Fall movie preview: November

Apologies for the delay in continuing this preview - work got very busy and I needed the Labor Day weekend to recharge. Depending on how you're viewing this entry, my September and October entries can be seen either by scrolling down or hitting the hyperlinks.

NOVEMBER 5

Due Date: The trailers for this certainly look amusing enough, but I hope this isn't a case of huge hit (The Hangover) followed by letdown. That's another way of saying I hope the best jokes aren't all in the ads. PROSPECT: B

For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide when the Rainbow is Enuf: Tyler Perry's movies have not interested me. Can't say if  this one, an adaptation of someone else's work, will be the one that hooks me. PROSPECT: C

Megamind: The good news is that DreamWorks has been on a strong streak of late, with How to Train Your Dragon and Shrek Forever After both being better than expected. The bad news is, the lead voice is Will Ferrell, whom I generally cannot stand. On the other hand. I did like him in Elf. We'll see. PROSPECT: B

NOVEMBER 12

Skyline: Yawn. Haven't we been through this before with War of the Worlds, Independence Day, Cloverfield,  etc. etc? It'll take more than a trailer showing the sky falling to hook me. Quite frankly, I'd be more interested if this were about the chili.  PROSPECT: C

Morning Glory: Rachel McAdams and Harrison Ford in a morning news environment, directed by Roger Michell, who made Notting Hill and the underrated Changing Lanes? We're on in 5, 4, 3, 2 ... PROSPECT: A

Unstoppable: Well, that was quick. Just last year, Tony Scott and Denzel Washington took a train ride with their remake of The Taking of Pelham 123. That movie was decent, but rather tepid. The premise of this one, an out-of-control train,  looks just ridiculous enough that this movie might be more entertaining. PROSPECT: B

NOVEMBER 19

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part I: The trailer boldly calls this, "The Motion Picture Event of a Generation" - and it actually doesn't sound like so much hyperbole. After all, can YOU think of another long-running franchise that has been so consistent? Where even the least compelling film (my vote is Chamber of Secrets) is still pretty good? Not even James Bond has managed that. PROSPECT: A

The Next Three Days: This thriller starring Russell Crowe and Elizabeth Banks and directed by Paul Haggis, about Banks being accused of murder and Crowe trying to clear her, looks pretty good - so why is Lionsgate  putting it up against Potter, which EVERYONE is going to see? Either Lionsgate knows something we don't or has performed the dumbest counter-programming of all time. PROSPECT: B

NOVEMBER 24

Burlesque: Co-starring Cher and Christina Aguilera. Wow. Sounds like a train wreck. Just hope it's the good kind. PROSPECT: C

Faster: Dwayne Johnson and Billy Bob Thornton co-star in a revenge drama, directed by George Tillman, whose output is not all that distinguished. No read. PROSPECT: C




Love and Other Drugs: Anne Hathaway is earning very strong Oscar buzz for her reportedly sexually charged re-teaming with Brokeback Mountain star Jake Gyllenhaal - and this is romantic COMEDY, we're told. One blip is that the director is Edward Zwick, who is sometimes great (Glory) but is often middling (Blood Diamond, Defiance). PROSPECT: B

Red Dawn: Sigh - a remake of another movie where nostalgia clouds judgment, elevating a movie that was never that good in the first place. Casting for the Dirty Dancing reimagining in 5, 4, 3, 2 .... PROSPECT: C

Tangled: I really and truly hope the Disney magic is there with this musical fairy tale about Rapunzel. Yet I remain deeply suspicious of gearing the marketing to boys and changing the title in the wake of The Princess and the Frog's unspectacular box office. ("It underperformed because we didn't get the guys!") That's exactly the sort of corporate groupthink that stifled Disney animation in recent years. It would be the greatest joy of the season if the movie proved me wrong. PROSPECT : B