As September rolls in I started to think about fall movies and what was coming out in the next few months. Here is a list of the ones I am looking forward to seeing.

The Last Kiss (DreamWorks, September 15)
Starring: Zach Braff, Jacinda Barrett, Casey Affleck, Michael Weston, Eric Christian Olsen, Rachel Bilson, Blythe Danner, Tom Wilkinson
Director: Tony Goldwyn
Rating: R

The Pitch: Based on the critically acclaimed Italian film, “L’Ultimo Baccio,” the story centers around a successful thirtysomething (Braff) struggling with the idea of settling down with his girlfriend (Barrett) only to fall in love with another woman (Bilson).
The Buzz: You stand the shot of misinterpretation when adapting a foreign film, but the cast is amazing and the script was written by current “It” director Paul Haggis.
Trailer Highlight: Braff running into a tree with his car and then screaming “No, no, no” as it comes crashing down.
Bottom Line: “Garden State” was great, but this could be the film that finally transforms Braff into a bonafide leading man.
Official Web Site: N/A

All The King’s Men (Columbia, September 22)
Starring: Sean Penn, Jude Law, Kate Winslet, James Gandolfini, Mark Ruffalo, Patricia Clarkson, Anthony Hopkins
Director: Steven Zaillian
Rating: PG-13

The Pitch: Based on the Robert Penn Warren novel, this is the story of populist Southerner Willie Stark (Penn), a politician loosely based on Louisiana Governor Huey Long.
The Buzz: Despite all the big names in the flick, the fact that it’s being dropped in September rather than December makes it seem less than Oscar-worthy.
Trailer Highlight: “They want to ruin me ‘cause they want to ruin you,” screams Stark, “but I won’t let them!” Cue the rapturous applause.
Bottom Line: If it’s placed in wide release, audiences will probably go see it because of the phenomenal cast, but it won’t be setting any box office records.
Official Web Site: http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/allthekingsmen/

The Departed (Warner Brothers, October 6)
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, Ray Winstone, Vera Farmiga, Anthony Anderson, Alec Baldwin
Director: Martin Scorcese
Rating: R

The Pitch: A young cop (DiCaprio) is assigned to infiltrate a Boston mob boss (Nicholson), while at the same time a member of that mob is sent undercover as a police officer. When both parties discover that there’s a mole amongst their ranks, however, the two men must race to uncover the identity of the other first.
The Buzz: The story is based on the hugely popular Hong Kong trilogy “Infernal Affairs,” so you can only imagine the amount of concern surrounding this thing. On the other hand, with two sequels to the original film already in the bag, box office success could lead to an adaptation of the final installments.
Trailer Highlight: Not available at press time.
Bottom Line: If the Chinese are good at one thing, it’s making cool gangster flicks. Now imagine that in the hands of the King of Gangster Films, Marty Scorcese.
Official Web Site: N/A

Flags of our Fathers (Paramount, October 20)
Starring: Ryan Phillippe, Jesse Bradford, Adam Beach, Paul Walker, Jamie Bell, Barry Pepper, John Benjamin Hickey
Director: Clint Eastwood
Rating: N/A

The Pitch: The life stories of the six men who raised the flag at The Battle of Iwo Jima, a turning point in WWII.
The Buzz: With Eastwood directing a script by William Broyles, Jr. (“Jarhead”) and Paul Haggis (“Million Dollar Baby” and “Crash”), people are already suggesting that it’s the next “Saving Private Ryan.”
Trailer Highlight: No trailer a press time.
Bottom Line: Even without a trailer, Eastwood’s track record is sufficiently unblemished for us to say that this will be a must-see, a big hit, and possibly even an Oscar contender.
Official Web Site: http://www.flagsofourfathers.com/

Stranger than Fiction (Columbia, November 10)
Starring: Will Ferrell, Emma Thompson, Queen Latifah, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Dustin Hoffman, Tony Hale
Director: Marc Forster
Rating: PG-13

The Pitch: A frustrated author (Thompson) begins writing a story about a man (Ferrell), unaware that her new character is real, and can hear her narration about his life in his head.
The Buzz: Now, this is the kind of movie we’ve been hoping Ferrell would make all along. Namely, no shots of him in his underwear. Indeed, this is a pretty high-concept movie for Ferrell, but he’s surrounded by some very quietly funny people (Hoffman, Thompson).
Trailer Highlight: Lots of stuff, but we’ll have to go with his reaction when Thompson talks about his imminent death. “Why? Hello? COME ON!”
Bottom Line: If this movie isn’t a hit, count on nothing but a string of “Talladega Nights” knockoffs for the next 10 years. Your personal feelings about “Ricky Bobby” aside, that’s still not a good thing.
Official Web Site: http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/strangerthanfiction/

Casino Royale (Columbia, November 17)
Starring: Daniel Craig, Eva Green, Judi Dench, Mads Mikkelsen, Jeffrey Wright
Director: Martin Campbell
Rating: PG-13

The Pitch: Kiss kiss, bang bang. Any questions?
The Buzz: Has any Bond taken the kind of literal and figurative beating that Craig has endured the last 12 months? Give a dude a break; he lost teeth filming this movie, and the Bondhounds still want his head on a platter. We’ll give them points that the tone of the trailer is darker than most Bond flicks, but the last decent Bond movie was James Cameron’s “True Lies,” so there you go.
Trailer Highlight: “So you want me to be part monk, part hitman.”
Bottom Line: They’ve been making the same movie for decades now…and no one but us seems to mind. Sigh.
Official Web Site: http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/casinoroyale/site/

Babel (Paramount Classics, November 17)
Starring: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Gael Garcia Bernal, Koji Yakusho, Elle Fanning
Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu
Rating: N/A

The Pitch: A trilogy of stories, set variously in Morocco, Tunisia, Mexico and Japan. Pitt and Blanchett play a couple who experience a tragic accident while vacationing in Morocco; their lives intersect with a Japanese teenager and her problems with her father, and a Mexican nanny who kidnaps two American children.
The Buzz: This year’s “Crash,” brought to you by the same fellow who helmed “21 Grams.”
Trailer Highlight: No trailer at press time.
Bottom Line: Anything with Brad Pitt in its cast is going to get media attention, but the clips of the film that are floating around the ‘net make it look pretty depressing. Makes for an art-house smash, followed by good business as a rental from curious Pitt fans.
Official Web Site: http://www.babelmovie.com/

Deja Vu (Touchstone, November 22)
Starring: Denzel Washington, Val Kilmer, Paula Patton, Bruce Greenwood, Adam Goldberg, Jim Caviezel
Director: Tony Scott
Rating: N/A

The Pitch: An ATF agent (Washington) travels back in time to save a woman from being murdered, falling in love with her during the process.
The Buzz: Tony Scott doesn’t generally make deep pictures, but he almost always makes great popcorn flicks. This one looks like it might actually be both.
Trailer Highlight: “He killed her four days ago.” “Yeah, that’s one theory.”
Bottom Line: Like “The Sixth Sense” and “Memento,” this is one people will go back and see a second time so they can find out what they missed the first time around.
Official Web Site: http://DejaVu.movies.com

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