The LOVEFiLM Autumn Preview 2007

After that long, mildly hot and often ridiculously damp summer, the next couple of months promise a return to normal conditions - cold and wet - but at least we're going to see more varied fare at the multiplex.

October brings us The London Film Festival (Oct 17-Nov 1), headed up by David Cronenberg's gangster thriller, Eastern Promises. This is also the period when distributors trust discerning audiences to come out for quality dramas, and the Hollywood studios begin to unveil their Academy Award aspirants.

Judging by what we've seen from the early autumn festivals at Venice and Toronto, America is not feeling great about itself right now - which makes for some heavy-duty drama and soul-searching cinema on the horizon. But what's refreshing about the Autumn line-up is that it isn't dominated by any one kind of film or catered to just one demographic. Whether it's a comedy about a rat in the kitchen, a musical about a vacuum salesman-busker, or a computer regenerated Ray Winstone battling it out with Angelina Jolie, there really is something for everyone this season.

Tom Charity
tom.charity@lovefilm.com

TOP 10 AUTUMN PREVIEW

1. American Gangster

Release date: November 16

Ridley Scott directs Russell Crowe for the third time in a true-life gangster story that has all the makings of a classic. Crowe is Detective Richie Roberts, waging war on Harlem drug dealer Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington), who undercut the mafia on heroin imports from Vietnam and became a very wealthy man. Steve Zaillian wrote the screenplay, and the supporting cast includes RZA, Josh Brolin, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and - get this - Cuba Gooding Jr.

2. Ratatouille

Release date: October 12

The latest from Pixar and Incredibles director Brad Bird is one for the connoisseurs. Remy is a provincial French rat who believes there must be more to good food than garbage. Separated from his family, he winds up in Paris, and soon strikes up an unusual partnership with hopeless trainee chef Linguini. This one skews a little older than most Pixar movies, but the animation is superb and the script is witty and sophisticated. A real treat.

3. Into the Wild

Release date: November 9

Another true story. In 1990 Christopher McCandless (Emile Hirsch) gave away his worldly possessions and began tramping across the US, a journey that would culminate in a solo expedition into the Alaskan wilderness. In his fourth and best film to date, Sean Penn has made an eco road movie, a film about the pull to get back in touch with nature and reject materialism that is also a kind of cautionary tale. Catherine Keener, Vince Vaughn and Hal Holbrook co-star.

4. Once

Release date: October 19

Glen Hansard, from the Irish rock band The Frames (and once upon a time The Commitments) plays a Dublin busker/vacuum repairman who is befriended by an insistent Eastern European immigrant (Marketa Irglova). She encourages him to record a demo. He gets her playing the piano again. As the cliché has it, they make beautiful music together. This simple, poignant story breathes new life into the musical.

5. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

Release date: November 30

The first American movie by Chopper director Andrew Dominick is another portrait of a charismatic celebrity psychopath - this time played by Brad Pitt. But Casey Affleck is the unsung hero here, essaying Ford as a starstruck juvenile who resolves to kill the thing he loves. Sombre and melancholic, even languid, this is the most ambitious Western we've seen in a long time.

6. Son of Rambow

Release date: October 12

Set in the early 80s, this delightful comedy applies modest cinematic means to create a hyperreal slapstick world as perceived by ten-year-old Will. His sheltered life in the Plymouth Brethren is rocked by exposure to Lee Carter, a Just William type who not only shows him his first ever film (First Blood), but soon has him signed up as stunt man/star of his own epic home movie. A winner from UK video whizzkids Hammer & Tongs.

7.Stardust

Release date: October 19

One of two Neil Gaiman adaptations out in less than a month (see Beowulf, below), this light hearted fantasy got shortshrift in the US earlier this summer, but I expect it will find a more receptive audience here, if only because we're more attuned to the Python-esque humour. Claire Danes is the star (in more ways than one) but Robert De Niro and Michelle Pfeiffer grab the lions' share of the laughs as a sky pirate and an ancient old hag, respectively.

8. Elizabeth: The Golden Age

Release date: November 2

Cate Blanchett returns to the role that earned her an Oscar nomination in 1998 (and which won Helen Mirren an Emmy last year). Now facing down threats from Mary, Queen of Scots (Samantha Morton) and the King of Spain, Elizabeth also finds time to flirt with the gallant Sir Walter Raleigh (Clive Owen). Expect stormy weather ahead…

9. Beowulf

Release date: November 16

Neil Gaiman and Roger 'Pulp Fiction' Avary are credited screenwriters on this ambitious CGI rendering of the epic Olde English poem. A new, improved Ray Winstone aims to out-muscle 300, while the supporting cast includes Angelina Jolie, Anthony Hopkins, John Malkovich and Crispin Glover. Robert Zemeckis directs, hopefully having learned a thing or two from The Polar Express. Apparently 3-D IMAX is his preferred platform, but rumours that it will also come with an adult rating are yet to be confirmed.

10. Lions for Lambs

Release date: November 9

Robert Redford directs and stars in this contemporary drama that puts America's ethical interventionist foreign policy under the spotlight. Given that his co-stars are Tom Cruise and Meryl Streep, it's fair to say that expectations are high for this one. The screenplay is by Matt Carnahan, brother of Narc director Joe Carnahan, whose original screenplay The Kingdom is also released this autumn.