Last week I wrote a (at least for me) lengthy piece about how great summer 2018 was for film. At this point, we may be on a collision course for this being the best cinematic year of the decade, but we’ll have to see how the fall plays out before we can hand it any sort of crown. It, undoubtedly, will have some disappointments but the lineup on paper looks very, very good. The fall/winter season will include new films from Steve McQueen (his first since his Oscar winning 12 Years A Slave), Barry Jenkins, Damien Chazelle, Alfonso Cuarón, Yorgos Lanthimos, Bradley Cooper, Paul Dano, Jonah Hill, Joel Edgerton, David Lowery, Pawel Pawlikoswki, Luca Guadagnino, David Gordon Green, Claire Denis, the Coen bros (hopefully), Hirokazu Kore-eda, Jason Reitman, Jean-Luc Godard, and even Orson Welles. Yes, you read that correctly. We are getting a new film from the legendary Orson Welles, and I cannot wait. There are, of course, many more filmmakers I could list here that have potentially great films coming out in the next few months as well. We’ll see what happens, but the fall and winter could be equally as special as what the summer had to offer.

With that said, here are the films that I’m most anticipating as we lead into the fall movie season. (these are in no particular order)

Widows
From director Steve McQueen, Widows tells the story of four women who have seemingly nothing in common except a debt left behind by their dead husbands’ criminal activities. The film stars Viola Davis, Elizabeth Debicki, Carrie Coon, Michelle Rodriguez, Liam Neeson, Jon Bernthal, Colin Farrell and Robert Duvall among others. That’s one hell of a lineup. This may be McQueen’s most commercial film yet, but so far each of his other outings have made my Top 10 for their respective years, and I’m excited to see if Widows continues that trend.

First Man
If the reports from Venice are true, First Man seems to be another hit from Damien Chazelle. Given his work on Whiplash and La La Land, I am not surprised at all to hear those initial reactions. Chazelle has supplanted himself as the next great director that could end up having a Hall of Fame career, and it sounds as if First Man makes him a robust 3-for-3. It tells the story of Niel Armstrong and his mission to the moon in 2969, and stars Ryan Gosling, Claire Foy and Jason Clarke.

If Beale Street Could Talk
Barry Jenkins is back coming off the heels from his Oscar-winning Moonlight. If Beale Street Could Talk is about a women in Harlem who desperately scrambles to prove her fiance is innocent of a crime. It is inspired from a book by James Baldwin, which I haven’t read, but knowing Baldwin’s works this sounds very enticing. It starts KiKi Layne, Stephan James and Regina King. The trailer looks great and I’m very eager to see what Jenkins does with this material – despite some of the initial test screenings reportedly not going very well. I have faith in Jenkins though, and I think in the end this will be a satisfying experience.

Roma
Alfonso Cuarón is back and I could not be more excited! Gravity seems like ages ago and Children of Men feels like a lifetime. To be fair, while Cuarón takes his time in between projects, the results are usually spectacular. Both Gravity and Children of Men made my Top 10 for their respective years, and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is easily one of the best Potter films. Let’s also not forget Y Tu Mamá También, which was also great when it came out in 2001. That is to say, I’m very excited for Roma purely because it’s Alfonso Cuarón. I’m also eager because it’s a black and white film that takes Cuarón back to his Mexican roots as it takes place in Mexico City in the 1970’s.

A Star is Born
I cannot get enough of this trailer. A Star is Born could falter and become a trite musician struggle story, but there’s something about the heart of that trailer that keeps me optimistic. This is, of course, Bradley Cooper’s directorial debut so it’s hard to fully gauge where it’s going to go. But if the film is at all what the trailer suggests, I think it’s going to be something special – regardless of its Oscar play. Bradley Cooper looks great as always (and if that is indeed his singing voice, kudos), but like most people I’m more intrigued by Lady Gaga. She looks so normal, and ironically that’s very strange to see. But there’s something about her normality that is striking to me in terms of the films ideas – as presented in the trailer anyway – on insecurity.

The Favourite
Yorgos Lanthimos may not be for everyone, but he is a (ahem) favorite director of mine. Dogtooth, Alps, The Lobster and The Killing of a Sacred Deer are all good films that I at the very least enjoy. Dogtooth and The Lobster I absolutely adore despite their dark underbellies. The Favourite is interesting though because it’s garnered some Oscar buzz, and I don’t usually equate Lanthimos with the Academy Awards. His films tend to be black comedies that aren’t exactly in the Academy’s wheelhouse, so this has an extra level of excitement to it. It stars Olivia Colman, Rachel Weisz, Emma Delves and Emma Stone. Sign me up!

Ralph Breaks the Internet
How about a change of pace? I *loved* Wreck-It Ralph when it came out in 2012 and was severely disappointed when it lost the Oscar to a rather mediocre Brave. Ralph was funny, clever, warming and surprisingly thematically rich. To say that I’m excited for this sequel is putting it mildly. And that trailer, wow, taking these characters to the internet seems like it’s going to be a lot of fun. The gags relating to parenthood and young children are all too relatable, the Disney princesses is brilliant and the digital aesthetics look spot-on.

The Old Man and the Gun
The Old Man and the Gun is compelling to me for a couple of reasons. One, David Lowery is a director that is quietly creating a very strong resume. Pete’s Dragon was well reviewed, but mostly went under the radar. A Ghost Story and Ain’t Them Body Saints were two great indies that absolutely went under the radar for most people – cinephiles excluded (but even among cinephiles there were certain sects that overlooked them). The Old Man and the Gun very well could be his most commercial yet and hopefully it launches Lowery more into the mainstream. Beyond that though, this is one of Robert Redford’s last performances since he announced his retirement. So enjoy this people. It very well may be the last time you see this legend on the big screen. The film also stars Sissy Spacek, who hasn’t done any film acting since Deadfall in 2012.

Beautiful Boy
I cannot watch this trailer without becoming a waterfall. Maybe it’s subjective since I’m a relatively new father (my son is two), but every time I see this trailer I can’t help but sympathize heavily with wanting to “save” your son. Steve Carrell looks great and his chemistry with Timothée Chalamet seems palpable. Felix Van Groeningen isn’t a director that most people will know, but The Broken Circle Breakdown is really good and deserved its Oscar-nomination back in 2013. So, I’m excited to see what he does with an American setting and American actors. It could be schmaltzy, but it gives me all the feels and that’s what I’m here for.

Under the Silver Lake
Despite what my co-host says, It Follows is a great horror film that ambiguously asks some profound questions – both within the context of the film’s premise but also the humanities at the center of that film. It doesn’t matter what David Robert Mitchell was going to do next, I was going to be on board regardless. Under the Silver Lake is about a young man who discovers a mysterious woman in his pool one night, only for her to disappear without a trace. So, as a young man would, he sets off to find out what happened to her. It stars Topher Grace, Sydney Sweeney and Riley Keough.

Wildlife
Here’s another directorial debut, this time from Paul Dano, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Zoe Kazan (who starred in last year’s The Big Sick). Wildlife tells the story of a young boy who witnesses the falling out of his parents’ marriage. It stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Carey Mulligan and Ed Oxenbould among others. From all accounts, Gyllenhaal and Mulligan will be major Oscar contenders for their respective categories. Beyond that though, I’m just thrilled to see great performances from these two actors that I love. I’m perhaps more eager for Mulligan, as we haven’t seen her as much lately and I’m dying for more Carey Mulligan in my life. Reviews from earlier in the year suggest that Dano’s direction is very good as well.

Shoplifters
I noted above that these are in no particular order, but if I was ranking these, Shoplifters is probably my #1 most anticipated film of the fall/winter season. Hirokazu Koreeda is one of my favorite filmmakers working today and this Palm d’Or winner sounds like a film tailor-made just for me. It’s about a family who takes in a child they find on the street. This has pathos written all over it. If you’re not familiar with Koreeda, he’s a filmmaker that loves to relish in emotion and subtlety, lingering on the small ticks that make humans human. If this moved David Ehrlich in extreme ways (and I say that as a fan of David, but he tends to be a harsher critic than me), I am screwed. But I look forward to being emotionally destroyed by Koreeda.

Cold War
Granted, I haven’t seen everything from Pawel Pawilkowski, but Ida was sooooo good that I can’t help but be excited for Cold War. It’s about a passionate love story between two people of different backgrounds and temperaments, set against the backdrop of the Cold War in 1950s Poland. So, there’s some clear symbolism going on there, but it still sounds enticing. The reviews from the festival circuits are excellent as well, amplifying my anticipation.

The Other Side of the Wind
Guys, we are getting a *new* film from Orsen Welles this fall. In 2018. A new film from the master himself. How is this a reality? Originally filmed between 1970-1976, The Other Side of the Wind had reportedly finished its principal photography, but couldn’t finish its post-production and editing due to financial problems. Eventually Netflix purchased the rights and worked feverishly to finish the film, and here we are. It tells the story of a Hollywood director who emerges from semi-exile with plans to complete a new innovative feature. It stars John Huston (you know, one of the best directors of his time, so that’s appropriate), Peter Bogdanovich, Susan Strasberg and others.

No doubt I could write about another dozen films or so that I’m looking forward to this fall season. There is so much to look forward too as we come down the stretch in 2018. Drew Goddard’s Bad Times at the El Royale looks great. David Gordon Green’s Halloween looks to be a great revival for that franchise. The Jacques Audiard films The Sisters Brothers looks really funny, especially when you pair John C. Reilly and Joaquin Phoenix. Speaking of Phoenix, it’d be nice if we get Garth Davis’ Mary Magdalene, also starring Rooney Mara. Steven Knight is back in the director’s chair with Serenity after making my favorite film from 2014 in Locke. Marielle Heller is back with Can You Ever Forgive Me? starring Melissa McCarthy, who looks really good in that role.

We’re also getting The Little Stranger from Room director Lenny Abrahamson. We’ll get another directorial debut in Mid 90’s from Jonah Hill, and I dug that initial trailer quite a bit. High Life from Claire Denis looks appealing as well. Luca Guadagnino’s Suspiria looks to be the year’s best “wtf” experience, and I can’t wait for that. Speaking of, films such as Mandy and Madeline’s Madeline will give Suspira a run for its money if the reviews are to be trusted.

Lastly, a few mainstream honorable mentions for me. Aquaman could end up being the funnest film in the DCEU thus far. I’m looking forward to Mary Poppins Returns as a big fan of Emily Blunt and I’m curious what music Lin Manuel-Miranda brings to the film. But more than any other mainstream fall film, Bumblebee has my attention. Travis Knight directed one of the best animated films of the decade so far in Kubo and the Two Strings, and Bumblebee looks like a great continuation of what I loved about Kubo. Hopefully it works as a great reboot for that franchise.

What about you though? What films are you most anticipating this fall season?

“Somebody told me that what I do is good because it tells people that it’s okay to be weird. I’ve been weird my entire life. I tried to be normal and it doesn’t work. I tried to be anything that I’m not and it doesn’t work.” – Sawyer Matheny

The person who I just quoted is a YouTuber I casually check on for his videos because I like what he says as he and his best friend ooze confidence and charisma and are more open about their lives. I’m not because I’m a coward and never been forthcoming and just camera shy. I also associate as myself as someone who is weird personally with because of various little knacks and this neuroticism I feature for the most random things. My mind does not think like others and my style and personality is not compatible with certain places and things and I always feel out of place with other people.

What does any of that have to with Chaplin and Tati, or Fellini and Hitchcock? Well…nothing. But, at least in my mind, everything. Why and how?

Well, the quote was said this year but these films were made decades ago, yet the quote might as well give some theme to the stories and its main characters. In an era of the jerk where people feel the need to be flagrantly rude instead of being there each other, to me, rewatching films about what it is like to be alone and be taken advantage of because you’re not “normal” is a reminder of what it means to really be human. It can be utilized as a tragedy or as a comedy. Social media did not exist back then and the best way to inspire life was through stories like this to stir human emotions and bring sparks of madness. My liking for various movies is because it filled a void in my life and had a relationship with me that being eccentric is okay.

As I write this stream-of-consciousness piece of something rather different within my personal/cinema psychology, I go back to the past with the first iconic characters we have seen. Chaplin’s The Tramp and Harold Lloyd’s “Glasses” qualify as weird figures, one who rebels against the norms of society and another who takes himself too seriously in order to succeed in life. Conformity is not part of their ideology and neither have I been part of conformity but it has come at a social price. Movies, along with the creativity that comes out of it, is collected from the weird, the non-conforming, the livers of mild/wild hearts.

I will start with the eccentric Jacques Tati who also created the famous, memorable Monsieur Hulot. He is probably my favorite slapstick, oddball character because of his throwback to a more silent stance in comedy made in a closely more contemporary style. Hulot is a tall, lumbering figure with his large overcoat, trousers too short, striped socks, and old-school pipe who uses physicality and modernity to showcase the singularity and the ridiculousness of a changing world. The expansive use of technology for every little thing and its malfunctions are played out so extensively that it requires a long stare to capture everything. He’s a man with no formal job (he is a car designer in Trafic but what did he do before that), no formal home (he lives in an old stone building in old Paris in Mon Oncle), and no specific origin or first name – just Hulot. He rarely speaks and when he does it is distant and he gets into conflict with the new world on holiday or on the job.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUTY0QrKJSQ

I relate personally because I am usually behind the curb on social media; I have a vacated Instagram account from 4 years ago because it’s too much social media and I reluctantly joined Facebook and Twitter. And the YouTube personality was not known to me until late 2016 when they’ve been around since YouTube inception. Music? It’s through one ear and out the other for me because my tastes are old-fashioned and the news of upcoming movies is a little late to me because I’m focused on the classics. Plus, I like physical Blu-Rays than digital films (because of my growing eye strain) and champion celluloid over digital film. Hulot is a man still trying to adjust in the consumerist life after the war from the 50s through the 70s and I’m a millennial who prefers some traditional things.

Let me use another character but from a single movie as an example; La Strada from the great Federico Fellini featuring his wife, Giulietta Masina, as the credulous, naive woman, Gelsomina, who is sold by her mother to be the clown for a street performer, Zampano. Zampano previously had Gelsomina’s sister as the clown who has died; we don’t know of what. But Gelsomina goes into the job with enthusiasm and soon finds Zampano as cruel and abusive who demands his playful new clown to be obedient and perfect in performing the way she should. After taking the abuse, she runs away and finds another performer, the Fool, a man with the same zest for life as Gelsomina who interferes with Zampano’s business. The final result is two deaths: one of a person, and the other of the spirit. It is a downer of an ending and a fable to what can happen when the brute comes out on top, then realize the damage he has done.

Gelsomina is still young at heart and can only question the difficulties he is having with such a credulous woman. “Why do you want me?” Gelsomina asks Zampano. She is not musically talented even though she plays the drum and trumpet for the audience and she is not necessarily attractive. Zampano is a jerk, like many that are out there, who use their time to intimidate the more lively but vulnerable Gelsomina. But Gelsomina is not one who will fall in line and is not intimidated very much. But for her to witness tragedy after hearing it about her sister, it is a double death that emotionally blunts her. Her weirdness (and the Fool’s) was worth to enforce emotional and physical blunt force trauma. You hate Zampano, but you do feel emotional about the final scene of him on the beach, drunk, and realizing how his actions are cowardly and explanatory of him being worthless and alone. And to Fellini, it was his world starting to leak from his mind, one that led to a breakdown mentally during the shoot and almost never finished it.

Here’s another example but with a more upbeat manner and ending. Peter Sellers was known for his colorful, strange characters and may have given his best performance towards the end of his life with Being There. It is a dramedy about chance and a man named Chance, a simple-minded, one-dimensional figure who is forced out into the open from his bubbled home in middle age. His old-fashioned, courtly behavior is not fitted with 1979, but chance has him a run into a wealthy businessman and advisor to the President of the United States. Chance, or “Chauncey” as they misheard him, gives his own advice though gardening tips, which is interpreted as legitimate and metaphorical. The miscommunication of his personality and ways leads to funny gags that make things more human and, in the end, gives us a simple explanation of what is life: “Life is a state of mind.”

This movie is a satire on the politics of the times and the anxieties the country fashed with our culture, “innocence, cynicism, and limitless credulity,” as written by Mark Harris. It is very much like today thanks to social media, just like the expansion of the television image that beams into homes all over. “I like to watch,” Chance says in a noted scene with Shirley MacLaine, and we like to watch the walking car crashes people can on TV and social media. There is no tone in his voice at all and voice means everything now in a presentation. Chance’s chance encounter is like real life where all you need to move onward with the gracious support of others. By the end, the viewer may take a piece from it and find ourselves more enlightened and care for those who we may encounter.

So, back to the quote that I started this piece with Sawyer, the YouTuber: what does that have to do with these characters and films referenced? Again, nothing, yet, as it was important to him and his feelings of being weird, it can relate to others who watch just like how these films related to me and inspired me to live, to keep going, take risks, and never change your ways. It’s okay to be weird and different because that is what life is about, especially when it comes to self-expression and helping others in our own way. It is one of the reasons I adored The Shape of Water and why it was my favorite film of 2017 (I will defend its honor and not let be the “fish banging movie”). Amelie is an enriching tale about helping others through astonishing ways, even with the odd curiosities of the titular character, while directors like Alfred Hitchcock and Orson Welles were larger than life men who created fluid stories and colorful, real characters to perfection and added flair in their self-promotion within the filmography.

With all of this, it examines life as beautiful even in scenes of ugliness and, even in black & white and in another language, these movies are influential in the heart and soul of being a human in general regardless of age, setting, and personality. Being weird is living in a positive state of mind.

Follow me on Twitter: @BrianSusbielles (Cine-A-Man)

Until the 1970s, the film industry in Australia was virtually nil. Everything was imported from Britain or America and Australian actor went to either place to make their name known. Then, the government stepped in to invest in bringing up a culture of art, investing in multiple film boards that pushed the wave for 20 years and beyond. The Australian Film, Television and Radio School followed the model of the American film school that birthed out gifted storytellers and promoted unflinching tales of violence and subtle sensuality, a push for a more socially progressive Australia. The results were many great films and notable actors and directors that would make their mark internationally in future works. Here are some of those masterpieces.

Walkabout (1971)

Nicholas Roeg is British but came to Australia to film Walkabout, the story of two white children who are stranded in the Outback after their father kills himself. In the scorching heat, they encounter an Aborigine boy on his ritual walkabout where he has to survive on his own for six months on his ability to hunt and find water in such a place. Despite not sharing a language, the boy helps the two children in making it through alive. Roeg, who served as his own cinematographer, captures the beauty yet dryness of the desert and the how the environment can alter anybody’s view of life, especially when coming from the cities. It also was a watershed moment for the portrayal of Aborigines; the Australian government had just ended their policy of forced removal of children from the land, the “Stolen Generations.”

Wake In Fright (1971)

That same year, another Outback adventure tale came out, but in a more shocking fashion. A schoolteacher is stuck in a town and slowly begins to lose his grip on reality with drinking binges, kangaroo shootings (this was not fake) and random sexual encounters, creating the unsettling realism that some were not too thrilled when released. Many thought the original negative was lost, put pieces of it were found and reconstructed for a special Cannes Film Festival showing in 2009. The director, Ted Kotcheff, would go on to the States to make First Blood, bringing the character John Rambo to life in its bloody original form, a lot like Wake In Fright. 

Picnic At Hanging Rock (1975)

Amazon has just released a mini-series based on Joan Lindsay’s novel, but it was Peter Weir who would get to direct the formal adaptation for the screen in its dreamy yet unsettling state. The story about a group of girls who go missing in the 1900s was quite provocative and that noted ending still left many wondering. And yet, within its mystery, Weir showcases the taboo of sexual ideas amongst girls who are all virgins and then the spookiness of leaving without a trace and without any resolution to the missing girls. It becomes less about what happened to three girls and their teacher and more about how the rock is somewhat of a magical setting where daydreams go to be fulfilled – or be killed.

Mad Max (1979)

George Miller lit up the screen and gave us Mel Gibson in the first of his four installments regarding the collapse of society and a thirst for revenge from Max Rockatansky, a highway patrol officer. The apocalyptic setting, the strong violence, the basic themes of war for water and oil start from here. Miller made it all on a low budget and did some guerrilla filmmaking by shooting some scenes with a permit, as well as hire actual bikers as extras. But they were still able to modify vehicles to their radical look that evolved over time with each film. This rugged movie led to its two sequels in the 80s and then the acclaimed Fury Road in 2015.

Breaker Morant (1980)

Bruce Beresford struck it hard with the true story of a controversial court-marshall and execution of three soldiers who have entered folklore as scapegoats to cover the war crimes of the Boer War in 1901 South Africa. It is their ultimate courtroom drama, where we intercut between the passionate scenes of defense to save the men from the firing squad, raising the moral question of capital punishment, and the tragic events that unfolded before. These are men who were doing their job in fighting the enemy and told to do so with extreme prejudice and then given a blindfold, a rope, and a chair as their “reward.” It is A Few Good Men but tried and true with pride and guilt in the name of the Empire.

Gallipoli (1981)

Staying with Mel Gibson, he and Peter Weir worked on telling a story within the confines of the Australian’s army trial by fire: the ill-fated Gallipoli campaign during World War I. Two men, both runners, start a friendship that takes them across to Egypt and then Turkey into the horrors of war. The result is a spirited scene of life for a new country (Australia was given self-government in 1901), the enthusiasm they had to join the war and prove themselves, and the brutal truth of war when they arrive on the peninsula, which was run by Winston Churchill 25 years before the events of Darkest Hour took place. It should be noted that Weir got rejected for public funding and it came via a new production company co-founded by Rupert Murdoch.

The most notable figure of this is Peter Weir, who went on to Hollywood to make Witness, Dead Poets Society, and The Truman Show. Beresford directed Robert Duvall’s Oscar-winning performance in Tender Mercies 3 years after Morant, followed by his Best Picture-winning Driving Miss Daisy. We know about Gibson; other actors that came about in this period included Sam Neill (Jurassic Park), Jackie Weaver (Silver Linings Playbook), and Paul Hogan (Crocodile Dundee). It also produced two Oscar-winning cinematographers in John Seale (The English Patient) and Russell Boyd (Master and Commander, also a Peter Weir-directed picture). A post-Wave group of works then came in the 90s, solidifying Australia’s reputation as a center of dynamic filmmaking that could transcend its boundaries.

Follow me on Twitter: @BrianSusbielles