It’s here! It’s here! After a long summer where good movies were awfully hard to come by most of the time, the fall movie season finally begins this weekend, as audiences get their first look at some of this year’s prestige films.
First up is the long-awaited Black Mass, from director Scott Cooper (Crazy Heart). The Whitey Bulger biopic stars Johnny Depp as the legendary Boston gangster and features an incredible-looking supporting cast — Benedict Cumberbatch, Joel Edgerton, Kevin Bacon, Peter Sarsgaard, Dakota Johnson, Corey Stoll, Adam Scott, Julianne Nicholson. The film had its premiere a couple of weeks ago at the Venice Film Festival, and reviews have been very positive. Oscar pundits are already buzzing about Depp’s Best Actor chances. In short, this is a major release, and it should do quite well this weekend. I really liked Crazy Heart, so I should be more excited about this one, but I can’t help associating this with Depp’s last gangster biopic — Michael Mann’s Public Enemies — which I hated so much. Let’s see how it goes.
While the adults are engaged with the Cooper film, teens will be able to go see Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials, the sequel to last September’s teen-lit hit. Director Wes Ball returns along with stars Dylan O’Brien, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Ki Hong Lee, and Patricia Clarkson. Studios are really trying to launch the next Hunger Games franchise, and so far this series is succeeding, though it’s nowhere near being the monster phenomenon that Katniss Everdeen’s Adventures in Panem is. Happily, the first film was also a financial and critical success, and early reviews for this one are cautiously optimistic, so expect to see this sequel near the top of the charts on Sunday. I haven’t seen the first film yet, but I plan to catch up on both in the near future.
Also opening in wide release this weekend is Captive, which tells the true story of Brian Nichols, a man on trial for rape who manages to escape the courthouse, killing the judge and several others in the process, before holding a young woman hostage as he attempts to evade the authorities. Directed by Jerry Jameson, a journeyman best known for helming episodes of TV dramas from the ‘70s to the ‘90s, Captive tells the story of Nichols’s escape and the manhunt to recapture him that followed. The film stars David Oyelowo (Selma) and Kate Mara (Fantastic Four), so I’m on board — though I’m not expecting too much from this one. From the sensationalistic subject matter to the unremarkable pedigree of the filmmakers, Captive just seems like a Lifetime TV movie to me. Early reviews are mixed. I don’t see this one making much of a splash at the box office this weekend.
The new release of the weekend that I’m most excited for is Everest, the big-budget survival movie from director Baltasar Kormákur about the real-life Mount Everest disaster in 1996. Universal is releasing it early this weekend exclusively to IMAX and other large-format theatres, before going wide next weekend. The hope is to build positive word-of-mouth, and so far it seems to be working. I’ve only heard good things out of Venice, where it also had its world premiere earlier this month. With a superb ensemble cast — Jake Gyllenhaal, Josh Brolin, Robin Wright, Keira Knightley, Emily Watson, John Hawkes, Sam Worthington, Jason Clarke — and what I hear are stunning production values, Everest should be a great time at the movies.
Another notable film opening in limited release this weekend is Sicario, from Québécois director Denis Villeneuve (Incendies, Enemy), about an FBI agent working with a task force to track down a Mexican drug lord. Starring Emily Blunt, Benicio Del Toro, and Josh Brolin, the film had its world premiere in June as one of the films in competition at Cannes. Villeneuve makes great films. I can’t wait to see this one as it eventually expands into wide release over the next couple of weeks. Also opening this weekend is Pawn Sacrifice, a biopic about chess champ Bobby Fischer that premiered at TIFF last year, directed by Edward Zwick (Blood Diamond) and starring Tobey Maguire, Liev Schreiber, and Lily Rabe.
Finally, after four weeks in limited release, the film Grandma is expanding nationwide. From director Paul Weitz (About a Boy), the film features a universally praised star performance from Lily Tomlin, which many pundits predict may earn her an Oscar nomination. Make sure to check this one out.
What are your plans for the weekend?
