Does anyone really like the month of September? I mean really love September? When you’re a kid, it marks the end of summer and a return to school and when you’re an adult (or a reasonable facsimile), it stands as that month where it is colder in the morning when you get up and those evenings you’ve enjoyed on the patio while still being able to go to work in no problem start getting shorter.
See? September is kind of annoying, except it also means the return of NFL Football, a ton of killer video game releases and a break from the bad summer movies that highlighted the last few weeks of August.
On second thought, September isn’t all that bad. Here’s what’s going on this month:
New Additions to Your Playlist (Various Dates)
Whatever you’re into musically, there is something you’ll like coming out in the month ahead. Rick Ross and Mac Miller have you covered on the hip hop front, Gary Clark Jr. takes care of your blues needs, my friend Thomas’ favourite band Lucero hits the “critical darlings your Top 40 friends don’t know about” target and Chris Cornell and Duran Duran tick the “They’re still around?” box. Throw in new work from Lana Del Ray, Metric, Avicii and Fetty Wap’s debut album and you’ve got September on wax.
Joining Your Netflix Queue (Various Dates)
There isn’t a ton of new stuff coming your way on everyone’s favourite streaming site this month, but the quality is there. In addition to The Nightmare Before Christmas, a couple of outstanding flicks that produced Oscar nominations arrive as well, with Wild landing on September 1 and Selma touching down on the 20th.
Non-Sports Gaming (September 1)
The latest installment in the Metal Gear Solid series – Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain – arrives to kick off the month and if you’ve play any of the previous installments, you’re going to want to get your hands on this continuation of the story from the last game, Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes.
UFC 191 (September 5)
This weekend features the return of UFC flyweight champ Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson, who is arguably the most compete fighter in the sport today. Squaring off with the last man to really push him in the Octagon, John Dodson, in a championship rematch, this fight alone will be worth the price of the pay-per-view, which makes the fact that there are a couple other awesome fights on the main card a bonus.
Coming to Your Kindle (Various Dates)
Every month, a couple serial scribes drop new novels onto the shelves and this month that list includes David Baldacci, Lee Child and Janet Evanovich. The fact that James Patterson isn’t releasing a book this month actually worries me. But the most promising title of the month is Why Not Me? a collection of essays from Mindy Kaling. Even if you don’t like her show, take a chance on the book – her first was great and she’s funnier in print than she is playing a doctor on television.
Are You Ready for Some Football? (September 10)
The NFL season officially gets underway on Thursday, September 10 with the New England Patriots taking on the Pittsburgh Steelers in a game that will get even more attention because of the on-going Deflategate nonsense, but things really get fired up three days later on Sunday. Way too early Super Bowl pick: Seattle Seahawks.
Sports Games Galore (Various Dates)
Over the second half of September, no fewer than five long-standing franchise titles will drop their next installment. The most surprising of that group is the return of Tony Hawk Pro Skater, which took a 13-year hiatus, although there have been other games with Hawk’s seal of approval (branding) since then. Also hitting stores are the ’16 versions of EA classics FIFA, NHL and NBA Live, plus its chief competitor, NBA 2K.
Sequels and Epics (September 18)
You know it’s a tough stretch for films when we’re into the middle of the month before promoting something worth seeing in theatres.
The first of the two “worth your time” efforts here is The Maze Runner: Scorch Trials, the follow-up to The Maze Runner, which was better than you might have expected and is on Netflix if you haven’t seen it yet. The second is Everest, the star-studded film based on the real events of the 1996 Mount Everest disaster that looks epic.
Old Man DeNiro, FBI Agent Emily Blunt (September 25)
Two movies with very different outlooks. The Intern is Nancy Meyers putting senior citizen Robert DeNiro to work at Anne Hathaway’s fashion-based e-commerce company where a lot of syrupy stuff is bound to happen. Sicario is the latest from French-Canadian director Denis Villeneuve and puts Emily Blunt in search of a mysterious drug lord on the US-Mexican border.
The Walk (September 30)
As a big Joseph Gordon-Levitt fan, this is one I’ve been looking forward to for a while. JGL plays Philippe Petit, the French high-wire artist who walked between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in 1974. Directed by Robert Zemeckis, expect stunning visuals and a strong performance from the former sitcom alien.
