Top 5 – Awesome Movies Coming Out in September

September is one of the more interesting months of the cinematic year.  It is the month when the major fall film festivals, like Toronto, Telluride, and Venice, kick-off, officially ushering Oscar season, as well getting some fun genre films, like pre-Halloween horror flicks.  In terms of quality, however, the films can be great, awards-worthy films or can be complete disasters.  It’s never a boring month and this September looks quite interesting.  We got a few Oscar potentials, along with some exciting sequels.  Here are my picks for the most exciting movies coming out in September.

5 – JUDY (Rupert Goold, September 27)

• Judy just made its premiere at the Telluride Film Festival and got some pretty good buzz out the gate.  The film looks at the legendary Judy Garland (Renée Zellweger) as she tours London in the winter 1968 to a string of sold out shows.  The film looks like obvious Oscar-bait, as Garland is one of the more tragic Hollywood stories, so I’m not sure this movie is going to click fully with me.  But one thing to be excited for is Zellweger as Garland.  Zellweger hasn’t had a meaty role like this in over a decade and I can’t wait to see what she does with such an iconic figure.  This could be a shoo-in for a Best Actress nomination at the end of the year.

4 – RAMBO: LAST BLOOD (Adrian Grunberg, September 20)

• The Rambo franchise is one of the iconic action franchises.  Spanning nearly forty years, the franchise looks to finish off our militaristic hero in Rambo: Last Blood.  in keeping with the trend of the franchise, Last Blood puts our Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) up against a violent mission in which he will have to use his militaristic know-how to survive.  Though the expectation of the film is for it to be a no-holds-barred, bloody thriller, there seems to be something more happening here.  Maybe there will be a little more dramatic heft and emotion in this film, as Stallone possibly says good-bye to one of his most iconic characters.  Regardless, Last Blood looks as badass as its titular hero.

3 – HUSTLERS (Lorene Scafaria, September 13)

• When the first trailer for Hustlers dropped, I was immediately sold.  The electricity of the trailer oozed off the screen and had me riveted from the first frame.  The film, based on a true story, looks at group of savvy former strip club employees who come together to turn the tables on their Wall Street clients.  The cast is excellent, featuring Constance Wu, Cardi B, Julia Stiles, Keke Palmer, Lili Reinhart, Lizzo, and Jennifer Lopez, in what could be the best performance of her career.  The story sounds interesting and director Lorene Scafaria’s direction looks slick and exciting.  This could be the sleeper hit of the fall.

2 – IT: CHAPTER 2 (Andy Muschietti, September 5)

• 2017’s It was a smash success and one of the best horror remakes of all-time, doing the Stephan King property justice in terms of its large scale, dense story, and scares that stay with you long after the viewing is over.  The decision to split the story into two films was a brilliant one as it allowed the films to dive deeper into the characters and themes.  The first It focused on the children of the Losers’ Club, Chapter 2 focuses on the Losers’ Club as adults.  Jessica Chastain, James McAvoy, and Bill Hader lead the grown Losers this time around and Bill Skarsgård returns as the horrifying clown Pennywise.  What does Pennywise have in store for the Losers this time around?  I’m excited to find out, and with a runtime of almost three hours(!), this is bound to be one of the most epic horror movies ever made.

1 – AD ASTRA (James Gray, September 20)

• If you ask the opinion of this critic, James Gray is the most underrated director working in Hollywood today.  Having worked in the business for 25 years, he is one of the most unique and gifted directors we have.  Dabbling in a a number of different genres, from romance to gangster to adventure, Gray’s films are always gorgeously shot with deep themes and powerful acting.  Ad Astra is Gray’s latest film and it looks like his biggest, most ambitious film to date.  Brad Pitt stars as an astronaut who undertakes a mission across the never-ending depths of solar system to uncover the truth about his missing father and his doomed expedition that now, 30 years later, threatens the universe.  After a stellar performance in Once Upon a Time…In Hollywood, Brad Pitt looks like he could have another great performance under his belt with this one.  The visuals looks incredible and the mystery of the whole film has me really intrigued.  We’ve gotten a lot of great sci-fi epics this decade, like Gravity, Interstellar, and Blade Runner 2049 and Ad Astra looks to be the next great sci-fi epic.  Hopefully this is the film that gets Gray the credit he deserves.

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