Having wrapped up the eight months of the year thus far, it’s time to look towards the final four. Today we’re kicking off our fall 2013 preview with a rundown of all of the certified, worthwhile features arriving in theaters (and a handful on VOD, as well). Dating back from six years ago all the way up to this year’s Sundance, Cannes, SXSW, Tribeca and Fantasia film festivals, we have twenty films that we’ve already seen that are well worth your time. Check them out below and return later this week for our most-anticipated films in the coming months, as well as the festival premieres we hope we’ll see by year’s end.
A.C.O.D. (Stu Zicherman; Oct. 4th)
Working with a subject matter that at least half of the country can directly relate to, A.C.O.D. (a.k.a. Adult Children of Divorce), starring Adam Scott, works firstly as a rather broad comedy, and secondly as a just-smart-enough comment on how we never fully forget the ones we love/loved. Scott plays Carter, a successful restaurateur who’s done well mostly avoiding his mother (Catherine O’Hara) and father (Richard Jenkins). They have been divorced for years and hate each other to the bone. Unfortunately, when his younger brother (Clark Duke) decides to get married, Carter is forced to play middleman to his estranged parents once again in order to get them both to the wedding. In the crossfire, Carter also learns that, as a child, he was a psychological subject in a best-selling book on divorce. What follows is, for the most part, silly stuff punctuated with honest moments of observation. Directed by first-timer Stu Zicherman, A.C.O.D. succeeds thanks in large part to an intelligent screenplay and an all-star cast, which also includes Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jessica Alba, Amy Poehler and Jane Lynch. – Dan M.
All is Lost (J.C. Chandor; Oct. 18th)
The hurdles in making a film with a single actor, virtually no dialogue and, while you’re at it, also setting action in the middle of the ocean sounds like a daunting, if not impossible feat for a filmmaker to successfully accomplish. Yet, miraculously, All Is Lost, the second feature film from Margin Call director J.C. Candor, is an uncommonly effective piece that acts as a complete reversal from his previous feature. Starring the timeless Robert Redford as a nameless man, the film rests entirely on his shoulders, and he carries it with grace and class. With a performance that’s sure to be remembered for years to come, All Is Lost is a surprisingly mature and profound tale about overcoming the impossible, even if it means sacrificing everything. – Raffi A.
All the Boys Love Mandy Lane (Jonathan Levine; Oct. 11th)
In October of 2006, at a disastrous multiplex test screening in suburban New Jersey, All The Boys Love Mandy Lane left a mainstream audience shaken. The film had this misfortune of screening the day following a shooting that left six dead at an Amish school outside of Lancaster, PA and the audience apparently wasn’t in the mood for this brand of an intense horror. In the six years since, All The Boys Love Mandy Lane has become a heavily anticipated urban legend. I can report the film delivers what it sets out to and over half-a-decade later, I still remember it. (That that’s more than I can say for Mortal Instruments: City of Bones.) Director Jonathan Levine has since had a very diverse career including directing several notable comedies with The Wackness, 50/50 and Warm Bodies. With a hard edge including lots of blood and gore, All The Boys Love Mandy Lane is a stylish exercise, at times putting style above substance. The film will see a theatrical and VOD release, so you will have time to get in the proper mindset for what the film delivers — and it delivers in a big way. – John F.
Blue Caprice (Alexandre Moors; Sept. 13th)
In Blue Caprice, a taut character study of the two men behind the 2002 D.C. Sniper shootings, writer-director Alexandre Moors does an effective job of offering insight into the minds behind such senseless killings. Featuring two fantastic performances from Isaiah Washington and Tequan Richmond, playing the infamous criminals Allen Muhammad and Lee Malvo (respectively), the film strives to capture an uncomfortable mood. Featuring one of the best performances from the festival in the form of Washington’s frightening portrayal of Muhammad, Moors has crafted a multi-layered dissection of one of the countries most incomprehensible crimes. – Raffi A.
Blue is the Warmest Color (Abdellatif Kechiche; Oct. 25th)
Blue is the Warmest Color (La Vie D’Adele chapters 1 et 2) is a vivid portrait of the ever changing seasons of love, from the first kiss to the final goodbye. Adapted from a French graphic novel Blue Angel and directed by Tunisian filmmaker Abdellatif Kechiche, the film chronicles the experience of an adolescent girl as she navigates life from high school and blossoms into a young adult with her first job as a kindergarten teacher. Effecting and powerful in its portrayal of love, Blue is the Warmest Color is an epic ode to the enduring affection that overwhelms individuals when they find that special someone. – Raffi A.
The Crash Reel (Lucy Walker; Dec. TBA)
There was a steady welling up of tears as The Crash Reel came to its conclusion. I had shed a few earlier in the film, but now it was constantly assaulting my emotions, with a mix of joy and anger. The film follows a young snowboarder named Kevin Pearce and his rise to stardom — at one point he beat Shaun White with consistency — and his stunning and shocking injury that left him in a coma and the throes of death heading into the Olympics. I’ve never experienced the level of successes that Kevin had, but I’ve known what competition feels like in sports and the rush that you can’t replicate anywhere else. There’s an addictiveness to it that is the reason you have so many weekend warriors. Within this frame, we begin to understand why someone who has a traumatic brain injury (TBI) would be willing to risk their life in the pursuit of that thrill. – Bill G.
The Dirties (Matthew Johnson; Oct. 4th)
If the found-footage concept relies on the belief that hand-held images will instantly signal reality, then it’s refreshing that The Dirties has the intelligence to directly pit verisimilitude against fantasy and subjectivity’s place within it. But as for the subject of the found-footage, we find two best friends, but more definitively. high-school outcasts and film buffs, Matt and Owen (the former played by the director Matt Johnson). They decide to document (with the help of an unseen cameraman) the making of their magnum opus, The Dirties, which sees them getting revenge against the school bullies. Their cast and crew consist virtually of themselves and a few accidental participants from their school and outside; itself mirroring the actual film’s use of real people. Though after their disastrous in-class screening, only making them the objects of even further scorn, it’s back to the drawing board as a far more real and deadly project is devised by Matt. – Ethan V.
Don Jon (Joseph Gordon-Levitt; Sept. 27th)
A cross between Jersey Shore and Shame, Don Jon, the directorial debut from Sundance vet Joseph Gordon-Levitt, is a sincerely personal and comedic examination about Internet porn addiction. Writing, directing and starring as the titular Don, Levitt injects a personal feel, giving an intimacy to Don’s issues, fantasizing about sexual experiences that are ultimately selfish. The film is both strangely relatable and intimate while also maintaining a brisk comedic pace, not an easy feat. – Raffi A.
Escape From Tomorrow (Randy Moore; Oct. 11th)
Easily one of the strangest films at this year’s Sundance festival was the audacious and provocative Escape from Tomorrow, a film shot guerrilla-style in both Disneyland and Disney World without the permission of Mickey Mouse. The premise is simple: on the last day of their family Disney vacation, Jim (Roy Abramsohn) is laid off from his job, which serves as a catalyst for a hallucinatory Disney experience. As the spiraling spectacle of madness becomes more bizarre, complete with memorable Disney rides getting demonic makeovers, Escape from Tomorrow delivers an engrossing take on what the family vacation represents in corporate America. – Raffi A.
I Used to Be Darker (Matthew Porterfield; Sept. 27th)
There is an ease at which Matthew Porterfield‘s I Used To Be Darker moves that is at once aggravating and captivating. Telling the deceivingly simple tale of one extended family coming to terms with a bevy of personal problems, mostly through music, Darker is a very passionate piece of work that marks a large step forward for writer/director Porterfield, who has been riding the festival circuit since 2006 with his debut Hamilton. Darker concerns Taryn (Deragh Campbell), a young Irish woman escaping a summer of trouble in Ocean City, Maryland by seeking refuge with her Aunt Kim (Kim Taylor) and Uncle Bill (Ned Oldham). Unfortunately, Kim and Bill are in the middle of splitting up after years of marriage and a daughter, named Abby (Hannah Gross), to boot. – Dan M.
Kill Your Darlings (John Krokidas; Oct. 18th)
With John Krokidas’ Kill You Darlings, we are given yet another entry into the still-burgeoning Beat Generation brand. In this incarnation, the movement begins with a murder. It’s a compelling opening to a mostly compelling, if surprisingly standard, biopic. The central subject is Allen Ginsberg, played with considerable bravado by Daniel Radcliffe. A Jewish teen living in New Jersey with his crazy mother (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and put-upon father (David Cross), Ginsberg gets into Columbia University, and his life changes forever. Fast-paced and full of energy, Kill Your Darlings does its very best to expose the importance of the Beat movement and the individual importance of all those involved. Ginsberg, Burroughs and Kerouac are each given their origin stories, the three young men growing up around the tragedy of Lucien Carr and David Kammerer. – Dan M.
Let the Fire Burn (Jason Osder; Oct. 2nd)
The year is 1985. The extremist African-American liberation group MOVE has headquartered itself in a West Philadelphia house in a densely populated neighborhood on Osage Ave, a neighborhood that would be burned to the ground by the Philadelphia Police Department. Let the Fire Burn is a fascinating new documentary by Jason Osder using only found footage, telling this amazing story through taped depositions, news reports and the public access-broadcast footage of a commission to understand what happened on Osage Ave. Documentaries like this are essentially in arrogating past materials to tell whole story. Ccomplete and definitive, it paradoxically is fresh, while remaining grounded in the past. It contains no new footage and no voice over narration, but the voices that speak to us, speak in present tense and the results are profound. – John F.
Muscle Shoals (Greg Camalier; Sept. 27th)
Matching the passion of the music it covers, this documentary explores a small town in Alabama where much of the great blues/rock ‘n’ roll we still listen to was recorded. The place is run by Rick Hall, a fascinating real-life character with an equal serving of personal tragedy and professional success. Engaging and determined, Hall anchors the doc as the life-force of his studio and the musical collaboration that stems from the space, which is deemed “magical” by more than a few landmark musicians. And while we hear of the greatness of the place from rock stars like Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, The Staples Singers, The Allman Brothers Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Simon and Garfunkel and more, it’s the people working at the FAME recording studio we fall in love with. – Dan M.
Mr. Nobody (Jaco Van Dormael; Nov. 1st)
While it didn’t have the half-a-decade-plus journey to reach the screens that the aforementioned All the Boys Love Mandy Lane had, it’s still been a long time coming for U.S. audiences to see the sci-fi drama Mr. Nobody. Premiering at TIFF and Venice four years ago, the film has toured the world at this point, already released on Blu-ray and DVD in many territories, but now it will finally be coming to the states. Led by Jared Leto, the film follows him as Nemo Nobody, the last mortal in a world of immortals in 2092 — but that just cracks the surface of this wildly ambitious, entertaining, emotional experience. Hitting VOD at the end of this month before a theatrical release, it’s well worth the time to visit and one can even read our brief take from its premiere. – Jordan R.
Nebraska (Alexander Payne; Nov. 22nd)
In following up his most commercially successful film to date, The Descendants helmer Alexander Payne has returned to the Midwest roots that, through Election, made him one of the more well-respected voices currently working in American comedy. Shot in stark black-and-white, the new feature, Nebraska is a quaint, simple story that’s wise enough not to pander to its audience, instead treating characters with care and, by viewing through a detached lens, a sense of reality in portraying their lives. Oddly straightforward and punctuated by humorous moments throughout, there is a droll clarity to the film that elevates the overall experience into a heartfelt, sincere drama. Despite its modesty, Nebraska succeeds several times over in giving a sense of place and depth to the sometimes desolate parts of middle America. – Raffi A.
Inside Llewyn Davis (Joel & Ethan Coen; Dec. 6th)
Inside Llewyn Davis is a delightful treat for fans of the folk music scene in its infancy while simultaneously being one of the funniest deadpan comedies in years. Profiling a down on his luck musician, Llewyn Davis (Oscar Isaac), whose natural talent seems like he is destined for success, the film is a vivid portrait of what it means to be a starving artist. The look, and more importantly, the feeling of this film perfectly encapsulates a place in time, giving audiences a transportive experience. A bittersweet tale brimming with wit and humor, Inside Llewyn Davis is sure to satisfy the appetite of hungry cinephiles and music fans alike. – Raffi A.
The Past (Asghar Farhadi; Dec. 20th)
Should we forget the past in order to better our future? This existential question is at the core of The Past, Asghar Farhadi‘s follow-up film to the Oscar-winning Iranian film A Separation. The ensemble group of actors are superb, with Farhadi’s screenplay giving Berenice Bejo a few moments of intense vitriol that earned her the best actress award. Simultaneously poetic and tragic, The Past dares to ask the question of how people can move on from lost love while also rediscovering what it is that made them love in the first place. – Raffi A.
Twice Born (Sergio Castellitto; Dec. TBA)
Adapted from the 2008 novel by Margaret Mazzantini of the same name, Twice Born (Venuto al mondo) isn’t quite what it seems. When an aged Italian woman named Gemma (Penélope Cruz) receives a phone call from her past, we infer certain facts via hers and her husband’s (director Sergio Castellito‘s Giuliano) reactions. The mystery man in a photo on their fridge seems more important than a simple friend for who’s work is showing in Sarajevo. And as Gemma and son Pietro (Pietro Castellito) exit the plane in Bosnia, flashbacks of her first visit begin to unfold. It’s 1984 when she meets the lifelong friend Gojko (Adnan Haskovic) who called and its then that she falls for her one true love Diego (Emile Hirsch). Authentic to a fault in their love for one another and the struggle to be the person they believe their partner needs, we watch both grow tired from the strain and constant need to assuage any and all assumptions they have about what the other is thinking. Forever bonded, the journey life takes them on is full of unspeakable tragedy no attempt at optimism can hope to prevail against. Hardened by their experiences, it’s their duty to keep fighting for life, love, and happiness. Through the make-up putting close to two decades on Cruz’s face, still her vitality never dies. Hope will be born from darkness; good created from evil. And when you experience the defining cruelty driving her journey, you’ll know exactly what I mean. – Jared M.
We Are What We Are (Jim Mickle; Sept. 27th)
Stylishly directed and unnerving to its core, Jim Mickle’s We Are What We Are is a prime example of horror done right. The story revolves around the seemingly-wholesome Parker family, who behind closed doors are harboring dark secrets. Part of what makes the film so effective is its unsettling mood, made more distressing by the intense use of sound design and cinematography to heighten tension. We Are What We Are is a devilish treat that will leave you hungry for more from director Jim Mickle. – Raffi A.
Zero Charisma (Andrew Matthews & Katie Graham; Oct. 11th)
Zero Charisma is the kind of film one attends a film festival to see. There are no big stars, and the film entered SXSW with little buzz, but those humble beginnings don’t match up with what you witness on the screen. This fascinating look at nerd culture, directed by Katie Graham and Andrew Matthews, is spot-on and full of heart. You’ve known these characters in real life: the ones that get too into it; the easy going guy that can come in and fit in and the band of friends that stick with long-term friends no matter what they eventually turn into. Scott Weidemeyer (Sam Eidson) is the game master for his local homemade variant of a Dungeons and Dragons game. He’s a purist at heart, and loves his position as he lords over his little grouping of close friends, yet he doesn’t really seem to care to get to know them all that much. – Bill G.
Which of the above films are you most looking forward to? Have you seen any on the festival circuit?
Continue to our top 20 most-anticipated fall films >>
<< Go back to 20 festival films we hope will get released this year