Whether you’re looking to hide from rapidly dropping temperatures or just looking for an escape from real life, fall movie season means plenty of blockbuster hits and indie flicks that are perfect to pass the time until you start watching Charlie Brown movies and It’s a Wonderful Life on repeat. Here are the 10 movies we’re looking forward to this fall.
The Florida Project
October 5
This movie will probably be considerably overshadowed by the latest Blade Runner film being released around the same time, but that’s a damn shame for those of you more interested in precocious childhood shenanigans and heartwarming films as opposed to dystopian futures that will probably never come to pass. Written and directed by Sean Baker, the guy responsible for Tangerine and Greg the Bunny, The Florida Project is a drama that’s been described as everything from “heartbreaking but true” to “an unforgettable triumph” by critics. Plus, you know, it features the irreplaceable Willem Dafoe, who does a particularly good job representing the pseudo-father figure in this film.
Blade Runner 2049
October 6
There are a lot of very important things you probably argue with your friends about on a regular basis, but Blade Runner being one the best science fiction films of all time is not one of them. Anyone that doesn’t agree with that statement shouldn’t be someone you consider a friend. The world of Blade Runner is back with Harrison Ford, Ridley Scott (as Executive Producer) and series newcomers Baby Goose (aka Ryan Gosling), Robin Wright, Jared Leto and director Denis Villeneuve (the man behind Arrival, Prisoners and Sicario) for an all new adventure in Blade Runner 2049. Who’s a replicant, and who isn’t? Who survives, and who doesn’t? Why is everyone always bleeding all the time? You’ll have to watch the film to find out.
Thor: Ragnarok
November 2
Between the fifteen or so other Marvel Studios films that have featured the almost unbelievably chiseled Chris Hemsworth as Thor and a special effects budget that we’re sure would rival the GDP of some of the world’s smaller nation states, it’s easy to declare Thor: Ragnarok a fall blockbuster long before its early November release. This time around, Thor is trying to escape imprisonment on the other side of the universe to make it home to Asgard in order to prevent the destruction of his entire civilization. Fans of mythology will recognize Ragnarok as the very real apocalypse the Vikings described, so if the movie’s pulling from that, there are going to be some real stakes here. We’re all for the completely stacked cast of Hemsworth, Benedict Cumberbatch, Idris Elba, Tessa Thompson, Cate Blanchett, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Hopkins, Karl Urban, Jeff Goldblum, Mark Ruffalo and others, but our favorite aspect at the moment is the cool 80’s treatment and laid back, Guardians of the Galaxy vibe. Plus, it’s directed by the guy who made What We Do in the Shadows, one of the funniest movies we’ve ever seen.
Justice League
November 17
Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman. Jason Momoa as Aquaman. Ray Fisher as Cyborg. Ezra Miller as The Flash. Henry Cavill as Superman (well, he’s listed as a cast member, anyway). Ben Affleck as Batman. Amy Adams as Lois Lane. Jeremy Irons as Alfred. J.K. Simmons as Commissioner Gordon. Outside of a Tarantino film or one of the Daniel Ocean flicks, you’re not likely to find a cast as qualified as the people in Justice League. Superman did a thing that we refuse to spoil for you, and it led to some shit. Now there’s an even worse bad guy that a bunch of people in skintight costumes with superpowers (or money!) have to battle. Bust out the popcorn because Justice League is sure to be a wild ride.
Mudbound
November 17
Coming to screens near you in the middle of November, and widely considered one of the best films of the year, Mudbound tells story of two very different men returning from a shared experience in the war to a rural Mississippi farming town during the 1940s. The movie is split amongst the perspectives of a black family and a white family, making it a commentary on racism and people’s differences, as well as setting aside differences to find common ground. All this during a part of America’s past that isn’t exactly looked upon favorably in the history books. Mudbound isn’t a popcorn flick you can watch and immediately forget about, but that’s not always a bad thing when the message is one this important.
Darkest Hour
November 22
Wikipedia will tell you that “Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill was a British statesman, army officer and writer.” He was Prime Minister, a Member of Parliament, leader of the Conservative Party, President of the Board of Trade, Home Secretary, Greatest Briton of all time, Nobel Prize winner in Literature and a consumer of much whisky and smoker of fine Cuban cigars. Winston Churchill was an all around badass, and we don’t care if the Internet tome of knowledge won’t tell you that. Gary Oldman is also a badass, so it should come as no surprise that they tapped him to play Churchill in Darkest Hour, a film about the early days of WWII and a newly minted Prime Minister struggling with the decision about whether or not to negotiate or fight with Adolf Hitler. If Oldman doesn’t win an Oscar for his performance we’ll eat both our shoes.
Molly’s Game
November 22
If we’re being completely honest with you, we’d watch any movie with an ensemble cast including Jessica Chastain, Idris Elba, Kevin Costner, Joe Keery, Michael Cera, Chris O’Dowd and everyone else involved in this film. But what really, truly sells it for us is the fact that it was based on the true story of Molly Bloom that was adapted for the screen by Aaron Sorkin. This is the man that made us care about the sports broadcasting process, the operations of the White House and the running of a proper news room. It doesn’t hurt that Molly’s Game is the true story of “an Olympic-class skier who ran the world’s most exclusive high-stakes poker game and became an FBI target.” What’s not to love?
The Disaster Artist
December 1
The billing for The Disaster Artist is simple enough–”A behind-the-scenes look at the making of Tommy Wiseau’s The Room”–but the film itself is so much more than the terribad movie it’s based on. In case you haven’t seen the teaser trailer or official trailer yet, James Franco kills it, absolutely, fucking kills it. He (intentionally) stumbles through Wiseau’s iconically bad plot and acting, the very essence of which that made The Room such an infamously bad art house classic. The Disaster Artist will leave you laughing hysterically as you question whether or not the people responsible for it are mocking the original or just lovingly poking fun at it.
The Shape of Water
December 8
If the trailer for The Shape of Water taught us anything it’s that we honestly have no idea what Guillermo del Toro is thinking when he makes most of his movies. But when you’re the kind of genius he is, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. We could tell you that we know The Shape of Water is an other-worldly fairy tale (what del Toro picture isn’t), that it involves incredibly unbelievable effects (what del Toro picture doesn’t?) or even that it involves some level of government conspiracy (what del Toro… you get the idea), but the truth of the matter is that, if you’re anything like us, you already decided to see this movie just because it’s the latest and greatest from the man that made weird cool again.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
December 15
On December 15–which is technically still part of fall–the next chapter of the latest Star Wars saga unfolds with Rey continuing the epic journey she started in the last, great Star Wars film. Will the Jedi actually end? What family member is Adam Driver going to kill this time around? Will Brienne of Tarth finally do something awesome as Captain Phasma? What are Tom Hardy, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Benicio Del Toro doing in the credits of the film? Your guess is as good as ours. Unfortunately for all of us we’re going to have to wait until Star Wars: The Last Jedi hits theaters on December 15th to figure it all out.
