The High Five: September

The High Five is a new regular article that will pop up toward the end of each month, highlighting the five movies in the coming month that I'm most excited to see.  Most of these will be films scheduled for a nationwide bow, though some will already be out in certain markets but will be coming to Columbus in the focused-upon month.  For smaller movies, check your local theater's listings to determine when you'll get a chance to check these out.

September is generally a weird in-between period for movies, falling between the explosion-centric  summer movie season and the more prestigious awards season, which normally really gets going in November.  This September, however, we're lucky enough to have some viable contenders (The Master, Arbitage) and some hopefully-solid entertainment (Looper) to look forward to.

Let's all join hands and squeal and jump up and down in communal anticipation.

1. The Master (September 14 limited; September 21 wide) - If you frequent Such Moving Pictures, it should come as no surprise that Paul Thomas Anderson's first film since There Will Be Blood (one of my top ten movies of all time) is the September release that has me most jazzed.  Every poster and trailer has been beautifully realized, and each has suggested that The Master will be the year's best film, full of brutally brilliant performances, gorgeous cinematography, and the strange wonder of Paul Thomas Anderson's powerful direction.  Early screenings have drawn stellar - and confused - reviews, with many Twitterers and critics citing it as one of the best movie-going experiences they've ever had.  I'm planning to spend September 21 taking in at least two screenings, hopefully more.  The Master sounds like one of those movies you have to see more than once to fully grasp and appreciate.  Brilliance does that.

2. Looper (September 28) - Rian Johnson (Brick, The Brothers Bloom) reunites with this year's most ubiquitous actor not named Channing, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, for a time-travel actioner in which JGL's character must kill his future self, played by Bruce Willis.  This sort of story often has so many plot holes one might expect it was filmed on Swiss cheese, but the trailers show that Johnson is aware of these sources of discontinuity (such as, doesn't Willis's character have memories of all of this happening before?), so hopefully he's ironed out all the potential wrinkles. (On a personal note, I wrote a somewhat similar story back in high school, and had to have the characters get their memories erased to glaze over the Grand Canyon-esque plot holes that riddled my pages.)  Emily Blunt and Jeff Daniels also costar in what looks to be a smart, thrilling ride.

3. Liberal Arts (September 28) - Josh Radnor, star of How I Met Your Mother, made a solid writing/directing debut with happythankyoumoreplease, and it looks like he's refined his skills with Liberal Arts, filmed mostly at Radnor's alma mater, Kenyon College.  The story follows a college adviser who returns to his alma mater for his favorite professor's retirement, only to fall in love with the hip, dreamy daughter of a colleague.  Elizabeth Olsen, Richard Jenkins, Allison Janney, and Zac Efron also costar.  Watch the trailer here.

4. Compliance (now playing in limited release; September 21 in Columbus) - Compliance has been the center of a lot of controversy since its release, with some theater-goers walking out in disgust.  The film follows a fast food restaurant manager who receives a prank call reporting that one of her employees robbed a customer.  Ann Dowd stars as the manager, and her performance has met with widespread acclaim, with some clamoring for Oscar attention, though this probably isn't an Oscar-friendly flick.  Regardless, whenever a film generates such outrage and controversy, it makes for an interesting watch, both for the film itself and for the potential pitfalls of the theater-going experience.  Maybe I should expect another Antichrist-esque outing?

5. Side by Side (September 21) - For film aficionados, this is a documentary to keep an eye on.  Side by Side hosts a smorgasbord of great directors, including Martin Scorsese, James Cameron, David Fincher, David Lynch, Christopher Nolan, George Lucas, Danny Boyle, and Stephen Soderbergh, talking about the transition over the past couple decades from shooting on film to, increasingly, shooting in a digital format.  This is the sort of thing that gets movie fans all hot and heavy; just ask the scores who stayed until the end of The Dark Knight Rises' credits to see the note that Nolan's trilogy-ender was shot on film.  Keanu Reeves, of all people, serves as the host in Christopher Kenneally's documentary.

Other Notable Releases: Robot and Frank (September 7), 360 (September 7), Arbitrage (September 14), The Good Doctor (September 14), The Perks of Being a Wallflower (September 21), Trouble With the Curve (September 21)