Get your fill of chills, thrills in fall movie lineup

Get ready — the fall movie season, which runs through Thanksgiving, is arriving with a vengeance. Note that release dates are tentative, and as changeable as a starlet's address book.

Eeeeeek!

Fall officially kicks off this year with an exorcism — Laura Linney and Tom Wilkinson star in "The Exorcism of Emily Rose" (Friday), about the trial of a priest accused of negligence in the death of a demon-possessed young girl. Let us hope there is no pea soup involved. Other horror films this fall attempt to slash out into new genres: "HellBent" (Sept. 16), for example, is a rare gay slasher film. "Wolf Creek" (Nov. 18) and "Cry_ Wolf" (Sept. 16) aren't really about wolves, but are, respectively, an Australian slasher and a high-school horror tale. Likewise, "Venom" (Sept. 16) seems to have more to do with mind games than with fangs.

"Saw II" (Oct. 28), undoubtedly replete with bloody fingers, is a sequel to last year's Halloween horror hit. "The Fog" (Oct. 14) remakes John Carpenter's 1980 ghosts-of-ancient-mariners tale, directed by Rupert Wainwright ("Stigmata"). "Doom" (Oct. 21), starring The Rock, takes the popular video-game series to the screen. "Three ... Extremes" (Oct. 28) unites three masters of Japanese horror (including Takashi Miike of — shudder — "Audition").

Other thrillers explore a more cerebral realm. Jodie Foster stars in "Flightplan" (Sept. 23) as a distraught mother whose child mysteriously disappears on a flight. "Stay" (Oct. 21), from Marc Forster ("Finding Neverland"), focuses on a psychiatrist (Ewan McGregor) and his suicidal patient (Ryan Gosling). Jennifer Aniston, fresh from her "Vanity Fair" cover, joins Clive Owen for "Derailed" (Oct. 21), about an affair gone terribly wrong. "Tim Burton's Corpse Bride" (Sept. 23), an animated thriller, mixes Goth-style animation with the voices of Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter and Emily Watson.

And a few films mix thrills and comedy. "The Ice Harvest" (Nov. 23), directed by Harold Ramis ("Groundhog Day"), involves a Christmas Eve crime spree, starring Billy Bob Thornton, John Cusack and Connie Nielsen. "The Matador" (Nov. 4), a hit at Sundance, stars Pierce Brosnan as a James Bond-ish hit man.

Mom, can I see it?

Kids fall in love (in a PG sort of way) in "Little Manhattan" (Oct. 14); hurtle through space in "Zathura" (Nov. 11); save their kingdom in an intricate fantasyland in "Mirrormask" (Oct. 7); nurture an ailing racehorse in "Dreamer: Inspired by a True Story" (Oct. 21); and face adolescence at a well-known wizarding academy in "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" (Nov. 18). (Word is that the new "Harry Potter" movie is maturing along with its cast; it's the first of the series to be rated PG-13.)

On the animated front, watch for the feature-film debut of that British bloke Wallace and his dog Gromit in "Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit" (Oct. 7), in which the pair investigates a case of garden sabotage. And the sky is falling but good, maybe, in Disney's "Chicken Little" (Nov. 4), featuring the voices of Zach Braff, Joan Cusack and Amy Sedaris.

From page to screen

Curtis Hanson, who did such a swell job with "L.A. Confidential" and "Wonder Boys," takes on chick lit with "In Her Shoes" (Oct. 7). Roman Polanski does Dickens with "Oliver Twist" (Sept. 30), featuring Sir Ben Kingsley as Fagin, and director Joe Wright tries to make everyone forget Colin-Firth-in-a-wet-shirt with his new version of "Pride and Prejudice" (Nov. 23). (Good luck, Joe.)

Julianne Moore stars as a resourceful mother in "The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio" (Oct. 14), based on Terry Ryan's memoir. Steve Martin wrote the screenplay for his own novel, "Shopgirl" (Oct. 28), to star himself and Claire Danes. Book-club favorite "Bee Season" (Nov. 11), by Myla Goldberg, comes to the screen starring Juliette Binoche and Richard Gere.

Elijah Wood, all hobbit-dom behind, stars in "Everything Is Illuminated" (Sept. 23), based on Jonathan Safran Foer's novel about a young man searching for the woman who saved his grandmother during World War II. From Belgium, Erik Van Looy's "The Memory of a Killer" (Friday), based on Jef Geeraerts' novel, is a thriller about a murderer with Alzheimer's disease. And Atom Egoyan's "Where the Truth Lies" (Oct. 21), adapted from Rupert Holmes' novel, explores a long-buried showbiz feud.

A kiss is still a kiss ...

Cameron Crowe, who immortalized Seattle in "Singles," turns to the small Kentucky town of "Elizabethtown" (Oct. 14), where a young man (Orlando Bloom) mourning his father finds love with a winsome flight attendant (Kirsten Dunst). Reese Witherspoon plays a saucy ghost haunting Mark Ruffalo in "Just Like Heaven" (Sept. 16), directed by Mark Waters ("Mean Girls"). Tom Wilkinson and Emily Watson play a troubled married couple in "Separate Lies" (Oct. 14), the directing debut of screenwriter Julian Fellowes ("Gosford Park"). Michael Showalter channels old-fashioned screwball romance in "The Baxter" (Sept. 16), and Diane Keaton, Sarah Jessica Parker, Claire Danes and Dermot Mulroney head an ensemble cast for "The Family Stone" (Nov. 4), a romantic comedy that pits one clan against another.

Reality shows

In the wake of the success of those penguins this summer, you'd think fall would be brim-full of documentaries. Instead, there are just a handful: "Reel Paradise" (Sept. 16), about a filmmaker's new life in Fiji; "Touch the Sound" (Oct. 14), a profile of nearly deaf percussionist Evelyn Glennie; and examinations of 20th-century ballet ("Ballets Russes," Nov. 18), anti-Semitism ("Protocols of Zion," November) and three-way relationships ("Three of Hearts," November).

Larger than life

Joaquin Phoenix dons the black to play the late singer Johnny Cash in "Walk the Line" (Nov. 18); Reese Witherspoon plays his wife, singer June Carter Cash. (And — unlike Jamie Foxx in "Ray" — both do their own singing.) David Strathairn plays journalist Edward R. Murrow in "Good Night, and Good Luck" (Oct. 14), directed by George Clooney. In Bennett Miller's "Capote" (Oct. 21), Philip Seymour Hoffman plays the Southern author of "In Cold Blood"; Catherine Keener is Harper Lee.

Fans of golf will want to check out Shia LaBeouf's portrayal of Francis Ouimet at the 1913 U.S. Open in "The Greatest Game Ever Played" (Sept. 30). And Keira Knightley plays real-life-model-turned-bounty-hunter Domino Harvey in "Domino" (Oct. 14).

Remakes, re-creations and reruns

Maybe you saw "Rent" (Nov. 23) on stage, but now you can see the Broadway musical on screen, with many original cast members on hand. (No, you can't sing along.) Likewise, "Proof" (Sept. 16), with Gwyneth Paltrow as a mathematician's daughter coping with her father's death, got its start as a stage play.

"The Legend of Zorro" (Oct. 28), one of the season's few sequels, reunites "Mask of Zorro" director Martin Campbell and stars Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones. "Serenity" (Sept. 30), written and directed by Joss Whedon (of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"), is based on the television series "Firefly." And "Yours, Mine and Ours" (Nov. 23) is a remake of the 1968 Henry Fonda/Lucille Ball comedy, about a very large blended family.

Put down that gun

Nicolas Cage turns arms dealer in Andrew Niccol's "Lord of War" (Sept. 16), also starring Ethan Hawke and Donald Sutherland. Robert Downey Jr. becomes an unexpected private eye in the thriller/comedy/noir "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" (Oct. 28). And David Cronenberg's "A History of Violence" (Sept. 23) shows us a man (Viggo Mortensen) turned accidental murderer.

In 80 days?

You can tour the world from the art houses this fall, which brings the much-anticipated debut of this year's top award-winner at the Seattle International Film Festival: Luis Mandoki's "Innocent Voices" (Oct. 14), set in 1980s El Salvador. "A State of Mind" (Sept. 23), a profile of two young gymnasts, offers a rare look at society in North Korea. "Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress" (Sept. 23) is a drama set in a Chinese mining village during the cultural revolution.

"Tony Takitani" (Nov. 4), a favorite at SIFF, depicts the courtship of a lonely artist in contemporary Japan. "Paradise Now" (Nov. 4) focuses on suicide bombers in Tel Aviv. The crime comedy "El Crimen Perfecto" (Sept. 9), from Spain, is a revenge tale set in a discount department store. And "The World" (Sept. 9), set in a Beijing theme park, lets its characters travel the world without ever leaving home.

Make 'em laugh

So, does the pairing of Samuel L. Jackson and Eugene Levy sound irresistible or what? Check them out in the crime comedy "The Man" (Friday). Paul Reiser, of "Mad About You," scripted and stars in "The Thing About My Folks" (Sept. 30), about a family man coming to terms with his father. "Waiting ... " (Oct. 28) stars former Seattleite Anna Faris as one of a group of young servers at a chain restaurant. And it's been a while since a decent roller-skating movie has hit screens, so "Roll Bounce" (Sept. 23) will attempt to fill that comedic void.

First the Oscar, then what?

Surely Jamie Foxx had better things to do, after winning his "Ray" Oscar, than "Stealth," right? Let's hope "Jarhead" (Nov. 4), based on the book by former Marine Anthony Swofford, will be a worthier project. Charlize Theron, still fresh from her "Monster" Oscar, stars in "North Country" (Oct. 14), as a miner who files one of the first major sexual-harassment cases in the country. Niki Caro ("Whale Rider") directs. Morgan Freeman, a winner this year for "Million Dollar Baby," joins Robert Redford for the drama "An Unfinished Life" (Friday).

And, though their Oscars were less recent, attention should be paid to any new movie featuring Meryl Streep ("Prime," Oct. 28), Al Pacino ("Two for the Money," Oct. 7), Nicolas Cage ("The Weather Man," Oct. 28), and Sissy Spacek and Holly Hunter ("Nine Lives," Oct. 28).

In a class by themselves

Alas, there is only one movie coming out this fall in which Keanu Reeves plays an orthodontist: "Thumbsucker" (Sept. 23), a favorite at Sundance, about a teenager (Lou Taylor Pucci) addicted to sucking his thumb. And the pairing of Irish filmmaker Jim Sheridan ("In America," "My Left Foot") and rap artist 50 Cent, for the rags-to-riches tale of a rapping drug dealer ("Get Rich or Die Tryin'," Nov. 9), sounds so crazy it just might work.

Enjoy the season.

Moira Macdonald: 206-464-2725 or mmacdonald@seattletimes.com