2019-09-01 Rolling Stone

CL

OC

KW

ISE

FR

OM

TO

P^ L

EF

T:^

ME

RR

IC

K^ M

OR

TO

N/

©^

20

19

TW

EN

TIE

TH

CE

NT

UR

Y^ F

OX

;^ L

UC

AS

FIL

M^

LT

D./

©^

20

19

DI

SN

EY

;^ N

ET

FL

IX

;^ P

AR

AM

OU

NT

PI

CT

UR

ES

;^ N

IKO

TA

VE

RN

ISE

/W

AR

NE

R^ B

RO

S.

92 | Rolling Stone | September 2019 +++++Classic |^ ++++Excellent |^ +++Good |^ ++Fair |^ +Poor

Joker

October 4th

So you think Heath Ledger’s

2008 take on the DC Comics

villain in The Dark Knight is

unbeatable? (Hell, he won a

posthumous Oscar.) Just wait

till you get a load of Joaquin

Phoenix, who reinvents the

role as a failed stand-up

comic who decides to pass

himself off as Crime’s Clown

Prince. Neither Ledger, Jack

Nicholson (in 1989’s Batman),

Terminator: Dark Fate

November 1st

It’s a reunion for

Terminator fans. Producer

James Cameron says Dark

Fate (T6) is a direct follow-

up to his 1984 T1 and 1991

T2 — so much for the three

in-betweeners. That means

Ah-nuld is back as T-800,

along with Linda Hamilton

as Sarah Connor and Edward

Furlong as her son, John.

Resistance is futile.

Motherless Brooklyn

November 1st

Edward Norton triumphantly

fulfills his passion project to

write, produce, direct, and

star in the film version of

Jonathan Lethem’s acclaimed

novel about a Brooklyn

detective who has Tourette’s

syndrome.

Ford v Ferrari

November 15th

Director James Mangold

powers this speeding drama,

set in 1966, when the Ford

Motor Company tried to end

Enzo Ferrari’s dominance at

Le Mans. Matt Damon as Ford

design whiz Carroll Shelby

and Christian Bale as the

turbulent British driver Ken

Miles should whoosh the film

into the awards race.

nor Jared Leto (2016’s

Suicide Squad) has ever

played Joker as a starring

role. Anyone doubt that

Phoenix has the mad skills

to take things to the limit?

Gemini Man

October 11th

Will Smith plays a hitman

about to be retired

by a younger

version of

himself,

also played by Smith, looking

like he just stepped off the

set of The Fresh Prince of

Bel-Air. If the plot rings with

echoes of 2012’s Looper, trust

director Ang Lee to show

how far computers can come

to matching God’s work with

humans. Game on.

Jojo Rabbit

October 18th

Taika Waititi, the

visionary New

Zealander who

sparked such inspired

lunacy with Chris

Hemsworth in Thor:

Ragnarok, wrote and

directed this ink-dark

World War II comedy that

throws away the rules.

Roman Griffin Davis is Jojo,

a bullied German boy who

conjures an imaginary friend

in a cuckoo version of Adolf

Hitler, played by Waititi

himself. Those not offended

will laugh helplessly.

Ad Astra

September 20th

Brad Pitt blasts off as an

astronaut in search of his

lost flyboy dad (Tommy Lee

Jones). Nothing like starting

the fall on a dare: Director/co-

writer James Gray describes

his sci-fi head trip as “the

most realistic depiction of

space travel that’s been put

in a movie.” Since Gray is a

renegade indie master (The

Yards, Two Lovers, The Lost

City of Z) not given to idle

brags, better buckle up.

PETER TRAVERS

14 MUST-SEES FOR FALL

From a Jedi to a Joker, gangsters to speed freaks, popcorn films hunt for awards

Phoenix

reinvents an

icon in Joker.

The contenders

(clockwise from

top): Ridley

battles in Star

Wars: The Rise of

Skywalker; Pacino,

De Niro are hoods in

The Irishman; Bale and

Damon build a dynasty

in Ford v Ferrari.

Smith