This fall’s most anticipated movies share one big theme: People are fed up

“Weapons,” “Sinners,” and “One Battle After Another” were three of the years’ most acclaimed films. With Oscar season approaching, each of them has attracted plenty of awards buzz.

But there are plenty more eagerly anticipated releases to come this fall. Monte Yazzie, filmmaker, film critic and Indigenous programmer for the Phoenix Film Festival, joined The Show with a preview.

Full conversation

SAM DINGMAN: Let's start just quickly with the last film in that montage, Paul Thomas Anderson's "One Battle After Another." That film came out at the end of September. Seemed to me like it was kind of the starting pistol for prestige movie season, is that fair to say?

MONTE YAZZIE: Very much so. Paul Thomas Anderson, one of my favorite filmmakers. I always make it a point to watch anything that he puts out. And his new film, "One Battle After Another," was definitely a film that was very, very much well regarded and really a filmmaker making movies for film fans.

DINGMAN: Just sticking with the other two films in that montage for a moment, "Weapons" and "Sinners," just because I know you're a big horror fan, what do you make of the acclaim and box office success that those movies have enjoyed?

YAZZIE: Yeah, "Sinners" came out early in the year, and the fact that people are still talking about it is really a staple to its success. "Sinners" has almost transcended this idea that it's a horror film. And I think people are talking about it in a very, very accomplished way because it is filmmaking that is kind of taking a look at history and putting in that input of trauma into this really interesting story about vampires.

And "Weapons" is kind of the same thing where it's, like, domestic terror and this really scary situation that involves kids. It hits on all those nerve endings, those buttons that really bring up those ideas of "What is, like, true horror?" And "Weapons" does it in a very, very ingenious, mysterious way.

DINGMAN: We have also, Monte, already seen the release, just this month, of some other very buzzed-about films; "The Smashing Machine" comes to mind, "After the Hunt" and "Bugonia." Anything you've seen from those films that stands out to you or surprised you?

YAZZIE: You know, the most entertaining man in professional wrestling history, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson — it's surprising to say he almost disappears into the role of this UFC fighter, and I was very shocked that he was able to accomplish that. You know, the prosthetic makeup and the tone of the film.

DINGMAN: This is in the film, "The Smashing Machine."

YAZZIE: In "The Smashing Machine," yeah. Yt really does allow him to disappear into the role. I thought he was really great in it.

And "Bugonia," you know, a movie that is a remake of a 2003 South Korean film that came out many, many years ago and not a lot of people watched. "Bugonia" updates it with these great actors and brings in this paranoid conspiracy theory topic that really plays to kind of the tone of our world today, influenced by social media and all these different "who's telling the truth and who isn't telling the truth" kind of ideas, and it does so in a really funny, like, almost darkly comic way. And Emma Stone, local actress here in Arizona, does an amazing job again, just continues to be a phenomenal actress.

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DINGMAN: As you look ahead to the rest of November and December, what are the other really big releases that you have got your eye on?

YAZZIE: Oh, there's some big ones coming out. I just watched one recently called "The Running Man," which, for those fans of the 1980s Arnold Schwarzenegger film "The Running Man," this film is a more true adaptation to Stephen King's novel. And Edgar Wright, the guy who made "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" and "Baby Driver," does such a great job keeping this thrilling button on the pulse of action films. And also this idea that he's introducing a lot of what society is touching on. It's kind of an angry film at times, very political film at times. But also this idea that entertainment value is really the core concept of what this movie is, and it's violent, and it's scary, and it's funny, and it's really well done.

Also looking forward to the rest of the year, you know, there's so many films that are coming out now, and it's hard to keep — and especially for those of my friends that are critic group people — we have to keep updated with these movies consistently over the next few weeks.

But it'd be remiss to not say that "Wicked," the new "Wicked" sequel is going to be a big one that people are going to be looking out for, especially for musicals. And also looking forward to just a plethora of other films that are coming out that I think — "Jay Kelly" with George Clooney and Adam Sandler's film going to Netflix it's going to be a much-talked about film.

I look at movies that are coming out as well, too, like some biopics. "Nuremberg" is going to be a very talked about documentary film, as well as like a host of other films as well, too. It's almost hard to keep up with how many are coming out at this time.

DINGMAN: Well, kind of in that vein, I realize this is maybe going to be about an impossible question to answer. We have just about a minute left, Monte. I wonder if you could identify any particular theme or emergent idea that stands out to you amongst the best movies you've watched this year?

YAZZIE: Yeah I go back and talk about how cinema can be a reflection of the society that we're living in. And right now, there's a lot of angry cinema. There's a lot of cinema that is kind of touching on this idea that people are fed up, they are tired of being misrepresented, that the idea that our political fatigue is starting to build up to this point where people are just getting upset.

And it's reflected in the films that we see now, and things like "One Battle After Another," "The Running Man," even the documentaries that we're getting, these commentaries about people just wanting to do more with the world and wanting to see it change for the future.

And there's something really amazing about that. And also looking at cinema, it's definitely someplace I think that's going to be a very good topic to go to.