This Week In Movies: ‘The Magnificent 7,’ ‘Queen Of Katwe’

It’s mid-September, past Labor Day and you know what that means… it’s Oscar season time. The Fall Preview of films is really Oscar films testing the waters. The Toronto Film Festival was the kickoff and the New York Film Festival starts next week. Also, this week we see more female directors taking charge. Get ready for the next couple of months!

This is a nice batch of new releases this week. Kate Winslet stands tall in The Dressmaker amongst the indie film hopefuls as her Oscar pedigree looms large for all to see. Nick Jonas, the singer, tests out his acting chops in GOAT as he tries NOT to become the next Taylor Lautner. And then we have the wide releases, Denzel leads a “magnificent” cast of actors, in The Magnificent Seven, though they should’ve included a woman cowgirl. I am personally looking forward to Disney’s Queen of Katwe since I’m a fan of chess. You can check out the rest of the films below. What movie will you watch?

INDIE & LIMITED RELEASES

The Dressmaker (R, 1hr 58m, Drama)
Director: Jocelyn Moorhouse
Cast: Kate Winslet, Liam Hemsworth, Hugo Weaving, Sarah Snook
Synopsis: A glamorous woman returns to her small town in rural Australia. With her sewing machine and haute couture style, she transforms the women and exacts sweet revenge on those who did her wrong.

Goat (1hr 36m, Drama)
Director: Andrew Neel
Cast: James Franco, Nick Jonas, Ben Schnetzer, Virginia Gardner
Synopsis: Reeling from a terrifying assault, a 19-year-old boy enrolls in college with his brother and pledges to the same fraternity. What happens there, in the name of “brotherhood,” tests the boy and his loyalty to his brother in brutal ways.

The Lovers and the Despot (R, 1hr 38m, Documentary, Thriller)
Director: Ross Adam, Robert Cannan
Cast: Paul Courtenay Hyu
Synopsis: After the collapse of their glamorous romance, a famous director and actress are kidnapped by movie-obsessed dictator Kim Jong-il. Forced to make films in the world’s weirdest state, they get a second chance at love, but only one chance at escape.

Generation Startup (1hr 33m, Documentary)
Directors: Cheryl Miller Houser, Cynthia Wade
Cast: Dextina Booker, Kate Catlin, Avery Hairston
Synopsis: Six recent college graduates put everything on the line to start their own businesses in Detroit.

WIDE RELEASE

The Magnificent Seven  (PG-13, 2hr 12m, Action, Western)
Director: Antoine Fuqua
Cast: Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, Vincent D’Onofrio
Synopsis: Seven gunmen in the Old West gradually come together to help a poor village against brutal thieves.

Queen of Katwe (PG, 2hr 4m, Biography, Drama)
Director: Mira Nair
Cast: Madina Nalwanga, David Oyelowo, Lupita Nyong’o, Martin Kabanza
Synopsis: An Ugandan girl sees her world rapidly change after being introduced to the game of chess.

Storks (PG, 89m, Animation, Comedy)
Director: Nicholas Stoller, Doug Sweetland
Cast: Andy Samberg, Jennifer Aniston, Ty Burrell, Kelsey Grammer
Synopsis: Storks have moved on from delivering babies to packages. But when an order for a baby appears, the best delivery stork must scramble to fix the error by delivering the baby.

For more Fall Preview films, click here.