With Autumn upon us and the Summer blockbuster season now just a collection of conflicted memories (how did Scott Pilgrim fail so badly at the box office?) and holes in our bank accounts, you'd expect Hollywood to be shifting its attention to more cerebral fare - but you'd be wrong!
September's packed with action and adventure, keeping the fires going strong well into Fall and giving moviegoers a hell of a lot to look forward to as we try to escape the back-to-school blues.
Machete
Release Date: September 3, 2010
Director: Ethan Maniquis, Robert Rodriguez
Starring: Danny Trejo, Michelle Rodriguez, Jessica Alba, Robert DeNiro
Rating: R
Machete is based on the fake trailer in Robert Rodriguez's 2007 Grindhouse, featuring Danny Trejo and Jeff Fahey reprising their original roles.
The feature version of the trailer finds Machete (Trejo) a renegade former Mexican Federale, roaming the streets of Texas after a shakedown from drug lord Torrez (Steven Seagal). Reluctantly, Machete takes an offer from spin doctor Benz (Fahey) to assassinate McLaughlin (Robert De Niro) a corrupt Senator. Double crossed and on the run Machete braves the odds with the help of Luz (Michelle Rodriguez), a saucy taco slinger, Padre (Cheech Marin) his holy brother, and April (Lindsay Lohan) a socialite with a penchant for guns. All while being tracked by Sartana (Jessica Alba), a sexy ICE agent with a special interest in the blade slinger
CraveOnline's Call: If there's one movie we're definitely seeing this month, it's Machete. It's not even a question. And if this doesn't kick more ass than anything else we've seen so far this year, the world may as well come to an end now, because that's a disappointment we've got no way to prepare for.
The American
Release Date: September 3, 2010
Director: Anton Corbijn
Starring: George Clooney, Thekla Reuten, Violante Placido
Rating: R
Academy Award winner George Clooney stars in the title role of this suspense thriller. As an assassin, Jack (played by Mr. Clooney) is constantly on the move and always alone. After a job in Sweden ends more harshly than expected for this American abroad, Jack retreats to the Italian countryside. He relishes being away from death for a spell as he holes up in a small medieval town. While there, Jack takes an assignment to construct a weapon for a mysterious contact, Mathilde (Thekla Reuten). Savoring the peaceful quietude he finds in the mountains of Abruzzo, Jack accepts the friendship of local priest Father Benedetto (Paolo Bonacelli) and pursues a torrid liaison with a beautiful woman, Clara (Violante Placido). Jack and Clara’s time together evolves into a romance, one seemingly free of danger. But by stepping out of the shadows, Jack may be tempting fate...
CraveOnline's Call: Clooney as an assassin? That's something worth checking out. Aside from that Leatherheads mess a few years back, ol' George has had a pretty great run in recent years. Here's hoping it continues with The American.
Resident Evil: Afterlife 3D
Release Date: September 10, 2010
Director: Paul W.S. Anderson
Starring: Milla Jovovich, Wentworth Miller, Ali Larter, Kim Coates
Rating: R
In a world ravaged by a virus infection, turning its victims into the Undead, Alice (Milla Jovovich), continues on her journey to find survivors and lead them to safety. Her deadly battle with the Umbrella Corporation reaches new heights, but Alice gets some unexpected help from an old friend. A new lead that promises a safe haven from the Undead takes them to Los Angeles, but when they arrive the city is overrun by thousands of Undead - and Alice and her comrades are about to step into a deadly trap.
CraveOnline's Call: The films thus far have mostly been pretty terrible, but we're still holding out hope...
Devil
Release Date: September 17 , 2010
Director: Drew Dowdle, John Erick Dowdle
Starring: Chris Messina, Geoffrey Arend, Caroline Dhavernas, Matt Craven
Rating: R
A group of strangers board an elevator in an office building in an unnamed city, only for it to break down, entrapping all five passengers. Soon, it becomes apparent that one of the passengers is not as human as she or he first seems – indeed, the Devil stands among them. But which one is it?
CraveOnline's Call: Shyamalan wrote the film, but didn't direct. Does that mean Devil has a chance of not being a supreme waste of time? It's very possible. But it wasn't the best sign when audiences laughed like hell at the trailer in theaters...
I'm Still Here
Release Date: September 10, 2010
Director: Casey Affleck
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix
Rating: R
The directorial debut of Oscar-nominated actor Casey Affleck, I'm Still Here is a striking portrayal of a tumultuous year in the life of internationally acclaimed actor Joaquin Phoenix. With remarkable access, I’m Still Here follows the Oscar-nominee as he announces his retirement from a successful film career in the fall of 2008 and sets off to reinvent himself as a hip hop musician. Sometimes funny, sometimes shocking, and always riveting, the film is a portrait of an artist at a crossroads. Defying expectations, it deftly explores notions of courage and creative reinvention, as well as the ramifications of a life spent in the public eye.
CraveOnline's Call: It was Hollywood's worst-kept secret that Phoenix was actually making a documentary as we watched him chunk out and try to pass himself off as a rapper - who never quite seemed to take the mic and actually do it. Here's hoping we're not wasting more of our time by looking at the finished product.
Jack Goes Boating
Release Date: September 17, 2010
Director: Philip Seymour Hoffman
Starring: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Ryan, John Ortiz
Rating: R
Jack is a limo driver with vague dreams of landing a job with the MTA and an obsession with reggae that has prompted him to begin a half-hearted attempt at growing dreadlocks. He spends most of his time hanging out with his best friend and fellow driver Clyde and Clyde’s wife Lucy.
The couple set Jack up with Connie, Lucy’s co-worker at a Brooklyn funeral home. Being with Connie inspires Jack to learn to cook, pursue a new career and take swimming lessons from Clyde so he can give Connie the romantic boat ride she dreams of. But as Jack and Connie cautiously circle commitment, Clyde and Lucy’s marriage begins to disintegrate. From there, we watch as each couple comes face to face with the inevitable path of their relationship.
CraveOnline's Call: Hoffman is among the best in the biz, and fans of "The Office" will love to see Amy Ryan (who plays Holly on the show) in a romantic lead role. This looks worth a shot if you've had your fill of action and slapstick.
Howl
Release Date: September 24, 2010
Director: Robert Epstein
Starring: James Franco, Jon Hamm, Jeff Daniels
Rating: NR
Starring James Franco in a career-defining performance as Allen Ginsberg, Howl is the story of how the young poet’s seminal work broke down societal barriers in the face of an infamous public obscenity trial. In his famously confessional style, Ginsberg – poet, counter-culture icon, and chronicler of the Beat Generation – recounts the road trips, love affairs, and search for personal liberation that led to HOWL, the most timeless work of his career.
CraveOnline's Call: Franco is rapidly establishing himself as an actor with far more chops than his comic book villain and stoner portrayals would indicate. His take on Ginsberg is remarkale - this is worth a look.
The Town
Release Date: September 17, 2010
Director: Ben Affleck
Starring: Ben Affleck, Jon Hamm, Peter Craig
Rating: R
Doug MacRay (Ben Affleck) is an unrepentant criminal, the de facto leader of a group of ruthless bank robbers who pride themselves in stealing what they want and getting out clean. With no real attachments, Doug never has to fear losing anyone close to him. But that all changed on the gang's latest job, when they briefly took a hostage--bank manager, Claire Keesey (Rebecca Hall). Though they let her go unharmed, Claire is nervously aware that the robbers know her name...and where she lives. But she lets her guard down when she meets an unassuming and rather charming man named Doug...not realizing that he is the same man who only days earlier had terrorized her. The instant attraction between them gradually turns into a passionate romance that threatens to take them both down a dangerous, and potentially deadly, path.
CraveOnline's Call: Jon Hamm is making the leap to the big screen, and we couldn't be happier with that. Ben Affleck directing his own attempt to revitalize his career is a dangerous prospect, however...
The Experiment
Release Date: September 24, 2010
Director: Paul Scheuring
Starring: Adrien Brody, Forest Whitaker, Fisher Stevens
Rating: R
The film is a remake of the German psychological thriller Das Experiment directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel, which centered on a group of ordinary men recruited to take on the roles of guards and prisoners as part of a research study and examined how the effects of assigned roles, power and control affected the participants.
Brody will portray the de facto leader of the prisoners while Whitaker will play a guard who's corrupted by the power he's given.
CraveOnline's Call: This looks dark, twisted and traumatically nightmarish. We're in.
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps
Release Date: September 24, 2010
Director: Oliver Stone
Starring: Shia LaBeouf, Michael Douglas, Charlie Sheen, Josh Brolin
Rating: R
Shia LaBeouf stars with Michael Douglas, who'll reprise his Gordon Gekko role. Langella will play Lewis Zabel, an old-time broker who mentors LaBeouf's character, a young Wall Street broker.
When Gekko comes out of prison, he essentially has to redefine himself, redefine his character, he's looking for that second chance.
LaBeouf portrays Jake Moore, who is the fiancé of Gekko's daughter, played by Carey Mulligan; Josh Brolin as the head of an investment bank; and Susan Sarandon as Jake's mother. Charlie Sheen, who played the central role of Bud Fox, a young trader, in the original, will make a cameo in the sequel.
CraveOnline's Call: This sequel's been a very long time in the making, but with our nation getting bent over a red, white and blue barrel through corporate gluttony and political & economic downward spirals these days, now's as fitting a time as ever to introduce the next generation of Wall Street demons.
