So Many Movies To See. Is Hollywood Back?

For several years, I was happy to see movies at home on DVD. Between the lack of quality, the price and the lack of comfort at theaters, it was a very easy choice.

Now, I'm feeling a change. There are so many good movies out! Plus, there are several movies that will soon be out that I'm looking forward to seeing. Also, the theater near me has new comfy recliner seats.

In the past, there were never enough movies out that I wanted to see to take advantage of the AAA discounted movie passes. But now there are. Since tickets are so expensive, I figured if I'm going to see a bunch of movies, I might as well pay less.

When I saw The Butler, which I loved, I wanted to see just about every movie that was previewed. This week I'm planning to see Philomena and The Best Man Holiday.

This Boston Globe list of movie releases starting in September and going through December is a good way to find all the movies coming up. From that list, I excerpted the movies that I want to see below with their descriptions.

Some will end up being DVD watches. Several I've never heard of or seen previews for, but they sound interesting. I saw the Herb & Dorothy documentary on PBS. It was fascinating, so I've included it too.

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ENOUGH SAID The late James Gandolfini stars with Toni Collette, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Catherine Keener in this comedy from writer-director Nicole Holofcener about a woman who discovers her new beau is her new friend’s ex.

BAGGAGE CLAIM A flight attendant (Paula Patton) gives herself a month, and 30,000 travel miles, to get engaged. Along for the ride are Taye Diggs, Jill Scott, Adam Brody, and Djimon Hounsou.

HAUTE CUISINE A movie that gives new meaning to the term “kitchen confidential.” Catherine Frot plays the personal chef to French President Francois Mitterrand (Jean d’Ormesson) in this based-on-fact story.

GRAVITY Alfonso Cuarón’s first feature since “Children of Men” has a two-person cast — but what a cast. George Clooney and Sandra Bullock star as astronauts adrift in space, trying to save themselves before their oxygen runs out.

CONCUSSION After getting hit in the head, a young woman (Robin Weigert) resolves to change her identity.

HERB & DOROTHY A documentary about a middle-class married couple who, through persistence and excellent taste, acquired a remarkable contemporary art collection.

MOTHER OF GEORGE Nigerian-born director Andrew Dosunmu offers this story of an African couple in Brooklyn, N.Y. (Isaach de Bankolé and Danai Gurira), running a restaurant while dealing with marital issues.
  
CAPTAIN PHILLIPS Having been the saver, in “Saving Private Ryan,” Tom Hanks gets to play the saved. Based-on-fact story of Richard Phillips (Hanks) whose ship was taken by Somali pirates in 2009.

FREE THE MIND A documentary about a leading neuroscientist’s investigation into the mind’s healing powers.

12 YEARS A SLAVE Director Steve McQueen has a very strong cast — Brad Pitt, Benedict Cumberbatch, Michael Fassbender, Paul Dano, Paul Giamatti, Quvenzhane Wallis, Chiwetel Ejiofor — for this based-on-fact account of a freed man kidnapped back into slavery in 1841.

ABOUT TIME A romantic comedy in which Domhnall Gleeson (Brendan’s son) plays a young man who learns he can travel through time. Pretty cool, except that it complicates his courting of Rachel McAdams.

DELIVERY MAN Vince Vaughn plays an anonymous sperm donor whose efforts have produced 533 offspring. Now that they’re grown, 142 of them want to find out who he is. A remake of the French-Canadian comedy “Starbuck.”

BLACK NATIVITY The Langston Hughes classic has been updated and turned into a musical by writer-director Kasi Lemmons. Heading the cast are Forest Whitaker, Angela Bassett, Jennifer Hudson, and Mary J. Blige.

MANDELA: A LONG WALK TO FREEDOM Idris Elba plays Nelson Mandela in this biopic based on the South African leader’s autobiography.

THE MONUMENTS MEN George Clooney directed and stars in this real-life story of art historians and curators trying to save European artworks during World War II. Costarring Matt Damon, Cate Blanchett, Bill Murray, Jean Dujardin, and John Goodman.

ANCHORMAN: THE LEGEND CONTINUES Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell) returns. He’s moving up in the world too. Bye-bye, San Diego, Hello, New York.

THE PAST Writer-director Asghar Farhadi’s first film since “A Separation,” which won the 2012 best foreign language Oscar. When an Iranian man (Tahar Rahim) returns home, his French wife (Bérénice Bejo) asks for a divorce.

SAVING MR. BANKS The story behind Walt Disney (Tom Hanks) buying the movie rights to “Mary Poppins” from P.L. Travers (Emma Thompson). Yes, this is a Disney release.

AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTRY Tracy Letts’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play about a darkly comic family reunion in Oklahoma brings together Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts. Sam Shepard, Benedict Cumberbatch, Abigail Breslin, and Ewan McGregor costar.

LABOR DAY Jason Reitman adapted Joyce Maynard’s novel and directed (filming took place in Massachusetts). Kate Winslet is a single mom who gives a ride to Josh Brolin when she’s out driving with her young son. It turns out he’s an escaped convict.

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That's quite a list, so we'll see how I actually do seeing these. What about you? Are you going out to more movies lately?

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Photo Credit: Hollywood Sign and Lunar Eclipse of December 10, 2011 as seen from Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, by Michael R. Perry.


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