With summer blockbusters over, it’s prime time for quality flicks. We picked out the ones we’re looking forward to most so you can mark all the dates.
St. Vincent (Oct. 10)
Bill Murray plays a surly drunk with a heart of gold in St. Vincent. Those good intentions are discovered by his neighbor’s 12-year old kid. It’ll sink or swim based on Bill Murray’s performance, and, if we know anything about the coolest man alive, he’ll probably deliver.
Birdman (Oct. 17)
The black comedy is already receiving all kinds of awards buzz, and the trailers have been bizarrely intriguing. This is not Michael Keaton playing Batman, this is Michael Keaton playing Birdman, and the two are nothing alike.
Fury (Oct. 17)
The plot sounds familiar: a military unit is outnumbered and up against it, but the Brad Pitt-led movie looks damn good.
John Wick (Oct. 24)
Keanu Reeves is like the mob, just when you think you’re done with him, he pulls you back in. For all the spaced-out performances, he continues to come back and give us gems, and John Wick looks like the next one.
Nightcrawler (Oct. 31)
With Nightcrawler and Birdman, it looks like the season for movies that sound like superhero films but aren’t. Nightcrawler features a de-carbed Jake Gyllenhaal as an indie crime journalist in L.A.
Interstellar (Nov. 7)
If Christopher Nolan and Matthew McConaughey teamed up on a movie with a terrible plot, we’d still see it. So when the two got together to do something as epic as Interstellar, well you can just guess how excited we are.
The Theory of Everything (Nov. 7)
Even though it seems cloaked in a love story, The Theory of Everything looks like one of the finest films about the life of Stephen Hawking to date.
Foxcatcher (Nov. 14)
Foxcatcher is based on the story of Mark Schultz, the Olympic wrestler whose brother was killed by John du Pont, and features a hauntingly serious performance from Steve Carell.
Dumb and Dumber To (Nov. 14)
The sequel 20 years in the making will probably disappoint. While it would be hard to live up to the original, we’re still on board for more Harry and Llyod.
Horrible Bosses 2 (Nov. 26)
For all the heaviness of Nightcrawler, Fury, and Foxcatcher, we’ll need a couple comedies to lighten the mood. Horrible Bosses 2 reunites us with Nick, Kurt, and Dale as they go “kidnaping” to try and get enough money to save their business venture. Also, adding Christoph Waltz is always a good move.
Escobar: Paradise Lost (Nov. 26)
We’ve been longing for a good Pablo Escobar flick since the guys on Entourage were making Medellin. That movie looks to be Escobar: Paradise Lost starring Benicio Del Toro as the famous drug lord.
Exodus: Gods and Kings (Dec. 12)
Exodus: Gods and Kings is like Interstellar, it combines a famed director with a huge star known for choosing good projects. Ridley Scott and Christian Bale team up to tackle the tale of Moses and Ramses.
Inherent Vice (Dec. 12)
The trailer brought the internet to a two-minute halt last week for good reason. Paul Thomas Anderson, Joaquin Phoenix, and Benicio Del Toro try their hand at adapting a Thomas Pynchon novel to the big screen, and if the trailer is any indication, they do so masterfully.
The Interview (Dec. 25)
It might not be the government that escalates tensions with North Korea, it may just be Seth Rogan and James Franco. The two play celebrity journalists who end up on a mission to kill Kim Jong-un in The Interview.
Hot Tub Time Machine 2 (Dec. 25)
The first Hot Tub Time Machine caught us off guard. It was like 21 Jump Street where we didn’t have high hopes, but ended up loving the movie. Now that a bar has been set, we’ll have to wait til Christmas to see if the second can hold up.
American Sniper (Dec. 25)
Never has a trailer left us with beads of sweat on our brow before. Clint Eastwood directs as Bradley Cooper stars as Chris Kyle, the most lethal sniper in U.S. military history.