Let’s face it, 2016 has so far been sort of a crappy year for movies. It’s been a particularly bad summer blockbuster season, with almost everything coming up short. But even the indie world has been quieter than usual, with some dizzying highs — “The Witch,” “Embrace Of The Serpent,” “Green Room,” and “The Lobster” are among featured on our list of the best of the year so far — but some disappointments too.
READ MORE: The 20 Best Films Of 2016 So Far
But we’re keeping the faith that we could still end up talking about this year as a good one. And that’s because we’ve been looking ahead, and the fall season seems as stacked as we can remember, with either great movies we’ve already seen at festivals (the Cannes lineup in 2016 was one of the best in years), or other pictures that look incredibly exciting.
READ MORE: The 30 Most Anticipated Fall TV Shows
With the summer drawing to a close, and the fall festivals nearly upon us, we thought it was time to help you prep for the season to come, so below you’ll find the 50 films we’re most psyched about seeing that are due between now and December 31st. It’s a diverse bunch, from $200-million blockbusters to tiny foreign-language indies, and will hopefully remind us by year’s end that cinema’s still in raucously good health, even if the first half of the year underwhelmed. Take a look below, and let us know what you’re most excited about in the comments.
“The Light Between Oceans”
Director: Derek Cianfrance (“Blue Valentine”)
Cast: Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander, Rachel Weisz, Caren Pistorious
Synopsis: A lighthouse keeper and his wife see their lives change when a baby girl washes upon their shores in a lifeboat.
What You Need To Know: We have to confess, we’re a bit puzzled by what distributors Dreamworks and Disney are up to with “The Light Between Oceans.” The return of “Blue Valentine” and “Place Beyond The Pines” director Derek Cianfrance, and an adaptation of an acclaimed best-seller with a none-more-desirable cast, this old-school melodrama would seem like obvious Oscar-bait — except it’s being released on Labor Day, one of the quietest weekends of the year, which would normally indicate that the studio think it’s bad. But it’s also in competition at Venice, which suggests otherwise. So what’s going on? As big Cianfrance fans, and with the trailer looking gorgeous (thanks in particular to “True Detective” DP Adam Arkapaw), we’re firmly on board even if its backers don’t seem to be showing much faith in it.
Release Date: September 2nd
“Sully”
Director: Clint Eastwood (“Unforgiven”)
Cast: Tom Hanks, Aaron Eckhart, Laura Linney, Anna Gunn, Autumn Reeser
Synopsis: The true story of Captain Chesley Sullenberger, who landed a stricken plane on the Hudson saving the lives of 155 passengers.
What You Need To Know: Clint Eastwood’s no-nonsense approach to filmmaking — in, out, no messing around — has led to mixed response in recent years, with some of his films feeling a bit tossed off. But if, well into your 80s, you can toss off something like giant mega-hit “American Sniper,” the biggest film of Eastwood’s directing career by some margin, then you should probably be allowed to do whatever you want. His 35th film as director, completed at the age of 86, is in familiar thematic territory for the director, an examination of heroism and instinct based on a famous real-life event. While it seems in some respects similar to Robert Zemeckis’ “Flight,” this looks like potentially very compelling stuff from trailers, and should be a must-see if only as the first team-up between Eastwood and Tom Hanks, who plays the title character.
Release Date: Sept. 9th
“Blair Witch”
Director: Adam Wingard (“The Guest”)
Cast: James Allen McCune, Valorie Curry, Callie Hernandez, Brandon Scott, Wes Robinson
Synopsis: A group of college students head into the woods of Maryland to investigate the disappearance of the sister of one of their number, but soon realize that the legend of the Blair Witch, rumored to have been linked to it, is very real.
What You Need To Know: We love a great surprise, and Lionsgate dropped a doozy at Comic-Con: inviting a bunch of people to see top-secret horror “The Woods,” and announcing to the world while they were inside that the movie was actually a sequel/reboot to 1999 horror classic “The Blair Witch Project.” We wouldn’t be that excited about that on its own, as yet another franchise revamp, but in the hands of the extremely talented Adam Wingard, coming off “You’re Next” and “The Guest,” it certainly has our attention. Word from early screenings (some of them well in advance in Comic-Con, but even the press managed to keep the secret) is that it’s legitimately and purely terrifying, a horror expert making the most of both the mythology and the found-footage conceit that’s become increasingly tired. And from what we hear, the movie’s existence isn’t the only surprise you’ll find…
Release Date: Sept. 16th
READ MORE: ‘Blair Witch’ Is Back In Surprise Trailer For Adam Wingard’s New Horror Film
“Snowden”
Director: Oliver Stone (“JFK”)
Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Shailene Woodley, Rhys Ifans, Melissa Leo, Nicolas Cage
Synopsis: The true story of Edward Snowden, a CIA contractor who leaked evidence of global surveillance to the media and was charged with espionage by the government.
What You Need To Know: As one of the most provocative political filmmakers ever to work within the studio system, the story of Edward Snowden seemed to fit perfectly within the wheelhouse of Oliver Stone, the director of “JFK” and “Born On The Fourth Of July,” among others. But we’d perhaps feel more confident if we’d liked anything Stone had done in the last two decades — even when he makes something that feels like it should be right up his street, like Bush biopic “W.,” the results tend to disappoint. How will “Snowden” turn out? Well, a bullish presence at Comic-Con, of all places, suggests some confidence on the part of Open Road, and Cannes head Thierry Fremaux said that he thought the film was terrific (producers withdrew it from festival consideration to better its Oscar prospects). But trailers make it look a bit like a “Saturday Night Live” parody, and it has had several release-date shuffles over time. We’d love a Stone comeback — let’s just hope that this is the one to deliver it.
Release Date: Sept. 16th
“The Magnificent Seven”
Director: Antoine Fuqua (“Training Day”)
Cast: Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Peter Sarsgaard, Ethan Hawke, Haley Bennett
Synopsis: A woman hires a ragtag bunch of outlaws to avenge the death of her husband
What You Need To Know: Despite the occasional hit – “Django Unchained” being the most recent — the Western resolutely fails to come back into fashion, in part because for every success, there’s a great big flop like “The Lone Ranger” or “Cowboys & Aliens.” Could a remake of an old favorite (itself a remake) be the one to cause a true resurgence in the genre? “The Magnificent Seven” (itself based on “Seven Samurai”) is a long-standing TV favorite, and this re-boot, co-written by “True Detective” creator Nic Pizzolatto, doesn’t look to have messed with the formula too much, though we’re getting a pleasingly more diverse group of seven outlaws this time out, including newcomers Manuel Garcia-Rulfo and Martin Sensmeier, and Korean superstar Byung-hun Lee. Antoine Fuqua can be hit-and-miss, but his best work tends to come when he’s teamed with Denzel Washington, and hopefully this will be the kind of sturdy thriller that he’s capable of.
Release Date: Sept 23rd
“Queen Of Katwe”
Director: Mira Nair (“Monsoon Wedding”)
Cast: Lupita Nyong’o, David Oyelowo, Madina Nalwanga, Ntare Mwine, Maurice Kirya
Synopsis: The true story of Phiona Mutesi, a young Ugandan girl who, despite having dropped out of school, went on to be a chess champion.
What You Need To Know: Despite her scorching Oscar-winning breakthrough in “12 Years A Slave,” the only time we’ve seen Lupita Nyong’o on screen since was as a near-mute stewardess in “Non-Stop,” a movie that was shot before she became a star. The actress has become a household name thanks to Instagram and fashion shoots, but her subsequent roles have been limited to voicing CGI characters in “The Jungle Book” and “Star Wars.” Fortunately, that changes this fall, with “Queen Of Katwe,” a rare non-franchise Disney movie (in conjunction with ESPN Films). It looks a little bit… inspirational from the trailer, and director Mira Nair is a bit inconsistent (plus side: “Monsoon Wedding,” minus side: “Amelia” and “The Reluctant Fundamentalist”), but the pairing of Nyong’o and David Oyelowo is enough to sell us a ticket, especially if the film comes anywhere close to the great chess movie “Searching For Bobby Fischer.” And as much as anything, there should be more mainstream movies telling African stories, so this is something to be applauded.
Release Date: September 23rd
“Deepwater Horizon”
Director: Peter Berg (“Lone Survivor”)
Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Gina Rodriguez, John Malkovich, Kurt Russell, Kate Hudson
Synopsis: The true story of the disaster on the Deepwater Horizon, an oil rig that suffered a devastating fire and explosion that caused the largest environmental disaster in U.S. history.
What You Need To Know: After the success of “Lone Survivor,” we’re getting two team-ups of Peter Bergand Mark Wahlbergin the coming months, and your happiness about that might vary a bit depending on how you felt about that military pic. Berg’s obvious talent as a filmmaker (see “Friday Night Lights” or “The Kingdom”) is sometimes overshadowed by a sort of moony-eyed worship of male heroics (see “Battleship”), and the story of “Deepwater Horizon” could potentially play into some of his worst instincts. But trailers have been undeniably stirring, he’s assembled a strong cast here, and there’s no denying the potency of the material, or Berg’s potential to bring a docudrama-style approach to the disaster movie. Would we rather have seen J.C. Chandor, who was originally set to make the movie, do this? Sure. But we’re open to the idea that Berg could turn it into something gripping.
Release Date: Sept 30th
“Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children”
Director: Tim Burton (“Alice In Wonderland”)
Cast: Asa Butterfield, Eva Green, Samuel L. Jackson, Ella Purnell, Judi Dench
Synopsis: A young boy discovers a time warp into a mysterious island where an enigmatic woman runs a sanctuary for children with extraordinary abilities.
What You Need To Know: One of the hackier elements of internet video has been the ‘What If A Director With A Signature Visual Style Made A Popular Pop-Culture Property’ kind. You know, ‘What if Wes Anderson Directed ‘Star Wars’?” or ‘What If Tim Burton Directed The X-Men?’ But our campaign against this scourge has been struck a blow, because Burton has basically gone and directed his version of an X-Men movie, and it looks quite good. The once-beloved filmmaker has had a horrible run of late, but this adaptation of Ransom Rigg’s YA novel looks like it could be more palatable than most of his: within his wheelhouse, sure, but in a way that feels pleasing rather than lazy. In part, it might help that he’s stepped away from staple actors Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter, with a promising young cast anchored by the great Eva Green. Hopefully the Burton-aissance starts here.
Release Date: Sept 30th
“American Honey”
Director: Andrea Arnold (“Fish Tank”)
Cast: Sasha Lane, Shia LaBoeuf, Arielle Holmes, Riley Keough, Will Patton
Synopsis: A young teenage girl joins a magazine-selling crew and travels the country with them.
What You Need To Know: After a five year gap after her underrated “Wuthering Heights,” Andrea Arnold came back at Cannes this year with her first U.S.-set film, coming-of-age tale “American Honey,” and the return proved to be utterly welcome. Something of a spiritual successor to her finest hour “Fish Tank” in some ways, down to the Academy ratio look and stunning Robbie Ryan photography, it’s an epic (nearly three-hour) encapsulation of youth, a film that Jess’s review at Cannes called “nectar-hued, poignant, yet propulsive,” a film that “captures the experience of being young in a way that you don’t get to experience when you are young.” With a breakout turn from newcomer Sasha Lane, and one from Shia LaBoeuf that reminds us of why we all got excited about him in the first place, the film also won Arnold her third Jury Prize from Cannes if you needed another reason to start queueing now.
Release Date: September 30th
“Birth Of A Nation”
Director: Nate Parker
Cast: Nate Parker, Armie Hammer, Aunjanue Ellis, Gabrielle Union, Aja Naomi King
Synopsis: The story of Nat Turner, a slave and preacher who led a slave rebellion in Virginia in 1831.
What You Need To Know: The directorial debut of actor Nate Parker (“Red Hook Summer,” “Non-Stop”) is surprisingly (or perhaps not, given Hollywood’s reluctance to tell slavery narratives), the first time the story of Nat Turner has properly been brought to screen. As long overdue as it felt, the film blew the roof off Sundance when it premiered there in January, and has only become more topical since in light of the epidemic of murders of African-Americans by police officers, the ongoing struggles of the Black Lives Matter movement, and the shootings in Dallas and Baton Rouge. Against that backdrop, and in the context of the ongoing industry debates about diversity in the Academy, the path to the Oscars seemed assured, until recent revelations about Parker’s past (and that of Jean McGianni Celestin who shares story credit) came to light. How that controversy develops, and how much it will impact on the film’s reception remains to be seen, but with our review from Sundance calling it a “howl of anguish and rage,” it’s an undeniably powerful piece of work, that now has lightning-rod significance not just for the issue of race in America, but also for a whole different debate about the artist vs the art.
Release Date: Rolling out from October 7th.
