Fall previews. December.

Update, 9/11: The Reeler reviews the fall previews in the New York media. Fun stuff.

December 1

• The Architect. Matt Tauber directs Anthony LaPaglia and Isabella Rossellini. "[E]xplores a multitude of class, sexual, and political issues with a muscular intensity that grabbed me and asked for my full respect." Tobi Elkin (Huffington Post). A "riveting urban drama that tackles a myriad of sociopolitical issues - conflicts of race, sex, class, marriage and politics - without spreading itself thin." Aaron Hillis (Premiere).

• Bug. William Friedkin's latest. Cannes reviews. Trailer.

• The Nativity Story. From Catherine Hardwicke. Trailer.

• 3 Needles. "Thom Fitzgerald's turgid AIDS quilt." Sam Adams (Philadelphia City Paper).

December 8

• Apocalypto, "already one of the most talked-about of the season, largely because of the Crazy Mel factor," which Caryn James examines (NYT). Teaser.

• Breaking and Entering. Premiere.

• The Good German. Emma Rosenblum talks with Cate Blanchett (New York). EW.

• The Holiday. EW. Trailer.

December 15

• Blood Diamond. Mary McNamara profiles Leonardo DiCaprio (LAT).

• Home of the Brave. Trailer.

• The Painted Veil. John Curran directs Naomi Watts, Edward Norton and Liev Schreiber. EW.

• The Pursuit of Happyness. Trailer.

• Venus. Variety's Todd McCarthy caught it at Telluride and found that the film "takes a premise that could have been cutesy and/or unpleasant in other hands and raises it to a level that is at once respectably mature and cheekily irreverent. It's The Sunshine Boys with balls and prostate problems." Trailer.

December 20

• Charlotte's Web. EW. Trailer.

• The Hoax. EW. Premiere. Trailer.

December 21

• Dreamgirls. A making-of piece from James Ulmer (NYT). A... montage.

December 22

• Curse of the Golden Flower. Zhang Yimou returns to martial arts and pageantry. Trailer.

• Family Law. This "third and final part in [Daniel] Ma href="http://www.greencine.com/character?pid=47562">Burman's trilogy about fatherhood is marginally better" than Lost Embrace, writes Ed Gonzalez (Slant). Trailer (Spanish with French subtitles).

• The Good Shepherd. Robert De Niro directs. Manohla Dargis profiles Matt Damon (audio slide show; NYT).

• A Night at the Museum. EW. Trailer.

• Notes on a Scandal. EW.

December 25

• Children of Men. Venice reviews. Trailer.

December 27

• Perfume. More than a review, Urs Jenny's lengthy piece for Der Spiegel (translated by Christopher Sultan) tells the story of its making, or rather, the long delay in its making, which itself was the subject of another film in 1997, Rossini, with a screenplay co-written by Patrick Süsskind himself: "[T]he protagonist is an eccentric, notoriously publicity-shy author of a global bestseller who is even unimpressed by the prospect of a seven-figure Hollywood movie deal. The character's name is Jakob Windisch, and a producer named Reiter, a dead ringer for [producer Bernd] Eichinger when it comes to ambition, is determined, come hell or high water, to convince the reluctant author to sign a film contract." Jess Smee sums up critical reaction so far in Germany (Guardian). Trailer.

December 29

• Miss Potter. Financing and making-of piece from Steve Galloway (Hollywood Reporter).

• Pan's Labyrinth. Cannes reviews. Trailer at the site.

But wait, there's more. Dave Kehr's got the full calendar of theatrical releases while Stephanie Zacharek and Charles Taylor whet our appetites for the most notable DVD releases all the way to Christmas.

Also in the NYT, Alan Riding has a piece on Indigènes (Days of Glory), opening in France on September 27 and headed to the US, though I can't seem to find out when. Cannes reviews.

The LAT, too, of course, has an annotated calendar. Also, Susan King sees naked people and John Horn notes that a few films this season were shot on locations that have little to do with their settings.

Jim Emerson has collected Roger Ebert's first takes on several fall films.

The Guardian's got an across-the-board arts preview for those in the UK.

Earlier: Richard Corliss and Richard Schickel (Time), Jack Matthews and Elizabeth Weitzman (New York Daily News), Steven Rosen (indieWIRE).

Click back to September, October or November.

Posted by dwhudson at September 10, 2006 1:56 PM