The 2020 Fall Movie Preview – Part 1

September 18, 2020

Well, we’ve just passed Labor Day, which means Fall is right around the corner and with it, our favorite time of the year – Election Day.  No, I’m just kidding.  I can’t freaking wait until November 4^th so I can be reminded of the immortal words of Gerald Ford on August 9, 1974 “My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over.”  OK, moving right along….

After a lackluster (non-existent?) Summer movie season, Fall movie season is upon us, when we get to see the studios start to break out the best of the best as we ramp up for award season.  Notable releases in this window last year included Judy, Joker, The Irishman, Marriage Story, Jo-Jo Rabbit, Knives Out, and Ford v. Ferrari.  With the modifications to the award eligibility calendar this year, particularly the Oscar eligibility extended from December 31 to February 28, we should have an extended run of high-profile pictures.

The State of the Movie Industry

Six months since the pandemic shutdown most of the country (and the world), and numerous release delays, production delays, and false starts, theaters are (kind of, sort of) reopening around the country and we had our first high-profile movie released in a theater – Christopher Nolan’s Tenet premiered Labor Day weekend in the U.S., a week after opening overseas.  The reviews have been decent – some positive, some negative – no consensus one way or the other.  It’s tough to judge the quality of the box office receipts, with some big markets (particularly New York and L.A.) still closed and theaters operating under capacity limitations.  The general consensus is that this is shaping up as a box office disappointment for Warner Bros., who just decided to move Wonder Woman 1984 from October to Christmas.  For now.

So, theaters are open, but I expect foot traffic will still be pretty low the next several weeks.  There are a few big name films still scheduled to be released in the theaters over the next few months, but I think there is a good chance these get delayed until the Spring or next Summer.  Even with these uncertainties, there are still a lot of movies that we will likely see in the next few months, either because they will be released directly to a streaming service, or are small enough that they will get a short theatrical window, followed by a quick release to video-on-demand.  Speaking of which, Labor Day weekend also saw the bold move by Disney to release its live-action remake of Mulan on Disney+.  Well, kind of.  Instead of just having a subscription to Disney+, in order to watch Mulan, you also had to subscribe to a premium bundle, for an extra $30.  The extra fee gave you a purchase of the film, not just a rental.  That being said, I was still stunned to see this price point, especially when a story recently revealed that the film will be available on Disney+ for no additional charge in three months.  Who am I to question the almighty mouse – apparently, the strategy worked as there was a report of a 68% spike in Disney+ downloads Labor Day weekend, compared to the prior week.  Disney has a big title scheduled for November (Pixar’s Soul) which could see the same treatment as Mulan. 

As part of this three part preview, I will be covering the twenty or so films that I am most looking forward to seeing over the next few months.  Let’s jump into part 1.

For The Music Fan – American Utopia

Sometimes I like going into a movie knowing very little about it, and this will be one of those films.  Directed by Spike Lee, American Utopia is the filmed recording of the Broadway stage play of the same name featuring David Byrne and a number of musicians.  That’s about all I know, except a strong recommendation from my friend Jean who saw the show on Broadway.  The film recently premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and will also be showing at the New York Film Festival in October.  With Spike Lee at the helm, and the creative genius of David Byrne behind the content, I am very intrigued by this one.  I recently watched Stop Making Sense, the 1984 concert film featuring Byrne’s band Talking Heads and it was outstanding.  Fun note on that one – it was directed by Jonathan Demme, who would go onto greater fame with The Silence of the Lambs and Philadelphia.  While we are on the topic of film festivals, both Toronto and New York got creative with their film festivals this year, utilizing a streaming component, and in New York’s case, drive-in theaters for showings.  There are a few other festivals over the next month or two that will utilize the virtual cinema technology to allow consumers to rent films to watch online.  I’m excited about this opportunity to see some titles that might not make their way to smaller markets for a long time.  American Utopia premieres on HBO Max on October 17^th. 

An Important Story – Time

This one has been on my radar since reading about its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, where the film’s director Garrett Bradley won the award for Best Director for a U.S. Documentary, becoming the first African-American woman to win the award.  Time tells the story of a woman’s fight to get her husband released from his 60 year prison sentence for bank robbery.  The reviews for this film have been very strong, noting its gripping tale of the toll prison can take on a person and a family.  One review noted that it will cause the viewer to rethink their opinion of the prison-industrial complex.  Time will have a limited theatrical run beginning October 9^th before premiering on Amazon Prime on October 23^rd. 

The Biopic – The Glorias

Another Sundance film that saw its theatrical release upended by the pandemic.  The Glorias is a biographical portrait of Gloria Steinem, one of the leading voices in the feminist movement of the 1960s and 1970s.  This film will feature multiple actresses portraying the lead character, including a star on the rise (Alicia Vikander) playing Steinem in her 20s and 30s and Oscar-winner Julianne Moore portraying the activist in her 40s and beyond.  Eager to get the film before audiences before the election, the film’s distributors decided to make a deal with Amazon and bypass theaters.  The Glorias will premiere on Amazon Prime on September 30^th. 

The College Romantic Comedy – S#!&house

The real title of this is Shithouse, in case you couldn’t figure that out, but has been stylized as S#!&house for ease of marketing (I guess).  Shithouse was written and directed by Cooper Raiff, who also stars in the film as a college freshman struggling to adapt to his new environment.  After attending a party (at Shithouse, a legendary fraternity), he spends the night with his RA, and his college experience gets a little complicated.  The trailer for this one just came out and it looks very good, plus I have read a few positive reviews, which noted Raiff’s impressive performance, direction, and screenplay.  This film was scheduled to premiere at the South by Southwest Film Festival (which was canceled, like the rest of this s#i&&y year – see what I did there?).  The festival still announced awards and Shithouse won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Narrative Feature, and was subsequently acquired by IFC Films for distribution.  Shithouse premieres in select theaters and video on demand on October 16^th.

The Unconventional Comedy – The Forty-Year-Old-Version

Here we have another film from a first-time director, who also wrote and stars as the lead character, that received rave reviews at Sundance earlier this year.  Radha Blank is the star here, as a struggling playwright who decides to take a chance by reinventing herself as a rap artist.  The trailer for this film was recently released and it looks pretty funny.  I expect we could be looking at a potential breakout star in Blank based on what I’ve been reading.  The Forty-Old-Version premieres on Netflix on October 9^th.

The Unconventional Documentary – Dick Johnson Is Dead

This is another film that has been on my radar for a few months that was also acquired by Netflix and recently premiered its trailer.  Directed by Kirsten Johnson, the film focuses on her father Dick, who is suffering from dementia.  Kirsten decides to film her father in different ways he could die, from accidents to imaginative fantasies.  While that premise sounds bizarre (and cruel?), the father is game, seeing the humor in her ideas.  The film has been described as a sweet comedy about fathers and daughters and how we comes to grip with our own mortality.  The trailer for this one looks good too.  Dick Johnson Is Dead premieres on Netflix on October 2^nd. 

This One Looks Promising – Enola Holmes

It’s not often that I would consider watching a film based on a young adult book series, but based on early reviews and the recent trailer, I think I’m going to give this one a shot.  Starring Millie Bobby Brown (Stranger Things) as the teenage sister of Sherlock Holmes, Enola sets out on a mission to solve the mystery of her missing mother, played by Helena Bonham Carter.  Her famous older brother is played by Henry Cavill, who may know as Superman in the recent Marvel films.  This looks like a delightful film that could be a good one for the whole family.  Enola Holmes premiers on Netflix on September 23^rd.

If you are interested in learning more about any of these films or checking out the trailers, I recommend IMDB.com as a good resource for upcoming films.

This Week’s Moments of Happiness

I’m always on the lookout for new content – movies, music, books – so this week I got a nice surprise with two new items to add to my list.  Back in May, I shared a video clip of a cool song mashup that my favorite band (Dave Matthews Band) played when my son and I saw them in Saratoga Springs, NY last summer.  I found out last week that the band is streaming the entire show on their Youtube channel next week, as part of their summer drive-in concert series.  Throughout the summer they have been showing old concerts each week as a way to give something to their fans since they couldn’t tour this year.  I’m looking forward to watching this one next week with my son, so we can relive a great show.  I also saw this week that a number of actors (including Sean Penn, Brad Pitt, Jennifer Aniston, Julia Roberts, Matthew McConaughey, and Shia LaBeouf) gathered together to do a (virtual) live table read of the great 1980s comedy Fast Times at Ridgemont High to raise money for charity.  I caught a clip of Aniston and Pitt reading the {ahem} pool / bathroom scene between Brad and Linda.  The dynamics between the former couple (with Morgan Freeman narrating!) was really funny.  I’m looking forward to watching the rest of this one soon.

I mentioned a few months ago that with the craziness of the pandemic, my friends and I were wondering if we would make our annual golf trip to Vermont.  We decided to cancel this year’s trip, but my wife and I decided to go instead.  We were fortunate to be able to stay at the condo owned by our aunt and uncle and we played two fun rounds of golf.  The weather was beautiful – it couldn’t have been better and we had a wonderful time.  Now, for those of you have tortured yourselves by taking up the sport of golf, you know that when you are first starting out, it can be very stressful to play a round on the course, especially when there are other people around.  My wife is in this situation, as she recently took up the game, after not playing regularly for a number of years.  I wasn’t worried about playing these courses – I had just played the round of my life the weekend before, so any golf round the rest of the year is icing on the cake.  The first day was good because we played alone and she was able to take her time and knock the rust off.  We were paired up with two other people on the second day, when we played my favorite course.  This one has marvelous views and sometimes it’s nice to forget the carnage of your round, take a deep breath and enjoy the beauty of nature.  She did great this second day, hitting some wonderful shots, laughing off the bad ones, and not letting any frustration ruin the day.  As golfers, we often say that however bad you are playing, you only need one good shot to keep you coming back for another round.  On the 14^th hole, after another stellar drive off the tee, she hit her approach shot into the green and it bounced off the pin from about 100 yards.  She was thrilled and it was very fun to see her joy.  Those are the shots that keep you coming back for more and was a moment of happiness I will remember for a long time.

That’s it for this week – I’ll be back for part two of my Fall movie preview next week.  Thank you for reading and if you’d like to be notified of future posts, you can subscribe here.