A Broadway hit musical, renowned actors of a certain age, and a team of fan favorite film pals are among the standouts hitting the silver screen this fall

BY LAURA D.C. KOLNOSKI

THE FRENCH DISPATCH OCTOBER 22 (RATED R)
Wes Anderson brings his quirky perspective and o beat storytelling to this latest venture, combining comedy, drama, and romance, called a “love letter” to journalism. Three stories are told through the French Dispatch Magazine, an outpost of an American newspaper in a fictional French city headed by Arthur Howitzer Jr. (Bill Murray). Anderson likes to enlist the same actors for his eclectic projects, especially Murray, who said he accepts without first reading the scripts.

THE LAST DUEL OCTOBER 15 (UNRATED)
Buddies Ben A fleck and Matt Damon team up again in a medieval drama directed and produced by Ridley Scott, also starring Adam Driver and Jodie Comer. The timely subject matter who is telling the truth about a rape? Norman knight Jean de Carrouges (Damon) returns from Scotland to find his wife accusing his best friend, Jacques LeGris (Driver), of assaulting her. He appeals to the teenage King Charles VI (Alex Lawther), who orders the two men to duel. A fleck took the supporting role of Count Pierre d’Alencon.

THE EYES OF TAMMY FAYE SEPTEMBER 17 (PG-13)
Ubiquitous in the 1970s and 80s, heavily made-up singing televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker and her preacher hubby Jim headed what once was the world’s largest religious broadcasting network and theme park. Their eventual fall from grace involved financial misconduct and scandals. In this biopic, Jessica Chastain plasters on the pancake to embody Faye, fellow Oscar nominee Andrew Garfield is Jim, and Vincent D’Onofrio plays fellow preacher Jerry Falwell.

Nicole Spread

CRY MACHO SEPTEMBER 17 (PG-13)
Debuting in theaters and on HBO Max, this is the 39th fi lm directed by 91-year-old Oscar winner Clint Eastwood over a prodigious 50-year career. Based on a book of the same name and set in 1978, the fi lm sees Eastwood’s Miko, a former rodeo star, embark on a perilous mission to bring a young boy to Texas from Mexico. During the journey, the two bond as Miko reflects on the wisdom that comes with age and tries to impart upon his young charge what it really means to be a man. The title carries dual meaning as the boy’s pet, a fighting rooster, is named Macho. Country crooner Dwight Yoakum co-stars.

DEAR EVAN HANSEN SEPTEMBER 24 (UNRATED)
Tony Award winner Ben Platt reprises his role in the multi award-winning Broadway smash musical as a troubled high schooler who becomes involved with the family of a classmate who commits suicide. The all-star cast includes Julianne Moore as Evan’s mom, Amy Adams as the mother of the late classmate, and Amandla Stenberg (Rue in The Hunger Games). Colton Ryan, who was also part of the original Broadway cast beginning as an understudy, portrays the suicidal Connor Murphy. According to IMDb.com, items from the Broadway run, including an arm cast, copy of the “Dear Evan Hansen” letter, and a piece of sheet music, were donated to the Smithsonian Institution.

DUNE OCTOBER 22 (PG-13)
Delayed by the pandemic, this surefire blockbuster adaptation of Frank Herbert’s beloved 1965 science fiction novel follows the mythical son of a noble family entrusted with saving a galaxy, debuting in theaters and on HBO Max. Timothée Chalamet is young would-be hero Paul Atreides. His father Duke Leto Atreides is portrayed by Oscar Isaac. The cast includes Jason Momoa, Dave Bautista, Josh Brolin, Zendaya, Javier Bardem, and Charlotte Rampling. With a score by Hans Zimmer and direction by Denis Villeneuve, the epic features sweeping vistas and massive, highly detailed sandworms that took a year to design. Villeneuve, who also produced, termed it, “Star Wars for adults.” The first film adaptation of Dune by David Lynch in 1984, featuring Sir Patrick Stewart and Sting, and starring Kyle MacLachlan as Paul, garnered tepid reviews.

THE DUKE SEPTEMBER 17 (RATED R)
Helen Mirren is almost unrecognizable as a 1961 housewife whose crusading hubby, Jim Broadbent (Harry Potter’s Professor Slughorn), steals Goya’s portrait of the Duke of Wellington from London’s National Gallery. His ransom demand? More funding and free television for the elderly. Based on a true story, the comedy chronicles the theft, arrest, and subsequent court case in an uplifting comedy/drama. The story is legend in the U.K, but this fi lm represents the first time new details have emerged. Indiewire called it, “A very British heist movie, a true crime caper with no guns, no car chases.” Directed by Roger Mitchell, whose previous credits include 1999’s Notting Hill.