ENTERTAINMENT
Looking for Good Movies This Fall BY STEVE BRYAN
The 2012 summer movie season saw monster hits (“The Avengers”, “The Dark Knight Rises”), comedies that became disasters (Adam Sandler’s “That’s My Boy”), and films that didn’t meet expectations (The remake of “Total Recall.”) “The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure” posted such poor box office numbers that it now sits in a class by itself. Typically, the movies released in the fall are a mixed blessing. Those months between Labor Day and the first week of November are not usually the strongest films of the year, but there are always exceptions to the rule. On October 12, Ben Affleck dramatizes a key chapter of the Iranian hostage crisis in “Argo.” Affleck directs and stars in this true story of how Canada helped rescue six American embassy employees in Tehran in 1979. “Argo” shows the ingenious way the Americans made it back home, namely masquerading as a film crew shooting on location. In his post-“King of Queens” years, Kevin James selected roles in “Zookeeper” and other light-weight comedies. “Here Comes the Boom,” due out in October, may have more substance than his previous efforts. James plays a high school biology teacher who becomes a mixed martial arts fighter to raise money for the school music program. James, who was so great in the 2005 comedy “Hitch,” has the talent and chops to pull this kind of role off. Coming to theaters October 5, “The Paperboy” gives Zac Efron a chance to shine. The “High School Musical” star plays the wayward brother of an investigative reporter. While helping his sibling investigate the innocence of a death row convict, he begins a complicated romance. With Matthew McConaughey, Nicole Kidman, and John Cusack also in the cast, this drama could become one of the hottest fall films. October 26 sees the arrival of “The Sessions,” a drama that generated some serious buzz on the film festival circuit. Based on the autobiographical writing of late journalist Mark O’Brien, “The Sessions” looks at O’Brien’s adult years in an iron lung. A victim of polio, O’Brien set out to lose his virginity despite his condition. The journalist passed away in 1999, but his stories continue to inspire moviemakers and audiences. Going into a presidential election, healthcare concerns remain a hot-button topic. The upcoming documentary “Escape Fire: The Fight to Rescue American Healthcare” examines the state of the American medical system and efforts to change it. Directors Matthew Heineman and Susan Froemke turn the cameras on real people and their struggles with the system.
“The Paperboy”
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OCTOBER 2012 CROSSROADS
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