Must-See Fall Movies: 15 Flicks You Can't Miss
Summer is over, which means we'll be seeing films with budgets lower than $100 million and Oscar chances of higher than 17 percent. But how do you discern the awards contenders from the post-summer stinkers? With our help, of course. From the adrenalized Western '3:10 to Yuma' to the controversial 'The Kingdom,' we pick 15 movies you can't afford to miss this fall.
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1. '3:10 to Yuma'
Release Date: Sept. 7
Russell Crowe, as outlaw Ben Wade, is more charismatic than we've ever seen him (at last, he smiles!), Christian Bale is in fine form (as always), and Ben Foster steals scenes like they're gold bullion. It's the rare remake that lives up to the original -- so don't miss this train.
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2. 'The Brave One'
Release Date: Sept. 14
The movie seems tailor-made for Jodie Foster -- she plays a woman who turns vigilante after her fiance is killed -- but more than that, it's directed by Neil Jordan and co-stars Terrence Howard. Translation? This could be one of the best films of Foster's career.
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3. 'Eastern Promises'
Release Date: Sept. 14
Hot off the acclaimed 'A History of Violence,' David Cronenberg delivers another a gritty crime drama about a Russian mobster (Viggo Mortensen) torn between the mafia and a woman (Naomi Watts) who could spell its doom. Word is, Viggo's performance is nothing short of incendiary.
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4. 'The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford'
Release Date: Sept. 21
It was delayed a year, and people assumed the worst ... but what do we have here? The trailer's fantastic, Brad Pitt makes an ideal James, and early buzz is that Casey Affleck may be Oscar-bound. Good things come to those who wait.
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5. 'Into the Wild'
Release Date: Sept. 21
Jon Krakauer's best-selling nonfiction work, about a young man (Emile Hirsch) who abandons his cushy life and strikes out on an ill-fated journey to Alaska to find himself, hits the big screen with Sean Penn directing and Vince Vaughn co-starring. Color us wildly intrigued.
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6. 'The Darjeeling Limited'
Release Date: Sept. 28
Wes Anderson's latest foray into quirky, poignant dramedy chronicles the adventures of three estranged brothers (Jason Schwartzman, Adrien Brody, Owen Wilson) who set out on a "spiritual quest" (aka train ride) across India to reconnect after their father's death. Quirky poignancy ensues -- and we're all aboard.
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7. 'The Kingdom'
Release Date: Sept. 28
It's like 'CSI: Saudi Arabia' when an A-list coterie of FBI agents (Foxx, Garner, Bateman, Cooper) heads to the Middle East to investigate a terrorist attack in Peter Berg's already controversial flick. It's part thriller, part political manifesto, part crime drama and 100 percent entertaining.
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8. 'The Heartbreak Kid'
Release Date: Oct. 5
A remake of the 1972 classic, 'Kid' -- about a groom (Ben Stiller) who ditches his insane bride (Malin Akerman) on their honeymoon -- marks the Farrelly brothers' triumphant return to R-rated filmmaking, complete with sex, F-bombs and a nude scene so gross it'd make Judd Apatow soil his shorts.
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9. 'Michael Clayton'
Release Date: Oct. 5
Tony Gilroy, the acclaimed screenwriter of the 'Bourne' films, writes and directs this hardboiled, snappy dialogued thriller about a "fixer" (George Clooney) at a big Manhattan law firm who uncovers a conspiracy that might just get him killed -- or win him Oscar No. 2.
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10. 'Elizabeth: The Golden Age'
Release Date: Oct. 12
Cate Blanchett blew us away in 'Elizabeth,' but lost the Oscar to Gwyneth Paltrow. We're still not over it. Now she's back in an epic sequel about the queen and Sir Walter Raleigh, and whaddya know? No Gwyneth in sight. Long live the queen.
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11. 'Rendition'
Release Date: Oct. 19
Forget Reese Witherspoon and Jake Gyllenhaal's little romance. This film looks like a timely, trenchant political thriller. And it co-stars Meryl Streep. And it's directed by Gavin Hood, who won an Oscar for 'Tsotsi.' See, our interest has nothing at all to do with Reese and Jake. Well, maybe a little.
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12. 'Dan in Real Life'
Release Date: Oct. 26
In the new relationship dramedy from 'Pieces of April' writer-director Peter Hedges, Steve Carell plays a widower who falls for a luminous stranger (Juliette Binoche), only to discover she's his brother's (Dane Cook) girlfriend. Carell in an off-the-charts awkward situation dramedy? We're in.
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13. 'American Gangster'
Release Date: Nov. 2
Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe AND Ridley Scott? It's like we died and went to the Heaven of Heavy Hitters. Crowe and Scott come back strong from 'A Good Year,' but this is Denzel's show: He's so riveting as a Harlem drug czar, you're half-hoping the bad guys win.
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14. 'Bee Movie'
Release Date: Nov. 2
The buzz (sorry, we had to) is already sweet for Jerry Seinfeld's first post-'Seinfeld' project, a CGI film about a bee (voiced by Jerry) who sues humans for stealing honey. The best part: Since it's animated, we don't have to see Seinfeld busting up at his own jokes. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
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15. 'The Kite Runner'
Release Date: Nov. 2
Director Marc Forster ('Finding Neverland') gets serious again after his foray into comedy ('Stranger Than Fiction') with this stirring drama based on Khaled Hosseini's best-selling book about an Americanized Afghani man who returns to his native country, now Taliban-ruled, to help an old friend.
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'Halloween': Where Are They Now?
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