Autumn & Winter Preview

After what has been a sluggish summertime period at the box office, the Hollywood juggernaut finds its way lumbering towards the typically congested Autumn and Winter period. So what’s coming up in the next few months…

Fans of blockbusters will have a busy time of things this Winter as one saga comes to a close, with the epic conclusion to the Hobbit Trilogy in the form of the ‘Battle of Five Armies’ and Katniss and Co return in ‘Mockingjay: Part 1’. Peter Jackson’s final soiree into the world of Middle Earth is sure to be crammed full of action and despair as Smaug char-grills Laketown and the mother of all battles erupts under the doors of Erebor. As for The Hunger Games, this is likely to be a much more large scale saga than the previous two instalments as the Districts descend into revolution. What else? Well keep an eye out for another duplicitous turn from the late, great Phillip Seymour-Hoffman as Plutarch, and Jennifer Lawrence to ramp up the levels of badassery as the lead.

If crime and thrillers are more your bag, then the next few weeks could be for you, as three big titles come to the big screen. Liam Neeson’s returns in a new role that looks like it may combine the action of Taken with a bit more character depth with the release of ‘A Walk Amongst the Tombstones’. ‘Gone Girl’ follows the story of English actress Rosamund Pike, who is finally getting some well deserved attention from Hollywood, and newly-caped Batman Ben Affleck as Pike’s character goes missing in suspicious circumstances. The film received a warm reception at the Toronto Film Festival recently, so may be an Awards season dark horse. Finally, Denzel Washington returns as a former Black Ops Commando gone rogue in ‘The Equalizer’, a film that reunites the lead with Antoine Fuqua, director of the excellent ‘Training Day’ back in 2002.

Keep an eye open for two British stars that may just be getting Award nominations come the New Year. Benedict Cumberbatch plays tortured genius Alan Turing in ‘The Imitation Game’ (Which, being based on a fascinating true story, is a must see) and Eddie Redmayne emerges from his Marius shaped shadow to play Professor Stephen Hawking in ‘The Theory of Everything’. Talking of male leads, this autumn sees the opportunity to see how Luke Evans fares as a leading light in ‘Dracula Untold’. The story follows the demise of Vlad Tepes from loving father to Vampire and promises a smorgasbord of special affects and could be the anti-hero version of ‘Batman Begins’. Alternatively it could be a rather expensive flop, which would be a shame. However if there is bound to be at least one Turkey this Christmas, it has to be the re-vamped ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ – I’ve got the feeling the gang should’ve stayed in their shells. Nevertheless on the flip side of the coin, the surprise Christmas cracker may just be ‘Foxcatcher’, the real-life story of the Schultzes, the pair of wrestling brothers played by Mark Ruffalo and Channing Tatum, and their relationship with Du Pont, a super-rich benefactor played by Steve Carrell. Expect surprisingly powerful performances as well as an unusually straight-laced Carrell receiving plaudits from across the board.

Ok, so there’s some of the big titles, but here’s my 3 to watch (Er, literally and metaphorically). ‘Fury’ is a WW2 epic fronted by Brad Pitt that could reach the heights of ‘Saving Private Ryan’. ‘The Drop’ is a slightly more indie gangster piece that sees Tom Hardy dabble in the shady world of money laundering which should give him ample opportunity to showcase his gritty talent. However, the stand-out film to watch this Winter has to be the return of Christopher Nolan with ‘Interstellar’. A film that combines the brilliance of Nolan behind the camera with the excellence of Hollywood’s Man-of-the-hour Mathew Mcounaughey and the always brilliant Anne Hathaway could just create a classic piece of sci-fi.  

So there we have it, a brief, superficial look at what will be gracing the screens in the months to come. 2014 may not have been a vintage year so far, but with title after title coming off the production line it could just turn stellar; in more ways than one.