2015 Preview: September

With the Summer Movie Season now behind us, it’s time to start looking forward to this year’s awards season. As we enter the final third of the year, we’ll soon be seeing plenty of films that will be amongst those considered for major awards. September’s not usually considered to be a good month for film releases but as always there are definitely some noteworthy releases this month. Welcome back to Rhode Island Movie Corner’s year-long preview of the films that are set to come out in 2015. This is Part 9 of 12 and today we’ll be looking at the films that will be hitting theaters this September.

SEPTEMBER 4- The month opens up with a pair of new releases; a Robert Redford starring travel comedy and the latest installment of a popular action franchise, albeit without its original leading man.

*The series that made Jason Statham the action star he is today returns with ‘The Transporter: Refueled’. This time, however, the series goes the prequel route with Ed Skrein taking over the role of ex-Special Forces operative Frank Martin. In this film, Martin undertakes a major bank heist while dealing with a team of femme fatales and a Russian kingpin.

*Based on the non-fiction book of the same name by Bill Bryson, ‘A Walk in the Woods’ stars Robert Redford as Bryson who, after returning home to the States after two whole decades in the U.K., decides to hike the Appalachian Trail. The film also stars Emma Thompson and Nick Nolte, the latter of whom plays Bryson’s friend Stephen who ends up joining him on the trip.

SEPTEMBER 11- M. Night Shyamalan makes a return to the genre that first made him famous.

*The latest from M. Night Shyamalan, ‘The Visit’ focuses on a pair of siblings who are forced to stay at their grandparents’ house while their mother is on vacation. As time goes on, however, the two of them start to sense that things aren’t quite right with their grandparents.

SEPTEMBER 18- Among this week’s releases include the sequel to last year’s surprise hit ‘The Maze Runner’ and a Johnny Depp starring biopic on one of America’s most notorious criminals.

*Following last year’s smash hit ‘The Maze Runner’, the dystopian sci-fi series based off of the book series of the same name by James Dashner returns with ‘The Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials’. Once again directed by Wes Ball and starring the majority of the surviving cast of the original film, this film sees Thomas (Dylan O’Brien) and his fellow Gladers, after escaping the Maze, now having to traverse through the post-apocalyptic landscape of ‘the Scorch’. Newcomers to the cast include Aiden Gillen, Giancarlo Esposito, and Barry Pepper.

*Johnny Depp stars as James ‘Whitey’ Bulger, the most notorious gangster in U.S history, in ‘Black Mass’, directed by Scott Cooper. The film follows the story of Bulger’s alliance with the FBI during the 70’s and 80’s. The film also stars Joel Edgerton, Benedict Cumberbatch, Dakota Johnson, Kevin Bacon, and Corey Stoll.

*Another true story, ‘Captive’ stars David Oyelowo as Brian Nichols, who in 2005 went on a killing spree after being put on trial and held a young woman named Ashley Smith (Kate Mara) hostage.

SEPTEMBER 25- The last major weekend of the month is also its busiest, with four new wide releases and a nationwide expansion for a major awards contender.

*From Mike Flanagan, the director of ‘Oculus’, ‘Before I Wake’ stars Kate Bosworth and Thomas Jane as a couple who adopt a young child whose dream suddenly manifest into reality.

*The latest from director Eli Roth, ‘The Green Inferno’ centers on a group of students who travel to the Amazon to help a native tribe. But when they end up crash-landing in the jungle, they then find themselves taken hostage by the cannibalistic tribe.

*Dracula and his pals return in the sequel to 2012’s animated hit ‘Hotel Transylvania’, ‘Hotel Transylvania 2’. Once again directed by Genndy Tartakovsky, this film sees Dracula (Adam Sandler) and his monster friends trying to train his new grandson when his daughter Mavis (Selena Gomez) and her human husband Jonathan (Andy Samberg) announce that they are planning to leave Hotel Transylvania. The main cast of the previous film (Kevin James, Steve Buscemi, and David Spade) return to reprise their roles save for Cee-Lo Green as the mummy Murray. Keegan-Michael Key takes over the role and newcomers to the cast include Mel Brooks as Dracula’s father Vlad.

*Anne Hathaway and Robert De Niro star in ‘The Intern’ in which Hathaway stars as the CEO of a fashion company who hires a retired widower (De Niro) as an intern as part of an outreach program. The film also stars Rene Russo and Adam DeVine.

*Finally, expanding into a Nationwide Release is ‘Prisoners’ director Denis Villeneuve’s latest film ‘Sicario’. Emily Blunt stars as an FBI agent who is enlisted into joining a task force to hunt down a drug lord. The film also stars Benicio Del Toro, Josh Brolin, and Jon Bernthal.

And those are the films that are set to come out this September. Come back next month for Part 10 of this year-long preview as we’ll be previewing the films that will be hitting theaters in October.

2014 Preview: September

The Summer movie season has officially come to an end and now we’re closing in on the last third of 2014. We’re not quite into the ‘Oscar season’ yet and, to be honest, there’s not that much to talk about in regards to this month but of course there are still some noteworthy releases that will be hitting theaters in the next few weeks. Welcome back to Rhode Island Movie Corner’s year-long preview of the films set to come out in 2014. This is Part 8 of 11 (previously 12) and today we’ll be looking at the films that will be hitting theaters this September.

SEPTEMBER 5

Ladies and Gentlemen, this is a first for me in regards to this monthly preview. There are no notable new films hitting theaters this weekend. The only thing worth mentioning is a special one-week limited engagement of the 1994 Oscar-winning film ‘Forrest Gump’ in IMAX Theaters.

SEPTEMBER 12- Now we’re getting back on track as two new films will come out this weekend.

*2011’s ‘Dolphin Tale’ fared pretty well with critics and audiences when it was released that year. This month sees the release of its sequel ‘Dolphin Tale 2’. Like the first film, it is also based on a true story regarding the dolphin Winter who had lost her tail when she ended up getting caught in a fish trap. In this film, the members of the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, who helped save Winter by giving her a prosthetic tail, are faced with a new challenge as they must find a new companion for Winter after her surrogate mother dies in order for her to stay at the Aquarium. The main cast of the first film (including Henry Connick Jr., Ashley Judd, and Morgan Freeman) all return for this film.

*In ‘No Good Deed’, Taraji P. Henson stars as a former District Attorney who assists a stranger (played by Idris Elba) when he gets into an accident but it turns out this man isn’t as friendly as he seems.

SEPTEMBER 19- The busiest week of the month sees four new releases, including the newest young adult novel adaptation (in fact, three of these films are adaptations of novels) and a horror film from director Kevin Smith.

*The latest adaptation of a popular young adult novel, ‘The Maze Runner’, based on the book of the same name by James Dashner, centers on a boy named Thomas (Dylan O’Brien) who ends up being put into a mysterious place known as the ‘Glade’ that is surrounded by a giant maze that is guarded by creatures known as Grievers. With no memory of his past or the outside world, Thomas tries to figure out a way to escape.

*In ‘This is Where I Leave You’, based on the book of the same name by Jonathan Tropper, Jason Bateman, Tina Fey, Corey Stoll, and Adam Driver star as a group of siblings who reunite with their mother (Jane Fonda) following the death of their father. The film, directed by Shawn Levy, also stars Rose Byrne, Timothy Olyphant, and Dax Shepard.

*The final major ‘adapted’ film of the week is ‘A Walk Among the Tombstones’, based off of the book of the same name by Lawrence Block. Liam Neeson stars as an ex New York cop who is hired by a drug dealer to find his missing wife.

*Closing out the week’s new releases is ‘Tusk’, a horror film from director Kevin Smith. In it, Justin Long stars as a podcaster who ends up getting kidnapped when he goes to interview a sailor. It is set to be followed by a spin-off film in 2015, ‘Yoga Hosers’, which also stars the same cast from ‘Tusk’ but is set from the perspective of two convenience store clerks (Harley Quinn Smith, Kevin Smith’s daughter, and Lily-Rose Depp, daughter of Johnny Depp, who stars in these movies as an ex-cop).

SEPTEMBER 26- Closing out the month is a pair of new releases; one a stop-motion animated film and the other an adaptation of an old TV series.

*Laika, the studio behind ‘Coraline’ and ‘Paranorman’, debut their new film, ‘The Boxtrolls’, based off of the novel ‘Here Be Monsters!’ by Alan Snow. It centers on a boy named Eggs (Isaac Hempstead-Wright (‘Bran Stark’ from ‘Game of Thrones’)) who is raised by a group of underground-living trolls known as the ‘Boxtrolls’. The film’s voice cast also includes Ben Kingsley, Elle Fanning, Simon Pegg, and Nick Frost.

*To close out the month, we have ‘The Equalizer’, based off of the TV series of the same name that ran from 1985 to 1989. Directed by Antoine Fuqua (‘Training Day’), Denzel Washington stars as an ex-special ops agent who faces the Russian mob after protecting a young girl (Chloe Grace Moretz) from them.

And those are the films that are set to come out in September. Check back next month for Part 9 in which we look at the October lineup.

2013 Preview: September

The summer season may be coming to a close, but we’re only just two-thirds of the way through 2013 and now we’re heading into the ‘Oscar season’. Welcome back to Rhode Island Movie Corner’s year-long preview for the films that are set to come out during 2013. This is Part 9 and today we’re going to be looking at the films that will be hitting theaters during the month of September. This month, we have a few sequels, some original films, and even a re-release of a timeless classic.

SEPTEMBER 6- Only one release is set to open during the first weekend of the month

*Following 2000’s ‘Pitch Black’ and 2004’s ‘The Chronicles of Riddick’, Vin Diesel returns to the role of convict Richard B. Riddick for ‘Riddick’, the third entry in director David Twohy’s sci-fi series. In this film, Riddick finds himself abandoned on a desolate planet where he must fight for survival against the predators of the planet.

SEPTEMBER 13- This weekend will see the release of a horror sequel and the latest film from the director of ‘Leon: The Professional’ and ‘The Fifth Element’.

 

*When it was released in 2011, director James Wan’s ‘Insidious’ was a huge success at the box office, grossing nearly $100 million on only a $1.5 million budget. Fresh off of ‘The Conjuring’, James Wan returns along with writer Leigh Whannell and most of the main cast for ‘Insidious: Chapter 2’. After the events of the first movie, the Lambert family looks to find out the reason why they have been connected to the spirit world.

 

*While known for directing films like ‘Leon: The Professional’ and ‘The Fifth Element’, director Luc Besson has spent most of this last decade producing films like the ‘Taken’ and ‘Transporter’ series. His newest directorial effort, ‘The Family’ (aka ‘Malavita’ outside of the U.S.) will hit theaters this weekend. Robert De Niro stars as a mafia boss who is forced to relocate his family (his wife (Michelle Pfeiffer), his daughter (Dianna Agron), and his son (John D’Leo)), with the help of a CIA agent (Tommy Lee Jones), to France after snitching on the mob.

SEPTEMBER 20- One crime thriller and a special 3-D re-release this weekend.

 

*Back in March, Disney released ‘Oz: The Great and Powerful’, a sort-of ‘prequel’ to the 1939 classic from MGM, ‘The Wizard of Oz’, based off of author L. Frank Baum’s famous book of the same name. The 1939 classic hits theaters once again in 3-D, celebrating the film’s 75^th anniversary (even though, technically speaking, that is supposed to be in 2014).

 

*An all-star cast headlines the crime thriller ‘Prisoners’. Hugh Jackman stars as a father who desperately searches for his daughter and her best friend after they are kidnapped on Thanksgiving. The film also stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Terrence Howard, Maria Bello, Paul Dano, Viola Davis, and Melissa Leo.

SEPTEMBER 27- There’s a lot to talk about this week, with four new releases; this includes an IMAX exclusive and a film that expands to a nationwide release.

 

*After opening in LA and NY markets the previous week, Ron Howard’s ‘Rush’ will expand nationwide this weekend. The film focuses on the rivalry between Formula One drivers James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) and Niki Lauda (Daniel Bruhl) during the 1976 Formula One season, a year where Lauda nearly lost his life in a crash at the German Grand Prix.

 

*After the original ‘Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs’ became both a critical and commercial hit in 2009, ‘Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2’ will hit theaters. While Phil Lord and Chris Miller are not directing the film, they are still involved with it, serving as executive producers while Cody Cameron and Kris Pearn take over directing duties. After stopping the disastrous food storm that forced them to leave the town of Swallow Falls, inventor Flint Lockwood (Bill Hader) and his friends return to the town in order to clean up the food mess caused by his invention, the FLDSMDFR. However, when they return, Flint discovers that the machine is still operating and has now created food ‘animals’.

 

*Joseph Gordon-Levitt makes his directorial debut with ‘Don Jon’, where he stars as a modern-day ‘Don Juan’ who is addicted to porn but soon looks to change his ways after meeting the ‘love of his life’ (Scarlett Johansson). Julianne Moore, Tony Danza, and Brie Larson co-star.

 

*The final film this month is an IMAX exclusive, ‘Metallica: Through the Never’ (it will be released in theaters everywhere the following week). Directed by Nimrod Antal (‘Predators’), the ‘concert’ film stars Dane Dehaan as a roadie for Metallica who is tasked with an urgent mission during one of the band’s shows but this soon turns into a surreal adventure.