The almost-comprehensive Brooklyn Magazine fall movies and TV preview
“Abbott Elementary” goes back to school this month, plus a return to Wakanda, a new look at Bowie and much more
It may continue to feel like summer in New York well into October, but Hollywood is coming in quick with all new shows and movies meant for the cool, breezy days of autumn.
September brings an abundance of stories, like A24’s “Pearl,” the second movie this year starring Mia Goth as the murderous starlet following “X” this spring. Disney+ heard our cries and resurrected the Sanderson Sisters for another go at being witchy: “Hocus Pocus 2” comes 29 years after the original and stars Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy, who reprise their roles. And David Bowie hits IMAX theaters this month in “Moonage Daydream,” by Brett Morgen, the director behind 2015’s “Cobain: Montage of Heck.”
“Halloween Ends,” allegedly, in October, with the last face-off between Laurie Strode and Michael Myers. At Netflix, “Descendant” follows the family members of Mobile, Alabama, as they search for the remains of the Clotilda, the last known slave ship to illegally transport human beings as cargo from Africa to America. “Wednesday,” also on Netflix, has Tim Burton return to his horror-comedy roots for a retooling of “The Addams Family,” with the family’s teen daughter, Wednesday Addams, at the narrative’s dysfunctional center.
In November, the world will again mourn the loss of Chadwick Boseman with “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.” There’s “Bones and All,” a cannibal love story by the director of “Call Me by Your Name” (Armie Hammer, sadly, is not involved). Finally, “The Crown” returns on Netflix with an all-new cast of English actors playing our favorite royal weirdos.
Read about these shows and movies in our fall arts preview.
(This article appears in the upcoming fall 2022 issue of Brooklyn Magazine. Click here to subscribe and get your copy delivered to you as soon as it’s out.)
September 16
“See How They Run” (theaters)
Movies that ape Wes Anderson’s style usually flop, but we have a good feeling about this one. When members of a production are murdered, world-weary Inspector Stoppard (Oscar winner Sam Rockwell) and rookie Constable Stalker (Saoirse Ronan) find themselves in the midst of a puzzling whodunit.
“Pearl” (theaters)
I didn’t care much for “X” when A24 dropped it in theaters this spring, but that won’t stop me from seeing the prequel. When we met Pearl earlier this year, she slaughtered a couple of creepy geriatrics on a farm. Now learn how Pearl became a homicidal starlet (in her own mind, anyway).
“Moonage Daydream” (theaters)
A cinematic odyssey designed for IMAX, “Moonage Daydream” explores David Bowie’s creative and musical journey. Directed by filmmaker Brett Morgen in collaboration with the Bowie estate.
September 21
“Andor” (Disney+)
“Star Wars: Rogue One” is arguably the best of Disney’s take on George Lucas’s creation, and they’re giving it the bigbudget approach for the small screen. The show is a prequel centered around Diego Luna as freedom fighter Cassian Andor in this origin story of the Rebellion.
“Abbott Elementary” (ABC and Hulu)
The most-buzzed-about sitcom of last year is coming back. We’re excited to see what surprises single life will bring for Janine (Emmy-winner Quinta Brunson) and her hilarious coworkers.
September 23
“Don’t Worry Darling” (theaters)
Actually, maybe worry a little, darling. How could the movie be more entertaining than the drama surrounding it? Florence Pugh plays a 1950s housewife living with her husband, Harry Styles, in a utopian experimental community that’s hiding a disturbing secret.
“Avatar” 2022 re-release (theaters)
“Avatar” returns to reacquaint us with the world of Pandora before the sequel drops in December. When a paraplegic Marine (Sam Worthington) is dispatched to the moon on Pandora, he becomes torn between following his orders and protecting the world he feels is his real home.
“Sidney” (Apple TV+)
This documentary honors Sidney Poitier and his legacy as an iconic actor, filmmaker and activist at the center of Hollywood and the Civil Rights Movement.
“A Jazzman’s Blues” (Netflix)
Set in the Deep South during the 1940s, the series presents Joshua Boone and Solea Pfeiffer as star-crossed lovers Bayou and Leanne. Their forbidden love, which leads to the uncovering of decades of secrets and lies, is based on the very first screenplay Tyler Perry wrote, back in 1995.
“Blonde” (Netflix)
This fictionalized chronicle of the inner life of Marilyn Monroe has Ana de Armas playing the infamous Norma Jean. The production is rumored to be fraught with arguments between Netflix and director Andrew Dominik because he wanted to keep the movie’s NC-17 rating and Netflix, simply, did not. Dominik won.
September 30
“Bros” (theaters)
Billy Eichner stars in the first romantic comedy from a major studio about two gay men who are stumbling toward love but might be too busy for the commitment. Is it hot or will it flop? Time will tell, dude.
“Hocus Pocus 2” (Disney+)
Three young women accidentally bring back the Sanderson Sisters to modern-day Salem and must figure out how to stop the child-hungry witches from wreaking havoc on the world. Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy return to their cult classic.
October 7
“Triangle of Sadness” (theaters)
Winner of the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival in May, this movie follows a cruise for the super-rich that sinks, leaving survivors, including a couple who are celebrity models, trapped on an island. Starring Woody Harrelson and Harris Dickinson.
October 14
“Till” (theaters)
The emotional and true story of Mamie Till Mobley’s relentless pursuit of justice for her 14-year-old son, Emmett Till, who, in 1955, was lynched while visiting his cousins in Mississippi.
“Halloween Ends” (theaters)
Evil dies tonight. (Unless it’s a hit. Then we can probably expect more sequels.) The saga of Michael Myers and Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) comes to a spine-chilling climax in this “final” installment of the 40-year-old franchise.
October 21
“Black Adam” (theaters)
Thousands of years after Black Adam (Dwayne Johnson) was bestowed with the almighty powers of the Egyptian gods, and imprisoned just as quickly, he’s freed from his earthly tomb. He’s rip-roaring and ready to unleash his … unique form of justice on the modern world in this DC super-villain story.
“The Banshees of Inisherin” (theaters)
What happens when friends in a close community quit the friendship? This story shows two lifelong friends (played by Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson) finding themselves at an impasse when one abruptly ends their relationship, with alarming consequences for both.
“Descendant” (Netflix)
It’s one of the year’s best documentaries. “Descendant” follows members of Africatown, a small community in Mobile, Alabama, as they share their personal stories and community history as descendants of the Clotilda, the last known slave ship to illegally transport human beings as cargo from Africa to America.
October 28
“Call Jane” (theaters)
It couldn’t be more relevant: “Call Jane” follows a married woman (Elizabeth Banks) with an unwanted pregnancy who lives in pre-Roe America, where she can’t get a legal abortion when a group of suburban women (including a performance by Sigourney Weaver) bind together to help.
Sometime in October
“Wednesday” (Netflix)
Tim Burton resurrects “The Addams Family,” this time focusing on Wednesday Addams’ years as a student, when she attempts to master her emerging psychic ability and thwart and solve the mystery that embroiled her parents. That Catherine Zeta-Jones plays Wednesday’s mom Morticia and Luis Guzmán plays Gomez, her dad, is icing on the macabre cake.
November 4
“Amsterdam” (theaters)
Set in the 1930s, the movie follows three friends (played by Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, and John David Washington) who witness a murder, become suspects themselves and uncover one of the most outrageous plots in American history in this real-life story.
November 11
“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” (theaters)
Watch this trailer and tell me Angela Bassett doesn’t give you chills: You can’t. In this sequel, the nation of Wakanda is pitted against intervening world powers as they mourn the loss of their king, T’Challa.
“The Son” (theaters)
In the follow-up to the 2020 Oscar winner “The Father,” Peter (Hugh Jackman) and his new partner, Emma, see their life with a new baby thrown into disarray when Peter’s ex-wife, Kate (Laura Dern), turns up with their teenage son, Nicholas.
November 18
“She Said” (theaters)
New York Times reporters Megan Twohey (Carey Mulligan) and Jodi Kantor (Zoe Kazan) break one of the most important stories in a generation in this new dramatic retelling of recent history — a story that helped launch the #MeToo movement and shattered decades of silence around the subject of sexual assault in Hollywood.
“The Menu” (theaters)
When a young couple (played by Anya Taylor-Joy and Nicholas Hoult) travels to a remote island to eat at an exclusive restaurant where the chef (Ralph Fiennes) has prepared a lavish menu, shocking surprises ensue.
“Bones and All” (theaters)
Speaking of cannibalism! The irony of a people-eating love story by “Call Me by Your Name” director Luca Guadagnino and starring Timothee Chalamet isn’t lost on us (though Armie Hammer is sitting this one out). In “Bones and All,” Maren (Taylor Russell) learns how to survive on the margins of society with Lee (Chalamet); we assume there will be blood.
November 23
“The Fabelmans” (theaters)
Fresh off the heels of his 2021 remake of “West Side Story,” this semiautobiography based on Steven Spielberg’s own childhood growing up in post-war Arizona from age 7 to 18 is said to have David Lynch playing director John Ford, eye patch and all.
November 30
“Willow” (Disney+)
Disney is digging deep in the vault for ideas. This sequel series to 1988’s “Willow” sees Warwick Davis return as Willow Ufgood, plus a talented young cast that includes Erin Kellyman and Tony Revolori. They set off on a dangerous quest where they must face their inner demons and come together to save the world.
Sometime in November
“The Crown” (Netflix)
Season five has a new cast playing our favorite English royals. Imelda Staunton plays QEII (R.I.P.) and Elizabeth Debicki and Dominic West are Diana and Charles, who could possibly bring the story into the late ’90s with the addition of West’s reallife son portraying a young William
This article appears in the upcoming fall 2022 issue of Brooklyn Magazine. Click here to subscribe and get your copy delivered to you as soon as it’s out.
