SALT LAKE CITY — The summer movie season has had its high points. Films such as "Toy Story 3" and "Inception" were critical and commercial hits.
Of course, we also had to suffer through the likes of "The Last Airbender" and "Vampires Suck" during that same time period.
And unfortunately, the next batch of expected blockbusters, including November's "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," are still months away.
Until then, we'll have to content ourselves with fall movies releases.
To be fair, there are some expected Oscar contenders in this batch. "Slumdog Millionaire" filmmaker Danny Boyle returns with "127 Hours," a dramatic adventure/thriller based on real-life experiences of climber/adventurer Aron Ralston. (James Franco plays Ralston in the movie, which was shot on location in Utah.)
And "The Town" — which was directed by and stars Ben Affleck — is getting early awards talk.
Other fall releases appear to be heavy on:
3-D
Johnny Knoxville and company try to out-do each other's dangerous stunts in "Jack--- 3-D." And serial killer Jigsaw returns to puzzle more victims in "Saw 3-D."
"Alpha and Omega," "Legend of the Guardians: Owls of the Ga'Hoole" and "Megamind" feature heroic wolves, birds and ... well, heroes ... respectively.
"Resident Evil: Afterlife" and "Paranormal Activity 2" are sequels to earlier hits, and "Let Me In" is a remake.
"Devil," "Monsters" and "My Soul to Take" are all hoping to be more original. And scary.
"Going the Distance," while Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel experience "Life As We Know It" as foster parents.
More than 50 movies are scheduled to open between now and the middle of November.
Here is a listing of fall 2010 film releases, though these dates are subject to change:
SEPT. 10
ANIMAL KINGDOM – Crime thriller from Britain, told from the perspective of a teen caught up in the violence.
LEGENDARY –High school wrestling drama, starring Patricia Clarkson and WWE wrestler John Cena.
RESIDENT EVIL: AFTERLIFE – Milla Jovovich reprises her role as a zombie killer in the fourth movie in the popular horror series.
SEPT. 17
ALPHA AND OMEGA – Animated feature starring Hayden Panettiere and Justin Long as the voices of relocated wolves.
EASY A – High school comedy, loosely based on "The Scarlet Letter," starring Emma Stone.
DEVIL – M. Night Shyamalan produced this horror-thriller about office workers who may be trapped in an elevator with a demonic presence.
SOUL KITCHEN – Comedy about a chef who hires a controversial new cook for his restaurant. German with subtitles.
THE TILLMAN STORY – Documentary feature about late NFL player and U.S. Army soldier Pat Tillman.
THE TOWN – Crime drama starring Ben Affleck as a bank robbery who falls for one of his hostages (Rebecca Hall).
SEPT. 24
LEGEND OF THE GUARDIANS: OWLS OF THE GA'HOOLE – Animated fantasy based on Kathryn Lasky's best-selling series of kids books.
THE VIRGINITY HIT – Sex comedy looking at an unpopular teen's attempts to woo women.
WALL STREET: MONEY NEVER SLEEPS – The sequel to the 1987 hit features Shia LaBeouf and Michael Douglas, who reprises his role as Gordon Gekko.
WAITING FOR SUPERMAN – Davis Guggenheim's documentary feature looks at the American education system.
YOU AGAIN? – Kristen Bell feuds with her brother's bride-to-be, a high school nemesis, in this comedy.
OCT. 1
CASE 39 – Horror-thriller starring Renee Zellweger as a social worker dealing with a possible supernatural presence.
HEARTBREAKER – Comedy about a brother-sister duo that specializes in breaking up couples. French with subtitles.
LEBANON – Thriller about the first Lebanon war, in 1982. Arabic with subtitles.
LET ME IN – Remake of the Swedish horror hit, starring Chloe Moretz as a young vampire.
THE SOCIAL NETWORK – Jesse Eisenberg and Andrew Garfield play the founders of Facebook in this drama.
OCT. 8
BURIED – Thriller starring Ryan Reynolds as a man who awakens to discover he's been buried alive.
IT'S KIND OF A FUNNY STORY – Comedy-drama about a troubled teen who institutionalizes himself. Zach Galifianakis stars.
JACK GOES BOATING – Comedy-drama based on the off-Broadway play, and starring Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Ryan.
LIFE AS WE KNOW IT – Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel play reluctant foster parents in this comedy.
MY SOUL TO TAKE – Wes Craven wrote and directed this horror tale about a serial killer.
SECRETARIAT – Drama based on the real-life story of the Triple Crown winning colt. Diane Lane stars.
STONE – Thriller starring Edward Norton as a convicted arsonist trying to win his freedom by any means necessary. Robert DeNiro co-stars.
A WOMAN, A GUN, A NOODLE SHOP – Zhang Yimou's latest is a thriller about a restaurant owner planning to murder his wife. Chinese with subtitles.
OCT. 15
THE CONCERT – The French hit comedy goes behind the scenes of an orchestral performance. French with subtitles.
JACK--- 3-D – The third movie spun off from the MTV series, featuring more pranks and stunts by Johnny Knoxville and company.
NEVER LET ME GO – Futuristic drama based on the novel, and starring Kiera Knightley and Andrew Garfield.
RED – Revenge-thriller based on the comics miniseries, and starring Bruce Willis as a retired black-ops agent.
OCT. 22
ENTER THE VOID –The already divisive thriller follows a dead man who watches over his younger sister.
HEREAFTER – Clint Eastwood's latest is a supernatural thriller starring Matt Damon and Bryce Dallas Howard.
SAW 3-D – The seventh installment in the successful, "torture-porn" movie series.
OCT. 29
CONVICTION – Drama starring Hilary Swank as Betty Anne Waters, who became a lawyer in an attempt to free her imprisoned brother.
PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 2 – The follow-up to last year's surprising horror hit, about a home invaded by supernatural forces.
NOV. 5
127 HOURS – James Franco plays climber Aron Ralston in this dramatic thriller about his harrowing experiences.
DUE DATE – Road comedy starring Robert Downey Jr. and Zach Galifianakis as reluctant travel companions.
FAIR GAME – Director Doug Liman's Iraq War thriller starring Naomi Watts as CIA operative Valerie Plame.
MEGAMIND – Animated comedy starring the voices of Will Ferrell and Brad Pitt as, respectively, a supervillain and his longtime nemesis.
NOV. 12
MORNING GLORY – Comedy starring Rachel McAdams as a harried television news producer. Harrison Ford and Diane Keaton co-star.
SKYLINE – Science-fiction thriller about an alien invasion, starring Eric Balfour and Donald Faison.
UNSTOPPABLE – Thriller starring Denzel Washington as a man trying to halt a runaway train from destroying a city.
OPENING SOON
(but without release dates)
CATFISH – Quasi-documentary looking at a relationship that developed via "social networking."
THE COMPANY MEN – Drama starring Ben Affleck, Chris Cooper and Tommy Lee Jones as recently laid-off businessmen.
FREAKANOMICS – Documentary "anthology" based on the best-selling book, and featuring contributions from Alex Gibney, Morgan Spurlock and others.
I'M STILL HERE – Casey Affleck's documentary examines actor Joaquin Phoenix's attempts to become a rapper.
MONSTERS – Like last year's "District 9," this independently produced science-fiction/thriller concerns illegal extraterrestrials.
NOWHERE BOY – Aaron Johnson plays John Lennon in this drama about his pre-Beatles life.
THE WINNING SEASON – Sports drama starring Sam Rockwell as a girls basketball coach.
YOU WILL MEET A TALL DARK STRANGER – Woody Allen's latest involves several squabbling married couples. Anthony Hopkins and Naomi Watts star.
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