First flickers of fall

It’s been something of a test, hasn’t it? In the past few weeks, we’ve been knocked around by “The Man,” exorcised by “Emily,” dropped into “The Cave,” and taken it on the chin by “The Brothers Grimm.” We’ve even had to endure the Simpson sisters making their feature film debuts, which goes beyond cruel and unusual. It’s been enough for some to scream, “Make it stop!”

And so it stops.

The fall 2005 movie season is under way, and the good news is that after a so-so summer in which Hollywood suffered steadily declining revenues due to a slew of undesirable films, there are flickers of promise on the horizon, with studios now set to unleash more than 140 new movies in theaters over the next several months. It’s a nice balance, but if you think the popcorn powerhouses are out of the way now that fall is upon us, forget it.

A good deal of those films being released will offer the sort of nostalgic ring that keeps box office registers ringing, such as “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” on Nov. 18, “The Legend of Zorro” with Catherine Zeta-Jones and Antonio Banderas on Oct. 28, Peter Jackson’s “King Kong” on Dec. 14, Mel Brooks’ “The Producers” on Dec. 21, and the new Jim Carrey comedy, “Fun with Dick and Jane,” also on Dec. 21.

Meanwhile, several smaller films will add necessary weight to the lingering effects of summer’s hot air, particularly the documentaries “Protocols of Zion” on Oct. 21 and “New York Doll” on Oct. 28.

In the end, it shakes out to be one of the better fall lineups in recent memory, particularly in the wake of last week’s fine releases of “Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride,” a fun, animated horror-comedy with the voices of Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter, and the new Jodie Foster movie, “Flightplan,” a thriller in which Foster’s daughter goes missing on a transatlantic flight.

Opening tonight are “Into the Blue,” a buried-treasure thriller that stars Paul Walker’s abs; the sci-fi shoot-’em-up “Serenity,” in which nothing in outer space proves even remotely serene; and the new David Cronenberg thriller “A History of Violence,” with Viggo Mortensen in the lead.

Also opening tonight in limited release are “The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio,” which features Julianne Moore as a determined 1950s housewife who goes to surprising lengths to feed her 10 kids; the latest rendition of “Oliver Twist,” with Roman Polanski directing young Barney Clark in the lead; and Philip Seymour Hoffman in the title role of “Capote,” a biopic based on Truman Capote’s life during the zenith of his career – the era in which he wrote his defining classic, “In Cold Blood.”

More blood spills in October, where audiences can expect a rash of horror movies, including Rupert Wainwright’s remake of John Carpenter’s “The Fog” (Oct. 14); Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson blasting the hell out of everything in “Doom” (Oct. 21); and Darren Bousman’s “Saw II” (Oct. 28), which has been busy generating something of a stink as of late.

In the film’s original advertising campaign, the “II” in the title was sweetly depicted as two severed fingers, each of which were stacked in pools of congealed blood next to the word, “Saw.” The Motion Picture Association of America decided it was having none of that, and so they nixed the blood in the ad, thus giving the producers of “Saw II” a finger of their own.

Speaking of horror, Nicolas Cage shows up in a fright wig in “The Weather Man” (Oct. 28), a comedy-drama that offers Cage the very sort of quirky character role at which he excels. The movie is from Gore Verbinski, director of “The Pirates of the Caribbean,” so there’s every indication that it will be an improvement over Cage’s recent movie, “Lord of War.”

Cooling things down in October are “Dreamer” (Oct. 21), a little-horse-that-could drama that stars Dakota Fanning and Kurt Russell , and the new Cameron Crowe movie, “Elizabethtown” (Oct. 14), an injured-soul-who-can’t drama that finds Orlando Bloom fighting to find himself after his father’s death.

Clicking their heels in October are “Shop Girl” (Oct. 21), from Steve Martin’s novel, with Martin co-starring with Claire Danes in a May-December romance not without its problems; Cameron Diaz and Toni Collette in Curtis Hanson’s “In Her Shoes” (Oct. 7), a dramedy about a tense relationship between two competing sisters; and Meryl Streep and Uma Thurman in “Prime” (Oct. 28), a movie that promises to find each actress on a tear as they fight for the affection of one man.

Stuffing November’s bird are Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon in the Johnny Cash biopic, “Walk the Line” (Nov. 18); Natalie Portman and Hugo Weaving in the big-government sci-fi thriller, “V for Vendetta” (Nov. 4); George Clooney and Matt Damon in the middle eastern thriller, “Syriana” (Nov. 23); and Jake Gyllenhaal and Jamie Foxx, also in the Mid-East, in the war film, “Jarhead” (Nov. 4).

Those seeking a reprieve from the bloodshed will find just that in the latest movie version of Jane Austen’s “Pride & Prejudice” (Nov. 18); the potentially pretentious musical, “Rent,” whose trailer already is generating its share of snorts and giggles; and Sarah Jessica Parker opposite Diane Keaton in the promising comedy, “Family Stone” (Nov. 4).

Finally, for good children who behaved over the summer, they’ll find a few early gifts under the box office tree, particularly with the aforementioned “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” (Nov. 18); the computer-animated “Chicken Little” (Nov. 4); and “The Wallace & Gromit Movie: Curse of the Were-rabbit,” which sends up B-movie horror classics on Oct. 7.

Visit WeekinRewind.com, the new archive of Bangor Daily News film critic Christopher Smith’s reviews, which appear Mondays in Discovering, Fridays in Happening, and Weekends in Television. He may be reached at Christopher@weekinrewind.com.