Into the Vast Unknown: 10 Most Anticipated Movies of the Fall

It feels almost silly to state the obvious, but let’s state it anyway: There has never been a year like this. This, of course, does not refer only to the cinema, but for our purposes here, we shall confine our conversation to matters of the cinema.

In past years, Last Cinema Standing’s Most Anticipated Movies of the Fall has referred exclusively to the films we are excited to see on the big screen in the final four months of the year. That will not be possible this year. Though theaters are open in much of the country, they are not open in Los Angeles, and even if they were, I would not feel comfortable sitting with strangers in a room right now. I do not foresee that being the case any time in the near future.

Given these unprecedented circumstances, the process of putting together this list of 10 movies was more melancholy than any that came before. It hurts to know I will not be seeing any of these films in a dark theater, on a giant screen, with a crowd of fellow movie fans, united in our love of the cinema.

These times force me to consider the very name of this site and its mission statement, which has always been to defend the sanctity of the moviegoing experience until the last theater shuts its doors. Last Cinema Standing. Never has that name felt more literal, nor has that possibility felt closer. The trend lines are pointing in the wrong direction for this industry I love, and if there is one thing that cannot be stopped, it is the march of time. 

I try hard not to be an antiquarian about these things. The world changes, technology advances, tastes change, etc., but anyone who has lived to watch a generation or two pass by understands what it is to feel the times are leaving you behind. Evolve or go extinct. Those pangs of sadness, however, are real when we consider that beyond which we have evolved. But it is still better than the alternative.

No one knows what the future holds, but the cinema will be changing. That much is certain. It is on those of us who love the movies to change with it, to hope that it continues to reflect our values and interests. We must trust that the cinema of the future will be a cinema we can love. I suppose as long as the lights still go down and the projector still comes on, throwing moving images at a blank wall, there will be something there to love.

Until we meet in that dark room again, Last Cinema Standing’s 10 Most Anticipated Movies of the Fall:

10. News of the World, directed by Paul Greengrass (Dec. 25)

The last collaboration between Paul Greengrass and Tom Hanks was the gripping, boots-on-the-ground thriller Captain Phillips, which is perhaps better remembered in popular culture for the thousands of “I am the captain now” jokes it spawned than its artistic merits. But make no mistake -- Greengrass’ film was full of the kind of artistry his “shaky-cam” detractors would have you believe he lacks. Few directors out there fill their films with as much tension and dread, and Hanks brings the gravitas to match.

9. Dick Johnson Is Dead, directed by Kirsten Johnson (Oct. 2)

A brief personal anecdote: In 2016, my wife and I attended a random weekday evening screening of Kirsten Johnson’s Camera Person at the IFC Center in the Village. I had heard good things and was excited to check it out for myself. The film was tremendous, and as the credits rolled, Johnson came walking down the aisle and took a spot in the crowd for an impromptu Q-and-A session. She was witty, engaging, and informative, and on the spot, I became a fan for life. I am excited for this and for anything else she plans to make.

8. Black Widow, directed by Cate Shortland (Nov. 6)

Black Widow should have had her own solo film a long time ago. It is hard to believe we have three Thor movies, three Iron Man movies, and two new Spider-man outings without a Black Widow-centric film. The absence is more than a little embarrassing when considering the first 10 years of the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a whole. Now, it arrives, and it brings along not only star Scarlett Johansson but Florence Pugh, the most exciting young performer in Hollywood. If we had to wait, Pugh’s industry ascent and appearance here mean the wait will have been worth it.

7. Mank, directed by David Fincher (TBA)

A biopic of Citizen Kane co-writer Herman J. Mankiewicz by one of the most revered directors working today, this has me of two minds. David Fincher is not always for me, and I blanch at any attempt to undermine Orson Welles’ role in making the greatest film of all time. That said, I devour Citizen Kane content, and while I do not think Fincher’s films all work, even those that do not work are interesting failures. So, count me in on this one.

6. Soul, directed by Pete Docter and Kemp Powers (Nov. 20)

Somehow, Pixar made it 25 years and 22 films without a black lead. For one of the most innovative and creative production companies in the business, that is a shameful record. For my money, Coco, the only Pixar film with a person of color in the lead, is the studio’s crowning achievement. Starring Jamie Foxx, Soul appears to follow in the footsteps of the more introspective, experimental Inside Out (also directed by Pete Docter), and with a supporting cast that includes, Quest Love, Daveed Diggs, Phylicia Rashad, Angela Bassett, and Richard Ayoade, I say bring it on.

5. Ammonite, directed by Francis Lee (Nov. 13)

Kate Winslet never really went away. She has worked steadily in both film and television after a brief post-Oscar hiatus from 2008-2011 to focus on her family. She earned her seventh Academy Award nomination in 2015 for Steve Jobs and has continued to deliver brilliant performances in middling to good movies such as Wonder Wheel and The Dressmaker. For whatever reason, though, Ammonite feels like a comeback, and I could not be more here for it. Put Winslet in everything, and I will have a ticket to everything.

4. Stillwater, directed by Tom McCarthy (Nov. 6)

Tom McCarthy was already one of my favorite filmmakers before Spotlight took the top prize at the Oscars. His first three films, The Station Agent, The Visitor, and Win Win, are masterworks of human emotion, exploring the deep need for connection that we all share. Then he went and made one of the best films of the 2010s (we’ll call The Cobbler an anomaly). He appears to be back in prestige waters here with this international mystery. 

3. Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, directed by George C. Wolfe (TBA)

This would have been high on the list anyway. We have words like anticipation for films like this: an adaptation of a play by August Wilson, that giant of the American stage, starring Viola Davis, whose only Oscar win came for Wilson’s Fences in 2016. Now, however, in the wake of the tragic death of Chadwick Boseman, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom affords us our last chance to see new work by the talented performer. It is our opportunity to mourn and to celebrate an actor who had so much more to give.

2. I’m Thinking of Ending Things, directed by Charlie Kaufman (Sept. 4)

We do not have to wait long for this now, but it feels like forever since existentialist filmmaker par excellence Charlie Kaufman has gifted us a vision of the world as he sees it. We got the lovely Anomalisa in 2015, but this will be just Kaufman’s second live-action feature film, following up his masterpiece of a directorial debut from 2008, Synecdoche, N.Y. With rising star Jessie Buckley, of Wild Rose and Judy fame, on board, this is an instant must-see that is guaranteed to be more interesting than almost any other film that will be released this year.

1. Nomadland, directed by Chloé Zhao (Dec. 4)

It is easy to be excited about a new film from Chloé Zhao, whose The Rider is one of the great humanist dramas of the past decade and made my list of the top 10 films of 2018. She has a clear directorial voice that is apparent already at this early stage of her career, and like many immigrant filmmakers working in the US, she has a better instinct for the truth of the American experience than most native artists. Adding Frances McDormand to the top of the poster only increases that excitement.

Selfishly, this may also be the last time we get to see a work by Zhao before she is catapulted into the stratosphere by her next film, Marvel’s The Eternals. All the greats are going to franchises, and they are making the best films in those franchises (Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther, Rian Johnson’s The Last Jedi, etc.). I have all the faith in the world that Zhao will make The Eternals special. 

So, let’s enjoy what is likely to be the last purely independent work by a brilliant independent artist. If there is justice in the world, which there so rarely is, money will be flying at Zhao for anything she wants to do next. And I will be there on opening night for whatever that is -- whether in a theater or in my living room, in whatever form the cinema takes.