Entertainment

The movie world rolls on. Especially in autumn, when studios and stars save the best for last, unleashing a torrent of serious-minded films, lavish family pictures and just about every movie that will be honored at the Academy Awards. It's quality time, the theory goes. We are expected to sober up, sit still and watch sumptuous epics, historical period pieces, literary adaptations and at least three tales starring dogs.

From the new crop, we've highlighted 10 hot picks for each month and rounded up many — but not all — of the rest. Note: As Mr. Potter teaches us, all dates are subject to change.

September

'Burn After Reading' (Sept. 12): Seven months after taking a best picture Oscar for the grim "No Country for Old Men," boy geniuses the Coen brothers are back to their screwball wont with a caper about dumb guys trying their hand at top-level extortion. Brad Pitt and Tilda Swinton join Coen veterans George Clooney and Frances McDormand.

'Righteous Kill' (Sept. 12): Clad in black leather, Al Pacino and Robert De Niro see the street cool in one of their rare collaborations. They're a pair of tenacious New York cops prowling for a vigilante. Could be the ultimate buddy movie, save for this glaring caveat: It's directed by Jon Avnet ("Fried Green Tomatoes" and the Pacino stinker "88 Minutes").

'The Women' (Sept. 12): Fourteen years in the making (don't ask), this is a "Sex and the City"-like recasting of George Cukor's catty 1939 gem about female social politics at full boil. That one had Rosalind Russell, Joan Crawford and Norma Shearer. This one has Meg Ryan, Annette Bening and Eva Mendes. We're simply (cough) thrilled. Directed by "Murphy Brown" creator Diane English.

'Tyler Perry's The Family That Preys' (Sept. 12): Comedy powerhouse Perry aims for a wider audience with another feel-good message movie, starring Kathy Bates and Alfre Woodard.

'Ghost Town' (Sept. 19): Ricky Gervais sees dead people. We scream: with laughter. An ectoplasmic comedy, co-starring Greg Kinnear as a ghost and Tea Leoni as the woman he wants the baffled Gervais to romance.

'Miracle at St. Anna' (Sept. 26): A quartet of U.S. soldiers in the Buffalo Soldier Division is trapped behind enemy lines during World War II. Spike Lee, that mercurial handler of moral ordnance, explores race and history with stars Derek Luke, Laz Alonso and Omar Benson Miller.

'Eagle Eye' (Sept. 26): In this high-tech thriller: foot-chases, frantic cellphone calls, obscene iPhone product placement: director D.J. Caruso re-teams with his "Disturbia" star Shia LaBeouf.

'Towelhead' (Sept. 26): An Arab teenager wrestles adolescence and assimilation in Houston in Alan Ball's funny, heartfelt drama about race and being human.

'Blindness' (Sept. 26): Every human on Earth goes blind in this creepy drama based on Jose Saramago's novel. Everyone except Julianne Moore. Imagine that responsibility. Director Fernando Meirelles' film met with mixed reaction at the Cannes Film Festival this year. By title anyway, it could make a good double-feature with "Eagle Eye."

'Nights in Rodanthe' (Sept. 26): Richard Gere and Diane Lane's combustible chemistry (recall "Unfaithful") should heat up this mush-hearted romance based on the Nicholas Sparks novel.

Also in September: Actor Ed Harris stars in and directs the Western 'Appaloosa.' ... South by Southwest Film Festival veteran 'Battle in Seattle' dramatizes the 1999 World Trade Organization protests, with Charlize Theron. ... The pot dramedy 'Humboldt County' also played this year's SXSW, as did 'Choke,' a valiant if erratic attempt to turn Chuck Palahniuk's comic cult novel into edgy cinema. ... The nonfiction 'Flow' examines the world's water crisis.

October

'Religulous' (Oct. 3): Cynic, crank and political humorist Bill Maher punctures religion's pomp and sacrosanctity, interviewing spiritual leaders around the world with utmost irreverence. Paralleling the recent rise of atheism, the results are hot to the touch. Directed by Larry Charles ("Borat").

'The Duchess' (Oct. 3): The British costume drama is an autumn requisite. Keira Knightley is the titular Duchess of Devonshire, whose notoriety in political and personal arenas mirrors today's scandal-driven celebrity. With Ralph Fiennes as the worst husband ever.

'Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist' (Oct. 3): A pair of lonely teens: Michael Cera and Kat Dennings: wander Manhattan all night looking for a secret concert. Director Peter Sollett showed he knows teen minds and hormones in his lovely "Raising Victor Vargas."

'RocknRolla' (Oct. 8): Guy Ritchie revives London gangster chic in the slashing mold of "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels." Gerard Butler plays a thug antihero mixed up in all things wicked and wanton.

'Body of Lies' (Oct. 10): Russell Crowe, who gained weight for the role, is a CIA guy who hires Leonardo DiCaprio, who grew a goatee, to find terrorists in Ridley Scott's thriller.

'Happy-Go-Lucky' (Oct. 10): Writer-director Mike Leigh is known for his magical hand with actors. Sally Hawkins won an acting trophy at the Berlin Film Festival for her role as an outlandishly optimistic schoolteacher. A sunny comedy from the maestro of dark realism.

'W.' (Oct. 17): Timed for the febrile election season, Oliver Stone's mocking farewell to President George W. Bush looks like broad satire in trailers, with Josh Brolin portraying a drunk and rowdy young Bush straight out of "Animal House." Controversy? Stone? Nah.

'The Secret Life of Bees' (Oct. 17): Dakota Fanning ditches her bad dad and lands on a bee farm run by Queen Latifah, where the 14-year-old learns many life lessons from this Queen bee. A '60s period piece from Sue Monk Kidd's best-selling novel.

'Synecdoche, New York' (Oct. 24): Expect something of a head-scratcher in Charlie Kaufman's directorial debut. That's nothing new from the guy who wrote the loopy "Adaptation" and "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind." Here, Philip Seymour Hoffman follows a dream of making a life-size replica of New York inside a giant warehouse. Er, OK. Yeah. (Wha?)

'Changeling' (Oct. 31): When a mother's little boy goes missing and returns not quite the same: Is it even him?: you get the recipe for a taut drama. Angelina Jolie stars, and Clint Eastwood directs.

Also in October: Kevin Smith's raunchy but sweet 'Zack and Miri Make a Porno.' ... The rockumentary 'Call + Response' mixes music and activism, with performances by Moby and celeb appearances for a good cause. ... Anne Hathaway is a recovering drug addict at her sister's wedding in Jonathan Demme's drama 'Rachel Getting Married.' Then she's a grief counselor in the horror-thriller 'Passengers.' ... Robert De Niro, Sean Penn and Bruce Willis lampoon Hollywood in Barry Levinson's 'What Just Happened?' ... Allow funnyman Simon Pegg to show you 'How to Lose Friends & Alienate People.' ... Drew Barrymore voices the title (and entitled) pup who gets lost in Mexico in the family comedy 'Beverly Hills Chihuahua.' ... Rob Brown scores as black college football hero Ernie Davis in the biopic 'The Express.' ... Bullets and bodies soar in the screen version of the video game 'Max Payne.' ... Madonna, bless her heart, tries directing with 'Filth and Wisdom,' which took a beating at the Berlin Film Festival. ... Tweens are atwitter about 'High School Musical 3: Senior Year.' ... Torture-porn still has teeth in 'Saw V.' ... Another teen-sex road "comedy": that's what 'Sex Drive' is steering for. ... Bill Murray tries to keep the lights glowing in an underground world in the family fantasy 'City of Ember.' ... Timely political doc 'Frontrunners': another SXSW premiere: follows heated student council elections in a New York high school.

November

'Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa' (Nov. 7): Animated zoo animals, always a delight. Ben Stiller, Chris Rock and the madcap menagerie return for more adventures outside their cages in this sequel. Other voices by Jada Pinkett Smith and the late Bernie Mac.

'Role Models' (Nov. 7): Paul Rudd co-wrote and stars in this out-there comedy about men-children tutoring real children. It's directed and co-written by longtime Rudd bud David Wain ("Wet Hot American Summer").

'The Road' (Nov. 14): Australian director John Hillcoat brought such an uncompromising view of violence and humanity to "The Proposition" that we trust Cormac McCarthy's post-apocalyptic novel in his hands. Viggo Mortensen, drawn and bearded, plays the father who protects his young son during their biblically shaded odyssey across the wasteland.

'Quantum of Silence' (Nov. 14): Bond is back. If "Casino Royale" tapped Daniel Craig as a worthy 007 heir, this should seal the deal. Even if we don't understand the title. At all.

'Twilight' (Nov. 21): A teenage girl falls in love with a vampire. Why couldn't she have crushed on the varsity quarterback? Love truly sucks in this take on Stephenie Meyer's popular young adult novel, directed by Catherine Hardwicke ("Thirteen"). We believe a werewolf is involved, too, which puts us over the moon.

'Bolt' (Nov. 21): A heroic super-dog on TV, Bolt finds life isn't so make-believe-y and easy in the real world. Cartoon family fare with the voices of John Travolta and Miley Cyrus, who pretends she's really offended about a sexy spread in Dog Fancy.

'The Soloist' (Nov. 21): A schizophrenic musical prodigy (Jamie Foxx) hits the skids, big-time. A troubled journalist (Robert Downey Jr.) becomes his friend and helps him reach his dreams. Based on a true story. Joe Wright ("Atonement") directs.

'Australia' (Nov. 26): World War II and a cattle drive rumble in Baz Luhrmann's epic Down Under historical drama, starring true Aussies Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman as lovers. Kidman plays a Brit, but whatever.

'Milk' (Nov. 26): Gay rights activist and San Francisco city supervisor Harvey Milk was a bona fide hometown hero, well before he was famously murdered by disgruntled fellow supervisor Dan White in 1978. Sean Penn plays Milk in Gus Van Sant's biopic, and Josh Brolin plays White. Penn totally wants another Oscar.

'Four Christmases' (Nov. 26): Seth Gordon, who directed last year's terrific video-game documentary "The King of Kong," puts Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn through the funny paces in a dysfunctional spin on home for the holidays.

Also in November: In 'Soul Men,' Bernie Mac and Samuel L. Jackson groove as back-up singers in a classic soul group. Issac Hayes makes an appearance. Both Mac and Hayes died last month. ... Body parts, songs and Paris Hilton feature in horror-musical 'Repo! The Genetic Opera.' ... Sissy Spacek stars in raw, southern family drama 'Lake City.' ... Really? Another one? Dang: 'Transporter 3.' ... An orphan from the Mumbai slums might get very, very rich on a game show in Danny Boyle's 'Slumdog Millionaire.'