2017 Fall Trailer Preview—Part 1
Fall movie season is upon us, and so begins the flood of hopefuls looking to make their way to the Oscars. But it’s not just Oscar contenders opening around this time of year.
Based solely on their trailers, we made predictions about some of the fall's most anticipated movies. Only time will tell how accurate these predictions were.
Oct 27 – Jigsaw
We didn't expect to get another Saw movie, because, well, the Jigsaw Killer died. But Hollywood will always find a way to keep a franchise going. The eighth installment of the Saw franchise follows the mysterious resurrection of Jigsaw, who has been presumed dead for over a decade. While all the reboots and sequels we’ve been getting the past few years can get tiring, Jigsaw looks like it will stand out. It doesn’t take itself too seriously—even mocking the franchise’s own origins—breaking up what looks like a terrifying rollercoaster with funny self aware bits.
Oct 27 – Suburbicon
Considering the mellow reception it received after its debut at the Toronto Film Festival, Suburbicon isn’t one we’re particularly excited about. The upcoming comedy, directed by George Clooney, stars Matt Damon as a father in suburbia attempting to cope after the death of his wife of a home invasion, with a housing discrimination subplot woven in. It looks funny, but with an overly confusing plot, Suburbicon looks likely to lose viewers.
Oct 27 – Professor Marston and the Wonder Women
An interesting follow up to the big screen debut of Wonder Woman this summer, Professor Marston and the Wonder Women explores the dominatrix origins of DC Comics’ most famous super heroine. Professor Marston and the Wonder Women details the relationships between Wonder Woman creator William Moulton Marston, and his inspirations for Wonder Woman: his wife Elizabeth Holloway Marston, and their polyamorous lover Olivia Byrne. Despite an interesting premise and a rare on screen delve into kink and polyamory, Luke Evans seems miscast as Professor Marston.
Oct 27 – The Killing of the Sacred Deer
From the team behind The Lobster, The Killing of the Sacred Deer is a psychological thriller with a somewhat ambiguous plot — as in ambiguous af. However the cinematography looks phenomenal, and the trailer is mysterious enough to stoke our curiosity.
Nov 3 – LBJ
Woody Harrelson seems to perfectly embody former President Lyndon B. Johnson in the upcoming film, LBJ. The biopic depicts Johnson during the period in which he assumes the presidency, following the Kennedy assassination (spoiler alert, in case you didn't study that in history class).
Our take away: this film is total Oscar bait but also the perfect dad movie—should you need to go to the theaters with your father.
Nov 3 – Thor: Ragnarok
This may be a Thor movie in name, but it feels more like Marvel Studios’ attempt to do the standalone Hulk movie they still don’t have the licensing rights for. Thor: Ragnarokcontinues in the Marvel tradition of weak villains, with Cate Blanchett as Hela. While she’s supposed to be the goddess of death, she has enough cheesy lines to be the Taylor Swift of villains. Really, no one at Marvel could not come up with a better line for an Academy Award-winning actress than "I am not a queen or a monster, I am the goddess of death. What were you the god of again?"
Thor: Ragnarok looks confusing, with too many plots going on and not enough structure, as with most Marvel movies, but at least it looks to satisfy our obsession with Tom Hiddleston’s Loki this time around.
Nov 10 – Murder on the Orient Express
The fourth adaptation of Agatha's Christie's classic 1934 novel, Murder on the Orient Express is directed by Kenneth Branagh, who also stars as Hercule Poirot, detective extraordinaire.
Settle in for a film that feels a little bit dated. Maybe it’s veering a bit into the ridiculous end, with overdone accents and mustaches, or maybe it’s attempting to be satirical, we don’t know. The trailer is so campy, we can’t tell whether it is trying to be a mystery movie or not. However, the trailer seems to be aware of the tropes it’s building on, so maybe it has a shot at being interesting. After all, Agatha Christie is known for her ironic killers.
Nov 10 – Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
What would you do if your daughter’s murder was still unsolved? If you're Mildred Hayes, played by Frances McDormand, you call out the sheriff in three billboards along the road. Starring McDormand in a part so perfectly cast that it almost seems written with her in mind, we instantly fell in love with this surefire awards gold. We’re already in love with McDormand’s performance, and the drama in the trailer alone reminds us of director Martin McDonagh’s last film, Seven Psychopaths. The trailer was enticing enough to make us crave more.
Nov 10 - Lady Bird
In a year of nostalgic films, reminiscing about a golden age gone past, this modern coming-of age-story seems to finally get teenage angst right. The solo directorial debut of actress and writer Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird explores the relationship between a mother (Laurie Metcalf) and her rambunctious teenage daughter (Saoirse Ronan), who has decided to rename herself Lady Bird. Lady Bird seems to be everything a good ‘indie-bait’ film needs to be: quirky, offbeat, and filled with good performances, as with the film’s teenage girl leads, Saoirse Ronan and Odeya Rush.
Check back for more Moviegoer reactions to the films coming later this fall.