Sage’s Fall Movie Preview

Here are 10 films I’m looking forward to as the fall movie season heats up this year:

Flightplan (Sept. 23)
Jodie Foster plays a recently widowed aircraft engineer whose little girl vanishes during a transatlantic flight, only to have everyone on the plane tell her she's delusional and never brought a child on board. Saw the trailer for this one and it looks fantastic.

Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit (Oct. 7)
Cheese-loving inventor Wallace and his sensible dog Gromit confront a mutant bunny that's haunting the neighborhood vegetable gardens. It’s almost too good to be true to have a feature length Wallace & Gromit! I’ll be first in line.

Elizabethtown (Oct. 14)
His professional life has fallen apart, and his father has just died, but on his way back to Kentucky for the funeral, mopey Drew (Orlando Bloom) meets Claire (Kirsten Dunst), a vivacious flight attendant. The always entertaining Cameron Crowe is the writer-director, but I’m not too sure about the casting. I’ll wait for the reviews.

Chicken Little (Nov. 4)
Disney’s new computer animated film presents this epic tale with a new twist to the classic fable of a young chicken who causes widespread panic when he mistakes a falling acorn for a piece of the sky. This is Disney’s first computer animated feature without Pixar so I’m not completely sold.

Walk the Line (Nov. 18)
Johnny Cash (Joaquin Phoenix) rises to stardom and has a tumultuous romance with fellow country star June Carter (Reese Witherspoon), who ultimately becomes his wife. I’m not a Cash fan but it’ll be hard to pass up the winning combination of Phoenix and Witherspoon. I’m predicting Oscar nominations for both actors.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Nov. 18)
You know the drill: Hogwarts classroom high jinks, stirring hormones, a mystery for Harry to solve, and a confrontation with Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes). I have high hopes for this one, but I’m concerned it won’t be long enough to fit all the good stuff from the book. But of course I’ll be first in line anyway.

Memoirs of a Geisha (Dec. 9)
The story begins in the years before WWII when a penniless Japanese child is torn from her family to work as a maid in a geisha house. Despite a treacherous rival who nearly breaks her spirit, the girl blossoms into a legendary geisha. Based on one of my favorite novels, I’m hoping it lives up to my expectations.

The Chronicles of Narnia (Dec. 9)
A live-action/CGI adaptation of the beloved literary classic which follows the exploits of four siblings in World War II England who enter the world of Narnia through a magical wardrobe while playing a game of hide-and-seek. I loved the books growing up; hopefully the filmmakers will successfully capture the magic.

King Kong (Dec. 14)
The director of the Lord of the Rings trilogy brings this classic remake to life starring Naomi Watts and Jack Black. Saw the trailer for this one, and it looks like campy fun.

Munich (Dec. 23)
Steven Spielberg directs this historical thriller set in the aftermath of the 1972 massacre of 11 Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics. Really looking forward to this one – Spielberg + fascinating story = hit!