On tap at the movies
48 movies coming to Milwaukee this fall
We take a look at what will hit the theaters here in the fall.
Fall is when the Packers come back, the leaves go away and the movies get serious (mostly). ❚ But the movies also get selective. ❚ At the movies, the weeks between Labor Day and Thanksgiving are sort of an interregnum — an interval between the summer audience-magnet movies and the holiday-season mix of family-distraction hits and Oscar contenders. ❚ In a midsize city like Milwaukee, it’s a season for discovery. Unfortunately, because many movies in the fall are limited releases, it’s also a season of discovering when movies will finally end up here. ❚ Here’s a look at some of the movies coming to Milwaukee between Labor Day and Thanksgiving, as well as some of the worthy movies due out this fall that don’t have firm Milwaukee release dates (so far). ❚ Per usual, dates are subject to change.
Sept. 7
“God Bless the Broken Road”: Faithfueled drama about a young mother who wrestles with her belief in God after her husband is killed in Afghanistan.
“The Nun”: A demonically possessed nun causestrouble in a Romanian abbey in this spinoff of sorts of “The Conjuring 2.”
“Peppermint”: Jennifer Garner plays a woman who goes all ninja/vigilante when the cartel responsible for the murders of her husband and daughter get away with it.
“The Wife”: With her husband about to receive the Nobel Prize for literature, a woman questions her decision to take a backseat to his ambitions. Adapted from Meg Wolitzer’s novel, with Glenn Close and Jonathan Pryce.
Sept. 14
“The Predator”: Those interstellar killing machines are back in this action reboot, with Sterling K. Brown, Olivia Munn, Yvonne Strahovski and KeeganMichael Key on hand to stop them. Maybe.
“A Simple Favor”: Anna Kendrick is a mommy blogger who becomes obsessed with her new mysterious best friend (Blake Lively) when the latter disappears.
“Unbroken: Path to Redemption”: Faith-fueled drama tells the second half of the story of Louis Zamperini, an Olympic athlete who survived a Japanese POW camp and became a Christian evangelist.
“White Boy Rick”: In 1980s Detroit, a white teenager goes from hustler’s son to drug kingpin to FBI informant. Truestory drama with Matthew McConaughey, Richie Merritt; Milwaukee rappers IshDARR and BoodahDARR have cameos.
Sept. 21
“Fahrenheit 11/9”: Michael Moore asks how how we got here, and how we can get out, in this long-delayed documentary.
“The House With a Clock in Its Walls”: Comic fantasy, based on a young-adult novel, about an orphan who goes to stay with his warlock uncle (Jack Black) and his friend (Cate Blanchett) in a house with a secret (spoiler: it’s in the title).
“Life Itself”: Multigenerational drama about love, parenthood and, likely, tears from the creator of TV’s “This Is Us.”
“Lizzie”: A different take on the Lizzie Borden story, with Chloë Sevigny as the title ax-slinger and Kristen Stewart as the family housemaid who changes her life.
Sept. 28
“Hal”: Documentary on the genius, and sadness, of maverick filmmaker Hal Ashby, who made some of the most affecting movies of the 1970s (“Harold and Maude,” “Shampoo,” “Coming Home,” “Being There”).
“Hell Fest”: A group of friends are terrorized by a real serial killer at a horrorthemed amusement park.
“Little Women”: Modern telling of Louisa May Alcott’s tale of four sisters. “Night School”: After blowing his dream job, Kevin Hart enrolls in night school and meets his match in an instructor played by Tiffany Haddish. “Smallfoot”: Animated movie about a yeti’s quest for the creatures that make those mysterious tracks (a.k.a. humans).
Oct. 5
“A Star Is Born”: Remake of the oft-told tale, with Bradley Cooper (who also directed) as a fading rock legend who falls for a rising singer-songwriter (Lady Gaga).
“Venom”:
In this Spider-Man offshoot, Tom Hardy plays a scruffy reporter who gains crazy powers — and a dark alter ego — when he’s infected by an experiment gone wrong.
Oct. 12
“Bad Times at the El Royale”: Seven strangers with secrets meet at a hotel with secrets of its own, and mayhem ensues. Comic-violent movie with Jon Hamm, Chris Hemsworth, Jeff Bridges, Dakota Johnson, Cynthia Erivo. “Beautiful Boy”: Drama with Steve Carell and Timothée Chalamet (“Call Me by Your Name”), based on a father-son memoir about a family dealing with addiction.
“First Man”: “La La Land” director Damien Chazelle’s unlikely followup is a movie about astronaut Neil Armstrong, played by Ryan Gosling. With music by Oscar-winning Nicolet High School alum Justin Hurwitz.
“Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween”: Another movie (without Jack Black) based on the R.L. Stine books, this one with Halloween horrors coming to life. “The Old Man & the Gun”: In what he says is his last acting role, Robert Redford plays a 70-year-old bank robber in this based-on-a-true-story drama directed by Waukesha native David Lowery. Sissy Spacek, Casey Affleck, Tika Sumpter and Tom Waits co-star.
Oct. 19
“Halloween”: Forty years after the original “Halloween,” Jamie Lee Curtis plays the same character, back to finish off Michael Myers for good.
“The Hate U Give”: When she witnesses her friend get killed by police, an African-American girl finds her voice. Based on the bestselling young-adult book, with Amandla Stenberg. “Serenity”: Noirish thriller with Matthew McConaughey getting drawn into a murder plot by his ex (Anne Hathaway). With Diane Lane, Jason Clarke. “What They Had”: Hillary Swank comes home to deal with her dementia-addled mother (Blythe Danner) and in-denial dad (Robert Forster).
Oct. 26
“Hunter Killer”: The Russian president has been kidnapped by one of his own generals, so, naturally, an American submarine crew must rescue him. Action movie with Gerard Butler. “Indivisible”: An Army chaplain has to fix himself and his marriage when he comes home from the fighting. Faithfueled drama, based on a true story. “Johnny English Strikes Again”: The bumbling British spy is back. With Rowan Atkinson.
“Mid90s”: Jonah Hill’s directorial debut is a buzzy tale of a 1990s teenager finding a family at an L.A. skateboard park.
Nov. 2
“Bohemian Rhapsody”: Rami Malek is the spitting image of Queen singer Freddie Mercury in this much-anticipated biopic.
“Nobody’s Fool”: Tiffany Haddish’s third movie of the season is a Tyler Perry creation about an ex-con (Haddish) who tries to help her straitlaced sister (Tika Sumpter) get her life in order. “The Nutcracker and the Four Realms”: A girl is transported into the world of “The Nutcracker” in his Disney holiday confection with Keira Knightley, Mackenzie Foy and ballet star Misty Copeland.
Nov. 9
“The Grinch”: Benedict Cumberbatch voices the beloved Dr. Seuss character. “The Girl in the Spider’s Web”: The tattooed Lisbeth Salander is back, this time played by Claire Foy. “Overlord”: On D-Day, American soldiers go behind enemy lines and discover a Nazi experiment gone horribly wrong in this sci-fi/war/horror movie produced by J.J. Abrams.
Nov. 16
“Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald”: The latest chapter in J.K. Rowling’s wizards-and-Muggles tales features a young Professor Dumbledore, played by Jude Law, helping rein in a rogue wizard (Johnny Depp). “Instant Family”: Comedy with Mark Wahlberg and Rose Byrne as new parents of three adopted children.
“A Private War”: Biopic of war correspondent Marie Colvin, with Rosamund Pike as the eye-patched reporter. “Widows”: Viola Davis leads a collection of mobsters’ widows to finish the job their husbands started. Directed by Steve McQueen (“12 Years a Slave”).
Nov. 21
“Creed II”: The son of Apollo Creed returns with bigger battles to fight — including one in the ring against the son of the man who killed his father with one punch. Michael B. Jordan and Sylvester Stallone both return.
“The Front Runner”: Hugh Jackman plays charismatic Sen. Gary Hart, who derailed his 1988 presidential campaign with a hubris-fueled affair. Directed by Jason Reitman.
“Green Book”: A working-class white guy (Viggo Mortensen) hires on to chauffeur an African-American classical pianist (Mahershala Ali) across the South in the 1960s.
“Ralph Breaks the Internet”: Animated Disney sequel takes the lovable computer-game-character lug into the World Wide Web.
“Robin Hood”: Gritty, umpteenth retelling of the English legend, with Taron Egerton as Mr. Hood and Jamie Foxx as his mentor.
“Second Act”: Jennifer Lopez finally gets her dream job, but only after a pal imaginatively pads her résumé.
Coming soon (we hope)
We’re keeping our fingers crossed that these movies will make to Milwaukee this fall, but at this writing they don’t have opening dates here (with our ballpark guesses for when they’ll turn up). “Science Fair”: This documentary, codirected by Milwaukee native Cristina Costantini, follows nine high school students competing at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. The movie won the first-ever Festival Favorite Award at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. (October) “Assassination Vacation”: Black comedy about a small town that turns into a cross between “The Purge” and “Heathers” when a data hack makes everybody’s lives public. (late September) “Colette”: Keira Knightley plays the French writer whose husband first publishes her stories under his own name, then resists her efforts to claim ownership of them. (early October)
“Love, Gilda”: Documentary on the life and career (and death) of beloved actress-comedian Gilda Radner. (late September)
“The Children Act”: Emma Thompson plays an English jurist who must rule on whether a boy can end his own medical treatment. (late September)
“Black ‘47”: Historical drama set amid the horrors of the potato famine in 19th-century Ireland. (October)
“The Sisters Brothers”: In Gold-Rushera Oregon, a pair of reflective killers pursue a gold prospector. Joaquin Phoenix and John C. Reilly are the brothers, and Jake Gyllenhaal is the gold-hunter, in Jaques Audiard’s English-language debut, based on a stylish Western novel. (late September)
“The Oath”: A family becomes unglued at Thanksgiving, which is the day before a deadline for all Americans to sign a “loyalty oath.” With Ike Barinholtz (who also wrote and directed), Tiffany Haddish, John Cho, Nora Dunn. (mid-October)
“Can You Ever Forgive Me?”: When a writer’s career hits a brick wall, she turns to forgery. Memoir-based tale with Melissa McCarthy. (late October) “Suspiria”: Dreamlike remake of the 1977 Italian horror classic by Luca Guadagnino (“Call Me by Your Name”), with Dakota Johnson, Tilda Swinton, Chloë Grace Moretz. (early November)
“Boy Erased”: A preacher and his wife force their son to go through a gayconversion program. Memoir-based drama with Lucas Hedges, Joel Edgerton (who also wrote and directed), Nicole Kidman. (November)