Smoothie at the movies: October preview

The air is filled with pumpkin spiced lattes and cool breezes welcoming us all to the first days of fall. Along with the atmospheric changes comes a wave of big time, award worthy films. From the dark to the funny to the completely insane — October is shaping up to be a big movie month. Here is a roundup of worthy top picks to watch during long coffee breaks or during late nights at home in your big comfy sweaters.

 October 3^rd: Gone Girl 

The film adaptation of  Gillian Flynn’s novel shook up the book club world. With its dark, twisting affairs and turns of deception, it’s unlikely aHollywood director would be able to paint the score on the silver screen.

Luckily for all of us, this story is right in director David Fincher’s pallet wheelhouse. The Social Network director has put together an eerily perfect cast of big names in seemingly odd roles (even getting Tyler Perry to put down the wig and play a hard hitting attorney). Moreover, casting an unknown actor in the main role (a pitch perfect Rosamund Pike) encourages the audience to forget about Cinematic names and embrace the film for its performative value.

Though we aren’t sure whether the movie have the same ending as the book (a common concern that original novel fans have) is still, with Fincher at the helm of the production, it’s gonna be a dark and disturbing cinematic ride.

 October 24th: St. Vincent

It seems like a typical premise: Bill Murray plays a rough edged older man who befriends a little kid and gets into trouble with said kid in humorous and inappropriate ways. The thing with that premise is, it’s exactly what people want to see Bill Murray do! He is one of the greatest American roustabouts and to see him don that cap on film every so often is always a treat. The real trick will be Melissa McCarthy playing the straight man to Bill Murray (which after movies like Tammy and Identity Theft will be a welcome change for her), and whether or not the kid (Jaeden Lieberher) can hang with the madness — that is Murray.

 Birdman: October 17th

First off: This movie looks insane — in the best possible way: pure insanity. Michael Keaton (all hail Michael Keaton) plays a former superhero actor who’s still trying to shake off the image of just being the guy in the wing suit that was Birdman while, hopefully, asserting his status as a serious actor (sounds familiar). While struggling to adapt, direct and star in a Broadway play, Keaton slowly delves into lunacy with the most humorous results and beautiful hallucinatory visions. This could be the craziest role Keaton has played since Beetleguise, and maybe he’ll finally get the Oscar he deserved to win way back when.

October 10th: Whiplash

Miles Teller has been moving up in the Hollywood movie world for a few years now. He’s always played a smart, quick, funny, handsome kid usually sticking in the rom-com realm. So playing a soft spoken, aspiring jazz student being pushed too far by the destructive force (the instructor played by J.K. Simmons) is a wonderful move to reveal the actor’s depth and range to the worlds — before he becomes an absolute household name in next year’s blockbuster ‘Fantastic Four’ reboot, of course.

October 17th: Fury    

Brad Pitt goes back to war. It’s late WWII Germany, 1945. A group of ragged soldiers battle ferociously through the German countryside inside their trusted Sherman tank (affectionately name ‘Fury’). Lead by Wardaddy (Pitt) the small tight nit crew fights for the real truth of war, for each other. The action comes across claustrophobic and panic stricken. The whole cast looks perfectly placed in their roles and this may be the first movie in a long time that  it may achieve an impossible feat: even Shia LaBeouf can’t ruin it.

The Scary Stuff:

Tis the season for ghosts and goblins, so here’s a few horror films coming out that might tickle your fancy:

October 3rd: Annabelle

A porcelain doll turns deadly on a family who finds her and brings her home. Think Chucky without the jokes.

October 24th: Ouija

A girl dies and her friends set off to talk to her in the afterlife by using the same Ouija board that had killed her and now haunt them… Yes I realize that I just wrote that.