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IFC.com’s 2011 Fall Movie Preview Guide
We've got your detailed look at what's worth checking out from now through December.
12/9 – “THE SITTER” (20th Century Fox – David Gordon Green – Comedy)
What Is It: Looking like a blend of “Pineapple Express” and “Adventures in Babysitting,” “The Sitter” casts Jonah Hill as an underachieving college dropout who gets stuck with a babysitting job he’s not prepared to handle. After he packs up the kids and brings them to a party, one bad decision turns into many, many more as he tries to get through the night and get everyone home safely. “Pineapple Express” is an especially apt comparison for the film, as it’s directed by “Express” filmmaker David Gordon Green, who puts his trademark twist on the old babysitting-gone-horribly-wrong tale.
Why We Care: “The Sitter” is the convergence of two stars on the rise these days, with Green finding mainstream success with “Pineapple Express” and his work on the “Eastbound & Down” television series, while Hill seems to be popping up as in every other movie these days. Hill is at his best though when he’s allowed to simply do his (often curse-filled) thing, and the red-band trailer makes it screamingly obvious that this film doesn’t pull any punches. Also, Green’s aforementioned “Pineapple” and his recent “Your Highness” both delivered on the action side of things, and this isn’t a straight-up comedy…it’s filled with bad guys, crime and other areas in which Green shines. Plus, there’s a certain humor in kids being exposed to mature themes in general, so this one should be worth a look.
12/16 – “MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – GHOST PROTOCOL” (Paramount – Brad Bird – Action)
What Is It: Tom Cruise is back as super spy Ethan Hunt in the fourth film of the “Mission Impossible” franchise. This time around, the IMF team is framed for a terrorist attack that destroys the Kremlin, and they’re forced to go underground in order to clear their names. Along the way, they encounter an ex-IMF agent played by Jeremy Renner who clearly knows more about Hunt’s past than anyone should ever know. Celebrated Pixar animated feature director Brad Bird (“The Incredibles”) gets behind the camera for his very first live-action film.
Why We Care: Rumors have surrounded this project from the very start, with some wondering whether Renner was being groomed to replace Cruise in the lead role, and others speculating that this could be Cruise’s last turn as the famed super spy. There’s a lot riding on the film, so you can bet everyone involved wants this installment to be the most memorable of the bunch. In fact, all of the questions surrounding Cruise and Renner are just about the only thing that could overshadow the surprising involvement of “The Iron Giant” and “Ratatouille” writer/director Bird, who’s chosen a very big stage on which to make his live-action debut.
12/16 – “SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF SHADOWS” (Warner Bros. – Guy Ritchie – Adventure)
What Is It: Guy Ritchie’s sequel to his 2009 film “Sherlock Holmes” brings back Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, respectively, and pits the duo against Holmes’ notorious arch enemy, Professor Moriarty (Jared Harris). Only glimpsed in the final scenes of the original film, Moriarty returns in a big way for the second act of the new “Sherlock Holmes” movie franchise. This time around, though, Sherlock is joined by his older brother Mycroft Holmes (Stephen Fry) and a Romani woman named Sim (played by “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” star Noomi Rapace).
Why We Care: It’s elementary, really. After months of rumors leading up to “Sherlock Holmes” and a massive tease at the end of the film, everyone wants to see Downey and Harris square off as Sherlock Holmes and Professor Moriarty. It’s one of the most storied hero-villain relationships in literary history, and after the success of the first film, it’s likely to be an important component of any future installments of the franchise. Plus it’s just plain fun to see Downey take up the patented magnifying glass and trenchcoat of Sherlock Holmes. The actor has steadily carved out a quirky niche in a way not seen since Johnny Depp transformed himself into Captain Jack (and has yet to transform back), and brings a wry sensibility and wit to his performance.
12/23 – “THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN: SECRET OF THE UNICORN” (Paramount – Steven Spielberg – Adventure)
What Is It: Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson team up for this CG-animated film based on one of the most popular comic book characters in the world. The film, officially titled “The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn,” is planned as the first of three Tintin movies by Jackson and Spielberg, with Spielberg directing the first installment (and Jackson producing), then Jackson directing the second (with Spielberg producing), and the pair co-directing (and co-producing) the third. The “Secret of the Unicorn” script was written by a veritable dream team of British talent, including “Doctor Who” showrunner Steven Moffat, “Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World” director Edgar Wright, and “Attack the Block” writer/director Joe Cornish. As far as plot goes, “Secret of the Unicorn” is an amalgam of several popular Tintin stories, but for those unfamiliar with the character, it might be best to describe it in the same way it came to Spielberg’s attention way back in 1981: It’s basically “Indiana Jones” for kids.
Why We Care: While the boy adventurer Tintin isn’t a well-known commodity in the U.S., the stories about him created by Belgian writer/artist Georges “Hergé” Remi have sold more than 350 million copies worldwide — so it’s safe to say he has an audience. If that’s not enough to get you into the theater, how about the ambitious three-film agenda by Jackson and Spielberg, two of the world’s most acclaimed filmmakers? “The Secret of the Unicorn” will also be Spielberg’s first animated film, which is news in and of itself, given his status in the industry. Finally, in bringing together Moffat, Wright, and Cornish on the film’s script, Tintin has managed to provide the only geek-friendly collaboration in Hollywood that competes with Joss Whedon directing “The Avengers.”
12/23 – “THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO” (Sony – David Fincher – Drama)
What Is It: Based on Stieg Larsson’s novel of the same name, “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo” is the second film to be made from the bestselling story about a disgraced journalist who’s aided in his search for a missing woman by a tattooed computer hacker. The film — which is the first English-language movie based on the novel — stars Daniel Craig as investigative journalist and former “Millenium” newspaper co-owner Mikael Blomkvist, and Rooney Mara as the pierced, tattooed, and rebellious computer hacker Lisbeth Salander. Critically acclaimed “Fight Club” and “The Social Network” director David Fincher is behind the camera for the film, which has received a lot of attention lately for the dark tone of its promotional imagery (some of which has been censored) and early teasers.
Why We Care: Over the last year or so, it’s been difficult to go anywhere without seeing someone reading one of Larsson’s wildly successful novels about Lisbeth Salander. It could also be the understatement of the last few years to say that the hunt for an actress to play the character has been both intense and highly scrutinized. While early peeks at Mara as Lisbeth have quieted some critics, it remains to be seen whether the film will make a successful leap from page to screen as an English-language project. The original, Swedish-language movie trilogy has its share of fans and critics, but everyone seems to have big questions about how an American filmmaker will translate the story for the big screen.
12/23 – “WE BOUGHT A ZOO” (20th Century Fox – Cameron Crowe – Drama)
What Is It: Cameron Crowe returns with his first feature film since “Elizabethtown” (2005) with this true-life tale of a family (consisting of Matt Damon, Thomas Haden Church and Stephanie Szostak, among others) that moves to the countryside to own and operate a zoo. Based on the memoirs of Benjamin Mee (played by Damon in the film), which describes how he and his family spent their life savings to buy Dartmoor Zoological Park, a dilapidated home for over 200 animals in the English countryside.
Why We Care: Because it’s been six rather long years since we got a new movie from the guy who made “Say Anything.” True, “Elizabethtown,” though it was indeed underrated, wasn’t Cameron Crowe’s finest hour (or two, rather) as an amazing ensemble cast struggled to find the right tone for the director’s personal yet ultimately sketchy story about a mighty patriarch’s boisterous Southern funeral. But we know the writer-director has another masterpiece in him, and perhaps working with material that doesn’t come so much from the heart/gut is just the thing to get the fires burning again. For “We Bought a Zoo,” Crowe has once again worked his magic to conjure another amazing ensemble, which, besides the classy thespians mentioned above, also includes Scarlett Johansson, Elle Fanning, Angus MacFadyen and Crowe’s old “Almost Famous” alter ego, Patrick Fugit. We definitely can’t wait to pay a visit to this “Zoo” — and to hear what’s sure to be the amazing soundtrack its music-loving keeper has compiled this time around.
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Tags: 50/50, A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas, Apollo 18, Contagion, Fall Preview 2011, Hugo Cabret 3-D, Immortals, In Time, Machine Gun Preacher, Martha Marcy May Marlene, Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol, Moneyball, Piranha 3DD, Red State, Restless, Shark Night 3D, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, Straw Dogs, The Adventures of Tintin, The Big Year, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Muppets, The Rum Diary, The Sitter, The Thing, Tower Heist, Wanderlust, Warrior, We Bought a Zoo
