Fall Movie Preview: October

By Lisa Fary

This is when the Fall movie season gets hairy (and expensive). October brings an adaptation of a childhood classic, a biopic of a childhood heroine, and Woody Harrelson killing zombies.

October Must Sees

Zombieland: Woody Harrelson. Zombies. Purell. (10/9/09)

Where the Wild Things Are: When I watch the trailer for this, I tear up. It’s not a sad looking movie, there are no childhood traumas related to the book lurking in my psyche. Just tears, every single time. Maybe because I know I had it so much better as a kid than as an adult, even if I can have ice cream for breakfast. (10/16/09)

Aladin: It’s not a secret that, in my dreams, my life is a musical with my part played by Cyd Charisse. After watching this trailer, I want my life to be a Bollywood musical.  (10/16/09)

Amelia: When my Uncle Johnny was still alive, every time we visited, I made him tell the story about when he met Amelia Earhart. In 1935, she flew solo from Mexico City to Newark, NJ, where my uncle worked at the airfield. She never said anything more than hello to him and all he did was re-fuel her plane, but I couldn’t get enough of that story.    It’s about time she got a theatrical biopic and I’m thrilled to death that Mira Nair directed it. Hilary Swank is a dead ringer for the aviatrix, my childhood heroine. (10/23/09)

The Vampire’s Assistant: After the beautiful, sexy vampires of Twilight, True Blood, The Vampire Diaries, etc, I’m happy to see John C. Reiley playing a vampire here. I can see shades of Something Wicked This Way Comes in The Vampire’s Assistant, but without the darkness and gloom. (10/23/09)

Astro Boy: He has machine guns in his butt. (10/23/09)

Gentlemen Broncos: Add “-anous” to any name and it becomes magical. Think of all the weirdness of Napoleon Dynamite applied to the homeschooling/ sc-fi writing set. (10/30/09)

October Maybes

Whip It: This isn’t in the maybe category because I’m not sure I want to see it – I definitely want to see Whip It.  That message of following your heart regardless of what people around you think is one that never gets old with me. I just don’t know if this is one that has to be seen in the theater, given all the movies coming out this month. (10/2/09)

The Road: I’m tired of seeing the dark side of humanity that’s brought out in post-apocalyptic environments, even if it does hold the possibility of a naked Viggo Mortensen. (10/16/09)

The Invention of Lying: I like Ricky Gervais and haven’t been disappointed by him yet. However, I’m concerned that this movie, which looks like it could be fun, will degenerate to a trite message about telling the truth.  (10/2/09)

Capitalism: A Love Story: There is no doubt that I’ll see this, I just don’t know if it will be in the theaters or on DVD. Michael Moore’s movies fill me with a righteous anger against our screwed up social values and the status quo held by our corporate overlords; do I really want to pay ten bucks to get pissed off and feel impotent about it? (10/2/09)

The Stepfather: I didn’t think anyone could be a creepier stepfather than Terry O’Quinn. This guy is just as creepy and more creative with his killing ways. (10/16/09)

Hey, look at that! Nothing I’m dreading this month! We’ll see about November tomorrow!

Lisa Fary is a graduate of the creative writing program at Florida State University and holds an advanced degree in Special Education. Her earliest influences are Princess Leia, Rainbow Bright, Astronaut Barbie, and her 6th grade teacher, Ms. Palmer. She’s angry that it’s almost 2010 and she still doesn’t have a hovercraft, but will accept a jetpack as consolation. That jetpack had better be pink with a rhinestone monogram.

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