FILM

November Film & Blu-Ray Tip Sheet

November is a great month, you have the steady stream of Oscar caliber films and you also have mixed in several high profile tent-pole like films as the money is there for the taking. November and December might be the two best months for new releases, to the point that it was quite difficult to narrow down the films in the preview to just five new ones. I easily could have previewed two or three more that I’m excited about. 

New Theatrical Releases

Spectre

Release Date: November 6th  

Directed By: Sam Mendes (Skyfall, Road to Perdition, American Beauty)

Starring: Daniel Craig, Cristoph Waltz, Ralph Finnes, Lea Seydoux, Monica Bellucci, Ben Whisshaw, Andrew Scott 

IMDb Summary: A cryptic message from Bond’s past sends him on a trail to uncover a sinister organization. While M battles political forces to keep the secret service alive, Bond peels back the layers of deceit to reveal the terrible truth behind SPECTRE.

Why I Am So Excited: Quantum of Solace was a pretty terrible movie, but it was sandwiched in between two of the best Bond films of the whole series with Skyfall easily being one of the best. Mendes is back directing and Daniel Craig is proving he is a better action star than his contemporaries in the post-Bourne world. The New Orleans and Dia de los Muertos vibe looks great. It will be tough to follow up the cinematography from Skyfall but Hoyte Van Hoytema (Interstellar, Her) has the resume to make it happen. Look for the upcoming Contra Zoom Episode where Craig will battle against Sean Connery to see who is the greatest Bond ever! 

Watch the trailer HERE

Spotlight

Release Date: November 6th 

Directed By: Tom McCarthy (The Station Agent, The Visitor, Win/Win)

Starring: Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Liev Schreiber, John Slattery, Stanley Tucci

IMDb Summary: The true story of how the Boston Globe uncovered the massive scandal of child molestation and cover-up within the local Catholic Archdiocese, shaking the entire Catholic Church to its core.

Why I Am So Excited: Now this film looks like a nice lighthearted romp! Wait wrong movie. This film will most likely disgust us for how we as a people managed to let crimes like this happen for so long. With a stellar cast that can all brood and show a range of angry emotions, look for this to be a draining film and an early contender for Best Picture at this years Oscar’s. This is Thomas McCarthy’s fourth film he’s directed (don’t even try to tell me THIS existed) and looks to become a powerhouse name.

Watch the trailer HERE

Trumbo

Release Date: November 6th 

Directed By: Jay Roach (Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, Meet The Parents, The Campaign)

Starring: Bryan Cranston, Michael Stuhlbarg, Diane Lane, Helen Mirren, Alan Tudyk, Louis C.K.

IMDb Summary: In 1947, Dalton Trumbo was Hollywood’s top screenwriter until he and other artists were jailed and blacklisted for their political beliefs.

Why I Am So Excited: The Hayes Hollywood Production Code and the McCarthy trails during the Red Scare are two of Hollywood’s bleakest parts of the film capitols history. The story of the rise and fall and rise again of one of the greatest screenwriters ever played by the red-hot Bryan Cranston looks fascinating. The film might try to be a bit too cutesy with its rose coloured historical glasses, but I’ll still be seeing it.

Watch the trailer HERE

The Night Before

Release Date: November 20th 

Directed By: Jonathan Levine (Warm Bodies, 50/50, The Wackness)

Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, Anthony Mackie, Lizzy Caplan, Miley Cyrus and a whole bunch of other famous people making cameos

IMDb Summary: In New York City for their annual tradition of Christmas Eve debauchery, three lifelong best friends set out to find the Holy Grail of Christmas parties since their yearly reunion might be coming to an end.

Why I Am So Excited: Bad Santa is one of the best Christmas films ever made as it subverts the whole everyone be nice Christmas trope and this looks like it will try to up the ante with immature humor and gross out gags. Seth Rogan is looking like a more and more bankable commodity every year. No doubt, this film looks super dumb, but sometimes that’s all you need from a hard R comedy.

Watch the trailer HERE

The Danish Girl

Release Date: November 27th 

Directed By: Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech, Les Misérables, The Damned United)

Starring: Eddie Redmayne, Alicia Vikander, Amber Heard, Matthias Schoenaerts, Ben Whishaw

IMDb Summary: The remarkable love story inspired by the lives of artists Lili Elbe and Gerda Wegener. Lili and Gerda’s marriage and work evolve as they navigate Lili’s groundbreaking journey as a transgender pioneer.

Why I Am So Excited: I hate the term Oscar-bait, but if ever I would consider a film to be such a thing, this might come the closest. The obvious over dramatic, yet empowering life affirming film doesn’t excite me very much. What does excite me is seeing how Eddie Redmayne follows up The Theory of Everything, another mediocre film that featured one of the greatest modern performances and hopefully this film redeems him from whatever he did in Jupiter Ascending. Also Alicia Vikander might be my favourite actress at the moment with her performances in Ex Machina, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. and earlier ones like Anna Karenina and A Royal Affair which proved how magnetic she is. Really I just want to see it for their two performances.

Watch the trailer HERE

New On Blu-Ray

Tangerine

Release Date: November 10th 

Directed By: Sean Baker (Starlet, Prince of Braodway)

Starring: Kitana Kiki Rodriguez, Mya Taylor, Karren Karagulian, James Ransone

IMDb Summary: A working girl tears through Tinseltown on Christmas Eve searching for the pimp who broke her heart.

Why I Am So Excited: This film was shot only on an iPhone, yet it still looks beautiful. The kinetic story is one of a kind and weaves comedy and drama together so well it was getting rave reviews from the festival circuit and every critic that saw it. It is the definition of a truly underdog independent film. This almost made my July post, and I would have regretted it even more, if it weren’t for the fact that I’m including it now! 

Watch the trailer HERE

About author

Music Editor at Live in Limbo and Host of Contra Zoom podcast. Dakota is a graduate of Humber College's Acting for Film and Television. He now specializes in knowing all random trivia. He writes about music, sports and film. Dakota's life goal is visit all baseball stadiums, he's at 7.