Fall Film Lineup

Originally Published: August 31, 2005

Hollywood always saves it’s most complicated, challenging and Oscar worthy films for Fall. While this year is no different, I do notice that there are more action flicks on deck than usual. Could be because Summer was so bad for Hollywood, that many films were pulled, to re-tool for the new movie season. I hope they have a better shot at success. I think some of the following really deserve it. Many of the following, have pages dedicated to them in the Film Library HERE. Well, here goes:

September:

THE BAXTER: A loser in love (writer-director Michael Showalter) bumbles through the twists and turns of romance.

CRY WOLF: Teens spreading online rumors about a serial killer find the story coming true when classmates begin turning up dead.

THE CHUMSCRUBBER: A teen (Jamie Bell) stoically copes with the suicide of his best friend, a drug peddler. With Glenn Close and Ralph Fiennes.

DALTRY CALHOUN: A teen musical prodigy suddenly re-enters the life of her estranged dad, a golf-club magnate (Johnny Knoxville).

DEAR WENDY: A pacifist youth (Jamie Bell) is unaccountably smitten with a vintage handgun he finds. Bill Pullman co-stars.

EVERYTHING IS ILLUMINATED: A man seeks to find a Ukranian woman who saved his grandfather during the Holocaust. Elijah Wood stars, actor Liev Schreiber directs.

THE EXORCISM OF EMILY ROSE: A lawyer (Laura Linney) defends a priest (Tom Wilkinson) accused in the death of a girl who underwent an exorcism.

FLIGHTPLAN: A widow (Jodie Foster) insists her 6-year-old daughter vanished on a trans-Atlantic flight _ all evidence to the contrary.

GOING SHOPPING: Director Henry Jaglom (Eating) has a go at consumer addiction in this domestic tale starring Victoria Foyt, Lee Grant and Rob Morrow.

THE GREATEST GAME EVER PLAYED: A young amateur (Shia LaBeouf) shocks the golfing world in an upset of the British champ in 1913. Actor Bill Paxton directs.

GREEN STREET HOOLIGANS: An expelled Harvard student (Elijah Wood) moves to London, where he’s caught up in the menacing madness of soccer.

A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE: Mobsters muscle in on a small-town diner owner (Viggo Mortensen) after his act of heroism. With Ed Harris, Maria Bello and William Hurt.

INTO THE BLUE: Divers hunting for treasure on a sunken ship find danger instead. With Jessica Alba and Paul Walker.

JUST LIKE HEAVEN: A man encounters romance from beyond when a ghostly woman (Reese Witherspoon) keeps appearing in his apartment. Mark Ruffalo co-stars.

LITTLE MANHATTAN: A Woody Allen-style romance centers on the joys and pangs of first love for two 11-year-olds. With Cynthia Nixon and Bradley Whitford.

LORD OF WAR: An arms dealer (Nicolas Cage) faces a crisis of conscience as he’s pursued by an Interpol agent (Ethan Hawke).

THE MAN: A fed (Samuel L. Jackson) teams with a dental-supply guy (Eugene Levy) to solve an agent’s murder in this buddy comedy.

MIRRORMASK: The Jim Henson Co. works its visual magic in a tale of a teenage girl whisked to a fantasy land controlled by a scheming queen.

OLIVER TWIST: Roman Polanski updates Dickens’ tale of an orphan’s misadventures among rascals and pickpockets. Ben Kingsley plays the sinister Fagin.

ONE BRIGHT SHINING MOMENT: THE FORGOTTEN SUMMER OF GEORGE MCGOVERN: A documentary chronicling the Democrat’s failed 1972 presidential bid against Richard Nixon.

THE OUTSIDERS: THE COMPLETE NOVEL: Francis Ford Coppola expands his 1983 coming-of-age drama with an extra 22 minutes of footage.

THE PRIZE WINNER OF DEFIANCE, OHIO: A mother of 10 (Julianne Moore) helps pay the bills by entering 1950s musical jingle contests. Woody Harrelson co-stars.

PROOF: After her brilliant dad’s death, a woman (Gwyneth Paltrow) worries she’s inherited his madness. With Anthony Hopkins, Jake Gyllenhaal and Hope Davis.

ROLL BOUNCE: Bow Wow stars as an underdog skater competing in a showdown at a glitzy roller rink.

SEPARATE LIES: The lives of a married couple (Emily Watson and Tom Wilkinson) are turned upside-down by the arrival of another man (Rupert Everett).

SERENITY: Joss Whedon resurrects his failed TV show “Firefly” with this sci-fi tale of a vagabond spaceship carrying two mysterious passengers.

SUENO: A Mexican singer (John Leguizamo) lands in a love triangle and a Latino music competition in Los Angeles. With Elizabeth Pena.

A SOUND OF THUNDER: Time-traveling dinosaur hunters disrupt the course of history. Based on Ray Bradbury’s story. With Edward Burns and Ben Kingsley.

THUMBSUCKER: A 17-year-old (Justin Pucci) still has a penchant for sucking his thumb. With Keanu Reeves, Vincent D’Onofrio, Tilda Swinton and Benjamin Bratt.

TIM BURTON’S CORPSE BRIDE: A man is sucked into the underworld to wed a dead chick. The animated flick features the voices of Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter.

TRANSPORTER 2: The ultra-able deliveryman (Jason Statham) comes out of retirement to pursue kidnappers.

UNDERCLASSMAN: An L.A. cop (Nick Cannon) goes undercover to investigate a murder at an upper-class private school.

AN UNFINISHED LIFE: A reclusive rancher (Robert Redford) is reunited with his estranged daughter-in-law (Jennifer Lopez). Morgan Freeman co-stars.

VENOM: Teenagers battle voodoo horror in the swamps of Louisiana. With Agnes Bruckner, Method Man and Bijou Phillips.

THE WAR WITHIN: Wrongly interrogated as a terrorism suspect, a Pakistani student seeks revenge and joins a terrorist cell in New York City.

October:

DOMINO: Keira Knightley plays the bounty-hunting daughter of actor Laurence Harvey in an action thriller directed by Tony Scott.

DOOM: The Rock leads a team of futuristic Marines against deadly creatures on Mars in this adaptation of the video game.

DREAMER: A fired equestrian trainer (Kurt Russell) and his daughter (Dakota Fanning) nurse an injured racehorse back to health.

ELIZABETHTOWN: Romance is in the air during a Southern patriarch’s funeral. Kirsten Dunst and Orlando Bloom star, Cameron Crowe directs.

THE FOG: Vengeful ghosts from a shipwreck terrorize a town in this remake of the 1980 horror tale. With Tom Welling and Selma Blair.

GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK: George Clooney directs and co-stars in the story of newsman Edward R. Murrow (David Strathairn) as he battles the communist witch hunt.

THE GOSPEL: An R&B star (Boris Kodjoe) tries to reconcile with his ailing father, the bishop of their hometown church. Nona Gaye co-stars.

IN HER SHOES: Estranged sisters (Cameron Diaz and Toni Collette) reconnect with help from a mystery grandma (Shirley MacLaine). Curtis Hanson directs.

INNOCENT VOICES: An 11-year-old boy in 1980s El Salvador balances childhood and adult issues as he faces automatic army conscription on his 12th birthday.

KISS KISS, BANG BANG: Robbery gone awry gives a thief (Robert Downey Jr.) a movie audition and a lesson in sleuthing with a detective (Val Kilmer).

THE LEGEND OF ZORRO: The masked swordsman (Antonio Banderas) and his wife (Catherine Zeta-Jones) are back in action in this swashbuckling sequel.

LOGGERHEADS: Interlocking stories trace the melancholy history of a boy’s adoption. With Bonnie Hunt, Tess Harper and Kip Pardue.

NINE LIVES: Crises of nine disparate women are examined. With Holly Hunter, Glenn Close, Sissy Spacek and Robin Wright Penn.

NORTH COUNTRY: A single mother (Charlize Theron) leads a sexual-harassment crusade on behalf of female co-workers at a mining company.

PARADISE NOW: Palestinian best friends face crisis when they are tapped to carry out a suicide attack in Tel Aviv.

PRIME: A thirty-something divorcee (Uma Thurman) takes up with a young painter. Meryl Streep co-stars.

PROTOCOLS OF ZION: Documentary filmmaker Marc Levin examines a backlash of anti-Semitism that followed the Sept. 11 attacks.

SAW II: A cop (Donnie Wahlberg) discovers that a maniacal serial killer is back in business in the follow-up to last year’s horror hit.

SHOPGIRL: A Saks clerk (Claire Danes) is wooed by an older man (Steve Martin) and a younger suitor (Jason Schwartzman). Based on Martin’s novella.

THE SQUID AND THE WHALE: Marriage and parenthood are on the rocks between two Brooklyn writers (Jeff Daniels and Laura Linney).

STAY: A psychiatrist races to prevent a patient from making good on a threat to commit suicide. With Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts.

TWO FOR THE MONEY: Al Pacino, Rene Russo and Matthew McConaughey star in the tale of an ex-athlete who enters the high-rolling sports gambling world.

WALLACE & GROMIT: THE CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT: Britain’s favorite cheese-lover and his loyal dog square off against a monster bunny in this clay-animated comedy.

THE WEATHER MAN: A local weather guy (Nicolas Cage) wins a national TV audition but faces storm clouds in his personal life. Michael Caine co-stars.

WHERE THE TRUTH LIES: A reporter (Alison Lohman) probes the dark secrets behind the breakup of a musical-comedy duo (Kevin Bacon and Colin Firth). Atom Egoyan directs.

November:

BEE SEASON: An overlooked daughter is thrown into the limelight when she becomes a spelling champ. With Richard Gere and Juliette Binoche.

BREAKFAST ON PLUTO: A cross-dressing Irish misfit (Cillian Murphy) hunts for the mother who abandoned him as a baby. Neil Jordan directs, Liam Neeson co-stars.

CHICKEN LITTLE: The sky is really, really falling in an animated tale of the chick who cried wolf. Zach Braff heads the voice cast.

DERAILED: Business execs having an affair (Jennifer Aniston and Clive Owen) square off against a blackmailer.

DYING FOR DOLLY: A club DJ (Usher) falls for the daughter of the crime boss (Chazz Palminteri) whose life he saved.

THE DYING GAUL: A writer (Peter Sarsgaard) lands in a bizarre triangle with a studio exec (Campbell Scott) and his wife (Patricia Clarkson).

ELLIE PARKER: A wannabe actress (Naomi Watts) gallops through auditions and disappointments in Hollywood. With Chevy Chase.

THE FAMILY STONE: A Manhattan career woman (Sarah Jessica Parker) gets a cold reception from his fiance’s family. With Diane Keaton, Luke Wilson.

GET RICH OR DIE TRYIN’: Rapper 50 Cent stars as a street punk who abandons drug dealing for music. Jim Sheridan directs.

HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE: A sorcery competition puts wiz kid Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) in the clutches of dark lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes).

THE ICE HARVEST: Yuletide turns dicey for an embezzler (John Cusack) stuck in Wichita on Christmas Eve. Billy Bob Thornton co-stars, Harold Ramis directs.

I LOVE YOUR WORK: A movie star (Giovanni Ribisi) struggles with the frenzy of celebrity. Actor Adam Goldberg directs.

JARHEAD: A third-generation Marine (Jake Gyllenhaal) joins a sniper platoon in the Gulf War. Jamie Foxx co-stars, Sam Mendes directs.

JUST FRIENDS: A music-business hotshot (Ryan Reynolds) is reunited with his old high school dream girl. With Anna Faris and Amy Smart.

THE MATADOR: A hit man (Pierce Brosnan) and a traveling salesman (Greg Kinnear) pal around after meeting at a Mexican bar.

THE NEW WORLD: Cultures collide in director Terrence Malick’s drama of colonial days starring Colin Farrell as John Smith and Q’orianka Kilcher as Pocahantas.

NEW YORK DOLL: After alcoholism and a broken marriage, bassist Arthur Kane is reunited with his old band _ ’70s punk pioneers the New York Dolls.

PRIDE & PREJUDICE: Keira Knightley stars in Jane Austen’s classic of love and class warfare in 18th century Britain. With Donald Sutherland and Brenda Blethyn.

PULSE: Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s 2001 Japanese horror tale, about ghostly apparitions terrorizing Tokyo, gets a belated U.S. release.

RENT: Addicts, transsexuals and other Manhattanites cope with poverty and AIDS in director Chris Columbus’ adaptation of the stage musical. With Rosario Dawson and Taye Diggs.

SARAH SILVERMAN: JESUS IS MAGIC: AIDS, Sept. 11 and the Holocaust are grist for the standup comic in this adaptation of her stage show.

SYRIANA: George Clooney’s an ex-CIA guy and Matt Damon’s an oil exec in this political thriller with a “Traffic”-like ensemble cast.

TRISTRAM SHANDY: A COCK AND BULL STORY: Filmmaker Michael Winterbottom adapts Laurence Sterne’s classic comic novel. Steve Coogan stars.

WALK THE LINE: Joaquin Phoenix plays the man in black, Johnny Cash, in the story of the country legend’s early years. With Reese Witherspoon.

THE WHITE COUNTESS: Ralph Fiennes stars in a tale of decadence and redemption in 1930s Shanghai. From director James Ivory and his late producing partner Ismail Merchant.

WOLF CREEK: Three stranded backpackers encounter terror at the hands of a local on a trip in the Australian Outback.

YOURS, MINE AND OURS: Single parents (Dennis Quaid and Rene Russo) with 18 children between them plan to marry in this remake of the Henry Fonda-Lucille Ball comedy.

ZATHURA: Two young brothers discover a game that transports them into an interstellar adventure. Actor Jon Favreau directs.

December:

AEON FLUX: Charlize Theron battles an evil government 400 years in the future in the adaptation of the animated sci-fi series.

ALL THE KING’S MEN: Robert Penn Warren’s novel is updated with Sean Penn as the Southern political boss loosely modeled on Huey Long.

BE HERE TO LOVE ME: A FILM ABOUT TOWNES VAN ZANDT: This documentary portrait of the late singer-songwriter features Willie Nelson, Lyle Lovett and Steve Earle.

BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN: Cowboy lovers (Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal) maintain their secret bond through marriage and fatherhood. Ang Lee directs.

CASANOVA: The legendary womanizer (Heath Ledger) chases the one woman (Sienna Miller) who has rejected him. Lasse Hallstrom directs.

CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN 2: Dad and mom (Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt) take a vacation with their 12 kids. Hilary Duff and Eugene Levy co-star.

THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE: Four siblings fight a wicked witch in the adaptation of C.S. Lewis’ fantasy classic. Andrew Adamson (“Shrek”) directs.

FREEDOMLAND: Samuel L. Jackson and Julianne Moore star in a crime thriller centering on a carjacking and a missing child.

FUN WITH DICK AND JANE: A couple (Jim Carrey and Tea Leoni) turns to thievery after hard times strike in this remake of the 1970s romp.

HARD CANDY: A thirty-something fashion photographer gets more than he bargained for when he hooks up with a teenage woman on the Internet.

HIDDEN: A couple (Juliette Binoche and Daniel Auteuil) are harassed by a video stalker sending disturbing tapes of their domestic life.

THE KID & I: A washed-up actor (Tom Arnold) learns his comeback project isn’t what it seemed. Arnold Schwarzenegger makes a cameo appearance.

KING KONG: A small-town ape goes to the big city and makes a spectacle of himself in Peter Jackson’s update of the 1930s classic. With Naomi Watts, Jack Black and Adrien Brody.

THE LIBERTINE: Johnny Depp lives out the wanton life of the scandalous 17th century Earl of Rochester. With John Malkovich and Samantha Morton.

MATCH POINT: Woody Allen spins a drama of an Irish tennis pro (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers) whose cozy life is jeopardized by a fling with an actress (Scarlett Johansson).

MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA: A poor Japanese girl (Ziyi Zhang) rises to the top of the geisha profession in an adaptation of the best-selling novel.

MRS. HENDERSON PRESENTS: A society dame (Judi Dench) starts a nude revue in prewar London. With Bob Hoskins.

MUNICH: Steven Spielberg directs a thriller about agents pursuing Palestinians suspected of plotting the deaths of 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympics.

THE PRODUCERS: Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick reprise their stage roles in the new movie version of Mel Brooks’ musical comedy of theater con men.

THE RINGER: A slimeball (Johnny Knoxville) finds unlikely allies when he masquerades among mentally disabled to compete in the Special Olympics.

RUMOR HAS IT: An obituary writer (Jennifer Aniston) learns her family may have inspired the film and book The Graduate. Kevin Costner co-stars, Rob Reiner directs.

TRANSAMERICA: A transsexual woman and a teen runaway take a cross-country road trip. With Felicity Huffman.