Friends, movie goers, assembled geeks, the summer movie season has passed. We had some good times and some disappointments, but now it’s time for the prestige season. It is a time of Oscar bait, lofty tent poles, and some pretention here and there. With all the award season hype, sometimes it’s hard to tell if a movie is going to be good even when the reviews start rolling in… if they come in time for you to make your decision at all. Luckily, we’re here to help you with your decision.
In this installment of the ongoing movie guide, we’re going over all the September releases to figure out if they’ll be worth your hard earned cash and, more importantly, your time.
A Walk In The Woods
- Release Date: September 2nd
- Director: Ken Kwapis
- Writers: William Holderman
Will it be good? Although the reviews haven’t been great, actor-based comedies are usually very subjective when it comes to taste. Sure, the movie may not be very lofty in its ambitions but that doesn’t mean it won’t be enjoyable.
Verdict: If you’re a huge fan of Redford or Nolte (and why wouldn’t you be?) it’s probably going to be worth a watch. It might not be worth a trip to the theater, but it’ll probably be fun to have on when it comes to cable.
The Transporter Refueled
- Release Date: September 4th
- Director: Camille Delamarre
- Writers: Bill Collage, Adam Cooper, Luc Besson
Will it be good? The early reviews for this one haven’t been too kind, so don’t expect something with a lot of pathos…
Verdict: … but if you’re a fan of this franchise, we know you’re in it for the stunts and the fight scenes. It seems you’ll be getting them, so how the film reviews probably won’t matter to you.
The Visit
- Release Date: September 11th
- Director: M. Night Shyamalan
- Writers: M. Night Shyamalan
Will it be good? Yeah, yeah. We know you’re rolling your eyes at M. Night Shyamalan’s name. We certainly can’t blame you. We do have to give the man a lot of credit, though: we’ve heard he funded this movie himself. He also knows people aren’t very fond of his recent work… which means he’s got something to prove.
Verdict: We’ll say wait until the reviews, but we’re hoping Mr. Shyamalan will tell a tense and back to basics tale that will be as scary as it is intriguing. It’s either that or it’ll be a pretentious mess… but we can hope right?
Black Mass
- Release Date: September 18th, 2015
- Director: Scott Cooper
- Writers: Mark Mallouk, Jez Butterworth
Will it be good? It seems like for the first time in a long time Johnny Depp is really stretching is acting muscles and playing someone who doesn’t require a ridiculous British accent. On top of that, it’s based on an interesting true story and you have an amazing kick ass cast of Benedict Cumberbatch, Joel Edgerton, Jesse Plemons, Sienna Miller, and Dakota Johnson.
Verdict: We think this one will be a pleasant surprise. Scott Cooper knows how to get good performances out of his actors and knows how to stage violence. At worst, the film may be paced a bit slowly but we’re hoping it’ll be a solid true life adaptation.
Everest
- Release Date: September 18th
- Director: Baltasar Kormakur
- Writers: Justin Isbell, Lem Dobbs
Will it be good? This one looks like it’s ticking off all the boxes a movie like it needs to. Humanized characters with families back home? Yup. Great character actors? There they are. Crazy good visuals that scare the hell out of you? $%& yes.
Verdict: The film recently screened at the Venice Film Festival to strong reviews. We don’t think it’ll be a groundbreaking film, but it will be appropriately grueling. Check it out in the theater.
Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials
- Release Date: September 18th
- Director: Wes Ball
- Writers: James Dashner, T.S. Nowlin
Will it be good? The first one was pretty good we guess. We imagine this one will be about the same level of quality.
Verdict: If you love the books, you’re going to see the movie in the theater. If you need to see something in the theater this weekend that’s kid friendly, we imagine you can do a lot worse. Still… we’re willing to bet Everest will be the better movie that weekend.
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