Legends of the Fall

The Films to Keep an Eye On This Oscar Season

By Dan Hudak

Can exotic locales, and exotic ladies, make a legend out of new Bond flick Quantum of Solace?

With autumn upon us, Oscar season has officially begun, which means better movies should be coming our way between now and the end of December. This list does not include Angelina Jolie’s reportedly Oscar-worthy turn as a 1920s woman whose young son disappears in Clint Eastwood’s Changeling (Oct. 24), or the much-anticipated adaptation of Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight (Nov. 21), but here are the five I’m looking forward to the most.

Burn After Reading (Sept. 12)

The trailers for Joel and Ethan Coen’s follow-up to No Country For Old Men look hideously stupid, with a lot of Brad Pitt twitching like a buffoon. But with a cast that also includes Oscar winners George Clooney, Frances McDormand and Tilda Swinton, how bad could it be? The story is about two gym employees (Pitt and McDormand) who come across the illicit memoirs of a CIA agent (John Malkovich). Sounds like the same nonsense that led the Coen Bros.’ “The Big Lebowski,” which was a great success, so this might just be off-the-wall enough to work. Look for my review of the film next week.

W. (Oct. 17)

Writer/director Oliver Stone (JFK) said he’s striving for “magic realism” (whatever that means) in this biography of President George W. Bush, which promises to be nothing, if not controversial. We do know that Stone will find humor in Bush’s (played by Josh Brolin) drunken escapades, but how respectfully he handles Dubya’s ascent to the White House will be most curious indeed. Will it be fair? Honest? Even if it is, will any Republican see it?

Quantum of Solace (Nov. 14)

Think of it as Daniel Craig’s opportunity to prove that his success as James Bond in Casino Royale was not a fluke. With director Marc Forster (Finding Neverland) at the helm, the movie will no doubt hit some emotional chords, as well as be the action extravaganza everyone expects. The story picks up shortly after Royale ends, with Bond investigating a Spectre-like organization named Quantum. Exotic locales (Chile, Italy, Austria and more), Bond girls good and bad, (Olga Kurylenko (Hitman) and newcomer Gemma Arterton), and the brutal action promised by the trailer have the 22nd movie of the franchise looking like it will be one of the best.

Revolutionary Road (Dec. 26)

Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio are together again for the first time since Titanic, this time playing a squabbling married couple and directed by Winslet’s husband, Sam Mendes (American Beauty). While Titanic box office numbers are unlikely, there is obvious Oscar buzz surrounding the high-profile movie, and Mendes needs a hit after the failure of Jarhead. So, even if a lengthy melodrama about domestic malcontents is hardly on anyone’s “must see” list, the track records of the parties involved deserve the benefit of the doubt.

Valkyrie (Dec. 26)

Will it suck? Is Tom Cruise’s German accent as laughable as they say? There has been so much controversy surrounding this WWII picture — starring Cruise as a Nazi officer leading a plot to assassinate Hitler — that its release date has moved three times. If nothing else, director Bryan Singer’s (The Usual Suspects) latest will be interesting … if it comes out as scheduled.