Based on the upcoming fall movie season, Hollywood is in the midst of a major identity crisis.
Is the cinema supposed to call our attention to the world’s problems or entertain our attention away from them? Do we want to see real-life tragedies restaged or do we want to run from them into cocoons of CGI, comedy, and tap-dancing invention? Do black lives matter onscreen or is Oscar still so white?
How about all of the above? Shaken perhaps by accusations of entrenched industry racism during last year’s awards run-up, the studios seem to have front-loaded films with African-American stars and themes.
Denzel Washington is holding down the center of the season’s big western remake, “The Magnificent Seven,’’ but he’s also directing and starring (with Viola Davis) in a film adaptation of “Fences,’’ playwright August Wilson’s Tony and Pulitzer winner.
“Loving’’ tells the story of Richard and Mildred Loving (Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga) and their 1967 Supreme Court case that invalidated laws against interracial marriage.
“The Birth of a Nation’’ was being touted as an awards bell-ringer before a decades-old rape accusation tarnished the reputation of its creator, Nate Parker; regardless of the controversy, the slave-rebellion drama packs a wallop. And audiences will get to see what fall festivalgoers have been doing backflips for when “Moonlight,’’ a character epic about the life of a young black Floridian (played by three different actors over the years), opens in November.
Elsewhere, the fall movie season addresses gun control (“Miss Sloane,’’ with Jessica Chastain as a lobbyist) and government surveillance (Oliver Stone’s “Snowden’’), Holocaust deniers (“Denial,’’ with Rachel Weisz) and environmental disaster (“Deepwater Horizon, with Mark Wahlberg), Iraq War trauma (“Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk,’’ from director Ang Lee) and World War II pacifism (“Hacksaw Ridge,’’ from director Mel Gibson). “Patriots Day,’’ a dramatic reenactment of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, is either the most eagerly awaited or deeply dreaded release in these parts — it depends on whom you ask.
Heavy stuff, and some of the entertainments sound even heavier. The season’s sole Marvel superhero movie (apparently required by law) is the baroque “Doctor Strange,’’ with Benedict Cumberbatch. “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children’’ allows Tim Burton to spackle his patented gothic whimsy atop the popular book series. There are new offshoots of the Harry Potter universe (“Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’’) and the George Lucas empire (“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’’), but no one seems quite sure where on their respective trees they fit.
There are star vehicles for Tom Cruise (“Jack Reacher: Never Go Back’’), Emily Blunt (“The Girl on the Train’’), Tom Hanks (“Inferno’’), and the Affleck brothers — Ben’s is the big thriller with the vaguely preposterous title (“The Accountant’’) and Casey’s is the teeny-tiny drama (“Manchester by the Sea’’) that might possibly win him an Oscar. Even 79-year-old Warren Beatty is back in the game, directing and starring as Howard Hughes in “Rules Don’t Apply.’’
Finally, there’s “La La Land,’’ in which writer-director Damian Chazelle (“Whiplash’’) and stars Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone attempt to reverse-engineer the classic Hollywood musical and convince the audience it still has meaning and relevance. In a cinematic season of calculated risks, that may be the biggest gamble of all. See capsules, Page N26.
