Must-Sees for Fall
From a Jedi to a Joker, gangsters to speed freaks, popcorn films hunt for awards
From a Jedi to a Joker and from a hitman to a detective with Tourette’s, compelling characters grace the big screen. Plus: In praise of the It sequel’s Pennywise.
Ad Astra
September 20th
Brad Pitt blasts off as an astronaut in search of his lost flyboy dad (Tommy Lee Jones). Nothing like starting the fall on a dare: Director/cowriter James Gray describes his sci-fi head trip as “the most realistic depiction of space travel that’s been put in a movie.” Since Gray is a renegade indie master ( The Yards, Two Lovers, The Lost City of Z) not given to idle brags, better buckle up.
Joker
October 4th
So you think Heath Ledger’s 2008 take on the DC Comics villain in The Dark Knight is unbeatable? (Hell, he won a posthumous Oscar.) Just wait till you get a load of Joaquin Phoenix, who reinvents the role as a failed stand-up comic who decides to pass himself off as Crime’s Clown Prince. Neither Ledger, Jack Nicholson (in 1989’s Batman), nor Jared Leto (2016’s Suicide Squad) has ever played Joker as a starring role. Anyone doubt that Phoenix has the mad skills to take things to the limit?
Gemini Man
October 11th
Will Smith plays a hitman about to be retired by a younger version of himself, also played by Smith, looking like he just stepped off the set of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. If the plot rings with echoes of 2012’s Looper, trust director Ang Lee to show how far computers can come to matching God’s work with humans. Game on.
Jojo Rabbit
October 18th
Taika Waititi, the visionary New Zealander who sparked such inspired lunacy with Chris Hemsworth in Thor: Ragnarok, wrote and directed this ink-dark World War II comedy that throws away the rules. Roman Griffin Davis is Jojo, a bullied German boy who conjures an imaginary friend in a cuckoo version of Adolf Hitler, played by Waititi himself. Those not offended will laugh helplessly.
Terminator: Dark Fate
November 1st
It’s a reunion for
Terminator fans. Producer James Cameron says Dark Fate ( T6) is a direct followup to his 1984 T1 and 1991
T2 — so much for the three in-betweeners. That means Ah-nuld is back as T-800, along with Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor and Edward Furlong as her son, John. Resistance is futile.
Motherless Brooklyn
November 1st
Edward Norton triumphantly fulfills his passion project to write, produce, direct, and star in the film version of Jonathan Lethem’s acclaimed novel about a Brooklyn detective who has Tourette’s syndrome.
Ford v Ferrari
November 15th
Director James Mangold powers this speeding drama, set in 1966, when the Ford Motor Company tried to end Enzo Ferrari’s dominance at Le Mans. Matt Damon as Ford design whiz Carroll Shelby and Christian Bale as the turbulent British driver Ken Miles should whoosh the film into the awards race.
The Irishman
Date TBD
It’s unlikely that any film this fall can top this epic crime saga from Martin Scorsese, reunited for the ninth time with Robert De Niro and directing Al Pacino for the first time. De Niro plays Frank Sheeran, the hitman linked to the disappearance of labor leader Jimmy Hoffa (Pacino). The digital de-aging of the actors, including Scorsese regular Joe Pesci, helped balloon the film’s cost past $200 million. But with these titans playing goodfellas through the decades, expect history in the making.
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
November 22nd
Mr. Nice Guy Tom Hanks portrays Fred Rogers, the beloved Mr. Nice Guy of preschool TV programming. Where’s the tension? It’s in the script, based on an Esquire article by Tom Junod, in which a skeptical journalist, played by Matthew Rhys (an Emmy winner for The Americans), attempts a deep-dive probe into the gentle creator and host of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. From Hanks and skilled director Marielle Heller ( Can You Ever Forgive Me?), expect the unexpected.
Uncut Gems
December 13th
Josh and Benny Safdie follow up their sensational Good Time with another crime caper laced with mirth and malice. Uncut Gems stars Adam Sandler, proving again that when he wants to, he can act with the best of them. Sandler plays a Manhattan jeweler who freaks when diamonds go missing, sparking cinematic anarchy only the Safdies can deliver.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
December 20th
It’s here — the final episode of the nine-part Skywalker saga. No spoilers, but Daisy Ridley is back as Rey, the last known Jedi, in fierce resistance to Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), the Supreme Leader of the First Order. Will director J.J. Abrams ( The Force Awakens) reunite the whole gang for the fade-out? May the Force be with tradition.
Marriage Story
Date TBD
Noah Baumbach’s best film yet concerns the breakup of a New York theater director (Adam Driver) and his actress wife (Scarlett Johansson). Can they divorce and yet survive as parents to their son (Azhy Robertson)? Sublime performances, and let’s just say it: Driver is one of the finest actors on the planet. What happens when Greta Gerwig, the Oscar-touted creator of Lady Bird, tackles the eighth film of Louisa May Alcott’s 1868 novel? Will the young lives of the March sisters — Jo (Saoirse Ronan), Meg (Emma Watson), and Amy (Florence Pugh) — speak to our current moment?
1917
Little Women
December 25th
December 25th
Set in the depths of World War I, this epic from Skyfall director Sam Mendes puts two Brit soldiers (George MacKay and Dean-Charles Chapman) on a suicide mission. Producer Steven Spielberg calls 1917 “hugely daring and ambitious.” So are all the top fall films. But who gets the Oscar gold?