Fall Movie Preview: Sept. 2008

Bangkok Dangerous - Action/Thriller - 09/05

The Pang Brothers remake their own 1999 Thai actioner, this time with Nicolas Cage as a hitman who suffers an attack of conscience, falls for a lovely local, and rescinds on his former employees. Needless to say, lots of bullets and explosions follow.

Burn After Reading - Comedy - 09/12

The Coen Brothers strike again with a dark comedy about two inept gym employees (Brad Pitt and Frances McDormand) who stumble upon a CIA operative's secret memoirs and decide to exploit their find. Adding to the hijinx: John Malkovich as the operative, and George Clooney as a fellow official sleeping with the agent's wife.

Righteous Kill - Action/Thriller - 09/12

Acting icons Al Pacino and Robert De Niro team up for the first time since Michael Mann's crime thriller Heat. Here, they're veteran New York detectives who've been partners for 30 plus years. Retirement looms, but not before they take on one last case...a serial killer targeting criminals who've fallen through the cracks.

The Women - Comedy/Drama - 09/12

A-listers Annette Bening, Meg Ryan, Eva Mendes, Debra Messing and Jada Pinkett-Smith combine forces in this story of successful women from all walks of life (single, married, authors, fashion designers, mega moms) who begin to question their friendships and relationships when Ryan's husband enters into an affair with a Saks Fifth Avenue counter girl (the fetching lady to the left).

Tyler Perry's The Family That Preys - Comedy/Drama - 09/12

Phenom filmmaker/actor/playwright Tyler Perry returns with this tale of scandal amongst two very different families -- led by patriarchs (and Hollywood acting titans) Kathy Bates and Alfre Woodard. While their children involve themselves in all kinds of extra-marital daliances, Bates and Woodard take a well-deserved time-out and hit the highway on a cross-country trip of rediscovery.

Appaloosa - Action/Western - 09/19

Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen head for the old west as hired guns sent to a New Mexico town to take on a powerful rancher (Jeremy Irons) and his gang of outlaws. Renee Zellweger plays the unconventional beauty who attracts both of them.

The Duchess - Drama - 09/19

Keira Knightley stars as the Duchess of Devonshire, Georgiana Spencer, who manages to dazzle all in England except her husband, the Duke (loser). Sort of the Princess Di of her day, Spencer struggles to be true to her country and duties while still being fair and true to herself.

Hounddog - Drama - 09/19

The movie that caused waves of controversy at the Sundance Film Festival for a scene (implying, not showing) a sexual assault on a young girl receives a theatrical release this September. Dakota Fanning plays the lead, a troubled girl who finds her only safe haven in the music of Elvis Presley.

Ghost Town - Comedy - 09/19

Comedy favorite Ricky Gervais (the original "The office," "Extras") stars as a dentist who dies for a few minutes during a routine surgery, and wakes up to find that not only can he see dead people, they demand that he help them contact their loved ones. Chief among the requesting ghosts is Greg Kinnear, determined to communicate with ex-love Tea Leoni.

Igor - Animation/Comedy - 09/19

John Cusack, Steve Buscemi and John Cleese are just a few of the Hollywood heavyweights lending their voice talents to Igor, an animated, Shrek-like comedy adventure about a hunch-backed, mad scientist's assistant whose boss kicks the bucket, leaving him to devise a new monster (who turns out to be a gentle, giant aspiring actress) and take on an evil plot that threatens their world.

Lakeview Terrace - Thriller - 09/19

Director Neil LaBute (no stranger to disturbing domestic dramas with In the Company of Men and Your Friends and Neighbors on his resume) tells another creepy and uncomfortable story about a young couple (Patrick Wilson, Kerry Washington) watched over by Samuel L. Jackson's tightly-wound LAPD cop neighbor, who doesn't exactly approve of their interracial relationship.

My Best Friend's Girl - Comedy - 09/19

Dane Cook's annual fall comedy (following on the heels of Employee of the Month and Good Luck Chuck) has him "trying" to help his best buddy (American Pie's Jason Biggs) seal the deal by taking Kate Hudson on the worst date of her life...the logic being, by seeing how uncouth Cook can be, she'll naturally be more attracted to Biggs. Nature, though, has its own crazy path to follow.

Eagle Eye - Action/Thriller - 09/26

Gen YouTube star Shia LaBeouf reteams with Distubria director D.J. Caruso in this paranoid thriller about a young guy framed by a shady, well-financed terrorist cell that contacts him via cellphone (a voice that sounds suspiciously like Julianne Moore) and directs him to do what they say, or else be killed. Framed alongside him is M:I3 star Michelle Monaghan. In hot pursuit are officials Billy Bob Thornton and Rosario Dawson.

Miracle at St. Anna - Action/Drama - 09/26

Spike Lee tells the incredible story of four African-American soldiers stationed in Tuscay, Italy during World War II as part of the all-black 92nd Buffalo Soldier Division. The soldiers find themselves trapped behind enemy lines, separated from their unit, when one of them risks his life to save an Italian boy.

Nights in Rodanthe - Romance/Drama - 09/26

Based on the book by Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook, A Walk to Remember), this romantic drama features Diane Lane and Richard Gere (the stars of Unfaithful) as two strangers caught in their own personal crises, stranded together at a coastal inn as a--major!--storm closes in on them.

Blindness - Psychological Thriller - 09/26

City of God's Fernando Meirelles directs Mark Ruffalo, Julianne Moore, and Sandra Oh in an apocalyptic story about a city struck by a plague of sudden blindness. A small group of the afflicted come together to overcome the bleak conditions of the imposed quarantine.

The Lucky Ones - Drama - 09/26

Rachel McAdams, Tim Robbins and Michael Pena star as three very different U.S. soldiers just returned home from Iraq, who share an unplanned, unforgettable road trip across America to Las Vegas.

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