By Zachary Herrmann and

Dan Benamor

Senior staff writers

Why so serious? The blockbuster explosions may have subsided, but there are plenty of dark nights left. It’s hard to imagine this year’s fall movie calendar besting 2007’s, but a quick glance ahead reveals some tough competition. Drugs, espionage, murder, post-apocalyptic devastation – and that’s all just in W.

Cut the lights and pop some popcorn; here are your coming attractions. (Note: All release dates are tentative and subject to change.)

Burn After Reading

Opens Sept. 12

Don’t worry; you’ll get your fill of weepy, sweeping literary epics soon enough. But beating the Oscar panderers to the punch, the Coen Brothers come out guns blazing with Burn After Reading, their follow-up to last year’s Best Picture winner, No Country for Old Men. The plot involves the CIA, gym employees and marital infidelity – all the makings of another delightfully ludicrous Coen feature. Packed with familiar faces (George Clooney, Frances McDormand, Richard Jenkins) and a few Coen newcomers (Brad Pitt, John Malkovich, Tilda Swinton), Burn looks to be a return to the absurd comic-noir of Fargo and Raising Arizona. – Z.H.

Righteous Kill

Opens Sept. 12

When Righteous Kill was announced back in May 2007, it seemed like it couldn’t miss. The film stars Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, is penned by hot new writer Russell Gewirtz (Inside Man) and is directed by … Jon Avnet (88 Minutes)? The director handling the re-teaming of two of the greatest actors alive is the same man who directed Pacino in arguably his worst film (88 Minutes), with visuals packing the subtlety and nuance of a punch in the nose. Still, Avnet aside, Righteous Kill has too much going for it to totally stink (hopefully). – D.B.

Miracle at St. Anna

Opens Sept. 26

Going off of trailers and what we know on paper, Spike Lee’s Miracle at St. Anna could very well be the critical pony to bet on this season. Based on the James McBride novel of the same name (he also wrote the screenplay), the World War II film follows an all-black company as the soldiers get caught in a Tuscan village in Italy. Stuck between the Germans and the racist, mismanaged American military, the men become entrenched in the lives of the Italian people. Mystery and magic realism take hold as Lee breaks the traditional war movie mold. This one could be special. – Z.H.

Eagle Eye

Opens Sept. 26

Can Shia LaBeouf transition from boyish jokester to leading man? Eagle Eye represents the first test for the new (bearded!) LaBeouf. The young actor is courting overexposure as it is (www.BustedTees.com carries an “Enough LaBeouf!” T-shirt), and the irritating Fonzie-like role given to him in the latest Indiana Jones film did little to help matters. All this said, the film’s premise of innocent people being turned into terrorist pawns via threatening phone calls is intriguing. Another positive is LaBeouf’s reunion with Disturbia helmer D.J. Caruso, a successful pairing the last time around. But have fans had enough LaBeouf? Only time (specifically the weekend of Sept. 26) will tell. – D.B.

W.

Opens Oct. 17

Oliver Stone making a President Bush biopic: The phrase already suggests a predetermined kind of movie. Initially, it seemed Stone had made an effort to not indulge in Bush-bashing, quoted in Entertainment Weekly as saying, the film is a “fair, true portrait of the man.” But judging by the first trailer, Stone isn’t afraid to poke some fun, using “What a Wonderful World” as the ironic soundtrack to portray Bush and his staff in some irreverent tones. Stone has said he didn’t want to make a movie like Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11, but expect the same crowd to show up for W. – D.B.

Changeling

Opens Oct. 31

Coming off a respectable showing at Cannes, Clint Eastwood’s Changeling – a true story of police corruption and horrifying murder in 1920s Los Angeles – should make plenty of noise when it’s time to hand out the golden statues. Angelina Jolie’s distressed mother role shoulders the brunt of the screen time as she waits for her missing son to return home. Though less immediate and resonant than Mystic River, Changeling is a powerful drama and a worthy throwback to the classic American films Eastwood so clearly idolizes. – Z.H.

Synecdoche, New York

Opens Oct. 2008

With no definitive release date pinned down yet, Charlie Kaufman’s directorial debut, Synecdoche, New York, should be blowing minds in a theater near you toward the end of the season (www.imdb.com cites a limited release next month). Equal parts Woody Allen and Philip K. Dick, Kaufman’s latest boasts one of Philip Seymour Hoffman’s finest performances to date in a heady meditation on death, art and relationships. If you thought Adaptation and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind were noodle-scratchers, just wait to see what Kaufman has in store. – Z.H.

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