Fall may offer a few good movies: a short list

Above : Michael Gandolfini stars as the young Tony Soprano in “The Many Saints of Newark,” which is scheduled to open Oct. 1 (Photo/Warner Bros.)

As someone who wrote for various newspapers over more than 30 years, I’ve composed my share of stories highlighting lists.

You know, the Top 10 comedy movies, the Top 10 Beatles Songs … etc. It was always an easy way to earn a byline.

Reporters are still writing such stories. And these day they often don’t stop with round numbers. The aim is still the same, though: enticing people to read, which these days typically means getting clicks.

One example moved this morning on Time.com. Its title: “The 23 Most Anticipated Movies of Fall 2021.”

While admitting that the Delta variant may foil everyone’s chances of seeing movies in-theater this fall, reporter Andrew R. Chow – pointing to the changes that COVID-19 has forced upon moviegoing – says that his list “represent(s) a mix of streaming, theatrical-only and hybrid release models.”

Even so, he adds, “(H)owever you get your movie fix this fall, there’s no question the circumstances of the past 18 months have yielded quite a bounty.”

You can go through the list and draw your own conclusions about what you might consider to be “anticipated.” The following are my choices:

“The Many Saints of Newark” (Oct. 1, HBO Max): James Gandolfini, the late star of the groundbreaking HBO series “The Sopranos,” is replaced in this origin story by his son, Michael Gandolfini. It’s the 1970s, and young Tony Soprano is just starting out.

“No Time to Die” (Oct. 8, in theaters): Daniel Craig returns as the British agent/assassin in what should be his final appearance. His main foe: Rami Malek, an Oscar winner for playing the rocker Freddie Mercury but never better than when he’s playing somebody weirdly evil.

“Dune” (Oct. 22, in theaters): David Lynch’s bizarre 1984 adaptation of Frank Herbert’s best-selling novel almost ended his career just as it was starting. Denis Villeneuve has a much better chance at making some sense of the story, with a cast including Timothy Chalamet in the lead.

“The French Dispatch” (Oct. 22, in theaters): Wes Anderson can get a bit tiresomely cute at times. But when he’s at his best, as he was with “The Royal Tenenbaums” and “Isle of Dogs,” he’s well worth watching. I have high hopes for this tale about a fictional weekly magazine, starring the likes of Bill Murray, Saoirse Ronan, Benicio Del Toro and Frances McDormand.

“Eternals” (Nov. 5, in theaters): Chloé Zhao, who won a Best Director Oscar for “Nomadland,” morphed into a completely different kind of filmmaker to direct this Marvel live-action film about a group of beings who have returned to save Earth. Can’t wait to see Kumail Nanjiani as a superhero.

“The Power of the Dog” (Nov. 17 in theaters, Dec. 1 on Netflix): Benedict Cumberbatch stars in this Jane Campion film about 1920s Monana. Campion always offers something interesting, and Cumberbatch … well, he’s proven to be far more than merely “Sherlock.”

Call my list The Six Movies I Might Like in Fall 2021.