Opie’s not a bad director necessarily (I have no problem with Apollo 13, Ransom and a few others). He’s just the vanilla to P.T. Anderson and the Coens’ (and others) chocolate and strawberry.

I’m not particularly excited for Frost/Nixon, but I’ll probably check it out at my school’s film series next spring. For what that’s worth.

I’m with Pierre on Hathaway. She might not turn out to have the goods, but I’m looking forward to her chance to prove it.

An American Carol sounds deadly, but I can see where it might attract strong business, at least on DVD.

Frost/Nixon might turn out to be good, but it certainly seems to have an Oscar glow about it that may or may not reflect across-the-board quality.

I hope Anne Hathaway, who has talent but needs the right role to play off her personality, finds something with Demme, who to my way of thinking needs material with an undercurrent of irony to really shine.

I’ll see What Just Happened mainly for Keener and Penn but don’t except a lot. Hope I’m surprised.

Will see Happy-Go-Lucky because Leigh has been interesting in the past.

Changeling has my interest to see what Jolie can do under Eastwood’s touch-feely direction.

Synedoche has me mystified.

That said, there will be unexpected things that turn out to surprise me and things I fall unexpectedly in love with. ANd I’m getting pumped to see what John Hillcoat does with The Road. Speaking of 2006, The Proposition was my one of my five favorite films of that year.

DOUBT has been near the top of my list for a while now. Can’t wait.

Luckily it looks like everyone gets Benjamin Button for Christmas.

“Your October will vary based on location and availability.”

Half those movies didn’t open in lowly Portland until well into November. TWBB opened in January here.

(shrugs)

3:10 to Yuma, Eastern Promises, Into the Wild, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, The Darjeeling Limited, Michael Clayton, Gone, Baby Gone, Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead… And then, I was able to see There Will Be Blood and No Country for Old Men in the first week or so of November. Yowzers.

Doubt, on the other hand, I am excited about. The pedigree of that picture with the three leads and the source of the story…

October ‘06 also had The Prestige, The Queen, Babel and some others… The Prestige has slowly grown on me–I still think it’s Nolan’s weakest, and Babel I’ve still yet to bother to take another look at, and I wonder if I ever will, as much as I liked Inarittu’s first two films.

Actually, looking back at October ‘06, I can’t say I find too much to love, but I found ‘06 the weakest year in a while in general.

Bottom line, though, I agree, KB, this October, while vaguely interesting for the mish-mash of different kinds of films as I mentioned in the earlier post here, doesn’t seem to promise too much, except perhaps the Kaufman.

I think in recent years late September and October has turned out to be a destination for interesting projects from gifted directors. December is nowadays saved for the known Oscar bait. This year, I just don’t sense the oomph.

Wells had a pretty funny take on “Emotional Facism” regarding Happy-Go-Lucky at H-E the other day. He was overreacting because he fancies himself some kind of 21st century Paddy Chayefsky, but it was still a funny read.

Kidding…your attitude is why we’re here.

I’m pretty much with Daniel on the excitement level and I haven’t even mentioned Benjamin Button or Milk yet.

Last year, beyond my big three of Darjeeling, No Country and There Will Be Blood, all of which left me a very happy camper in retrospect, I’m trying to remember what I was really excited about. I’ll have to go back and read last year’s fall forecast.

So far though, fall looks solid to me with at least one movie a week I’m looking forward to. Things could all go horribly wrong and/or there could be some unexpected surprises. Either way I’m going to remain optimistic until I have reason not to.

Also, I’m barely even acknowledging some of the limited releases that are coming out. There are a handful or two of those probably worth mentioning in their own column.

I don’t know if I could blog if I looked down the road and saw nothing worth liking.

Besides, the number of sequels is significantly lower, and we have some big names making a splash (Kaufman, Eastwood, Coen, Stone) with intriguing projects.

I’ve actually seen one of these already. So I’m ahead of the ballgame.

Rachel Getting Married has pretty darn good buzz. But that has to be the worst name change in film history. From the intriguing, although admittedly obscure Dancing with Shiva to something so plain and descriptive. And what’s with the “Getting.” Why not Rachel’s Wedding?

Someone gave Jennifer Hudson a non-singing part? Ay yi yi.

Perhaps we need to get closer to these films and begin to hear what word of mouth might be buzzing around them, but I am just not that excited about any of them. Certain films like Changeling and Synedoche sound intriguing, but at this moment they feel more like future obligations.

I’m I the only one that feels this way?

Excited to hear your report on November, Craig. I thought about doing something like this at MZ but then figured why try to repeat what you’re already doing a fantastic job with.

Now just mention Taken and I’ll be a happy camper. :)

There is not an ounce of optimism to be found in this tempestuous nature.

But lest I come across as too cool for school or wickedly blase, let me assure you that neither is the case.

I think that the summer of 2008 (film wise) was absolutely remarkable.

True, I loathed two movies that everyone and their dog seemed to love (IRON MAN and THE DARK KNIGHT). But there was an untold amount of riches that I didn’t see coming: DECEPTION, THE VISITOR, GET SMART, PRICELESS and WANTED.

On top of that, I also viewed three motion pictures that I can honestly state will ALWAYS be all time favourites of mine: MY BLUEBERRY NIGHTS, BRIDESHEAD REVISITED and VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA.

When does THAT ever happen?

More to the point, when does that ever happen in the summer…?

So it’s not that I’m irrevocably jaded. Not quite yet.

I will see some of these fall offerings. Maybe more of them than I anticipate. I am a regular cinema patron after all.

It depends on things like reviews (though I attempt to keep that to a minimum now that I write my own), word of mouth and awards buzz.

It’s simply that this group (and September’s) just aren’t grabbing me at this juncture. The rest of the year may be horrificly mediocre. But I strongly suspect that there will be some gems in the mix. I just don’t know which ones they will turn out to be at this point.

No matter. There’s more to life than movies and the internet.

Or at least that’s what I hear…

Flags of Our Fathers had some fine moments dotting its running time, but it was also jarring and frustrating, with an excessively elusive core incongruently coupled with some distinctly brusque visual cues (like that strawberry syrup or whatever poured on the dessert “soldiers,” yeesh)… It just never came together. As W.J. says, for one thing Eastwood was never able to settle down with the characters, something that he usually does, and still excels at.

Alison, The Outlaw Josey Wales is indeed fabulous.

I’m expecting Changeling to be a solid work with some good performances.

Speaking of Eastwood, the buzz for Gran Torino has sure died down. Is that now definitely a 2009 release? I can’t keep up with all these things. That’s what the LiC monkeys are for–right, Craig?

October looks like a strange brew of films. Even if it’s horrible, W will stir interest and controversy. Probably not as much as Stone would like it to, but still. Changeling should usher in the almost yearly speculation of how many Oscars an Eastwood film will take hom. Synecdoche, New York… Well, I’m excited.

To me, Flags felt like the film he had to make in order to get the studio to pony up for Letters, which was the film he really wanted to make. It was frustrating that the film didn’t grab me because Eastwood was getting at some issues (as you’ve mentioned) that I think could have easily resonated more strongly.

But I’ll grant you that few films really try to delve into these issues and rarely do it well.

You’re in for a long boring rest of the year Miranda. Me? I’m excited. Call me an optimist.