and now…the greatly anticipated, highly-touted and immensely respected:

fall movie preview by ryan

not in any particular order…but you knew that already…

preface: so the summer shaped up to be pretty much how i had anticipated…a tad dismal…but overall not too shabby i guess…spidey 2 did not disappoint…but who thought it would?…both the bourne supremacy and the village were my top picks of the season for sure…and both were pretty incredible…napoleon dynamite was funny…but not thaaat funny…although, i haven’t seen two movies that i am holding out my final opinion on the summer for…and those would be anchorman and collateral…i hope to see both soon…so for now…my most anticipated movies for fall…feast your eyes:

1. the life aquatic - number 4 for mr. wes anderson...and by all accounts it looks to be his best...as usual it includes an appearance by a wilson brother (owen) but it's bill murray who takes center stage in this epic seafaring tale...from what i've seen of the trailer (do yourself a favor and check it out), it looks to be a classic anderson movie but on a much grander scale...i for one could not be more excited about this film...
2. ocean's twelve - much to my surprise, i really enjoyed ocean's eleven...it was fun...it was smart...i loved the feel...i loved the quips and barbs between some of the top a-list actors of our day...it was just quality entertainment in my book...i hope we get more of the same from this second installment...my expectations are high for this one...hopefully george, brad, and company can deliver...
3. the aviator - though i'm not a big fan of leo...he is making significant strides to shed the sissy, heart-throb image that he once reigned supreme of in the late '90s...i really liked catch me if you can...and his role in this movie seems to be in that same vein...plus i like early-to-mid-20th-century period pieces...we'll see what becomes of this one...apparently the scorsese/dicaprio chemistry is working well because they just announced they're partnering up for another one (they already did gangs of new york together)...i can understand keeping with what works, but geesh, can we say overkill?
4. i heart huckabees - wow...i just watched the trailer for this flick today...and needless to say i was very impressed...i don't know how it's stayed under my radar this long and if it wasn't for a new wes anderson movie already on my list i'd have to place this as my most anticipated film for the rest of '04...that's a big compliment folks...this movie's got alot going for it...a great cast (jason schwartzmann, dustin hoffman, naomi watts, jude law, and mark wahlberg [aka marky mark] just to name a few)...the plot looks quirky...now is it just me or are alot of movies going this direction now? if i was wes anderson i'd be very flattered...so after you watch the trailer for the life aquatic...make sure you head here and check out this one...
5. national treasure - i have a soft spot for mystery-adventure indy-esque flicks...what can i say...and hey it's got nic cage...even though i think they're really marketing this one wrong...they're trying to make it a popcorn flick...i think it could be so much more...especially with cage...just shows you how the hollywood brass can change the tone of any flick they want to attract their target audience...i sincerely hope this movie outdoes the cheesy image that it's been given...
6. finding neverland - i don't know much about this one except that it features johnny depp and he's playing a neurotic writer (what a different role for him!)...looks to be an interesting story...it follows the man who bought peter pan to life and the people around him that inspired the characters...but c'mon now...we're all just going to watch it to see once again how brilliant johnny depp is...especially at playing overly-neurotic people...he just does it so well...you'd think it comes natural to him...
7. ladder 49 - ok i just added this one because i didn't want the list to end at 6...but this does look like a decent movie...i hope it's not backdraft 2...i really like joaquin phoenix...especially since his great performance in the village...from what i've read, this movie looks more character-oriented at it's core rather than steeped with action and plenty of 'splosions like you'd think it would...this could be "the little red fire engine that could" of the fall movie season...wow that was corny...but typical movie reviewer jargon...always have to end with that little punch...

honorable mention: i am looking forward to some of these movies but i just don’t feel like writing more than a line about them…so there…

• sky captain and the world of tomorrow - great actors...amazing cinematography...but it's just not striking anything big with me...you can tar and feather me later...after it does something noteworthy...like win some oscars...
• ray - little known fact: jamie foxx actually plays the piano and sings in this movie...he also wore prosthetic eyes so that he could feign blindness making his part that much more real...i think that's pretty incredible...especially for a comedian that i grew up watching doing visual comedy on "in living color"...if this does well he may have had one of the most successful comedy-to-drama transitions i've seen...robin williams and jim carrey have certainly faltered...although they are falling more into their groove lately i think...which brings me to:
• the final cut - i don't know about this one...robin williams plays a guy who pieces together the story of people's lives that is recorded in their brains by a computer chip...pretty outlandish...but i'm interested to see what they can do with it...plus jesus is in it...you can't go wrong with him...
• the ring 2 - the first one scared the crap outta me...and now the director of the original japanese film that the ring was adapted from directed this sequel (could i have wrote that any more confusing?)...so if his stamp of approval is on it...it has to be good...unless they paid him amazingly well to do it...because i really can't see how they can squeeze any more life out of an idea like this...
• alexander - at first this movie appealed to me...i don't know what i think about it now though...i don't know what i think about colin farrell...i don't know what i think about oliver stone...and i don't know why i even put this one on the list if i'm not going to say anything decisive about it...i guess that's for you to decide...
• meet the fockers - the first one was hilarious...although i spent most of it peaking through my fingers because i was constantly cringing for ben stillers character...it looks funny...but i just don't think it can match up to the first one without owen wilson...
• the incredibles - finding nemo was a delightful surprise for me...i loved it...in a "take-your-kids-and-laugh-even-more-yourself" kinda way...hopefully pixar stays on par and does a masterful job with this one as well...

well that wraps it up for my fall movie preview…it may have been somewhat verbose…but it was dramatic…delightfully comical…incomparably facetious…and maybe even a little blasphemous…but what would a great movie preview guide be without any of that? so now…your job is to realize that anything that didn’t make this list is complete and utter crap…and take my word on everything…

oh yea…and did i mention that this was a tad bit conceited as well?

######Note: This post is from a very old Xanga blog of mine. A very, very old blog. In fact, it’s practically a museum. Be sure not to touch any old references or links. You won’t break them, they are most certainly already broken.