As much as the Academy Awards have never (and will never) be an honest showcase of the best of contemporary American cinema, all studios save their most ambitious and politically “radical” films for the end of the year to qualify. At the end of the day, Oscars, as well as Saturn Awards and Independent Spirit Awards and so on, have more to do with marketing and employment than anything else: winners are seen as prestigious and bankable, especially considering that Oscar-winning movies always show a nice bump in box office and in home video/digital realms. The actors who win these awards are promised major attention from big studios, filmmakers and producers can demand higher budgets, and writers secure more high-profile gigs with larger paychecks. Well, actually, all of them get a bit of a pay-hike.
And yet, even beyond obvious early Oscar favorites (Spotlight, which Adam said “exploded” into theOscar discussionat TIFF,The Danish Girl,Steve Jobs, etc.), big-time event films (Star Wars VII,Mockingjay - Part 2,Spectre, etc.), and New Hollywood throwbacks (Black Mass,Joy,The Revenant, etc.), the fall and winter months house a cadre of bonafide oddities, ranging from inventive genre workouts to challenging, mystical foreign features. For everyThe Martian, there’s aCooties, a grotesque horror-comedy, or, more importantly, something likeThe Assassin, a famed international auteur’s passion project finally landing stateside. The schedule of release gets more packed, sometimes seeing some 16 films opening in a major market in one weekend, but the hash of offerings remains essentially the same as any other time of the year. Hell, even January offered a wide variety of delights and masterworks, includingPaddington,Red Army,Li’l Quinquin,Hard to Be a God, andTimbuktu.
Even so, it’s hard to not have a bit of romance for the end of a movie year. For me, it goes back to years of anticipating end-of-year lists from the likes ofRoger EbertorJ. Hoberman, looking to be pointed in the right direction from cinephiles I admired. There’s also something deeply comforting and uniquely nostalgic about hiding from the colder elements in a movie theater, even more than using a theater’s air-conditioning to take respite from a particularly sweltering summer afternoon. Not unlike the winter of 1997, in which I spent my Christmas morning watchingPam GrierintroduceRobert Forsterto the Delfonics inJackie Brown, 2015 looks to have a promising line-up of could-be classics, topped off by the Christmas Day release ofThe Hateful Eight, the latest release from one of the few American directors who still makes you want to go see a film on the big screen. Not surprisingly, Tarantino’s second Western secured a place in our most anticipated movies of Fall-Winter 2015, the entire list which you can view below.
Black Mass
Release Date: September 18th
Scott Cooperis known mainly as a director of actors, having directedJeff Bridgesto a long-overdue Oscar win inCrazy Heartand galvanizing the likes ofChristian Bale,Casey Affleck, andWoody Harrelsonin the underratedOut of the Furnace. In taking on the infamous story of Whitey Bulger, the Boston-area crime lord who worked as an informant for the FBI, Cooper has been given a sprawling cast to work with, includingBenedict Cumberbatch,Joel Edgerton,Kevin Bacon,Corey Stoll,Adam Scott,Dakota Johnson,Juno Temple,Jesse Plemons,Peter Sarsgaard, and, of course,Johnny Deppas Bulger. Beyond that, however, the trailer hints at a more focused aesthetic from Cooper and DPMasanobu Takayanagi, all the better to frame this insidious tale of widespread murder and governmental corruption. You can read Matt’s review from TIFFright here. -Chris Cabin
A good horror comedy is always a treat, and it can be a hard blend to pull off, butCootieshas all the working parts to make the grade. The film follows a group of oddball elementary school teachers who band together for survival when their students are transformed into a bunch of bloodthirsty savages by a shipment of infected chicken nuggets. Even the logline is equal parts goofy and gross. The film is co-written byLeigh Whannell(withIan Brennan), who proved his aptitude for idiosyncratic horror with mega-hitsSawandInsidious. But Whannell also has roots in comedy, and while we got to see him stretch those skills a little as Specs in theInsidiousfilms, I’m really looking forward to his full-tilt comic performance as the socially inept Doug. As another plus,Elijah Woodalways had a good eye for horror, FromThe FacultytoManiac, and now with his production company Spectre Vision, so his involvement immediately brands the project as a movie worthy of attention. -Haleigh Foutch
Release Date: September 25th
Inspired by true events,Ramain Bahrani’s housing crisis drama starsMichael Shannonas Rick Carver, a greedy real estate mogul who makes big money serving eviction notices, removing people from their homes, and snatching up the property for a steal.Andrew Garfield, in his first dramatic role since swinging his way through Sony’s defunctSpider-Manfranchise, plays Dennis Nash, an unemployed construction worker who experiences Carver’s harsh tactics first-hand when he’s forcibly evicted along with his mother (Laura Dern) and son. When he sets out to confront Carver, he ends up employed by the businessman instead, facing the hard truth that it’s better to be predator than prey.99 Homesis backed by Bahrani’s gift for capturing aching humanity, a cast you may’t argue with, and a story that rolls around in the fertile dramatic ground of human callousness and immorality. Check out Matt’s reviewright here. -HF
The Martian
Release Date: October 2nd
WhenRidley Scottmakes a science fiction film, it will always have my attention.The Martianis not science fiction in the sense of sweeping space operas or extraterrestrial warfare – there are no martians inThe Martian– but quite literally fiction about science. I recently had the chance to watch the first 50 minutes of the film, and if the rest measures up to what I saw, and to what TIFF reviews are saying (including Matt’s),The Martianwill be Scott’s best work in a decade.MattDamonturns his trademark charisma on full-blast as Mark Wattney, a NASA astronaut stranded on Mars, embodying Wattney’s wry humor and steady diligence with precision. Due to the strength of that performance, and the story’s focus on character rather than grand galactic action, the film is allowed to be grounded and human, and perhaps most unexpectedly, fun. -HF
Release Date: October 2nd (limited)
Over the last decade,Jafar Panahihas made two films while in filmmaking exile in his home country of Iran, the first of which beingThis is Not a Film, one of the best films of this decade. His follow-up,Closed Curtain, was nearly as challenging and insightful a view of constrained artistry and inventiveness, and withTaxi, his hugely anticipated third work of self-documentation, Panahi has strung together a moving, wildly political trilogy, one that attests to the high caliber of work coming out of Iran’s film community as of late. His latest film features Panahi driving a taxicab around his neighborhood and talking with random passengers and passer-bys. The premise may sound thin, but Panahi has a long history of finding the moral complexity, anti-nationalist fury, and unshakeable humanity in stories that seem simple and without nuance at first glance. Take a look at Brian’s review of the filmright here.- CC
The Forbidden Room
Release Date: October 7th (limited)
The latest whatsit from Canadian experimentalistGuy Maddin, here co-directing withEvan Johnson, shows new ambitions for Maddin, who has constructed a variety of fantastical silent films, as well asMy Winnipeg, one of the best documentaries of the oughts. Here, and this is taken directly from the synopsis, a mysterious woodsman finds himself suddenly on board a submarine that’s been trapped underwater, prompting a psychedelic voyage into the root of each crew members' fears. So, yeah. Regardless of how strange Maddin’s film sounds (and looks), his films are marvels of texture and lighting, creating films that are as odd in physical production as they are in terms of narrative. And with a cast that includesUdo Kier,Mathieu Amalric,Charlotte Rampling, andHannibal’sCaroline Dhavernas,The Forbidden Roommay prove to be Maddin’s most lively freakout to date. -CC
Steve Jobs
Release Date: October 9th (limited); goes wide on October 23rd
Though the specter of a second Fincher-Sorkin collaboration will forever hauntSteve Jobs, what’s been seen ofDanny Boyle’s biopic thus far is intensely tantalizing and seemingly far more critical of the late Apple CEO than one might have expected. Bolstered by a dream cast that includesMichael Fassbenderas Jobs, alongsideSeth Rogen,Kate Winslet,Jeff Daniels,Katherine Waterston,John Ortiz, andMichael Stuhlbarg, Boyle’s take on the digital pioneer puts specific focus on the emotional distance and lack of empathy (or sympathy) that came along with Jobs’ sizable ambitions. Shot byAlwin H. Küchler, who last teamed with Boyle onSunshine,Steve Jobsmay not ultimately live up to expectations, but it’s already brandished more fascination and dramatic pull than the reprehensibleJobs. Check out Brian’s review of the filmhere. -CC
The Final Girls
Release Date: October 9th
The Final GirlsstarsTaissa Farmigaas Max, the daughter of the late scream queen Amanda Cartwright (Malin Ackerman). When Max attends a special screening for one of the slasher films that made her mother a star, she and her friends are transported through the screen into the world ofCamp Bloodbath,where they must use their knowledge of genre tropes to survive. Ever sinceScreamredefined the slasher horror in 1996, self-reference has become a mainstay of the genre. While a lot of films miss the meta mark, occasional gems likeCabin in the WoodsorDetentionmanage to genuinely bring something new to the table with a clever spin that subverts genre tropes while hitting all the right beats.The Final Girlspromises to be one of those movies. Perri gave the film aglowing reviewwhen it premiered at SXSW, Evan followed suitwhen it played atStanleyFest, and it has since screened at TIFF to another round of critical acclaim. -HF
Crimson Peak
Release Date: October 16th
Crimson PeakstarsMia Wasikowskaas a young American woman swept off her feet by a seductive English gentleman (Tom Hiddleston). Their courtship leads her to his childhood home, a gigantic “house atop a mountain of blood-red clay” where she confronts his unyielding sister (Jessica Chastain) and uncovers secrets that will haunt her forever. “Between desire and darkness, between mystery and madness, lies the truth behind Crimson Peak,” reads the synopsis and there is no better filmmaker to tread the line between horror and humanity thanGuillermo Del Toro, who has called this his first adult movie in the English language. For anyone who’s a fan of his Spanish language fare, that alone is enough to get worked up over, but the film looks stunning. The cinematography and production design are sumptuous and decadent, and the performances – from Hiddleston and Chastain in particular – look appropriately mannered, but dark, and rich with humanity.Crimson Peakpromises to be a beautifully told original story about spirited youth, the ravages of decay, and all the twisted, kinky bits that come in between. -HF
