The fall movie season is well underway this first weekend of October, as several major releases make their long-awaited public debuts. This is a time to be excited, my little flickophiles — from now to Christmas, there’ll be more good films being released than in the rest of the year combined.
The one and only new wide release this week is Ridley Scott’s The Martian, starring Matt Damon as an astronaut stranded alone on Mars. (At least Mars isn’t as far away as that planet he was stranded alone on in last year’s Interstellar. Rescuing him this time should be a cinch.) Scott hasn’t made an especially good film in quite some time, though reviews suggest that this one is great. Scott surrounds Damon with a stellar cast, including Jessica Chastain, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Jeff Daniels, Kate Mara, and Kristen Wiig (!!!). The Martian appears to be more of a commercial blockbuster than a prestige specialty release, though it can certainly be both depending on how robust its box office returns turn out to be.
Opening this week in a limited IMAX-only release is The Walk, the new drama from director Robert Zemeckis about Philippe Petit, the real-life daredevil who famously tightrope-walked between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre in 1974. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who is always interesting, plays Petit, though I suspect the real draw of this film might be the CGI recreation of the towers and the stunt itself. All reports indicate that the event, which comes towards the end of the film, is astonishing and worth the wait — though difficult to endure if you suffer from vertigo. Zemeckis shot this in 3D, and that’s certainly how it must be seen. Petit’s stunt was previously explored in the 2008 Oscar-winning documentary Man on Wire, which I never got around to seeing, but I’ll definitely be checking this one out. Just like Everest did last month, The Walk is being released exclusively on large-format screens for one week before expanding wide in Week 2. This gamble didn’t really work out for Everest, whose second-week earnings were a surprising disappointment. I’m very curious to see how this pattern fares for The Walk.
Another drama based on an Oscar-winning documentary is Freeheld, opening this weekend in limited release. Starring Julianne Moore and Ellen Page, Freeheld tells the true story of a New Jersey police officer diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2005 and her battle to transfer her pension benefits to her same-sex partner. Reviews have been mixed since it premiered last month at TIFF, though there is some buzz that the film and its performances could be recognized during awards season.
Also in limited release: the documentary He Named Me Malala about the human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize recipient; Taxi from Iranian director Jafar Panahi, which won the Golden Bear at this year’s Berlin Film Festival; Labyrinth of Lies, this year’s German submission to the Academy Awards; and Hell and Back, an intriguing stop-motion animated comedy made for adult audiences, about two friends who must rescue a third when he is accidentally dragged to Hell.
Finally, after a couple of weeks in limited release, Sicario expands nationwide. This is a jam-packed week.
What’s on the docket this weekend for you?
