Well. It’s that time of year again.

After a lot of anticipation (even though the last movie came out barely a year ago), the second installment of the Twilight saga—based on the books by Stephanie Meyer—hits the theaters this Friday, November 20. To nobody’s surprise, the movie is already breaking records.

First of all, the movie premiered in Los Angeles on Monday—but, fans were already lined up for the chance to get a peek at the stars by Friday night. That’s insane. Who does that? These people literally camped out on the streets of Westwood just to see some ambiguous limos pull up to the theater on Monday night. I mean, I’ve waited a couple of hours before, but days?! No way.

The movie stars Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattison, and Taylor Lautner. It’s about teen vampires and werewolves, and one clumsy girl. I won’t give anything else away, I promise.

According to Variety, Twilight: New Moon will make record-breaking openings. It has already sold out over 2000 showings, and is expected to pass the $80 million mark in the first weekend. I will inevitably keep you posted on how well this vampire movie does in the box office. Look for a post on Monday about its performance this weekend!

Will you be seeing the movie?

The time has finally come: Michael Jackson’s This is It film is being released tomorrow in theaters for a two week run.

Since his death on June 25, people have been anxious to see footage from what would have been a 50-performance concert series in London (beginning in July), also titled the “This is It” tour. Jackson had been preparing for months for his farewell, blowout tour.

The film will feature 24 songs performed by Jackson (click “More” to see the full list), including his #1 hits along with other powerful and famous songs. Jackson’s music inspired billions of people around the world. Whether or not you agree with the idea of releasing the rehearsal footage as a film, you can’t deny that it will probably give a lot of grieving fans a little bit of closure after his sudden death.

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Fall is a good time for horror movies because Halloween is right in the middle of it. I can’t tell you how many years when I was really young and curious about The Exorcist and tried to rent it around Halloween. It’s a nightmare… Anyway, horror movies seem to be getting more popular, yes, but they also seem to be getting better in terms of quality. Of course, there are the stupid ones like Saw that will keep going on forever no matter how stupid. But there are new, original ones on their way, too.  I’m a little bit behind but this fall seems full of them:

 
Jennifer’s Body (September 18)

Megan Fox is starting to branch out from her [only] role in Transformers, and the character she plays in Jennifer’s Body couldn’t be more different. She plays a possessed cheerleader who kills her male classmates (and maybe consumes them?). Her best friend has to try to help her through this…phase…that she is going through. The film is written by Diablo Cody, who wrote the uber-popular 2007 flick, Juno.

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Fall is Oscar season. This year, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has decided that there will be 10 movies up for the award of Best Picture instead of the usual 5. Will there even be 10 good movies out this year? Probably not. What gives?

 
I don’t have that answer. But, I do know of a few movies that have been getting Oscar hype this year. Naturally, they will be released during the fall so that the meaningful movies stay in your memory by the time you have to go vote for your favorite! I’m excited about a few (note the recognizable absence of New Moon):

 
A Serious Man (October 2)

This movie is getting hype because it is written and directed by the Coen Brothers (who wrote/directed Oscar-winners such as Fargo and No Country for Old Men). More likely than not, A Serious Man will be an extremely dark comedy. It follows a normal guy, Larry, who seeks clarity in his life after his wife leaves him (for his colleague) and his deadbeat brother has moved into his house (specifically crashing on the couch). His son has problems at school and his daughter wastes his money on vanities. Sounds like the opening for an interesting movie, right?

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Fall is Oscar-movie season; we all know this. All the good-quality films come out in the fall so that by the time the nominations are announced, the movies will be fresh in your mind. However, people seem to forget that comedies are still around, too! And I don’t mean holiday-themed comedies that we’d all like to forget (Surviving Christmas?). I’m talking about some good old-fashioned fun at the movie theater. Oscar-themed movies are usually depressing, so everyone can use a pick-me-up! Here’s a few titles to look forward to during the fall season!

 
Couples Retreat (October 9)

 
This movie has been pretty heavily promoted throughout the summer. It stars big names including Jason Batemen, Vince Vaughn, Jon Favreau (director of Iron Man), Kristen Bell, Kristin Davis, and a few others. Four couples take a trip together to an island resort, thinking it will be a nice vacation. Instead it turns out to be a couples-therapy-themed resort…hilarity ensues.

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