Tuesday, August 24, 2010

3 to See in September!

The lineup of films this September isn't nearly a depressing as August was. That may be because the summer is over and therefore people are going to be too busy to go out to the theaters on numerous occasions. It might be because we're heading into Autumn when more Oscar worthy films tend to pop up. I strictly believe it's because there are just some good movies out this month, along with some diverting and unnecessary flops waiting to happen (You Again, Alpha and Omega, Devil). Before I get into the top three, I would like to draw attention to a few films that almost made this list, and do have the potential to be surprise hits.

Easy A, whose trailer I initially panned because I couldn't brush from my memory how disgusting Amanda Bynes looks in the film, actually looks like a moderately funny and enjoyable film. Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps got some good reviews coming out of Cannes, so you might want to watch out for that. Ben Affleck's The Town has a decent amount of buzz going for it, but it looks a little too much like Brooklyn's Finest, or any other cop drama out there. However, you never can tell with Ben Affleck whether he is going to make a great film or not. Now on to my three to see.

3. MacheteThe audience favorite of the month definitely has to go to Robert Rodriguez's Machete, based on the fake-trailer that premiered in Grindhouse a few years back. One thing that Rodriguez knows how to do best is old-style gritty violence with a comedic edge to it. You can see that talent in the trailer with the title character using some poor guy's intestines as a rope to swing into a lower window. This film exists for the action within it, and for Danny Trejo to shine in a lead role. The main actor to watch in this movie is Cheech Marin, who plays the catholic priest brother of Machete. I can tell from the trailer that he's going to get most of the lines that will be remembered in this film.

2. The American Barely beating out Machete for the number two spot on my list of films to look forward to next month is Anton Corbijn's The American. I'd like to say up front that I don't think this film will be a huge presence in the awards season. Maybe for the cinematography, and perhaps for George Clooney's performance, but not much beyond that. Still, I think this will be the sort of contemplative thriller that I usually enjoy. I enjoy the slow-building intensity that those films give, instead of the quick jolts of the average thriller that you quickly get used to. This film may not be something incredibly new, but it looks like something incredibly good.

1. Never Let Me Go (Limited Release) Never Let Me Go doesn't get a wide release until later on, but it's worth nothing. It's a british drama based on a beloved book, starring Kiera Knightly, Carey Mulligan, and Andrew Garfield. It's got the most basic buzz surrounding it already, so if it actually manages to be a heartfelt and enjoyable film, it could break through to be a legitimate contender this awards season, like Atonement did in 2007. I dearly hope I'm not wrong to place my vote of confidence in this film. As it is, my other two picks on the list seem either destined not to be critical darlings, or have been too quiet to encourage confidence that they'll actually be good. So I'm going to sit back and pray that all three of these movies I want to see, including my top pick, are reviewed positively so that for once in my life, I can be right about what you should and shouldn't see.

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