September's Most Anticipated Films and DVDs

by Brian Eggert

Theatrical Releases

The transitional month of September has no real designation or expectation. In the past, it’s been sort of like January or February—a dumping ground for studios unsure of what to do with misfit films. By the time everyone’s finished unloading their trash, we have a month-long landfill. This year, the month has been used as a welcomed opportunity for studios to avoid both the big budget effects monsters of summer and the impending holiday awards movie rush. And so, September 2009 looks promising…

For a complete list of September releases, visit the Calendar.

September 12th:

Burn After Reading

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Sporting a dream cast and two dream filmmakers behind the camera, Burn After Reading will no doubt be the Coen Bros’ triumphal return to comedy after last year’s return to cinematic greatness with No Country for Old Men. Assembling an impossibly good cast featuring George Clooney, John Malkovich, Brad Pitt, Francis McDormand, Tilda Swinton, Richard Jenkins, and J.K. Simmons, we could have another ensemble comedy on par with The Big Lebowski. If the Coens really are back, this film will effortlessly find its home amid their best comedic work like O Brother, Where Art Thou? and Raising Arizona (and altogether delete Intolerable Cruelty and The Ladykillers from our recent memories). For that, I couldn’t be more excited. The folks at the Cannes Film Festival this year certainly applauded their efforts.

September 19th:

Ghost Town

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There’s no valid reason I should be excited to see Ghost Town; it’s justified only by my fandom and a potentially fruitless hope. The plot involves a dentist who one day discovers he can see ghosts. From Ghost Dad to The Frighteners to The Sixth Sense to almost every horror movie in the last decade, this setup has been done to death. However, this comedy has two key features going for it: 1) The film was written and directed by David Koepp, screenwriter of Jurassic Park, Mission: Impossible, and the latest Indiana Jones; 2) British comedian Ricky Gervais, star of HBO’s hilarious series Extras, plays the dentist. It is my hope the film’s run-of-the-mill concept will somehow surprise us, because the hilarious Gervais needs a vehicle to propel his American career.

Lakeview Terrace

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Neil LaBute, playwright and director of wickedly funny relationship dramadies like In the Company of Men and The Shape of Things has already tried his hand at commercial fare with unfortunate results (i.e. The Wicker Man remake). Here he goes again with Lakeview Terrace, which looks somewhere in the realm of Unlawful Entry. A married couple played by Patrick Wilson (Little Children) and Kerry Washington move into their first home and find themselves harassed by neighbor Samuel L. Jackson, who just-so-happens to be a cop. Set against the backdrop of California fires, the tensions build until what we can expect to be a chaotic climax. With all the potential of being an involving thriller, it’s coming from a director yet unproven in the genre, and so while skepticism may prevail, my expectations remain moderately high.

September 26th:

Choke

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I may walk away from Choke thoroughly offended, but then again, that reaction might be the point. Based on the novel by Fight Club author Chuck Palahniuk, the story, adapted and directed by first-timer Clark Gregg, follows a chauvinist con-artist played by Sam Rockwell who intentionally chokes at restaurants to eventually con his rescuers out of sympathy money. Working as a Colonial Reenactor, he’s a confessed sex addict, and he attends self-help meetings (typical Palahniuk) where he meets women to bed. For him, women, like his deranged mother (Angelica Houston), are objects, until he meets the perfect girl (played by Kelly Macdonald). A hit at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, no doubt the success of this film will be a determining factor in the oft-discussed filmic adaptations of Palahniuk’s other novels.

Eagle Eye

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In 2007, director D.J. Caruso and star Shia LaBeouf brought us Disturbia, a (notorious uncredited) rehash of Hitchcock’s Rear Window. That winning combination is being repeated for Eagle Eye. Executive producer Steven Spielberg gets story credit, but the “wrong man” plot blatantly takes from Hitchcock’s North By Northwest. This time the LaBeouf-hero is framed and running from the FBI; he’s guided by a menacing Big Brother voice on a phone pulling his strings, getting him into all sorts of trouble while he desperately tries to prove his innocence. Spielberg has made LaBeouf his Pet Project, producing a number of films for the up-and-comer (including Transformers and the latest Indiana Jones). Once I get by my frustrations with Spielberg so obviously taking from Hitchcock without due credit, I’m certain this will be an entertaining thriller.

One Film You Shouldn't See

September 12th:

Righteous Kill

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Why would anyone not want to see a cop thriller pairing cinema legends Robert De Niro and Al Pacino? Their combined filmographies make up the majority of great cinema from the 1970s and 1980s. Previous collaborations include costarring but sharing no scenes together in The Godfather Part II, and a couple shared moments in Heat. But what good have they done lately? I wouldn’t go so far as to say that they’re washed up, but Hollywood isn’t taking the chances it used to when these actors were at their best. As for Righteous Kill, its director Jon Avnet made one of this year’s worst films, 88 Minutes, which also starred Pacino. And its trailer looks set on Scorsese-copycat mode, complete with narration and The Stones overlaying the soundtrack. Chances are this too-little too-late attempt to bank on its stars’ combined talent won’t compare to anything from their catalog of superb early work.

DVD Purchase Recommendations

The few months preceding Christmas, beginning with September, come packed beyond budget with DVD releases, both standard and Blu-ray. Special editions. Multi-disc releases. Newly restored classics. And, of course, high definition. They’re all coming in abundance between now and January, doing a number on your pocketbook and mine.

Below are the best of September. For the full list of upcoming DVDs, check out the Calendar.

September 9th:

How the West was Won (1962)

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Introduced in the 1950s, Cinerama was intended to outshine traditional widescreen in a process utilizing three 35mm cameras during filming for an eventual image created by another three projectors. The result wrapped around the front of an audience, creating the illusion of surrounding space and depth. Unfortunately, for home video purposes, this leaves a triptych effect, as if three separate images were glued together with bond lines clearly visible—an annoying outcome indeed. How the West was Won was one of the few movies made with this short-lived device, and subsequent video releases all share the same three-tiered irritation. Luckily, the digital gurus over at Warner Bros. have remastered the film, eliminating those distracting connection lines into one full image. And it’s a welcomed thing too, given that this Western assembles four directors including John Ford and Henry Hathaway, and a gamut of stars like John Wayne, James Stewart, Henry Fonda, Gregory Peck, Walter Brennan, and Richard Widmark in one of the most massive Hollywood epics of all time. (Also available on Blu-ray.)

September 16th:

From The Criterion Collection...
La Ronde (1950)
Le Plaisir (1952)
The Earrings of Madame de... (1953)

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Three profound works by French cineaste Max Ophüls each offer biting social commentary, bravado camerawork, and the flavor of the country’s best cinema. The Criterion Collection has outdone themselves again in all respects, from the appropriately designed cover art to the elaborate editions in which they’re presenting Ophüls’ finest work. Each is a romantically-inclined, turn-of-the-century period piece involving lovers, scandals, and critiques of the classes, all made with the influential and oft-noted camera stylings of the director. Assembled for the films are some of France’s (and film history’s) finest screen performers: Jean Gabin, Simone Signoret, Danielle Darrieux, Charles Boyer, Anton Walbrook, and Simone Simon. Each disc is punctuated with a slew of features to boot, including interviews with Ophüls’ former colleagues, essays on the material, and Criterion’s always pristine audio and video transfers. Few filmmakers have been so universally lauded by their peers; Ophüls remains the influence of directors like Stanley Kubrick, Preston Sturges, and P.T. Anderson—essentially any director who’s used a tracking shot in the last fifty years.

Speed Racer (2008)

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The Wachowski Brothers’ much maligned, would-be summer blockbuster tanked at the box office, no doubt because Warner Bros. couldn’t figure out an ample marketing strategy. Frankly I’m baffled by the ill response to this fun, family-suited adventure, because this Japanese anime come-to-life pops with colorful imagery, active editing, and some of the craziest racing scenes ever put to film. Granted, everything but the actors is realized with computer graphics, but audiences willing to go where Speed Racer takes them will have one helluva ride. Sometimes movies are just about sitting back and watching the pretty colors; every scene stirs with a kaleidoscopic regime of movement from the spectrum, making it (and I know I’m in the minority here) one of the most enjoyable films of the summer. Give it a try. (Also available on Blu-ray.)

September 23rd:

The Godfather Trilogy (The Coppola Restoration) Deep Focus Review's DVD of the Month

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Supervised by Robert A. Harris of the Film Preserve, this newly restored treatment of The Godfather (1972), The Godfather Part II (1974), and The Godfather Part III (1990) takes the title of “The Coppola Restoration” likely because the director too oversaw the revamp. But it's Harris who effectively managed the preservation and reconstruction of classics like Hitchcock’s Vertigo, David Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia, and Kubrick’s Spartacus. Now he’s set sights on taking away that typical 1970s fuzz from two of the best movies ever made and their disappointing third entry. What does this mean for you the viewer? Sharper, brighter colors. Blacker blacks. Exhaustive making-of supplements. This much-needed restorative treatment was a near-impossible task, since the original film’s negative was all but completely deteriorated. Luckily, Coppola’s longtime friend Steven Spielberg stepped in to finance the restoration, causing one to wonder why this isn’t dubbed “The Spielberg Restoration”. Nevertheless, another Harris-guided DVD production marks a grand moment for buyers to revisit Francis Ford Coppola’s classic gangster epics. (Also available on Blu-ray.)

September 30th:

Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008)

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Without doubt the most sympathetic and enjoyable comedy produced from Team Apatow, Forgetting Sarah Marshall stars the lanky Jason Segel from Freaks & Geeks fame once again playing a recently dumped fellow trying his best to get over the former girl. He heads to Hawaii to escape, only to find she’s there vacationing with her new celebrity lover, played by British comedian and all-around weirdo Russell Brand. More than the leads from The 40-Year-Old Virgin or Knocked Up, there’s a genuine sense of sympathy for nice-guy Segel, who reportedly is working on a revamp of The Muppet Movie. After seeing his character perform his puppet-infused rock opera about Dracula, there’s no doubt he’s the guy to revive our favorite talking socks. (Also available on Blu-ray.)

Iron Man (2008)

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Everyone expected Iron Man to entertain and perform well at the box office. No one expected the Marvel comic adaptation to be one of the year’s best films and top moneymakers. Director Jon Favreau and star Robert Downey Jr. bring the character of Tony Stark to life, making those motor-mouthed scenes out of the metal costume even more enjoyable than the battle sequences in. However, Favreau avoids bombarding us with an obscene amount of CGI; the effects are realized by a combination of tangible and digital means. But the greatest effect is Downey Jr., who after fading away in Hollywood is now a hot commodity (happily so) due to this movie—and his stature will surely be sustained by the sequel, due in 2010. Marvel produced and financed the film themselves, staying true to the source and the filmic credibility of their product, just as they did with The Incredible Hulk (due October 21st on DVD). The two-disc DVD is loaded with features, including I Am Iron Man, a full-length behind-the-scenes documentary on the production and the character’s comic origins. Expect this to become one of the top-selling discs of the year. (Also available on Blu-ray.)