On the Fall Radar…

I feel a little strange, and kind of guilty, posting something like this now of all times. These articles are literally designed to juice up interest, or at least discourse, around upcoming movies looking forward to an imminent commercially-available release on streaming or in theaters. But I feel like a lot of you may not have the option to see six movies over the next two months. Or even a movie, singular, in September or October. A lot of you might be cutting back out of necessity, not really in a position to spend money on tickets and concessions that are only getting pricier. Or maybe you are strapped for time, and need to scale back your leisure because you need to focus on getting a job in a very tough labor market.

So while I do my best to choose six movies in every seasonal window that I think would be interesting to discuss and pontificate about as they near their commercial debuts (spoiler alert, I do not really have anything to say about Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere and defer entirely to our resident Springsteenologist Joey Magidson on getting you talking about that one). But if you folks have to stay away from the theaters for a while because you need to make some hard decisions about living expenses and groceries… I understand. But if you do have some money to spend on a movie soon, let us know if you have an interest in the following upcoming releases:

THE HISTORY OF SOUND – In Theaters September 12

Directed by Oliver Hermanus

Starring Paul Mescal, with Josh O’Connor and Chris Cooper

What is it about? Two young men set out to record the lives, voices, and music of their American countrymen near the end of World War I.

How am I feelin’ about this one? There are a lot of talented folks involved in this project, which already gives me reason to be intrigued by it. You have the man who delivered my favorite performance among the Challengers trio co-starring with someone I’ve been fond of ever since his breakout Oscar-nominated performance in Aftersun in a historical romance helmed by the filmmaker who directed my favorite performance by a man in a leading role in 2022. It rather curiously adapts and combines two short stories from Ben Shattuck, and focuses on a period of history that doesn’t get a lot of attention but I always thought was quietly interesting — that brief decade between the end of World War I and the beginning of the Great Depression where people were unknowingly setting the stage for some of the most transformative and cataclysmic events in human history. There were just enough technological advancements and social progress to feel like an exciting time full of potential, but also so many warning signs of the time of monsters looming just over the horizon.

But the premise and the trailer seem so… boring. I am not at all hostile to sedate movies, abstractly-told stories, or films that focus entirely on a single romantic relationship. Joey has known me for over a decade and he can vouch for that. But there has to be some tension for me to be invested, and I just don’t get that from what I’ve seen of this movie so far. I’m getting old, but not yet so old that I would ever think “Well, that was a nice movie…” counted as meaningful praise. I have to believe that a movie about two homosexual men falling in love in the late-1910s would already be filled with tension and drama by default. I do not need all my historical dramas centering a gay man to be an unrelenting, emotionally-pulverizing battering ram like Benediction. I just need there to be something more than just two guys getting together and going on a pleasant trip to catalogue personal anecdotes and old folk songs in rural Maine.

ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER – In Theaters September 26

Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson

Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, with Teyana Taylor and Benicio del Toro

What is it about? When their evil enemy resurfaces after sixteen years, a group of ex-revolutionaries reunites to rescue one of their own’s daughter.

How am I feelin’ about this one? Did you know missing out on a Paul Thomas Anderson movie is the biggest regret of Leonardo DiCaprio’s career? It’s true! He was the top choice to play Dirk Diggler in Boogie Nights but was already committed to Titanic and suggested his friend Mark Wahlberg get the part, instead. Though he praises his buddy’s performance, he said he always felt a pang of regret not being able to be a part of what he, rightly, declares a masterpiece. And so, after the movie he was committed to became the highest-grossing film of all time that cemented the actor as one of the biggest movie stars in the world, and the movie he wished he could have been a part of became a critical darling and sleeper hit, the both of them just kept working apart. DiCaprio became Martin Scorsese’s muse while Anderson set out to prove that this Adam Sandler guy really can act. They both hit their stride in the late aughts with movies like The Departed and There Will Be Blood, but continued to work apart. And while DiCaprio eventually won an Oscar by eating raw bison liver and visibly suffering for our enjoyment, Anderson is still without a statuette of his own, and they still never found a chance to actually work together…

… until now. Not only is DiCaprio finally in a movie from a director he was so pained to miss out on working with nearly thirty years ago, it’s the starring role in what may be the most ambitious project of the auteur’s career yet. It’s inarguably the most expensive PTA production, with an official price tag of over $130 million. That’s a higher budget than the box office returns of any of his previous films. Heck, that’s a higher budget than the worldwide gross of Licorice Pizza, Phantom Thread, Inherent Vice, and The Master combined. And that’s if we believe the official budget reported by the studio; some estimates are placing the actual production budget as high as $170 million. Who in the world would trust a director who has always been a more niche arthouse filmmaker with an expensive non-superhero/franchise project carrying such a financial risk is beyond me, but I am, of course, thankful such deep-pocketed financers exist. Especially in this day and age.

The trailers promise something ambitious, action-packed, politically-charged, and even funny at times. While DiCaprio appears front-and-center from the promotional materials we’ve seen so far, I also get the sense of a generously-balanced and compelling ensemble as well, which honestly excites me more than anything else about One Battle After Another. Don’t get me wrong, I think Phantom Thread and There Will Be Blood are fantastic movies, and I think there’s a lot to love about Punch-Drunk Love, but I have been a little disappointed with how PTA has shifted away from rich ensembles of characters in favor of tunnel-visioned two-handers with less and less attention paid to fully developing really good supporting characters. Here, there appears to be a number of potentially excellent roles for women surrounding DiCaprio’s washed-up former guerrilla revolutionary in this loose adaptation of Thomas Pynchon’s Vineland…

… which kinda sorta leads me to an apprehension I have about this movie, since the last time he adapted one of Pynchon’s novels, it resulted in possibly my least-favorite movie from him, with almost nothing to recommend it save for one genuinely funny Josh Brolin performance. Here’s hoping the higher budget and studio stakes impose a sense of discipline that other film sorely needed.

ANEMONE – In Theaters October 3

Directed by Ronan Day-Lewis

Starring Daniel Day-Lewis, with Sean Bean and Samantha Morton

What is it about? Family bonds between fathers, sons, and brothers are explored as complex relationships unfold through personal journeys and generational conflicts.

How am I feelin’ about this one? Nepotism is a hell of a thing. Because it is the key reason why this movie is so hotly anticipated but also adds an unfortunate asterisk to the entire project. On the one hand, hot damn, Daniel Day-Lewis is back!!! After announcing that Phantom Thread would be his final performance in a feature film project, he is coming out of retirement after eight years to star in the dark family drama Anemone. That alone makes this a must-see. We are talking about one of the greatest actors of all time doing something he promised we would never see him do again, and amazingly, he’s doing it for a debut feature! Wow! This must be quite the extraordinary movie from writer/director Ronan… Day-Lewis…

… oh. Well. That explains a lot. Look, maybe he is a great filmmaker and we are about to watch a masterpiece from a first-time filmmaker who has worked very hard on telling a worthwhile story. But let’s not kid ourselves, here — no other first-time filmmaker would ever have the luxury of getting the Daniel Day-Lewis agreeing to break his self-imposed retirement for their movie unless he was the filmmaker’s father. That is an advantage that only he possesses. How much luck do you think Charlotte Wells or Annie Baker would have had if they had approached him for a role in their debut films? This is the thing about nepotism: it doesn’t actually matter if the person in question is talented or not. Maybe Ronan Day-Lewis is! But the fact remains that plenty of other talented filmmakers could not dream of the kind of access and opportunities this man does in collaborating with a three-time Academy Award-winning actor right out of the gate.

Then again… if it weren’t for his son pursuing filmmaking, maybe Daniel Day-Lewis would have just stayed retired? And Phantom Thread would remain his last time on screen? In that sense, maybe nepotism is a necessary evil in this case. Also, there is no way I could ever fully write-off a movie that has the good sense to cast Samantha Morton in a major role.

KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN – In Theaters October 10

Directed by Bill Condon

Starring Jennifer Lopez, with Diego Luna and Tonatiuh

What is it about? A political prisoner shares a cell with a window dresser convicted of public indecency. The two form an unlikely bond and find solace in the escapism of an old-timey musical starring a glamorous silver screen diva.

How am I feelin’ about this one? Have you ever seen the 1985 film Kiss of the Spider Woman? Really good movie. It holds up. I should probably write a retrospective on it in the near future. Now, you’re probably expecting me to launch into a bitter screed about the imminent release of a musical remake as another sign of artistic bankruptcy from modern Hollywood. This recent upswing of musical remakes of decades-old classic movies usually have been pretty bereft of any real cinematic value, haven’t they? Mean Girls and The Color Purple were both pretty lousy, after all.

But honestly? Kiss of the Spider Woman is one of the few live-action movies with the potential to improve via a musical treatment. The premise literally hinges on a persecuted, flamboyantly gay man coping with the harsh conditions of his imprisonment by mentally escaping into the joys of his favorite movies from the Golden Age of Hollywood. And guess what kinds of movies were most popular during that era? Guess what kinds of movies are really popular among LGBTQ+ cinephiles? The original film was released during a time when brutal dictatorships in South America (many having been financially and militarily supported by, um, us) were on their last legs of political legitimacy and strongman power. The fortunes of dictators have… changed considerably in the forty years since.

While musicals aren’t the guaranteed Oscar powerhouses they were in the past, it should not be forgotten that the original film was very popular among Oscar voters, despite being an independent production released smack-dab in the middle of the “Reagan Revolution” decade. In fact, it made history as the first-ever fully independently-produced film nominated for Best Picture. One of the major factors in its critical adulation back then were its performances from William Hurt (which won him an Oscar), along with Raúl Juliá and Sônia Braga (who were both wrongfully passed over for nominations), and I have no doubt director Bill Condon and producers Barry Josephson, Tom Kirdahy, and Greg Yolen are aware of this as well, and have almost certainly given the remake’s stars ample space to act and sing their hearts out. In the role of flamboyantly gay window dresser Luis Molina is the mononymously-named Tonatiuh, making his big-screen debut after a few years on television shows, and having to follow-up a history-making performance, no less. Meanwhile, the role of the standoffish and more outwardly masculine prisoner Valentin Arregui is played by Diego Luna, and I cannot help but wonder if he was their first choice because of his starring role in Andor as a very similar character. Finally, the titular role of the Spider Woman herself, so thrillingly immortalized by Sônia Braga forty years ago, is being filled by Jennifer Lopez, who herself has been carrying a bit of an Oscar IOU for a while.

These are all intriguing casting choices. All of them have the potential to really knock it out of the park. I have a hard time imagining this movie will be as iconoclastic and fresh as the original film, but I can definitely see a more entertaining and vibrant reimagining of the original story next month.

IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT – In Theaters October 15

Directed by Jafar Panahi

Starring Vahid Mobasseri, with Ebrahim Azizi and Mariam Afshari

What is it about? A small mishap triggers a chain reaction of ever-growing problems.

How am I feelin’ about this one? This year’s winner of the Palme d’Or was helmed by a director with a particularly revered reputation in the international cinema scene, and for good reason. While many filmmakers are more than open about the sacrifices they make for their art – and I’m sure many of them have! – very few of them can compare to the prices Iranian auteur Jafar Panahi has had to pay throughout his career as a filmmaker. His films have been censored by Iranian authorities, he has been arrested several times, sentenced to prison, and received multi-decade bans from filmmaking. Thankfully, many of these punishments were later commuted or overturned entirely thanks to immense public pressure, but the fact remains that he has been genuinely persecuted for his art during a time when spoiled brat celebrities like Ricky Gervais whine about being “censored” every time someone criticizes them on social media.

But it has not all been a gauntlet of punishment for him. As I mentioned earlier, he is revered in international cinema circles, winning several prestigious awards and being received as a literal hero every time he attends an international film festival. Speaking of which, with his victory at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, Panahi joins Henri-Georges Clouzot, Michelangelo Antonioni, and Robert Altman as only the fourth filmmaker in history to have received the Palme d’Or, the Golden Lion, and the Golden Bear at the “Big Three” European film festivals. His movies have captivated audiences around the world, not just for deploying creative means of production slipping by the watchful eye of the Political Police, but also for their unflinching depiction of life under the repressive Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran married to taut, character-driven suspense that has come to define the Iranian New Wave.

Main Competition President Juliette Binoche has noted the significance of recognizing such a rebellious filmmaker during a time of increasing global repression and fear of art that challenges the status quo. Panahi is a filmmaker whose aesthetic signatures and thematic fixations have been defined by the politics that have attacked him nearly his entire adult life. They are his ultimate challenge as a filmmaker, but also what fuels him to make the kinds of movies he does. Including It Was Just An Accident. I don’t know if his latest will live up to expectations here in the United States, but I do know I’m glad he’s still able to make the kinds of movies he wants to make.

BUGONIA – In Theaters October 24

Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos

Starring Emma Stone, with Jesse Plemons and Alicia Silverstone

What is it about? Two conspiracy-obsessed young men kidnap the high-powered CEO of a major company, convinced that she is an alien intent on destroying planet Earth.

How am I feelin’ about this one? It all started with something… magnificent. A film, a fearlessly vicious and caustic dark comedy, took the international film scene by storm. And then, the writer-director of that viscerally disturbing masterpiece settled into a brief period of artistic stagnation before surprising everyone with a star-studded English-language comedy set in a strange semi-sci-fi world where pairing up romantically has become rigidly enforced by a totalitarian government with the power to turn people into animals if they remain alone. Against all odds, The Lobster was a hit, and scored this director his first personal Academy Award nomination. Then he introduces the world to a certain Barry Keoghan through a creepy small-scale thriller before once again directing an unexpected mainstream hit out of a premise seemingly alienating to normies. And this time it won a major Academy Award — Best Lead Actress!

His follow-up to such an unexpected success, Poor Things, was… egh, look, I’m sorry, I just don’t understand what the big deal was. I tried to see the masterpiece of feminist cinematic expression that critics were gushing over, and instead saw an aesthetically-incoherent, thematically-unfocused, and weirdly frivolous and unconvincing character study of someone who never really came together for me as an engaging or internally consistent protagonist. The performances were all-over-the-place, from Christopher Abbott’s fairly compelling take on the film’s far-too-late-stage villainous husband to Mark Ruffalo’s unforgivably Oscar-nominated clownish mugging. The movie wants us to congratulate it for being such a Statement On Being A Woman In The World, despite not actually saying anything other than “women enjoy sex if it’s consensual.” Groundbreaking. Things would happen, and then never get brought up again. Bella Baxter would make some declaration of some major insight she’s come to, and then it never informs anything she does. And can someone please take away Yorgos Lanthimos’ fisheye lenses? Please?

If it seems like I am being overly harsh on that movie, it’s not that bad compared to his last effort, the anthology Kinds of Kindness. The first segment, “The Death of R.M.F.,” is… decent? Not great, not terrible, I would describe it as a promising debut short film if I was not aware of who the director was. “R.M.F. is Flying” is a big step down, and tries to land on an abstract ending but blows it badly. “R.M.F. Eats a Sandwich” is easily the absolute worst thing Lanthimos has ever directed and arguably the most risible project Emma Stone has ever agreed to act in (though I respect the fact that the latter declaration isn’t necessarily a settled debate). It features, no kidding, a sexual assault joke at her character’s expense that heavily implies it was her fault for being in that situation in the first place. What. The. Hell. Man.

So yeah, I am very apprehensive about this next project from a man who I once believed was one of the most exciting and creative directors to have emerged in the last twenty years. It does not inspire confidence that the two stars of his lame anthology outing are back for another go with him, when I would prefer all three of them take a break from each other for a while. But maybe this is different from his recent efforts? Maybe I will find this one a thrilling return to greatness from the Greek filmmaker? Joey did say that “there’s more humanity and anger on display from Lanthimos, centered on an intimate and largely contained story” in his rave review, which is really intriguing.

Perhaps I should hold out hope that he will win me over again here. After all, his career started with something… magnificent.

So what do you think, readers? Are we finally looking at Paul Thomas Anderson’s vehicle to overdue Oscar recognition? How will Kiss of the Spider Woman compare to the classic 1985 drama? Will we ever see the Epstein client list? Sound off in the comments.