trailers have set me at ease.  Add to that that I’m in love with at least four of the actors in this film (Fassy, Penelope Cruz, Brad Pitt, and Javier Bardem), and that Cameron Diaz’s work here is perhaps the performance I’m most looking forward to this fall (she looks deliciously wicked in those trailers, and haven’t we all been begging for a chance for her to act again?).  This is going to be special-I can just feel it.

2. Her

This was not high on my list until the trailer.  In fact, I wasn’t 100% certain what this movie was until I saw the trailer (I kept thinking it was part of that Ned Benson Eleanor Rigby project with Jessica Chastain and James McAvoy).  But the trailer has me more than sold-Phoenix, who entered the pantheon last year with The Master, looks superb here as a lonely man falling in love with a machine, and Jonze’s movies are usually quite insightful.  This is a must.

1. Gravity

I cannot even impress upon you how delighted I am by this upcoming movie-every rave coming out of various film festivals just fuels my desire for it.  Alfonso Cuaron’s Children of Men is probably the film I most regularly recommend to people (if you haven’t seen it for some reason, do it now).  I am in love with the fact that he went with Bullock instead of Angelina Jolie here-Bullock is such an identifiable actor for audiences (we relate to her), and having someone that we connect to in what looks to be a terrifying movie is going to amp-up the horror.  Plus, I feel like she has the acting chops to pull this off, and is anyone else hoping for a Sandra/Julia moment on the Oscar red carpet?  Meg Ryan-call your agent, STAT!

Those are my most-anticipated films of 2013, but what are yours?  Which movie are you most looking forward to (and keep the comments spoiler free!)