Looper
Release Date: September 28th
Directed by Rian Johnson; Starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, Paul Dano, Emily Blunt, Noah Segan, Jeff Daniels, Piper Perabo, and Garrett Dillahunt
This is easily one of the four or five films I am most excited for this fall. Every last thing about Looper sounds fantastic. The premise is that in the future, hired guns called ‘loopers’ carry out kills by gunning down enemy agent sent back in time for execution. Levitt’s character recognizes one of his targets as his future self (played by Bruce Willis), and accidently lets the man go, causing a major catastrophe.
That set-up alone is incredibly inspired, and with the truly wonderful director Rian Johnson at the helm, I know none of it is a gimmick. The cast is entirely comprised of excellent character actors, but casting Levitt and Willis in the same role is a true stroke of genius. Early test screenings last year had wildly positive reception, and assuming Johnson has only perfected his film since then, I say we’re in for one hell of a treat.
Hotel Transylvania
Release Date: September 28th
Directed by Genndy Tartakovsky; Starring Adam Sandler, Selena Gomez, Steve Buscemi, Andy Sandberg, Kevin James, David Spade, Fran Drescher, Jon Lovitz, Molly Shannon, and Cee-Lo Green
My general distaste for the American animation industry notwithstanding, absolutely nothing about Hotel Transylvania looks appealing to me. First and foremost, the premise – Dracula runs a luxury hotel for legendary monsters – doesn’t seem suited for a kid’s film at all. I would think the fun part of such a concept would be to explore all the variant horror iconography involved, but that would take fairly copious levels of adult content, and the trailer indicates this one is strictly for kiddies, who probably aren’t overly versed in horror history to begin with.
I am also never fond of the idea of large, celebrity vocal casts. Most Hollywood actors, even if they’re extraordinarily talented, simply aren’t good at voice acting, because they are entirely different skill sets. The only element that piques my interest is Genndy Tartakovsky’s name; he’s a wildly talented, truly subversive filmmaker, and he could absolutely do something special. Unless this project is as blatant a commercial cash-grab as it appears to be, in which case there may be nothing he can do for it. We shall see.
What films are you most excited for? Sound off in the comments, and make sure to read PART TWO of our FALL MOVIE PREVIEW SPECTACULAR!