Fall Movie Preview Top 10

With the summer drawing to a close, everyone can take see the change of the seasons. The leaves in the trees are changing, sweater weather is in full effect as it gets colder, and seasoned drinks are sold in coffee shops. This is also the time where dark horses are released for limited release and deep-cut dramas make their bids for the upcoming Oscar race.

This upcoming fall season will have more of the same. Audiences will also see Jennifer Lawrence take flight in the final Hunger Games, Johnny Depp will go gangster in Black Mass, and Daniel Craig shows his license to kill for the fourth time in Spectre. We'll also return to a galaxy far, far away with old friends and new comrades to battle a galactic evil.

Here is my top 10 films for the fall season:

10 - The Intern: September 25

Starring Robert De Niro and Anne Hathaway

70-year-old widower Ben Whittaker (De Niro) has discovered that retirement isn't all it's cracked up to be. Seizing an opportunity to get back into the game, he becomes a senior intern at an online fashion site, founded and run by Jules Ostin (Hathaway). Ostin is balancing a lot in her life but she finds an amazing support from the life-seasoned Whittaker.

9 - Crimson Peak: October 16

Starring Tom Hiddleston, Mia Wasikowska, Jessica Chastain, and Charlie Hunnam

In the aftermath of a family tragedy, an aspiring author (Wasikowska) is torn between love for her childhood friend (Hunnam) and the temptation of a mysterious outsider (Hiddleston). Trying to escape the ghosts of her past, she is swept away to a house that breathes, bleeds...and remembers with its own form of ghosts.

8 - Black Mass: September 18

Starring: Johnny Depp, Benedict Cumberbatch, Dakota Johnson, Joel Edgerton.

The bio-film is the true story of Whitey Bulger (Depp), the brother of a state senator (Cumberbatch) and the most infamous violent criminal in the history of South Boston, who became an FBI informant to take down a Mafia family invading his turf.

7 - Bridge of Spies: October 16

Starring: Tom Hanks, Amy Ryan, and Mark Rylance

An American lawyer (Hanks) is recruited by the CIA during the Cold War to help rescue a pilot (Rylance) detained in the Soviet Union. This film marks Steven Spielberg's 29th feature film as a director, his fourth with Hanks. With the history tag team of Hanks and Spielberg together, this film has a lot of potential of being a dark horse in my eyes for the Oscar race on some level.

6 - Creed: November 25

Starring: Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone

No, it's not another Rocky film so we don't have to worry about Stallone stepping into the ring again. This is a spinoff in the same universe which sees the former World Heavyweight Champion Balboa (Stallone) serve as a trainer and mentor to Adonis Creed (Jordan), the son of his late friend and former rival Apollo Creed. Despite Jordan's first box office failure this summer with the Fantastic Four reboot, I think this vehicle could help the Fruitvale Station star into a legitimate star.

5 - The Martian: October 2

Starring: Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kate Mara, and Sebastian Stan

During a manned mission to Mars, Astronaut Mark Watney (Damon) is presumed dead after a fierce storm and left behind by his crew. But Watney has survived and finds himself straded and alone on the hostile planet. With only meager supplies, he must draw upon his ingenuity, wit, and spirit to subsist and find a way to signal Earth that he is alive.

4 - Spectre: November 6

Starring Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz, Ralph Fiennes, and Lea Seydoux

A cryptic message from Bond's (Craig) past sends him on a trail to uncover a sinister organization. While M (Fiennes) battles political forces to keep the secret service alive, Bond peels back the layers of deceit to reveal the terrible truth behind SPECTRE.

3 - The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2

Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth, Josh Hutcherson, and Woody Harrelson

After being symbolized as the "Mockingjay" for the rebellion, Katniss Everdeen (Lawrence) and District 13 engage in an all-out revolution against the autocratic Capitol. This film is four years in the making as one of the most successful film franchises of this generation comes to an end. I will definitely be there on opening night to join the rebellion.

2 - Joy: December 25

Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Edgar Ramirez, Bradley Cooper, and Robert De Niro

Joy is the story of a family across four generations and the woman (Lawrence) who rises to become founder and matriarch of a power family business dynasty. This film pairs David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook, The Fighter, American Hustle) back together with Academy Award Winner Lawrence and fellow Russell alumni Cooper and De Niro. I think this film could seriously be up for a Best Picture nomination and could get Lawrence her third Best Actress nomination when the Oscar night arrives.

1 - Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens: December 18

Starring: Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, John Boyega, and Daisy Ridley.

A continuation of the saga created by George Lucas set thirty years after the events of Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi. Not much has been revealed about the overall plot of the movie but if you have been keeping track of the recent pictures, it looks as though the galaxy is back in chaos by a new threat known as the First Order and a union of fighters known as the Resistance. Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, and Princess Leia return along with new comrades Rey (Daisy Ridley) and runaway stormtrooper Finn (John Boyega).

The original trilogy made a tremendous impression on my life and made me fall in love with movies. As a fan, I cannot wait to see what director J.J. Abrams has done and the direction he is leading the universe that George Lucas created many years ago.

Matt Damon is the last man on the red planet in 'The Martian'

Matt Damon seems to love outer space as he has shown in two of his recent films, Elysium and a brief role in Chris Nolan's Interstellar. Now, Matt Damon is going to find out two things in his new film: no one can hear you scream in space and when you get left behind, you are alone...especially if that planet is light-years away from home. 

In The Martian, Astronaut Mark Watney (Damon) is a part of a manned mission to Mars. After a fierce storm, Watney is presumed dead and left behind by his crew. But Watney has survived, finding himself stranded and alone on the hostile next door neighbor of Earth. With only meager supplies, he must draw upon his ingenuity, wit, and spirit to survive and find a way to signal to Earth that he is alive. 

Co-starring with the former Bourne actor is Jessica Chastain (not Bryce Dallas-Howard for those who get the two confused), Kate Mara (Fantastic Four), Sebastian Stan (Captain America: The Winter Soldier), Jeff Daniels (HBO's The Newsroom), 12 Years a Slave Oscar Nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Sean Bean (HBO's Game of Thrones). 

Based on the Best-Selling Novel by Andy Weir, The Martian is directed by Ridley Scott (Blade Runner, Prometheus, American Gangster) and will be released on October 2. 

Look out, Neil Armstrong.

Tarantino's snowy western 'The Hateful Eight' releases its first trailer

Whenever you hear Quentin Tarantino's name attached to a movie, you know that a satirical, violent, but excellent film. The filmmaker and screenwriter doesn't make films each year, only making seven feature films in the last twenty-three years since releasing Reservoir Dogs in 1992.

Hopefully, all the fans have room for one more.  The first trailer for Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight has arrived, covered in snowfall, deception, and a little bit of blood and gunfire.

The cast includes some Tarantino regulars - Samuel L Jackson (Django Unchained), Kurt Russell (Death Proof), Walton Goggins (Django Unchained), Tim Roth (Pulp Fiction), Michael Madsen (Kill Bill Vol. 1, Kill Bill Vol 2), and Bruce Dern (Django Unchained) along with newcomers to Tarantino's world: Jennifer Jason Leigh, Demian Bichir, and Channing Tatum (who makes a cameo appearance but not in this trailer).

The official synopsis of the film reads:

In THE HATEFUL EIGHT, set six or eight or twelve years after the Civil War, a stagecoach hurtles through the wintry Wyoming landscape. The passengers, bounty hunter John Ruth (Russell) and his fugitive Daisy Domergue (Leigh), race towards the town of Red Rock where Ruth, known in these parts as “The Hangman,” will bring Domergue to justice. Along the road, they encounter two strangers: Major Marquis Warren (Jackson), a black former union soldier turned infamous bounty hunter, and Chris Mannix (Goggins), a southern renegade who claims to be the town’s new Sheriff. Losing their lead on the blizzard, Ruth, Domergue, Warren and Mannix seek refuge at Minnie’s Haberdashery, a stagecoach stopover on a mountain pass. When they arrive at Minnie’s, they are greeted not by the proprietor but by four unfamiliar faces. Bob (Bichir), who’s taking care of Minnie’s while she’s visiting her mother, is holed up with Oswaldo Mobray (Roth), the hangman of Red Rock, cow-puncher Joe Gage (Madsen), and Confederate General Sanford Smithers (Dern). As the storm overtakes the mountainside stopover, our eight travelers come to learn they may not make it to Red Rock after all…

Prepare to join The Eight for limited release December 25, 2015 but its official US release is on January 8, 2016.

The Merc with A Mouth is finally done right in first 'Deadpool' Trailer

Everyone remember the 2009 superhero film X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Ryan Reynolds playing iconic anti-hero Wade Wilson, also known as Deadpool. Yeah... no one likes to remember that. Ryan Reynolds definitely doesn't want to remember that.

After that fiasco, rumors spread of a spinoff film. Thankfully, those rumors are true and Reynolds became determined to honor the character that fans have come to love (personally, I loved his shot at DC's Green Lantern, requesting not to make the supersuit green...or animated!). Yesterday, the first trailer for Deadpool was released. Keeping to Reynolds' spirit and dedication to the X-Men universe member, here is the red-band trailer. Viewer discretion is advised.

The premise of the film from the official website: "Based upon Marvel Comics' most-unconventional anti-hero, DEADPOOL tells the origin story of former Special Forces operative turned mercenary Wade Wilson (Reynolds), who after being subjected to a rogue experiment that leaves him with accelerated healing powers, adopts the alter ego Deadpool. Armed with his new abilities and a dark, twisted sense of humor, Deadpool hunts down the man who nearly destroyed his life."

Starring along with Reynolds are T.J. Miller (HBO's Silicon Valley) as Weasel, Morena Baccarin (Fox's Gotham), Gina Carano, and Andre Tricoteux as Colossus.

Deadpool is set to premiere on February 12, 2016.

In case any young children read this preview, here is the green band trailer for the anti-hero film.