Now that the Summer Blockbuster season is over, the race to the Oscars is officially underway.
With the likes of Captain Fantastic, Hell Or High Water, Anthropoid and Free State of Jones on the way this month, there'll be much more deeper films in store for audiences. On the flipside, you've also got the outrageously funny Sausage Party and the long-awaited return of Bridget Jones, not to mention beautiful animation in the form of Kubo And The Two Strings.
Here's what's in store for September.
SEPTEMBER 2nd
Cafe Society
Woody Allen's latest film (well, he does one every year) sees him returning to the '30s with Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart. Set between Los Angeles and New York, a young man moves out to the glittering West Coast and takes up a job with his powerful uncle, Steve Carrell, who runs a talent agency in Hollywood. Whilst there, he falls in love with Stewart, but the relationship is complicated by more than a few mishaps. Witty, funny and gorgeous-looking, Cafe Society is one for true fans of Woody Allen.
A Date For Mad Mary
Seana Kerslake and Charleigh Bailey star in this affecting Irish dramedy about a young woman who returns from prison to Drogheda and finds that her childhood friend is moving with her life, planning a wedding and is trying to freeze her out. In order to prove she's doing the same, she sets out to find a date for the wedding. In doing so, she finds out about herself and where she is now.
Sausage Party
Seth Rogen, Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig and a who's-who of comedic talent star in this wild, outrageous CGI animation comedy. Food can talk and has been brought up to believe that when the gods (that's us) choose them, they move on to a beautiful life. Of course, as we know, that's not the case and now the food is fighting back. Forget PIXAR, forget any of the cute CGI animation you've seen in the past, this is NONE of those.
Equity
Breaking Bad's Anna Gunn stars in this tense corporate drama about a senior investment banker whose career is being threatened by a looming financial scandal. In order to save herself, she has untangle a wide web of deception and corruption. Featuring a strong central performance by Gunn, it also stars Rome's James Purefoy and Orange Is The New Black's Alysia Reiner.
Morgan
Luke Scott - yes, Ridley Scott's son - directs this sci-fi thriller that has flashes of Alex Garland's Ex Machina. A risk-management consultant for a major conglomerate must decided whether or not a lifelike human lives or dies. The human, named Morgan, has grown at an exponential rate and now looks and sounds like a fully-grown woman and has incredible abilities, but can't process human emotions. Tense, weird and creepy, it's everything you'd expect from the offspring of the man who created Blade Runner and Alien.
SEPTEMBER 9th
Ben-Hur
Jack Huston and Toby Kebbell star in this reimagining of the 1959 classic, now directed by Wanted's Timur Bekmambetov. Starring Boardwalk Empire's Jack Huston as Ben-Hur and Black Mirror's Toby Kebbell as Messala, Ben-Hur has all the spills and thrills of the original.
Kubo And The Two Strings
Matthew McConaughey and Charlize Theron lead this beautiful animated dramedy from Laika Studios, who created The Boxtrolls and Paranorman. A young boy, voiced by upcomer Art Parkinson, must go on an adventure to recover the armour belonging to his late father so that he can defeat a ghost from his past. Aiding him is Beetle, voiced by McConaughey. Along the way, he meets the Moon King (voiced by Ralph Fiennes) and the Sisters, voiced by Rooney Mara.
Don't Breathe
A group of teenagers decide to break into the home of a wealthy blind man (Steve Lang) with the intent of robbing him, well, blind. Of course, what they don't expect is that not only is he prepared for intruders, he's seemingly able to sense them. Tense and smart, Don't Breathe looks like it could a future horror classic.
Anthropoid
Cillian Murphy and Jamie Dornan star in this World War II-set drama about the Czech Resistance and the plot to kill Reinhard Heydrich, one of Hitler's top henchmen. A lot less romantic than you'd expect, Anthropoid is more closer to a high-pitch thriller with some brilliant setpieces to boot.
Hell Or High Water
Chris Pine and Ben Foster star in this modern Western about two brothers in West Texas who set out to rob several banks so as to raise enough money to buy back their family ranch. Tracking them is Jeff Bridges, a semi-retired Ranger who understands that more often than not, people are sympathising with the robbers than anything else. Brilliantly directed by David Mackenzie and a screenplay by the writer of Sicario, Hell Or High Water is one of the best films of the year.
SEPTEMBER 16th
Bridget Jones' Baby
Renee Zellwegger returns as Bridget Jones in the third installment of the series. Newly divorced from Mr. D'Arcy (Colin Firth), Jones decides to focus on her career as a top TV producer. However, fate has a way of sidelining her plans as a dashing American (Patrick Dempsey) enters her life. Before long, Bridget's pregnant and now she can't tell who's the father and who will be in her life.
The Infiltrator
Bryan Cranston and John Leguizama star in this '80s set crime thriller about one of the most elaborate stings in FBI history. Charged with taking on the Medellin Cartel and Pablo Escobar, a veteran FBI agent and his partner take on the identity of money launderers and work their way into the confidence of Escobar's second-in-command. Once there, they have to live with the fear of being found and work towards taking them down, even if it kills them.
The Young Offenders
Remember that massive cocaine seizure that was made off the coast of Cork in 2007? That's the framing device for this new Irish comedy that follows two teenagers who steal a couple of bikes and head off to find a missing bail of cocaine and change their lives forever. Starring PJ Gallagher and directed by Peter Foott, The Young Offenders has been hailed as one of the funniest Irish films in years.
SEPTEMBER 23rd
The Magnificent Seven
Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt and Ethan Hawke lead this all-star ensemble cast in a reimagining of the Western classic with Yul Brynner and Charles Bronson. A group of misfits are hired to by a desperate town to defend themselves against an encroaching industrialist who plans to wipe them out once and for all.
The Girl With All The Gifts
A scientist and a teacher living in a dystopian future embark on a journey of survival with a special young girl named Melanie. Directed by Colm McCarthy, who did one of the classic episodes of Sherlock, it's a thought-provoking sci-fi drama with some interesting moments with Glenn Close and Gemma Arterton.
Imperium
Daniel Radcliffe continues to distance him even further from Harry Potter with this thriller that sees him playing an FBI agent sent to infiltrate a group of white supremacists planning a major attack on the US Government. In doing so, Radcliffe has to navigate the perilous world of infiltration and staying true to his ideals and principles.
SEPTEMBER 30th
Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children
Based on the bestselling novel by Ransom Riggs, this Tim Burton-directed children's adventure sees a young teenager (Asa Butterfield) finding his way to a strange island off the coast of Wales that's home to young kids with special powers. There, he finds Miss Peregrine (Eva Green) and begins to understand that there are weird and wonderful people in the world. As imaginative as anything Burton's done, Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children looks like another quirky classic.
Leave a comment below with the name of the film you are most looking forward to seeing to be in with a chance to win a pair of ODEON cinema passes (remember you can comment with your Facebook account). Competition closes Friday 23rd September.
COMPETITION NOW CLOSED. Congrats to our winners Elaine Boland, Andrea-Tunde Geczi & Den Cureton.
