Putting Down the Dog Days of Summer

As sad as I will be to see the beautiful, lackadaisical days of summer pass, it is with bright eyes that I bid farewell to Hollywood’s summer fare, and welcome to a new season of finer films.

Summer was largely a disappointment in theaters, per usual. Only Little Miss Sunshine inspired, as one of the most endearing, quirky, darkly comedic perfections in recent memory.

The Illusionist, which goes into wide release tomorrow, is not bad – it’s shot beautifully, keeps you in deep suspense, and Paul Giamatti delivers a fantastic performance (which makes up for Edward Norton’s okay-but-nothing-to-write-home-about effort, and Jessica Biel’s I-might-as-well-be-an-attractive-wax-statue bit). Still, I can’t help but think of this piece as a tantalizing precursor to the previously mentioned The Prestige, a potential masterpiece if a film is to be judged by its trailer.

Brian de Palma’s telling of the mystifying Black Dahlia tale looks great, as well. His breathtaking camera moves and Hansel & Gretel expository style will no doubt benefit from the bloody material (which he oh so loves), and the cast is tops: Hartnett, Johansson, Swank.

Speaking of classically violent directors, Scorsese is back with The Departed, another chapter in his lifelong mob series - this time cast in Irish, with a bunch of cops thrown in. He hasn’t made a great film in a while, but this slate of acting giants can’t hurt: Nicholson, DiCaprio, Damon, Wahlberg, Alec Baldwin and Martin Sheen star.

Wahlberg, of course, is front and center in The Invincible, a true-life, average-Joe-comes-from-behind-and-conquers-all feel good story. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the rapper-turned-actor-turned-executive producer in a bad film, so I don’t see how he can miss with this formulaic cinch piece.

The Transporter, Jason Stratharm, is back with more brain-numbing, guilty pleasure action junk in Crank, this time co-starring extremely doable Amy Smart.

Zach Braff returns with another round of Gen-Y-boy’s-in-love-but-is-scared-and-doesn’t-know-what-to-do-about-it. In The Last Kiss, he scores with not one, but two super cute co-stars. Seems he again nailed down a great indie-pop soundtrack, too.

Jude Law and Sean Penn co-star in a retelling of the classic political novel, All the King’s Men. I picked up this book just a month ago and tried yet again to get into it – seems that will no longer be necessary now that two of my favorite actors will be tackling the material in my place.

Jet Li features in what is billed as his swan song, Fearless – he is rumored to have retired and become a monk. Seriously. Hopefully, the tale is false and the the whisperings of his collaborating in a new film opposite Jackie Chan are legit.

Finally, those who have caught early preview showings of Sacha Baron Cohen’s Borat movie - entitled Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan - are heralding it as one of the funniest films in ages. I don’t doubt it, given Kazakhstan’s real-life outcry at its content.

The list goes on and on, but those are the highlights for the next couple of months. Good thing I like popcorn.