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More Gosling! Depressed Kirsten! Nine Movies And Two Film Events To Check Out This Fall

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It's that time of year again. The time for sweaters, for telling friends in other boroughs you can't make it out, for calling into work that you're going to be a little late, and for seeing movies that require contemplation rather than 3D glasses. Hollywood's been tapped of its blockbusters and are now banking on their smaller subsidiaries to create buzz for award season. Whether it's because of the upcoming Oscars or competing with the new slew of television shows premiering this month, the film industry saves it's best, more interesting films for this season, giving us yet another excuse to stay indoors. Due to the large amount of new releases, and the attention span of the average blog-reader, we here at gothamist have decided to split the usual Fall-through-New Years Eve movie preview into two parts. The first part will cover new releases and repertory screenings from now until the middle of November, with the second part covering the rest until the end of the year.

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Drive came out a little while back but it's worth mentioning anyway. Winner of best director at the Cannes Film Festival (which is no small pick-ins), the film follows a Hollywood stunt driver who gets tangled up with a beautiful woman and ends up getting tangled up in a world of crime. Who doesn't love that? The film has gotten some great reviews and should be a great way to start off the fall season.

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When Moneyball was green-lit, most who read Michael Lewis' book took part in a collective WTF moment. Not that the book isn't extremely engaging, interesting and entertaining (it is), but it's far from movie material...or so we thought. Apparently, whoever produced this did a great job at assembling good screenwriters and casting agents because its been getting stellar reviews. The film follows real life Oakland A's GM Billy Beane (played by Brad Pitt) as he turns an awful baseball franchise on a shoestring budget into a contending club through sophisticated computer analysis. In real life, this small event changed the way baseball is played, and is a story well worth bringing to the masses. Father's Day may be in the past, but this could be the best movie to watch with your dad this fall.

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On September 30th, from the director of the promising The Wackness, comes the comedy 50/50, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogan. The film is a type of bromantic dramedy (that was even hard to type) that follows two friends' relationship as one battles cancer at the, now, tender age of 27 (according to old world standards he should have a wife and kids by now). Early reviews have been pretty positive and the cast, including Anna Kendrick, Anjelica Huston, Matt Frewer, Philip Baker Hall, make for a promising sounding movie. It's been called a Terms of Endearment for dudes, so if you want to see your boyfriend cry, maybe take him to see this.

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The New York Film Festival begins on September 30, and the big movies, like Roman Polanski's Carnage (starring Kate Winslet, Jodie Foster, Christoph Waltz and John C. Reilly), are sold out. However, there are quite a few films that still have tickets left, like this year's Cannes Grand Jury Prize winner <a href="http://www.filmlinc.com/films/on-sale/the-kid-with-a-bike">Kid With A Bike</a> from brothers Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne and <a href="http://www.filmlinc.com/films/on-sale/le-havre">Aki Kaurismaki's Le Havre</a>. The Monday, October 10 screening of Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory <a href="http://www.filmlinc.com/films/on-sale/paradise-lost-3-purgatory">also has tickets</a> as does Saturday October 8 screening of <a href="http://www.filmlinc.com/films/on-sale/444-last-day-on-earth">Abel Ferrara's 4:44: Last Day On Earth</a>, which is set in the Lower East Side. This 49th edition of the Film Society of Lincoln Center's festival also has 10-year anniversary screenings of some favorites, like Hayao Miyazaki's deliriously delightful <a href="http://www.filmlinc.com/films/on-sale/10th-anniversary-screening-of-spirited-away">Spirited Away</a>âwhere else will dustballs carry a baby that's been transformed into a mouse.

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George Clooney may be a great leading man (arguably), but his career as a director has been uneven as best (unanimously), with Good Night, and Good Luck being his strongest film. October 7th sees the release of Georgy's latest directorial effort The Ides of March, and early reviews aren't looking that great. You may have seen the poster around in<a href="http://insidemovies.ew.com/2011/07/27/ides-of-march-poster/"> subway stations of a Gosling, Clooney hybrid</a> (referred to as a Gooney or a Closling), well, this is that film. Based on a play by Beau Willimon, the story follows an idealistic staffer (played by Ryan Gosling, who seems to be in every movie these days), as he gets a crash course on dirty politics during his stint on the campaign trail. We find these political dramas are best enjoyed at home but imagine that someone's got to be going to the theaters to see them, so maybe that's you, in which case let us know how it is.

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Of the many repertory screenings of the Fall season, the first one we're truly excited for is the new 35 mm print of Godard's Weekend playing at <a href="http://www.filmforum.org/films/weekend.html">Film Forum</a> from October 7th-20th. Whether it's the opening 9 minute monologue by Mireille Darc, where she recalls her character's past threesome, or the famous, nearly full reel, traffic jam tracking shot, it's one of the most visually arresting, poetic, unique films ever made. It's truly a film that, as the saying goes, "stays with you," and definitely one you won't want to miss. The film hasn't been available widely since the VHS, so unless you're willing to shell out $45 for a used DVD of a shitty transfer you might want to make it a priority to see. Don't miss!

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Opening October 14th is the always interesting Pedro Almodovar's newest film The Skin I Live In. His first collaboration with Antonio Banderas since the charmingly bizarre Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1990), the film follows Banderas as a gifted plastic surgeon who, haunted by the deaths of his wife and daughter, invents an indestructible skin which he sutures onto a willing victim (who may prove to be the key to his obsession!). The film got very mixed reviews when it premiered at Cannes (apparently too weird a mix of horror and melodrama) but any Almodovar movie is worth seeing, and this one might be a strange enough mix to appeal to a certain type of audience. If you're a fan of Almodovar or are just bored with the typical fare being projected at your local cinema, you might want to check it out.

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Starting October 14th at <a href="http://www.moma.org/visit/calendar/films/1210">The Museum of Modern Art</a> is the always exciting retrospective To Save and Protect. The Ninth year of the International Festival of Film Preservation looks to be a good one, with a plethora of great, newly restored films, interesting presenters, and exciting features. This year they'll be showing films by Roger Corman, Louis Malle, Georges MÃ©liÃ¨s, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, to name a few. Even better, they'll be presented by some of the biggest names in film, including, but not limited to, Martin Scorsese and Alejandro Jodorowsky. Also worth mentioning is the festival's tribute to the brilliant graphic artist and pioneer of the title sequence Saul Bass, whose work includes the credit sequences for The Man With The Golden Arm, Psycho, North by Northwest, Vertigo, and Goodfellas. Take a look at the festival's schedule, we guarantee there's something you'll be interested in seeing, and while you're there, go down the street and check out the American Folk Museum for Pete's sake, they need your support right now.

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Opening October 28th is the Sci-Fi thriller In Time. What makes this film a potential game changer of that weekend is two-fold: firstly, it's a certain Mr. Justin Timberlake's first legitimate stab at being a leading man (romcoms don't count) and secondly, it's directed and written by Andrew Niccol, who was the scribe behind the great The Truman Show and the writer/director behind the embarrassingly awesome Gattaca (seriously, it's one of the best Sci-Fi films of the '90's). This film takes place in the not-so-distance future where the aging gene has been cut off at 25 to help with over-population problems (wait...aging gene?). The rich can afford to pay for extensions to the point of immortality (of course) while the poor just kinda die off (how topical). Timberlake plays a poor bloke (financially, not because of his disposition), who stumbles into money only to be framed by these corrupt law enforcers referred to as "time keepers." In addition to Timberlake you'll also get sides of Cillian Murphy and Amanda Seyfried. We hope this film is good. Not just because Timberlake is so damn charming, but because there hasn't been a decent Sci-Fi film since Moon.

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Another year, another Clint Eastwood film... and another Leonardo DiCaprio film. Luckily for everyone's wallet, this year it's the same film: J. Edgar (in twenty years, Leo will have played every notable historical figure of the 20th century in a bio-pic). The film (to be released November 9) is sure to be Oscar bait, but it might actually be more than that, due mostly in part to one man: Dustin Lance Black. Black is the writer behind TV's Big Love and the bio-pic Milk (both of which he won a Writers Guild of America Awards for; he also won the Oscar for Mik). Eastwood and DiCaprio are enough to sell the film, but Black might prove to be the ace in the sleeve that turns this film into something you'll actually remember seeing in five years. Obviously, the film follows J. Edgar Hoover, focusing on his scandalous career, controversial private life, and rumored cross-dressing and homosexuality. This might actually be worth checking out.

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It's rumored amongst some reviewers and cineastes that when the Cannes Film Festival finished screening both Terrence Malick's Tree of Life and Lars von Trier's Melancholia, Melancholia was the decided winner. Then <a href="http://gothamist.com/2011/05/19/video_watch_kirsten_dunst_react_whe.php">Trier compared himself to a Nazi during a press conference</a> and was declared persona non grata from the festival. The film went on to win Best Actress for Kirsten Dunst, but we'll never know if, at all, Von Trier's comments ruined his chance at the Palme D'Or. Either way, the film, like almost all of Von Trier's films, has been called both awful and brilliant by anyone who's seen it. Trier is in the midst of a genre film spree, and considers his previous Antichrist as his horror film with Melancholia as his Sci-Fi film. If it's any indication, Dancer in the Dark (in addition to being the final installment of his "Golden Heart Trilogy") was his interpretation of a musical. Probably more-so than Gaspar Noe or Nicolas Refn, Trier remains the enfant terrible of cinema and continues to dish out films that evoke more hatred, interest and admiration than any filmmaker working today. Plot: Melancholia follows a bride (Dunst) on her wedding day as she attempts to keep her relationship with her sister intact as a nearby planet threatens to collide with earth. Anyone interested in contemporary cinema would be at a loss to miss this.

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