The Top 5 Fall Films

There's a chill in the morning air. The leaves have started to fall. This could only mean the beginning of the next cycle of films to spin through your local cinema. Here is a quick list of 5 movies that I'll be seeing opening weekend. By the way I'm only including films from September, October and the beginning of November. Thanksgiving is the start of the Winter film season no matter what Entertainment Weekly says.

5) The Town (September 17th) Who would have thought that Ben Affleck would turn out to be one of the brightest young directors in Hollywood. He follows up the excellent "Gone BabyGone" with this crime thriller set in his hometown of Boston. The cast is strong featuring Jon Hamm, Rebecca Hall and Jeremy Renner. But has Affleck overextended himself by taking the lead role? We shall see.

4) Buried (September 24th) Before he saves the universe next summer as a member of the Green Lantern Corps. Ryan Reynolds stretches his acing muscles by starring in this unique thriller.   Reynolds plays a U.S. contractor in Iraq who is kidnapped and finds himself buried inside a coffin with only a lighter and cell phone. The entire film takes place inside the coffin. The film was shot on the cheap very quickly so there is little risk but if it works it could lead to meatier dramatic roles for Reynolds and I like to see actors take chances.

3) 127 Hours (November 19th) Oddly, another solo acting gig but this one is directed by Danny Boyle so I'm hoping for some fantastic visuals.  In this true life story James Franco plays a mountain climber who cuts off his own arm to free himself from a boulder that had trapped him. Not sure how that will translate to film but even Boyle's failures ("Sunshine," "Life Less Ordinary" and "The Beach") are interesting. 

2) Red (October 15) This looks like a fun change of pace and much better than the last film based on a hitman graphic novel "Wanted". Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirran, John Malkovich, Brian Cox, Mary-Louise Parker, Karl Urban, Richard Dreyfuss and Earnest Borgnine make a formidable cast and they appear to be in on the joke (unlike the crew from "The Expendables".)  When motivated no one is better than Willis at melding action and comedy.

1) The Social Network (October 1st) Early reviews from the Toronto Film Festival for Dad Fincher's opus on the creation of Facebook have been gushing Valentines. Fincher's body of work has been a mixed bag for me. After a unimpressive debut with "Alien 3" he has directed classics ("Seven" and "Zodiac") and failures ("The Game" and "Panic Room")  but his work is always pushing the boundaries of cinema in new and interesting directions. The youthful cast has all ready nabbed some of the most sought after roles in Hollywood. Andrew Garfield is the new Peter Parker in the spider-Man reboot and Rooney Mara nabbed the title role in the American remake of "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" also directed by Fincher.