Fall always proves more interesting than summer where movies are concerned. But this autumn isn’t just the start of awards season as usual. This one offers what might be the most intriguingly varied schedule of recent years. Along with the expected Oscar bait — such as “Anna Karenina” and “Lincoln”—we’ve got the first black and white IMAX 3D stop motion animated film (got that?) and a sprawling flick in which Tom Hanks and company are put to the test playing multiple roles over multiple centuries. Hollywood’s hard work means a rewarding season to kick back in.
‘The Words’
Opens: Sept. 7
The stars: Bradley Cooper, Jeremy Irons, Zoe Saldana, Ben Barnes
The plot: As in “Limitless,” Cooper plays another morally challenged writer. This time, his character publishes a book he hasn’t even written.
The forecast: Watching Cooper and Irons, who portrays the real author, act against each other should be one of the most blissful experiences of the fall.
The wrap: This is billed as a thriller, though, so it might really echo “Limitless.”
‘The Master’
Opens: Sept. 21
The stars: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams
The plot: This has been known in Hollywood as “the Scientology movie”—though director Paul Thomas Anderson claims the charismatic character played by Hoffman is not a stand-in for L. Ron Hubbard.
The forecast: Can it be five years since Anderson released his last film?
The wrap: That last film was “There Will Be Blood.” Anderson is allowed to take his time if he keeps delivering masterpieces.
‘Trouble with the Curve’
Opens: Sept. 21
The stars: Clint Eastwood, Amy Adams, Justin Timberlake, John Goodman
The plot: Eastwood is back on the big screen — thank goodness — as an Atlanta Braves coach who takes his daughter (Adams) on his last trip, where he meets his long-time rival (Timberlake).
The forecast: This year’s sports drama might get even more acclaim than “Moneyball.”
The wrap: Eastwood is always worth watching, though you can guess where this plot is heading from the other end of the field.
‘Looper’
Opens: Sept. 28
The stars: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, Emily Blunt, Jeff Daniels
The plot: A hit man faces his toughest job yet: kill the older version of himself.
The forecast: Gordon-Levitt plays a younger version of Willis, complete with heavy makeup. Time travel never looked so fun.
The wrap: Director Rian Johnson, who’s made fabulous films, finally steps into the big (budget) league.
‘Frankenweenie’
Opens: Oct. 5
The stars: The voices of Charlie Tahan, Martin Short, Catherine O’Hara, Winona Ryder
The plot: Tim Burton has turned his 1984 live-action short, about a boy whose dog dies but is brought back to life, into a feature-length animated film.
The forecast: The loving parody of Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” will be worth watching just to hear “SCTV” alums O’Hara and Short voice the boy’s parents.
The wrap: Nobody does stop-motion animation like the director of “The Nightmare Before Christmas.” This will be the first in the genre — and the first in black and white — to get a release in IMAX 3D.
Argo’
Opens: Oct. 12
The stars: Ben Affleck, Alan Arkin, John Goodman, Bryan Cranston
The plot: Do you need to know? Just look at that cast of great character actors.
The forecast: Okay, fine: Ben Affleck directs this film about how, during the 1979 Iran hostage crisis, Americans and Canadians fooled the Islamic Republic into thinking some U.S. embassy staff were members of a movie-making crew.
The wrap: This sounds a bit like “Charlie Wilson’s War”— but with more potential for political comedy.
‘Seven Psychopaths’
Opens: Oct. 12
The stars: Colin Farrell, Sam Rockwell, Christopher Walken, Woody Harrelson
The plot: If the title doesn’t tell you enough, I’ll add that it’s set in Los Angeles and stars Colin Farrell.
The forecast: The director of “In Bruges” ups the ante by loading his sophomore effort with even more crazy, nasty lowlifes.
The wrap: Irishman Martin McDonagh writes more plays than films. This rare cinematic outing is not to be missed.
‘Cloud Atlas’
Opens: Oct. 26
The stars: Tom Hanks, Hugh Grant, Jim Broadbent, Halle Berry
The plot: The ambitious novel of interconnectedness by David Mitchell, one of Britain’s best young writers, hits the big screen.
The forecast: Audiences will have fun with this one — the familiar stars each play multiple, and very different, roles in the genre-bending film.
The wrap: It’s the first gender-bending film from the Wachowskis — previously brothers, now brother and sister.
‘Anna Karenina’
Opens: November (exact date TBD)
The stars: Keira Knightley, Jude Law, Aaron Taylor-Johnson
The plot: We all know this story, even if we haven’t read Leo Tolstoy’s big novel: “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”
The forecast: “Atonement” and “Pride & Prejudice” director Joe Wright re-teams with the actress who made his previous films shine.
The wrap: Don’t expect a modern, lush production like, say, the famous “Doctor Zhivago.” The film cost just $30 million and is set mainly in a theater.
‘Flight’
Opens: Nov. 2
The stars: Denzel Washington, Don Cheadle, Melissa Leo, Bruce Greenwood, Kelly Reilly, John Goodman
The plot: Washington plays one of those hero pilots whose emergency landing saves his passengers and crew—but who looks like less of a hero when investigators discover he had alcohol in his system at the time.
The forecast: “Hero,” “thriller,” “Denzel Washington”: This should be a success.
The wrap: Is John Goodman in every movie this season? If he’s anything as fun as he was in last year’s “The Artist,” I don’t mind.
‘Skyfall’
Opens: Nov. 9
The stars: Daniel Craig, Judi Dench, Ralphi Fiennes, Javier Bardem, Naomie Harris, Berenice Marlohe
The plot: Daniel Craig returns as James Bond for the spy’s 23rd official outing.
