84 Reasons to Take the Fall

SEPT. 13

Almost Famous

Drama DreamWorks

With: Billy Crudup, Frances McDormand, Anna Paquin, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Kate Hudson, Jason Lee, Fairuza Balk, Patrick Fugit.

The idea: High school journalist lands dream assignment of covering a rock band on tour in the ‘70s.

Director: Cameron Crowe, reliving his pre-Hollywood past.

So?: Sweetly entertaining, sidesteps sleazier side of the music business.

SEPT. 15

Bait

Action Warner Bros.

With: Jamie Foxx, David Morse, Doug Hutchison, Kimberly Elise.

The idea: Freed convict Foxx is the title character the Feds use to bring a criminal to justice.

Director: Antoine Fuqua.

So?: Foxx gets to carry the ball after impressive work in “Any Given Sunday.”’

Crime and Punishment in Suburbia

Drama United Artists

With: Ellen Barkin, Jeffrey Wright, Michael Ironside, Monica Keena, Vincent Kartheiser.

The idea: Suburban angst, Dostoevsky-style.

Director: Rob Schmidt.

So?: “American Beauty” it probably isn’t, but the cast is worth watching.

Duets

Comedy Hollywood/Disney

With: Gwyneth Paltrow, Andre Braugher, Maria Bellow, Paul Giamatti, Huey Lewis, Scott Speedman.

The idea: Singer with big dreams hits the road to a karaoke competition in Omaha.

Director: Bruce Paltrow, father of Gwyneth.

So?: Karaoke? Omaha?

Goya in Bordeaux

Drama Sony Pictures Classics

With: Francisco Rabal, Jose Coronado, Daphne Fernandez, Maribel Verdu.

The idea: Eventful life and revolutionary times of the pivotal Spanish painter.

Director: Carlos Saura, who also wrote.

So?: Saura usually does well by historical figures.

Into the Arms of Strangers

Documentary Warner Bros.

The idea: Survivors describe the transportation of thousands of children out of Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia to Britain before World War II, most of whom never saw their parents again.

Director: Mark Jonathan Harris.

So?: Poignant stories recorded by an Oscar-winning documentarian.

Human Resources (drama, Shooting Gallery) Business school grad goes to work at factory, gets father and others laid off, braces for confrontation. Co-written and directed by Laurent Cantet. . . . The Wind Will Carry Us (drama, New Yorker Films) An engineer and his crew travel into Iranian Kurdistan to record a ritual ceremony, but their stay is extended by unforeseen circumstances.

SEPT. 22

Blow Dry

Comedy Miramax

With: Rachael Leigh Cook, Natasha Richardson, Alan Rickman, Hugh Bonneville, Rachel Griffiths, Josh Hartnet.

The idea: Skullduggery at a national hairdressing contest inspires a retired champion (Rickman) to form an alliance with his estranged wife (Richardson) and her new partner (Griffiths).

Director: Paddy Breathnach.

So?: Interesting cast might discover surprises in familiar territory

The Exorcist

Horror Warner Bros.

With: Linda Blair, Max Von Sydow, Ellen Burstyn, Lee J. Cobb.

The idea: A child is possessed by Satan in the mother of modern exorcism movies.

Director: William Friedken.

So?: Made split-pea soup famous and scared scores silly in 1973.

The Fantasticks

Musical United Artists

With: Joel Grey, Teller (no Penn) and others.

The idea: The film version of the very long-running off-Broadway musical.

Director: Michael Ritchie directs, with editing by Francis Ford Coppola.

So?: Try to remember a September when it hasn’t been in the works.

Under Suspicion

Drama Lions Gate

With: Morgan Freeman, Gene Hackman, Monica Bellucci, Thomas Jane.

The idea: Remake of French film “Garde a Vue,” a psychological battle of wills between Caribbean police captain and murder suspect.

Director: Stephen Hopkins.

So?: Old pros don’t disappoint.

Urban Legends: Final Cut

Thriller Columbia

With: Jennifer Morrison, Matthew Davis, Joey Lawrence, Loretta Devine, Hart Bochner.

The idea: Film student struggles to complete thesis movie about urban legend as mysterious assailant slashes and bashes participants.

Director: John Ottman.

So?: A slasher movie set in a film school--now there’s a twist.

Woman on Top

Comedy Fox Searchlight

With: Penelope Cruz, Murilo Benicio, Mark Feuerstein, Harrold Perrineau Jr., John De Lancie.

The idea: Culinarily gifted and irresistible Cruz flees unappreciative, cheating Brazilian husband and winds up with her own TV cooking show in San Francisco.

Director: Fina Torres.

So?: It’ll be hard to take your eyes off the attractive leads.

The Specials (comedy, Regent Entertainment) Rob Lowe is the Weevil, part of a team of sad-sack superheroes whose ample downtime is given over to petty squabbles and dysfunctional affairs.

SEPT. 27

Best in Show

Satire Warner Bros.

With: Christopher Guest, Catherine O’Hara, Parker Posey, Eugene Levy, Michael McKean.

The idea: Mockumentary zeros in on fancy canine capers and the people who perpetrate them.

Director: Christopher Guest.

So?: Guest displayed quite a knack for skewering stereotypes in “Waiting for Guffman.”

SEPT. 29

Beautiful

Drama Destination

With: Minnie Driver, Hallie Kate Eisenberg, Joey Lauren Adams, Kathleen Turner.

The idea: Determined pageant hopeful learns along the way there’s more to beauty than meets the eye.

Director: Sally Field, her first theatrical feature.

So?: Talent elevates unoriginal material.

CK DATE

The Broken Hearts Club

Comedy-drama Sony Pictures Classics

With: John Mahoney, Dean Cain, Timothy Olyphant, Andrew Keegan, Matt McGrath, Zach Braff, Ben Weber, Billy Porter, Mary McCormack, Nia Long.

The idea: Lives of West Hollywood friends intersect at drag restaurant-bar owned by Mahoney, who also sponsors the softball team of the title.

Director: Greg Berlanti.

So?: Sort of an all-gay “Diner.”

Girlfight

Drama Screen Gems

With: Michelle Rodriguez, Jaime Tirelli, Santiago Douglas.

The idea: Brooding teenage girl discovers a channel for her fits of fury--the boxing ring.

Director: Karyn Kusama.

So?: Warmly received Sundance co-winner just may find a mainstream audience.

Remember the Titans

Drama Touchstone/Disney

With: Denzel Washington, Will Patton.

The idea: Black and white Alexandria, Va., football coaches make the most of orders to integrate and consolidate high schools in 1971.

Director: Boaz Yakin.

So?: Denzel and Patton are the coaches.

Barenaked in America (Documentary, Shooting Gallery) Jason PriestlyPRIESTLEY? follows the pop band Barenaked Ladies, hitting the road and watching the charts as their single “One Week” nears No. 1. . . . Bittersweet Motel (Documentary, Little Villa Features) Todd Phillips (“Road Trip”) helms this look at the rock band Phish, both on tour and at home in Vermont.

OCT. 6

Bamboozled

Comedy-drama New Line

With: Damon Wayans, Savion Glover, Jada Pinkett-Smith and new songs by Stevie Wonder.

The idea: As something of a jokeful insult, a black TV writer comes up with the preposterous concept of a comedy done minstrel-style--in blackface--and the show becomes a runaway hit.

Director: Spike Lee.

So?: Provocotive premise for satire of network TV.

Bootmen

Drama Fox Searchlight

With: Adam Garcia.

The idea: When an Australian steelworker tap-dances, it’s best to get out of the way.

Director: “Tap Dogs” creator Dein Perry.

So?: Feel the beat?

Cyberworld

3-D animation Imax

The idea: Imax culled animated clips from eight different sources and tied them together with a thematic overlay narrated by Jenna Elfman. Mostly computer-generated material includes scenes from the feature film “Antz” and part of an episode of “The Simpsons” aas well as clips produced to demonstrate stereoptic high-definition TV.

Director: Various.

So?: The visual power of 3-D animation projected in real 3-D.

Dancer in the Dark

Musical tragedy Fine Line

With: Bjork, Catherine Denueve.

The idea: A Czech immigrant daydreams in lyrical images of movie musicals to escape the tedium and tragedy of her life--a case of encroaching blindness--a condition she fears her son will inherit.

Director: Lars Von Trier.

So?: People either love or loathe the film that took best picture, actress at Cannes.

Digimon: The Movie

Animated adventure Fox

The idea: Move over, Pokemon, here come the digital monsters. The film version of the popular TV show introduces an American kid and a mega-critter called Omnimon.

Voice directors: Jeff Nimoy, Bob Buchholz

So?: Based on the hit animated TV series, these ‘mons are Fox’s answer to WB’s Pokes.

Dr. T & the Women

Comedy-drama Artisan Entertainment

With: Richard Gere, Helen Hunt, Farrah Fawcett, Laura Dern, Shelley Long, Liv Tyler, Tara Reid, Kate Hudson, Robert Hays, Andy Richter.

The idea: Gere plays a Dallas gynecologist whose professional and personal lives are becoming increasingly chaotic.

Director: Robert Altman.

So?: Altman knows how to corral a large cast in service of a good story.

Get Carter

Drama Warner Bros.

With: Sylvester Stallone, Michael Caine, Miranda Richardson, Rachael Leigh Cook, Alan Cumming.

The idea: Stallone as Vegas mobster Jack Carter, in a remake of 1970 version that starred Caine, plays a nightclub owner this time around.

Director: Stephen Kay.

So?: Caine lends respectability to this update of the Mike Hodges classic.

Meet the Parents

Comedy Universal

With: Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro.

The idea: A young man tries to win the approval of the eccentrically hard-nosed father of the woman he wants to marry.

Director: Jay Roach.

So?: Elements combine to create comic chemistry.

Tigerland

Drama Fox

With: Colin Farrell, Matthew Davis, Clifton Collins Jr., Tom Guiry, Shea Whigham, Tyler Cravens.

The idea: Dissident infantry trainee Colin Farrell stirs conflicts in the platoon as young men prepare for Vietnam at Fort Polk, La.

Director: Joel Schumacher.

So?: Low budget, largely unknown cast give Schumacher an opportunity to stretch creatively.

The Amati Girls (drama, Providence Entertainment) Four sisters keep their mother on her toes with varying demands and desires. With: Cloris Leachman, Mercedes Ruehl, Dinah Manoff, Sean Young, Lily Knight. . . . The Legend of Drunken Master (action, Dimension) Jackie Chan’s homage to “Drunken Master,” the film that launched his stardom, features state-of-the-art Jackrobatics and against-the-odds heroics. . . . Mercy Streets (drama, Providence Entertainment) A con man (David White) plunges his twin brother the preacher into an underworld of blackmail, betrayal and vengeance. . . . Pola X (drama, Winstar Cinema) Guillaume Depardieu, Catherine Deneuve star in Leos Carax’s adaptation of Melville’s novel “Pierre; or the Ambiguities,” about a young writer who finds himself impelled to unearth difficult truths. . . . Rififi (suspense, Rialto Pictures) Jules Dassin’s rarely screened 1955 masterpiece formed a blueprint for many a subsequent heist film. . . . Two Family House (drama, Lions Gate) With support from his family and friends dwindling, Michael Rispoli finds an unlikely inspiration as he pursues his dream of his own home and business.

OCT. 13

Billy Elliot

Drama Universal Focus

With: Jamie Bell, Julie Walters, Gary Lewis.

The idea: An 11-year-old English miner’s son finds fulfillment--and conflict--when he discovers a ballet class.

Director: Stephen Daldry.

So?: Inspiring tale of boy striving against tradition and stereotype could click.

Bounce

Romantic drama Miramax)

With: Ben Affleck, Gwyneth Paltrow, Natasha Henstridge.

The idea: Hotshot advertising man’s life is changed by a tragic twist of fate.

Director: Don Roos, who also wrote.

So?: Seriously pretty people, high tear factor

The Contender

Thriller DreamWorks

With: Joan Allen, Gary Oldman, Jeff Bridges, Christian Slater, Philip Baker Hall.

The idea: Female U.S. senator confronts powerful opponent when she is selected to replace deceased vice president.

Director: Rod Lurie, former movie critic.

So?: Can he direct?

The Ladies Man

Comedy Paramount

With: Tim Meadows, who co-wrote, Karyn Parsons, Billy Dee Williams, Kevin MacDonald, Tiffani-Amber Thiessen.

The idea: Smooth operator faces the wrath of cheated-upon husbands when he is forced to revisit his conquests.

Director: Reginald Hudlin.

So?: It’s always fun to see these guys face the consequences of their behavior.

Lost Souls

Thriller New Line

With: Winona Rider, Ben Stiller.

The idea: A satanic conspiracy with apocalyptic implications.

Director: Janusz Kaminski, cinematographer of “Saving Private Ryan” and “Schindler’s List.”

So?: Release of long-finished film has been postponed a lot, inevitably raising the question “How come?’.

Animal Factory (drama, Silver Nitrate Releasing) Steve Buscemi directed this anatomy of the behind-bars relationship between young drug trafficker Edward Furlong and gang leader Willem Dafoe. . . . Just Looking (comedy, Sony Pictures Classics) Jason Alexander’s second assignment as a director is a coming-of-age story set in 1955 Queens. . . . One (drama, Shooting Gallery) Jason Cairns, Paul Picoy in neorealistic study of two friends whose lives are moving in opposite directions. . . . The Price of Air (drama, Artistic License) Director Josh Evans wrote and stars in a saga about a young man caught in a swirl of drugs, violence and romance.

OCT. 20

Bedazzled

Comedy Fox

With: Brendan Fraser, Elizabeth Hurley.

The idea: The devil in disguise is a comely brunet who makes a geek’s wishes come too true in an update of Peter Cook and Dudley Moore’s 1968 Faustian farce.

Director: Harold Ramis, who co-write with Larry Gelbart, Peter Tolan.

So?: Tempting.

Pay It Forward

Drama Warner Bros.

With: Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt, Haley Joel Osment, Jay Mohr, Angie Dickinson.

The idea: Son (Osment) of an alcoholic waitress (Hunt) works on an assignment by his social studies teacher (Spacey) to come up with ideas that might make the world a better place.

Director: Mimi Leder.

So?: Get out your handkerchiefs.

Requiem for a Dream

Drama Artisan Entertainment

With: Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly, Marlon Wayans.

The idea: Translate Hubert Selby Jr.’s 1978 novel about drug addicts to the big screen.

Director: Darren Aronofsky, who co-wrote with Selby.

So?: Aggressively bleak.

A Room for Romeo Brass

Drama USA

With: Andrew Shim, Ben Marshall, Paddy Considine.

The idea: The friendship of two boys in England’s Midlands is threatened by an eccentric stranger who moves in with one of them.

Director: Shane Meadows, who co-wrote with Shim.

So?: Manipulative house guest wreaks havoc.

The Yards

Drama Miramax

With: Mark Wahlberg, Joaquin Phoenix, Charlize Theron, James Caan, Ellen Burstyn, Faye Dunaway.

The idea: Young ex-con struggles to stay out of trouble, but his best friend thinks he has a better idea.

Director: James Gray

So?: Hollywood’s young, smart set mixes it up with, ahem, mature pros, with favorable results.

Burlesk King (drama, Strand) A troubled young man’s odyssey through the gaudy sexual underground of Manila. . . . Just in Time (drama, Cowboy Booking Intl.) Things get complicated when a couple negotiates the fulfillment of a prenuptial erotic fantasy. . . . Left Luggage (drama, Castle Hill) A student learns important lessons when she becomes a nanny for a Hasidic Jewish family. With Isabella Rossellini, Maximilian Schell. . . . MVP: Most Valuable Primate (comedy, Keystone) Robert Vince directs the first release from the production company of the “Air Bud” folks, which is about a hockey-playing chimp. . . . Ring of Fire (drama, Destination Films) Marcus Thomas as an ambitious and impetuous rodeo bull rider. With Keifer Sutherland, Daryl Hannah.

OCT. 27

Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2

Horror Artisan Entertainment

With: Kim Director, Erica Leerhsen, Tristen Skylar, Stephen Barker Turner.

The idea: Using documentary style, try to maintain some of the amateur spook-hunter feel in the second installment in a projected trilogy.

Director: Joe Berlinger (“Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills”)

So?: Berlinger and Artisan have a tough first installment to follow.

The Little Vampire

Fantasy New Line

With: Jonathan Lipnicki, the “Jerry Maguire” kid.

The idea: Lipnicki goes from brother of a mouse (“Stuart Little”) to bat as he and his vampire friend seek a magic pendant. Adapted from Angela Sommer-Bodenburg’s series of children’s books.

Director: Ulrich Edel.

So?: It’s a long way from “Last Exit to Brooklyn.”

Lucky Numbers

Comedy Paramount

With: John Travolta, Lisa Kudrow.

The idea: Weatherman and lotto ball girl conspire to rig the lottery.

Director: Nora Ephron.

So?: In Ephron’s first since “You’ve Got Mail,” she re-teams with Travolta (“Michael”).

Once in the Life

Drama Lions Gate

With: Laurence Fishburne, Gregory Hines, Annabella Sciorra, Titus Welliver.

The idea: Two brothers are seduced to a life of crime.

Director: Fishburne’s feature debut, adapting his own play “Riff Raff.”

So?: Gifted actor gets his turn behind the camera.

Loving Jezebel

Comedy Shooting Gallery

With: Hill Harper, Andre B. Blake, Elisa Donovan, Laurel Holloman

The idea: A man’s inability to resist the temptation of other men’s women catches up with him.

Director: Kwyn Bader.

So?: Hill Harper should be quite watchable as a Lothario gets his comeuppance.

The Bridge (Un Pont Entre Deux Rives) (drama, Phaedra) Gerard Depardieu stars and makes his directorial debut, sharing the credit with Frederic Auburtin, in the story of an adulterous affair in 1962 Normandy. . . . Stardom (drama, Lions Gate) A young woman’s rapid rise to supermodeldom and the culture of glamour, with Jessica Pare, Dan Aykroyd and Frank Langella from writer-director Denys Arcand. . . . A Time for Drunken Horses (drama, Shooting Gallery) A young woman in Iranian Kurdistan becomes engaged to an Iraqi man to save her critically ill brother. . . . Venus Beauty Institute (comedy-drama, Lot 47) Four women pursue happiness while working at a Paris spa.

NOV. 3

Charlie’s Angels

Action Columbia

With: Bill Murray, Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore and Lucy Liu.

The idea: Update the ‘70s TV series with three actresses for the new millennium.

Director: McG.

So?: Lots of rumors it was an unhappy set. Great trailer, though.

The Legend of Bagger Vance

Drama DreamWorks

With: Matt Damon, Will Smith, Charlize Theron.

The idea: Caddy Smith’s instructions prove enlightening for disillusioned war veteran Damon.

Director: Robert Redford.

So?: Jeremy Leven and Richard LaGravenese adapt Steven Pressfield’s novel. Studio selling it as “The Natural” of golf.

Red Planet

Sci-fi Warner Bros.

With: Val Kilmer, Carrie-Anne Moss.

The idea: The human race faces extinction unless it can colonize Mars, but an exploratory mission turns into nightmare.

Director: Antony Hoffman.

So?: It won’t be hard for it to be better than “Mission to Mars.”

What’s Cooking?

Drama Trimark

With: Alfre Woodard, Mercedes Ruehl, Lainie Kazan and Joan Chen play the moms.

The idea: Thanksgiving gatherings trigger dramatic discoveries for four diverse families.

Director: Gurinder Chada.

So?: A convergence of award-winning great actresses.

Amy (drama, World Wide Motion Pictures Corp.) Rachel Griffiths in the story of a withdrawn girl who can communicate only through music.

NOV. 10

Little Nicky

Comedy New Line

With: Adam Sandler, Harvey Keitel and a slew of “Saturday Night Live” alums.

The idea: Sandler is the headbanger son of the devil, dispatched to New York to end the mayhem caused by his two brothers.

Director: Stevech Brill.

So?: Sandler’s last three movies have made $100 million ch. Will this make it four?

Men of Honor

Drama Fox 2000

With: Cuba Gooding Jr., Robert De Niro.

The idea: In the early ‘50s, sailor bucks odds--and a bigoted instructor--in an effort to become the first black Navy diver.

Director: George Tillman Jr.

So?: Machismo to burn.

You Can Count on Me

Drama Paramount Classics

With: Laura Linney, Mark Ruffalo, Matthew Broderick, Rory Culkin.

The idea: Restless wanderer brother pays a visit to lovingly steadfast single-mom sister in small town in upstate New York.

Director: Kenneth Lonergan, who also wrote.

So?: We’ve all known, loved, laughed at and been frustrated by people like this.

Malena (Drama, Miramax) “Cinema Paradiso” director Giuseppe Tornatore’s story centers on a 13-year-old boy and a beautiful war widow in 1941 Sicily. . . . Non-Stop (comedy??, Shooting Gallery) Three men with interlocked stories are on the run in the world of Japan’s yakuza.

RELEASES TBA

SEPTEMBER: Cleopatra’s Second Husband (drama, Indiecam Pictures) From writer-director Jon Reiss, an edgy erotic film about two Los Angeles couples. . . . Double Parked (comedy-drama, Castle Hill) The story of a single mom and her adolescent son. . . . Solas (drama, Samuel Goldwyn/IDP) A bitter young woman is transformed when her mother moves in while her father is hospitalized . . . The Tavern (drama, Castle Hill) Walter Foote, son of playwright Horton, wrote, produced and directed a story about two middle-aged men who buy a New York bar.

OCTOBER: Followers (drama, Castle Hill) Two fraternity candidates are ordered to put their black friend through a series of racially motivated hazing. . . . It All Starts Today (drama, Independent Artists) Bertrand Tavernier’s story of a kindergarten in northern France and a fateful decision when a mother abandons two children. . . . Me & Isaac Newton (documentary, First Look) Michael Apted explores the creative side of the scientific mind . . . The Sculptress (thriller, Phaedra) A young Englishwoman goes to art school in San Francisco and encounters a deranged neighbor and a sinister psychic force. . . . The Story of O (drama, Phaedra) The existential French novel is updated and moved to Los Angeles.

NOVEMBER: Signs & Wonders (drama, Strand) Omen-obsessed Stellan Skarsgard leaves his family, and his attempt to reconcile is complicated by a new man in their life. . . . Simon Magus (genre?, IDP Distribution) “Shine’s” Noah Taylor in a horror-fantasy-romance about efforts to modernize a village via a new train station. . . . Suzhou River (drama, Strand) A Shanghai man is drawn into a mystery involving his estranged go-go dancer girlfriend-- . . . The Weekend (drama, Strand) Director Brian Skeet adapts Peter Cameron’s novel.

FALL:

Rage: 20 Years of Punk Rock West Coast Style (documentary, 7th Art) Michael Bishop directs this account of the enduring genre. . . . Songs for Cassavetes (documentary, 7th Art) A look at the Northwest indie-rock scene, featuring Sleater-Kinney, Dub Narcotic Sound System, and directed by Justin Mitchell.

*

Fall Sneaks Editor: Kinsey Lowe

Fall Sneaks Capsules: Richard Cromelin

Fall Sneaks Research: Kevin Crust