After lousy summer, fall movie lineup promising
Summer 2017 is already going down in history as one of Hollywood’s worst in recent memory, notwithstanding such standouts as “Wonder Woman,” “Dunkirk” and the little-rom-com-that-could, “The Big Sick.”
But who are we kidding? Filmgoers of discerning taste know Hollywood typically holds back the good stuff for turtleneck weather, and this year is no exception.
With such highly anticipated films as Guillermo del Toro’s “The Shape of Water” and Alexander Payne’s “Downsizing” already earning plaudits on the festival circuit, it’s possible to dispense with cautious optimism entirely and look forward to several titles with downright abandon.
What will George Clooney do with the Coen brothers’ script for “Suburbicon”?
How will Joe Wright top Christopher Nolan in his Dunkirk movie, “Darkest Hour”? (For a clue, look at his magnificent one-take staging of the World War II evacuation in “Atonement.”)
Did the fashion designers Kate and Laura Mulleavy — known as the label Rodarte — really make a movie? (They did, and it’s called “Woodstock.”)
And what in the everliving dickens is “Mother!” about, anyway?
All will be revealed in a fall schedule that’s crammed with promising filmmakers, cast members, genres and subjects.
Some themes have already emerged: It looks like sports are having a moment, between “Battle of the Sexes,” about the 1973 Billie Jean King-Bobby Riggs tennis match, “Stronger,” about a 2013 Boston marathon bombing survivor, and “Molly’s Game,” if poker counts as a sport.
Art will be celebrated in “Loving Vincent” (about van Gogh), skewered in “The Square” (a Swedish satire about the pretensions of contemporary art) and portrayed in “Goodbye Christopher Robin,” in which Domhnall Gleeson portrays British author A.A. Milne.
There will be some fond looks back at movie history, with “Blade Runner 2049,” a remake of “Murder on the Orient Express,” “Last Flag Flying” (a sort-of sequel to the 1973 classic “The Last Detail”) and “The Disaster Artist,” an homage to Tommy Wiseau’s cringe-y cult film “The Room.”
All eyes will surely be on Rian Johnson to see what he will bring to the “Star Wars” franchise with “The Last Jedi,” a continuation of the “Force Awakens” story line.
* List is not comprehensive. Washington Post critic’s recommendations are indicated by asterisks. Release dates are subject to change.