Trailer Talk: SEPTEMBER 2015 – Gangsters, Vampires, Nymphos & Lots Of Old People

While Summer movie reason wraps up, we now look ahead to the Fall season as TV Shows come back, and the year winds down with the less than anticipated films start pouring out. September 2015 is a case of hum drum movies that are squeezing out in between the major blockbusters. 

But there are still some pretty interesting films this month, on a more smaller scale. Check out all the Movie Trailers for September 2015 in this month’s Trailer Talk, and be sure to share your most anticipated movie this month in the comments below.

TRANSPORTER: REFUELED (September 4th, 2015)

After the failure of his most recent franchise with ‘Taken 3‘, Writer/Director Luc Besson (‘Lucy’) tries to re-invigorate another franchise that’s been dead in the water for a while now. After a mundane TV Series revival, the ‘Transporter’ franchise returns with ‘Transporter Refuelled’ which looks as empty as all the sequels that followed the original. With Ed Skrein in the role of the Transporter, ‘Refuelled’ looks like a superficial attempt at bringing back the franchise, that apparently has announced another 2 movies following the release of this. ‘Refuelled’ sees the ‘Taken’ team take on (pun intended) the story of the mythical Transporter, a mysterious origin-less man known for being a getaway driver and delivery man for hire. Ed Skrein, mostly known for his brief appearance as Daario on ‘Game Of Thrones‘ before being recast, does a very good imitation of Jason Statham, but unfortunately it comes off just like that, an imitation.

A WALK IN THE WOODS (September 4th, 2015)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suK1e_3zNHg 

A Comedy with a pair of actors that have to be the least likely to be in a comedy; Robert Redford (‘Spy Game‘) and Nick Nolte (‘Warrior‘) team up in an elderly buddy comedy about a man in his golden years wanting to experience some adventure, and doing so with an estranged friend. ‘A Walk In The Woods’ is supplemented with an all star supporting cast consisting of Oscar Alumni such as Emma Thompson (‘Stranger Than Fiction‘). Directed by Ken Kwapis, a veteran of NBC TV Comedies such as ‘The Office‘ & ‘Parks & Recreation’ directs this movie with a script written by Michael Arndt whose last comedy was ‘Little Miss Sunshine‘, as well as Bill Holderman who has exclusively thus far worked in movies starring or directed by Robert Redford.

‘A Walk In The Woods’ looks hilarious and it’s going to be worth a watch just to see these two Oscar caliber actors yukking it up on screen in a situational comedy.

BEFORE WE GO (September 4th, 2015)

Captain America directs his first feature film. ‘Before We Go‘ is an all out romantic movie about the story of two people meeting coincidentally and sharing a night of adventure that brings them together. Chris Evans (‘Avengers: Age Of Ultron‘) turns director in this movie written by writer Ronald Bass who’s most successful film was over 10 years ago with ‘Snow Falling On Cedars‘. The movie itself looks like a sweet and romantic drama with Alice Eve (‘Star Trek Into Darkness‘) and a really good attempt by the actor in his first directorial attempt.

THE PERFECT GUY (September 11th, 2015)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CikoxQ4ytI4 

From the same writer of ‘Menace II Society‘, comes a romantic thriller starring Morris Chestnut & Sanaa Lathan. A divorced woman starts a relationship with another man after her marriage, only to find out that he is unhinged and psychotic. The break out in this movie is Michael Ealy (‘Almost Human’) playing the role of the initially charming, yet ultimately psychotic boyfriend who can’t let the woman go once she reunites with her husband. The movie seems to break down into a complete thriller by that point. Ealy is a great actor and ‘The Perfect Guy’ could be his opportunity to give a performance that may lead to bigger and better things in the future.

THE VISIT (September 11th, 2015)

M. Night Shyamalan may not be everyone’s favorite Writer/Director, due to his one note style of directing and his even quirkier sense of writing which takes odd choices in character development and story progression. Despite this, it’s hard to argue that the filmmaker did provide some innovative films in multiple genres in his earlier days. Looking to bounce back, ‘The Visit’ is written and directed by Shyamalan, and apparently Shyamalan alone, and it is officially listed on IMDB as a ‘Horror / Comedy’, so that alone would be reason to write this off.

The story features a brother / sister duo visiting their grandparents only to discover crazy supernatural things happening and a secret behind it all. The Trailer shows some strange scenes, and seems less of a horror film and more of a horror satire in a semi serious way. Difficult to say, but things will be clearer once the film releases.

ABOUT RAY (September 11th, 2015)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48B9wSy4kPg 

With ‘Transparent’ taking home all the Television awards last season and Bruce Jenner’s transformation into Caitlyn Jenner happening earlier this year, the Transgender movement is slowly being represented on screen in a variety of ways. ‘About Ray’ is another perspective into this, as a young teenage girl goes through her own journey into becoming who she feels she was meant to be.

The film stars Naomi Watts (‘St. Vincent’) and Susan Sarandon (‘Cloud Atlas’), but most notably, fresh off of her role in ‘Maleficient‘ as an actual Disney princess, Elle Fanning plays the titular Ray. It seems like this will be a breakout performance for the young actress, similar to how ‘Boys Don’t Cry‘ was for Hillary Swank in a similar role.

COMING HOME (September 11th, 2015)

‘Coming Home‘ looks to be an Asian version of ‘The Notebook‘ with the backdrop of a war. The story seems to focus on a couple being separated by war, and upon the man’s return, the wife seems to no recognize him or rememeber who he is. He has to then enter her life and try to remind her of the good times and the bad. While it is an Asian film, the emotional journey of the characters seem like they will be relatable to a more universal audience.

SLEEPING WITH OTHER PEOPLE (September 11th, 2015)

The cutesy good girl from ‘Community’, Alison Brie, turns sex addict in this relationship comedy with Jason Sudeikis. A story about two promiscious people, who decide to remove sex from their friendship, find themselves becoming closer because of it. Sudeikis is on a high with successes like ‘Horrible Bosses 2′ and even more upcoming comedy movies in the works. This is a departure for Brie as people will mostly recall her as the morally uptight Annie from ‘Community’.

TIME OUT OF MIND (September 11th, 2015)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dxk8pgNByv0 

‘Time Out Of Mind‘ has Richard Gere playing a homeless man trying to reconnect with his long lost daughter. The movie is written by Jeffrey Caine who also wrote ‘Goldeneye‘ as well as ‘Exodus: Gods & Kings‘. While those movies were great action set action films, this seems more restraint and emotional at its core, with Gere putting in a powerful performance.

90 MINUTES IN HEAVEN (September 11th, 2015)

From Anakin Skywalker to a manhaving a near death experience, Hayden Christensen stars in this movie based on a Best Selling book. The story features Christensen’s character almost dying and having a heavenly experience during it all that changes him and touches his family and others around him in a profound manner. While the movie looks mostly like a Christian informercial, a lot is spoiled in the Trailer regarding if the main character will live or die, and the main plot seems a little confusing based on no clear conflict or focus.

EVEREST (September 18th, 2015)

This is exciting. Simply titled ‘Everest’, the movie  is written by William Nicholson (‘Gladiator’, ‘Unbroken’) and Simon Beaufoy (‘Slumdog Millionaire’) about an expedition to Mount Everest that meets a severe snowstorm resulting in extreme challenges on an already dangerous terrain. The film is directed by Baltasar Kormakur (‘2 Guns’) who has had a spotty track record at the box office, at best. What is really interesting about this film is its all star cast with actors such as Jake Gyllenhaal (‘Southpaw‘), Josh Brolin (‘Guardians Of The Galaxy‘), Sam Worthington (‘Avatar‘), Jason Clarke (‘Terminator: Genisys‘) and many many more. The film boasts of incredible star power, which alone should make it worthy of a look.

MAZE RUNNER: THE SCORCH TRIALS (September 18th, 2015)

Sequel to the young adult series ‘The Maze Runner‘ hits theatres this month. Entitled ‘The Scorch Trials‘, the films carries on the cast from the first film leading off with Dylan O’Brien. The sequel is also directed by director of the first film, Wes Ball. The movie looks to up the antes setup by the first film and expand the franchise.

BLACK MASS (September 18th, 2015)

Based on a book by the same name, ‘Black Mass‘ will see Johnny Depp as a real life Irish Mob Boss, who made a deal with the FBI, turning informant in order to take down a rival gang. The film is directed by Scott Cooper (‘Crazy Heart‘) with a screenplay by debutant screenwriter Mark Mallouk & Jez Butterworth (‘Edge Of Tomorrow‘) The film looks like a brutally well done story with stellar performance by, a heavily make up clad Depp, along with a strong supporting cast consisting of Joel Edgerton, Benedict Cumberbatch, Kevin Bacon, Dakota Johnson  and Corey Stoll.

SICARIO (September 18th, 2015)

After portraying a battle-worn solder in ‘Edge Of Tomorrow‘, Emily Blunt returns as a  Federal agent tracking down a drug lord in Mexico in this border drama. Directed by Denis Villeneuve, (‘Prisoners‘) who is also attached to the new ‘Bladerunner‘ sequel, the movie seems to be full of taut action and thrilling moments of intense suspense. The cast rounds itself out with Josh Brolin, Benicio Del toro & Jon Bernthal (‘The Walking Dead‘).

PAWN SACRIFICE (September 18th, 2015)

One of the more underrated directors of the business returns with a well known story in ‘Pawn Sacrifice‘. Edward Zwick (‘The Last Samurai’) directs this movie with a script by Steven Knight (‘Seventh Son‘) about the story of chess protege Bobby Fischer facing off against a Russian chess master at a time when tensions between the USA and Russia were high, and their simple game of chess was seen as a symbolic stand off between the two nations. The movie chronicles the rise and fall of the famous Fischer, showcasing all his flaw and issues in, what looks like, a tremendous performance by Tobey Maguire. (‘Spider-Man‘)

CAPTIVE (Septmber 18th, 2015)

A screenwriter and director, both of whom have had mostly TV experience, come together to adapt a suspense thriller book starring Kate Mara (‘Fantastic Four‘) and David Oyelowo (‘Selma‘). About a single mother who is also a recovering addict, ‘Captive’ tells the story of an escaped convict (Oyelowo) and how both these characters cross paths, and are affected by each others’ influence in their lives.

While Oyelowo is known to attach himself with powerful projects, the writer and director don’t have a history that’s exiciting or proven enough to deem this intriguing at all. Kate Mara has also lost a lost of credibility since the abysmal travesty that became ‘Fantastic Four‘, so one wonders if this will fare better than a few weeks in theatres, if that.

HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA 2 (Septemebr 25th, 2015)

Adam Sandler hasn’t been on much of a streak lately. Actually, he’s been on a downward spiral towards just really bad movies. His only saving grace is an animated film, the sequel to which releases this month that is a lot less offensive and actually enjoyable than his usual body of work.

‘Hotel Transylvania 2‘ sees the Dracular character of Sandler’s having to face new challenges as a grandfather and all the shenanigans that come with it. The Trailer definitely peaks interest and makes it very easy to be excited for this movie, especially for the kids.

THE INTERN (September 25th, 2015)

After Oscar award worthy performances in his career working with legendary Directors, more recently Robert De Niro has been trying his hand at heartwarming comedies. This time the powerhouse actor teams with the bubbly Anne Hathaway (‘The Dark Knight Rises‘) in an endearing comedy about an elderly man being an intern at a hip and youthful company for a young up and coming CEO.

The Trailers shows how the movie hits all the right notes between silly, practical and formulaic comedy, with the typical reaction cuts to punchlines, but with the talent on and off camera, hopefully the film will be more than what it appears to be.

99 HOMES (September 25th, 2015)

After the debacle that was ‘Amazing Spiderman 2‘, (My Review here) fan favorite Andrew Garfield bounces back with a gripping real life story about a family losing their home due to foreclosure from the bank. In a story with a topic that may have not been handled too much in recent times, Garfield plays a young single dad, who gets thrown out of his home by a Real Estate Broker (Michael Shannon). The story then progresses to how Garfield’s character ends up working for Shannon and essentially victimizes others the way he was in order to provide for his family. The moral greys of survival seem to be touched upon in this movie.

With a director whose background is mostly in short films and documentaries, ‘99 Homes‘ seems like it will be a gut wrenching story about real life impacts to people all over the US or anywhere where the recession has hit hard. Garfield’s performance looks intense, and is reason alone to give this a look.

MISSISSIPPI GRIND (September 25th, 2015)

Writer / Director duo of Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden, whose most notable film was ‘Half Nelson‘ with Ryan Gosling, brings about another deceptively low budget movie with character driven drama. A down and out gambler, meets his lucky charm in Ryan Reynolds, and decides to take him on the road to try to get out of debt. 

The vague set up and uninteresting plot makes ‘Mississippi Grind‘ seem boring and flat, despite great actors like Reynolds and Ben Mendelsohn. This may end up being one of the smaller released indie films that gets little recognition. 

That wraps it up for this month’s Trailer Talk. Be sure to let me know in the comments below which movie you’ll be checking out in theaters this month. 

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