I was toying with the idea of writing a cinema-goers guide for releases this autumn but frankly there are so many potentially good offerings coming up in September alone (British release dates) that it seems over-ambitious to go any further into the future. So if you're wondering what's coming out in the next few weeks, I hope this summary will be of assistance!
As an aspiring writer of both vampire and sci-fi fiction, it has been pleasing to see something of a revival of the former in cinema, with the likes of Twilight cashing in on the groundwork of films such as Underworld, 30 Days of Night, Night Watch and to some extent even Blade and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. But it looks like science-fiction is getting its own back on its pointy-toothed cousin this year. When I flicked through the local cinema magazine for this coming month there were so many reviews starting with the phrase “in the near future” I thought someone had just repeated the same page over and over.
Moon (my review linked below) was a stonking example of a science fiction film, and it looks like the golden herald of a whole host of science fiction films hitting our cinemas this month. Top among them, if the critics are to be believed, is likely to be
District 9, a hard-hitting film about over-population, prejudice and the dark side of humanity as much as it is about a bunch of alien refugees unable to return home. My review of this film is already up, so I'll let that do the talking but this is an amazing film, don't miss it.
So what else have we got? Towards the end of the month,
Surrogates hits our screens, so obviously a sci-fi I'm sure we'll all quite forget that it is technically a comic book movie as well. Starring Bruce Willis as Greer, a man living in a world where the human population remains on the couch all day controlling surrogate robot bodies that go out and do their day-to-day work for them, thereby supposedly keeping them safe from all harm. Of course it's not that simple, and when several humans are found murdered Greer must venture out into the daylight among the surrogates and uncover the truth. This film shows a lot of promise but for once USA are not months ahead of me on release dates so I have no verifiable acclaim. Bruce Willis has been in some of the best and some of the worst films I've ever seen and I'm not sure that “from the Director of Terminator 3” is actually a compliment. I'll put the review up asap but this is one to keep your eye on if you like that sort of thing.
Gamer provides us with another example of the old “death-row humans dying in socially acceptable violent gameshows” plot, a sci-fi mainstay so tried and tested that I would almost be inclined to ignore it altogether. The critical reception of this one hasn't been overwhelming so far, but I'm inclined to give it a chance if only because Gerard Butler is British (sorry, Scottish) and one of the most diversely brilliant actors working these days. Expect a great deal of gore and a plot you've seen before, but maybe there will be some decent highlights.
If your a younger sci-fi fan, the animated film
Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs looks sure to fall somewhere between wacky and off it's rocking horse. Based on popular children's books the pedigree is good but it's difficult to know what to expect from the film critically speaking.
Dorian Gray is definitely one to keep your eye on, a British production (huzzah!) headed up by Ben Barnes (Prince Caspian, Stardust etc) and the far too well known Colin Firth. I'm looking forward to this film big time and if it adequately captures the spirit of the original book I will be very pleased indeed.
There are too many films out this month to go through them all. Possible points of interest include
(500) Days Of Summer for chick flick fanatics,
Fish Tank,
Whiteout, even films like
Adventureland,
Sorority Row and
Case 39 show some promise. It's a monkey and type-writer's thing, some of these films will be good.
But I'm a traitor to my genre because there's one film I'm really looking forward to and it's not a sci-fi!
Creation, starring the underused genius of Paul Bettany as Charles Darwin, promises to give us a portrayal of the extraordinary discoveries made by a man as terrified of the implications of his discovery as he was excited by it. I've got good vibes about this one.
September looks set to be an amazing month so whatever your tastes, get to the cinema and see these films, legally I might add. Vote with your purses!
If you enjoyed this summary and found it helpful please send me a comment or message to let me know and I'll do more in future.