OH MY GOD!!!!  There are so many movies of note (or major studio release) this fall that it looks like summer on steroids.  Once again, the center of attention will be last year’s dynamic duo of $300 million-plus titans Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings, separated by a month and change and sure to each gross well over $200 million, even if there is sophomore fatigue.  Are there any other $200 million movies out there, waiting to happen?  It doesn’t seem likely.  Catch Me If You Can, with Spielberg, Hanks and DiCaprio could become a magic show, but that’s the only serious candidate I see.  But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t a bunch of $100 million movies waiting to happen, with 94 high-profile titles due between August 21 (the summer now ends before the summer ends) and New Year’s Eve. 

I have to admit, I feel a little overwhelmed with the size of this list.  I know about 85 percent of these titles fairly well, but there is at least 15 percent that are somewhat beyond my reach, so far as a legitimate opinion.  And 99 percent of people who aren’t Greg Dean Schmitz would have to admit the same, if they wanted to be honest.

Nonetheless, here we go… first we’ll go month-by-month and then studio-by-studio.

For me the summer ends with a defining summer movie, Blue Crush, and a defining "is it over yet?" movie, Pluto Nash… both on the 16th. Hey, if the summer can start with Universal two weeks early with The Scorpion King in April, they can close the door early in August.

One Hour Photo may be a masterpiece… more to come on that.  Otherwise, plan on catching up with the summer films you missed or some good DVDs.

I wish I could tell you to be hopeful for Walter Hill’s Undisputed.  I was one the biggest Walter Hill fan on any block.  The guy was one of the first great visualists who could also bring sharp characters to life.  And then, he got more and more precious, until his work became unwatchable.  I pray that I’m wrong on this – and that Miramax is wrong in sticking this film in such a dog of a slot.  I would like nothing better than a good Hill movie.  Of the other two films, all I can say is “Matthew Perry” and “an Al Pacino comedy.”  If Pacino really wants to do comedy and wants to be laughed with instead of at, he needs to work with The Farrelly Bros.  THAT, I would pay to see!

First, we get the first film from the Wassup guy, the second acting-God car wreck in three weekends (this one has been in the can for over a year) and a thriller whose trailer has inspired more negative mail to this columnist than any I can remember in the last five years.

Next, it’s Tom Green’s follow-up to Freddy Got Fingered (cruel, but funny), an urban (yes, that means black) comedy that relies on Cedric The Entertainer to draw some white folks in and a potential sleeper whose only selling point is Luc Besson as a producer… but who knows?  Maybe it’ll be a delightful surprise.

Two epics arrive in weekend three, with Shekhar Kapur’s follow-up to Elizabeth (it’s about time) and Miyazaki’s second shot at America in Spirited Away.  There’s little reason to believe that Spirited Away will draw a bigger crowd than Princess Mononoke, but there’s always hoping.  And Paramount has a tough sell on Four Feathers, with three young stars – also fine actors - whose box office power is still a question mark.  The only other major studio picture is Trapped, a Luis Mandoki thriller that will be sold on the quiet-lately Charlize Theron and a villainous Kevin Bacon. 

The three arthouse films offer lots of potential.  New Werner Herzog, a dramedy with Susan Sarandon and Goldie Hawn, and some heavy indie heat around Maggie Gyllenhaal, star of Secretary.

The big dogs get to barking in the final week of the month and to tell you the truth, it's a little too much of a good thing for my preferences. Disney and DreamWorks are going head-to-head again, probably to the detriment of both studios, with Jackie Chan in The Tuxedo and Reese Witherspoon in Sweet Home Alabama. Yes, The Tuxedo is being aimed at kids primarily and Sweet Home Alabama is a romantic comedy. But The Tuxedo also features teen dream Jennifer Love Hewitt and, since Legally Blonde, Witherspoon is also a teen icon. Meanwhile, UA and WB go head-to-head with star-power-light actioners with WB's film leaning towards the silly and UA's, which will likely have the fewest screens of the group, leaning towards James Ellroy. Finally, Moonlight Mile arrives on the coasts before going wide a weekend later. I want to see all five films. But I will have the advantage of various screening opportunities and the freedom of not spending $45 on tickets alone in one weekend.

It could be the best of months… it could be the worst of months. The October 11 gang bang is already being broken up, with The Tuxedo, originally slotted in, heading to September.

There is still a lot of a lot of kids stuff, starting with the chatty vegetables from Artisan (Tag line - "This is not your parents' Reversal of Fortune!!!") and sandwiching the most-promising-kids-film-of-the-month Tuck Everlasting before sticking one more Pokemon movie down our throats. (Just for the record, Madison is good for the kids, Jackass is not and Knockaround Guys is just infantile.)  

And October isn't mealy-mouthed about offering adult movies that really are NOT for kids, like The Rules of Attraction, Roger Dodger and The Grey Zone.

The big movie of the month should be Red Dragon, the likely last dip into the Hannibal Lechter pool of blood. Gore Verbinski's adaptation of the Japanese classic, The Ring, has got the geeks abuzz. For indie geeks, there is new Tom Tykwer. And for fans of Hogan Heroes (an many others, I suspect), Sony Classics is delivering Greg Kinnear as Bob Crane in Auto Focus.

For the boys, the oddest thing about October is that we'll get to see Madonna naked, but not much sensuality from Salma Hayek, Mira Sorvino or Naomi Watts. For the ladies, there is a new weepie with Michelle Pfeiffer (White Oleander) and what I hope will be a terrific look at Frida Kahlo (Julie Taymor's Frida).

The wildcard is The Truth About Charlie, Jon Demme’s first outing since Beloved.  Demme has taken his time in crafting this one and one can only hope that he’s on top of his game with the very different take on Stanley Donen's Charade.  Ironically, he bookends the month with Red Dragon… a movie that would never have happened if it weren’t for Demme’s masterful work on Silence of the Lambs.