Will this autumn’s film releases compare to last fall?

After the usual summer filled with product that even the 19-year-olds to whom it was marketed turned up their collective noses, the fall slate of movies doesn’t even need to be all that good in order to make adult filmgoers happy. The mere presence of movies made for grownups instead of teenagers is all we ask for.

So do we even dare to hope for a season as spectacular as last fall, a perfect storm of (a) funders looking to invest in independent productions and (b) ambitious filmmakers and small studios able to capitalize on that, and (c) an audience primed by four years of an unnecessary, mismanaged war—when everything came together to offer as rich and intelligent a season at the movies as we’ve had in my memory?

Consider that in the four months from September through December last year the following dozen films were released, most of them to at least modest box office success: No Country for Old Men, Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead, 3:10 to Yuma, Eastern Promises, The Darjeeling Limited, I’m Not There, In the Valley of Elah, Into the Wild, We Own the Night, Gone Baby Gone, Michael Clayton, and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. Even such critical and audience flops as Rendition, Lust, Caution, Lions for Lambs, Sleuth, and Elizabeth: The Golden Age at least assumed the existence of audiences who wanted more out of a film than something to take the kids to on the weekend

This fall may not reach that level, but there’s plenty of reason to hope that filmgoers with a once-a-week habit won’t find themselves having to lower their standards any time until the arrival of awards season in December. Of the 70 or so films scheduled for release this season, here are some to look forward to, along with their tentative opening dates:

APPALOOSA—Ed Harris directed and co-stars in this western as one of a pair (with Viggo Mortensen) of hired guns protecting a town from an evil rancher (Jeremy Irons). Their job is complicated with the arrival in town of widow Renée Zellweger. Adapted from a novel by Robert B. Parker. October 3.

George Clooney and Tilda Swinton in "Burn After Reading"

AUSTRALIA—Director Baz Luhrmann’s dream project couldn’t be any different from Moulin Rouge, an epic about the Australia in the early days of World War II. Luhrmann hired an all-star Ozzie cast, of which only Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman have much name recognition in the US. With David Wenham, Bryan Brown, Bruce Spence, and Jack Thompson. November 26.

BLINDNESS—José Saramago’s grim novel about life in a city stricken by an epidemic of blindness comes to the screen from director Fernando Meirelles (City of God). Julianne Moore stars as a doctor’s wife who pretends to be blind so as not to be separated form her husband (Mark Ruffalo) when he is sent to an asylum. With Alice Braga, Don McKellar, Danny Glover, and Gael García Bernal. September 26.

BODY OF LIES—Ridley Scott directs a thriller starring Leonardo DiCaprio as a former journalist injured in the Iraq war who is hired by the CIA to track down an al Qaeda leader in Jordan. Co-starring Russell Crowe, Mark Strong, and Black Book’s Carice van Houten. October 10.

BURN AFTER READING—Joel and Ethan Coen are back into humorous mode (and god knows they must have some jokes ready to use after the dead-serious No Country for Old Men brought them their first Oscar last year) with this spy comedy starring George Clooney and Brad Pitt as guys who discover the diary of CIA agent John Malkovich and decide to publish it. With Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton, Richard Jenkins, and J.K. Simmons. September 12.

CHANGELING—The indefatigable Clint Eastwood (whose Gran Torino will be released in December) directed this drama that probes the corrupt history of Los Angeles via the true story of a woman (Angelina Jolie) in the 1920s who claimed that the missing child returned to her by the police was not actually her baby. With John Malkovich, Jeffrey Donovan, Colm Feore, and Amy Ryan. October 24.

CHOKE—High on the list of movies not to take your maiden aunt to is this black comic adaptation of a novel by Chuck Palahniuk (Fight Club) starring Sam Rockwell as a sex-addicted con artist who pays for his mother’s hospital bills by pretending to be choking in public, then hitting up people who “rescue” him for money. With Anjelica Huston and Kelly Macdonald. Directed by Clark Gregg. October 3.

DOUBT—Playwright John Patrick Shanley’s first film as a director since 1990’s Joe Versus the Volcano (surely you remember Tom Hanks and his “fatal brain cloud”?) is this adaptation of his hit play about a priest (Philip Seymour Hoffman) accused of improper behavior with a student and the principal (Meryl Streep) investigating the charge. With Amy Adams and Viola Davis. December 12.

THE DUCHESS—A big Toronto kickoff could spur interest in this period piece starring Keira Knightley as the flashy 18th-century aristocrat Georgiana Cavendish. Co-starring Ralph Fiennes, Dominic Cooper, Charlotte Rampling, and Hayley Atwell. Directed by Saul Dibb. October 3.

FROST/NIXON—Adaptation of the hit play recreating the interviews by BBC host David Frost of former president Richard Nixon in 1977, the first time Nixon publically discussed the Watergate scandals. Starring Frank Langella, Michael Sheen, Kevin Bacon, Rebecca Hall, Oliver Platt, and Sam Rockwell. Directed by Ron Howard. December 5.

GHOST TOWN—Ricky Gervais makes his starring debut in this comedy as a dentist who becomes cursed with the ability to see and speak to ghosts, who seem to have an endless variety of loose ends they want him to take care of. Co-starring Téa Leoni and Greg Kinnear. Directed by David Koepp (Secret Window). September 19.

GRAN TORINO—Clint Eastwood returns to acting as an unbending Korean War veteran forced to deal with the immigrants who are moving into his neighborhood. Eastwood also directed this, a film he made quickly largely because he had some free time on his hands between projects. December 25.

HOW TO LOSE FRIENDS & ALIENATE PEOPLE—Curb Your Enthusiasm co-creator Robert B. Weide directed this comedy based on the memoir of Vanity Fair staff writer Toby Jones. Doesn’t sound like a mass-market hit to me, but with Simon Pegg in the lead role, let’s give it a shot. Also starring Kirsten Dunst, Danny Huston, and Jeff Bridges. October 3.

Keira Knightley in "The Duchess"

I SERVED THE KING OF ENGLAND—Czech director Jiri Menzel—who found success at the young age of 28 in 1966 with his Oscar-winning debut film, Closely Watched Trains—returns to international attention with this comedy that takes a puckish approach to the difficult recent history of middle Europe through the life of a waiter who wants only to become rich, as long as it doesn’t take too much work. Already a hit in New York arthouses, it opens in Buffalo on October 10.

MILK—Sean Penn as Harvey Milk, San Francisco’s first openly gay officeholder, who was murdered along with the city’s mayor in 1977. With Josh Brolin, Emile Hirsch, and James Franco. Directed by Gus van Sant (Good Will Hunting). November 26.

MIRACLE AT ST. ANNA—Spike Lee’s drama about the experienced of four African-American soldiers trapped in a Tuscan village during World War II. Starring Derek Luke, Michael Ealy, Laz Alonso, Omar Benson Miller, Pierfrancesco Favino, Valentina Cervi, John Turturro, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, John Leguizamo, and Kerry Washington. September 26.

PRIDE AND GLORY—Multigenerational police drama starring Edward Norton as a New York cop who uncovers a scandal at his brother’s precinct. With Colin Farrell, Jon Voight, Noah Emmerich, and Jennifer Ehle. Directed by Gavin O’Connor (Tumbleweeds). October 24.

QUANTUM OF SOLACE—Worst title ever for James Bond movie. Just wanted to mention that. Starring Daniel Craig and directed by Marc Forster (Monsters Ball). November 14.

RACHEL GETTING MARRIED—Hopefully Jonathan Demme will get his groove back after a decade of mostly disappointing films with this drama starring Anne Hathaway as a woman trying to get back into her family’s good graces after a decade in and out of rehab clinics. And while we’re at it, it will be nice to see co-

star Debra Winger back onscreen again as well. October 3.

RELIGULOUS—Documentary in which equal opportunity offender Bill Maher investigates the role of various prominent religions in the modern world. You can already hear all the angry letters being written. A modicum of good taste is not promised by the presence of Borat director Larry Charles. October 3.

RIGHTEOUS KILL—Advance word isn’t great, but how can you not at least be curious about the first film in which Robert De Niro and Al Pacino actually co-star (as opposed to Heat, in which they shared minimal screen time)? But neither star has been at the top of his game for years, and you gotta wish they’d picked a stronger director than Jon Avnet (Pacino’s recent flop 88 Minutes). With Curtis Jackson, John Leguizamo, Donnie Wahlberg, and Brian Dennehy. September 12.

Curtis Jackson in "Righteous Kill"

ROCKNROLLA—Guy Ritchie’s fifth feature about London toughs and a real-estate scam will hopefully be a return to the over-the-top style of his initial hits Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch. Starring Gerard Butler, Tom Wilkinson, Thandie Newton, Jeremy Piven, and Chris Bridges. October 31.

THE ROAD—Australian filmmaker and Nick Cave cohort John Hillcoat (The Proposition) is probably the perfect choice to adapt Cormac McCarthy’s novel about a man (Viggo Mortensen) and his young son wandering the remnants of post-apocalyptic America, though that may mean a film too grim to be embraced by a wide audience, Co-starring Charlize Theron, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Guy Pearce, and Robert Duvall. November 26.

SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK—Charlie Kaufman, the bizarrely imaginative scripter of Being John Malkovich and Adaptation, steps behind the camera for what sounds like a Fellini-esque movie starring Philip Seymour Hoffman as a theater director struggling with both his personal life and a new project that requires him to build a life-size replica of New York City. With Samantha Morton, Michelle Williams, Catherine Keener, Emily Watson, Dianne Wiest, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Hope Davis, and Tom Noonan. It should hit Buffalo sometime in November.

TOWELHEAD—A year after its troubled debut at the Toronto Film Festival, the first feature directed by Alan Ball (writer of American Beauty and creator of Six Feet Under) finally hits theaters. The title alone is guaranteed to ruffle features in this story of an Arab-American teenager’s growing pains during the first Gulf war in 1991. Starring Summer Bishil, Aaron Eckhart, and Peter Macdissi. September 12.

W.—Tied with Religulous as the movie most likely to be denounced by people who won’t see it is Oliver Stone’s satirical biopic of our soon-to-be-ex-president. I somehow don’t quite see Josh Brolin in the title role, but I couldn’t imagine Anthony Hopkins as Richard Nixon either. The stunt casting begins with Richard Dreyfuss as Dick Cheney, and continues with Elizabeth Banks as Laura Bush, Thandie Newton as Condoleezza Rice, Scott Glenn as Donald Rumsfeld, James Cromwell as George H. W. Bush, Rob Corddry as Ari Fleischer, Jeffrey Wright as Colin Powell, and, best of all, Toby Jones (Dobby the House Elf in the Harry Potter movies) as Karl Rove. Opening somewhere between October 17 and Election Day.

THE WOMEN—Buffalo native and Murphy Brown creator Diane English makes her directorial debut with this remake of the 1939 classic starring an all-female cast (which makes us wonder about Mick Jagger’s credit as co-producer). With Meg Ryan, Annette Bening, Eva Mendes, Debra Messing, Jada Pinkett Smith, Bette Midler, Candice Bergen, Carrie Fisher, Cloris Leachman, Debi Mazar, and Joanna Gleason. September 12.

ZACK AND MIRI MAKE A PORNO—In an idea I’ll bet Judd Apatow wishes he’d thought of first, Kevin Smith casts Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks as longtime platonic friends in need of money who decide to co-star in a porn video. With Traci Lords and Jason Mewes. October 31.

in the repertory

The Screening Room in Amherst will present a series of new independent films making their local premieres. The series opens this weekend with the drama The Sensation of Sight, starring David Strathairn as an English teacher trying to find meaning in life after a tragedy. Upcoiming films include the comedy Outsourced, which has been warmly praised by the New York Times, Roger Ebert, and the Washington Post; The Ripple Effect, starring Forest Whitaker, Virginia Madsen, and Minnie Driver in the story of a man trying to restore the bad karmic balance of his life; and Whaledreamers, a documentary produced by Julian Lennon. For more information, visit screeningroom.net.

Squeaky Wheel, Buffalo’s non-profit media arts center, won’t disappoint fans of its eclectic programs of films by adventurous film and video artists. On September 23 it will present an evening of short works from the prodigious output of the late San Francisco-based filmmaker Dean Snider, who made hundreds of films in his brief life. The evening will be presented by curator Douglas Katelus from San Francisco. November 13 brings a screening by NEA-funded experimental filmmaker Cade Bursell, Squeaky Wheel’s current artist-in-residence. And on Halloween catch an evening of films investigating and deconstructing both horror films and American politics (just in time for the election). For more information, visit squeaky.org.

As it has for most of the millennium, Tuesday night belongs to the Buffalo Film Seminars at the Market Arcade Film and Arts Center. This semester’s schedule, as always open to the public, includes the Marx Brothers’ hilarious Duck Soup (1933), September 9; Errol Flynn at his swashbuckling best in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), September 16; Jules Dassin’s hard-boiled prison drama Brute Force (1947), September 23; The Professionals (Richard Brooks, 1966), September 30; the Hungarian classic Love (1971) October 7; the film many consider Francis Ford Coppola’s masterpiece, The Conversation (1974), October 14; Lina Wertmuller’s bawdy comedy Seven Beauties (1975), October 21; Elia Kazan’s A Face in the Crowd (1957), October 28; Krzysztof Kieslowski’s Blind Chance (1981) November 4; Wim Wenders’ heartbreaking Paris, Texas (1984), November 11; Wong Kar Wei’s gorgeous In the Mood for Love (2000), November 18; the Oscar-winning The Lives of Others (2006), November 25; and the film that MGM astonishingly neglected to re-release to theaters seven years ago, Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, December 2.