This Friday marks the release of “Gravity”, one of my most anticipated movies of the year. With “Gravity” kicking off the fall movie season I’ve decided to list off 5 fall movies I’m excited for in order of release. Read on to find out which ones they are!

5. “12 Years A Slave” 10/18

I’m excited for this Historical drama from director Steve McQueen because his last movie “Shame” was one of my favorite movies from 2011. All the actors in this movie are solid casting choices and I feel this is going to be a pretty big Oscar contender. I’m not that excited for the subject matter since it does feel like Oscar bait but I hope that the talent behind and in front of the camera elevate this above my expectations.

4. “The Counselor” 10/25

Do not adjust your monitor, Michael Fassbender and Brad Pitt are in this movie as well as the one above but that’s not why I’m interested. It’s definitely not because of Ridley Scott, I think he can be pretty hit or miss but I did very much enjoy “Prometheus” (2012). Seeing Javier Bardem chew scenery is always a delight but alas he isn’t the reason this movie is on the list, no it’s the fact that this is an original screenplay by Cormac McCarthy. Yes that Cormac McCarthy, author of the novels “The Road” and “No Country for Old Men“, wrote this original script not based on any pre-existing work. This is going to be nuts.

3. “Thor: The Dark World” 11/8

Marvel is keeping its promise of giving us two movies a year and they seem to be delivering in spades. I’ve read some early negative buzz on the film but I’m hoping that’s just nonsense. The original “Thor” (2011)  was quite a different take on the super-hero movie and my feeling is that this sequel will be no different. It seems most of the cast from the first film is returning with a few new faces and enemies. True this movie would probably be better if it had Michael Fassbender and Brad Pitt but they seem to be able to share the fall movie season with others. As fun as the new movie looks I’m probably more excited for the stinger at the end of the movie, rumors are that a certain armored Avenger might make an appearance…

2. “The Wolf of Wall Street” 11/15

Scorcese and DiCaprio are together again, not much needs to be said. I will add that the trailers have a “Goodfellas” like vibe that gets me really excited for this movie and for “Goodfellas”.

1. “Oldboy” 11/27

More like “Oh boy!” If you haven’t seen Park-chan Wook’s version from 2003, check it out, it’s worth a watch, although I prefer his “Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance” (2002) as the stand out film of his “Vengeance Trilogy”. I’m rarely, if never, a proponent of remakes of foreign films that I think are great. In most cases they should just get a wide release and too bad for Americans if they have to read. “Oldboy” is different for me in that while I enjoyed the original, I didn’t quite love it. I haven’t rewatched it since and felt the ending/villain was a bit weak. I think there is plenty of room for improvement and possibility to do something different. Having said that, the remake looks very much like the original film so I’m probably just getting my hopes up.

That’s my list! Let me know what you thought and if you have any movies you would add/subtract!