Foxx, Downey Jr. have fall’s Oscar bait

Fall dramas mean one thing: Oscar bait. Remember those performances Ben Stiller pokes fun at in “Tropic Thunder”? Well, this category is packed full of them. A schizophrenic (Jamie Foxx), former addict (Anne Hathaway), depressive playwright (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and a duchess (Keira Knightley) will all do their best to join that Academy Award starting lineup. Add to that a group of World War II soldiers (in a Spike Lee film) and a woman (Julianne Moore) surrounded by blind people and you have some serious Oscar contenders.

“The Soloist”

DreamWorks

Starring: Jamie Foxx, Robert Downey Jr., Rachael Harris
Director: Joe Wright
Story: Nathaniel Ayers (Foxx) was a schizophrenic living in the Skid Row section of Los Angeles when he met L.A. Times reporter Steve Lopez (Downey), who realized that Ayers was a skilled classical musician, who could play both violin and cello. Film is based on Lopez’s book.
One to watch? If it looks like Oscar bait…  Downey told the L.A. Times that when he read the script, “It felt smart. It wasn't your typical preachy, highbrow drama. In fact, you came to believe it was really a love story between these two guys.” The big question mark here is Foxx — he’s done some amazing work (specifically his Oscar-winning turn in “Ray”), but can he develop the character of Ayers beyond a movie-of-the-week stereotype of schizophrenia. It almost seems as if not for skin color, Downey could have played Ayers and Foxx could have been Lopez. Director Wright (“Atonement”) used real people from Skid Row as extras in the film.
Web site:  NA
Release date:  Nov. 21

“Blindness”

Video   ‘Blindness’: Sept. 26 Julianne Moore stars in this thriller about an epidemic of blindness that sweeps through a modern city.

Starring: Mark Ruffalo, Julianne Moore, Gael Garcia Bernal, Sandra Oh, Danny Glover
Director: Fernando Meirelles
Story: An unnamed city is suddenly ravaged with a wave of blindness. The government decides to quarantine affected citizens, but as the blindness continues to spread, the captives are forced to fend for and fight amongst themselves. Moore stars as a woman whose husband (Ruffalo) is blind, but who hasn’t caught the disease herself.
One to watch? Maybe. The book, by Nobel prize-winning author Jose Saramago, is fantastic, but might have lost something in its cinematic translation. The response for the film at Cannes was a bit underwhelming. The Telegraph U.K.’s Sukhdev Sandhu wrote that the film in “trying so hard to be faithful to the novel, it falls prey to tone-deafness.” And Times Online writer Wendy Ide went further, writing “‘Blindness’ is the most miserable opening to an international festival I’ve ever seen.” It’s a shame because director Meirelles (“Constant Gardener,” “City of God”) is one of the most talented helmers around.
Web site:  http://blindness-themovie.com/
Release date:  Sept. 26

“The Duchess”

Video   ‘The Duchess’: Sept. 19 Keira Knightley and Ralph Fiennes star in this story of 18th century aristocrats. Buena Vista Pictures

Starring: Keira Knightley, Ralph Fiennes, Charlotte Rampling, Dominic Cooper, Hayley Atwell
Director: Saul Dibb
Story: Georgiana Spencer (Keira Knightley) is an 18^th century aristocrat who marries the older and distant Duke of Devonshire (Fiennes). And though she manages to seduce the entire country with her charms and usher in sweeping changes, she never wins the love of her own husband. Desperate for affection she turns to Earl Grey (Cooper) and her best friend, Lady Bess Foster (Atwell).
One to watch? Looks doubtful. There’s something very cookie-cutter and dour about the trailer — perhaps it’s just the heaps of wig that poor Knightley is saddled with. There’s also a rape scene in the film, so beware. Spencer was sort of the Princess Diana of her day. Knightley’s gained much notoriety for the fact that she refused to let her cleavage be digitally enhanced in the film’s posters.
Web site:  http://www.theduchessmovie.com/
Release date:  Sept. 19

“Miracle at St. Anna”

Video   ‘Miracle at St. Anne’: Sept. 26 Spike Lee directs this war drama about a group of four black soldiers in the U.S. Army during World War II who get stuck behind enemy lines.

Starring: Derek Luke, Michael Ealy, Laz Alonso, Omar Benson Miller, Matteo Sciabordi
Director: Spike Lee
Story: Set during World War II, this film tells the story of four African-American soldiers (Luke, Ealy, Alonso, Miller) stationed in Tuscany, Italy, who get separated from their unit and trapped behind enemy lines when one of them tries to rescue an Italian boy.
One to watch? Here’s hoping. Lee can be so talented (HBO’s “When the Levee’s Broke,” “Inside Man”), but he does have a mixed track record (“She Hate Me,” “Girl 6,” etc.). Controversy erupted at Cannes when Lee criticized Clint Eastwood for not including African-American soldiers in “Flags of Our Fathers.” (Could this have been a cynical attempt to publicize his own WWII film? Perhaps.) The director also went after the Coen brothers for not treating the violence in their films seriously. And he recently took some shots at Tyler Perry. You have to appreciate Lee’s fighting spirit. Let’s hope it comes out in the film, and not just the press conferences.
Web site:  http://miracleatstanna.movies.go.com/
Release date:  Sept. 26

“Synecdoche, New York”

Sony Pictures Classics

Starring: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Dianne Wiest, Samantha Morton, Catherine Keener, Michelle Williams, Emily Watson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Hope Davis
Director: Charlie Kaufman
Story: Frustrated theater director Caden (Hoffman) tries to impress the wife (Keener) who’s left him by creating a replicate New York inside a warehouse and gathering actors to put on a play. But the New York in the warehouse begins to blend with the “real” one, as he casts dopplegangers for most of the people he knows, including himself.
One to watch? Yes. This is wonderfully inventive screenwriter Kaufman’s (“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” “Being John Malkovich”) directorial debut. Cinematical.com called the film “a sprawling, messy work of inspired brilliance and real humanity, a film that enthralls and affects even as it infuriates and confounds.” Note: a comedy, this ain’t. TimesOnline.com, in an otherwise positive review, wrote, “At times it feels more like a suicide note than a movie.” The combination of Hoffman and Kaufman is impossible to resist — two great artists at work.
Web site: NA
Release date: Oct. 24

“Rachel Getting Married”

Video   ‘Rachel Getting Married’: Oct. 3 In this comedy, Anne Hathaway stars as a woman recently out of rehab who attends her sister's wedding. Buena Vista Pictures

Starring: Anne Hathaway, Rosemarie DeWitt, Bill Irwin, Anna Deavere Smith, Debra Winger
Director: Jonathan Demme
Story: Kym (Hathaway), an ex-model who’s been in rehab for 10 years, returns home for her sister Rachel’s (DeWitt) wedding. Her caustic one-liners and black sense of humor cast a pall over what her sister hoped would be an idyllic family weekend.
One to watch? Yes. This is director Demme’s (“Silence of the Lambs”) first fiction film since his not-so-great “Manchurian Candidate” remake in 2004. Hollywood Elsewhere’s Jeffrey Wells is talking possible Oscar buzz for Hathaway’s performance. The additions of Smith (best known for her Tony-nominated play “Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992”), Irwin (another Tony winner) and Winger really make this a promising dark horse film.
Web site: http://www.sonyclassics.com/rachelgettingmarried/
Release date: Oct. 3

Best of the rest: Drama “Tyler Perry’s The Family That Preys” (Sept. 12) Despite the fact that two matriarchs (Alfre Woodard, Kathy Bates) have been friends for many, many years, their two families engage in a web of deception, greed and scandal in this latest film from Tyler Perry. “Soul Men” (Nov. 14) Two famous backup singers (Samuel L. Jackson and the late Bernie Mac), who haven’t spoken to each other in 20 years, agree to travel cross country on a tour together to honor their famous band leader. The late Isaac Hayes also appears in the film “The Lucky Ones” (Sept. 26) Three soldiers — Collee (Rachel McAdams), T.K. (Michael Pena) and Cheever (Tim Robbins) — just back from Iraq, end up on an unexpected road trip. These soldiers, who begin as strangers, find comfort in each other. “The Express” (Oct. 10) Rob Brown stars as Ernie Banks, the first African-American to win the Heisman Trophy, in this story of overcoming racism. Dennis Quaid co-stars as his Syracuse football coach. “Flash of Genius” (Oct. 3) Detroit college professor Bob Kerns (Greg Kinnear) invents the intermittent windshield wiper and sells it to Ford. But when the company doesn’t give him the credit, he decides to sue. “Secret Lives of Bees” (Oct. 17) Lily (Dakota Fanning) flees from her abusive father with her friend and caretaker, Rosaleen (Jennifer Hudson). The two of them are taken in by the Boatwright sisters (Queen Latifah, Sophie Okonedo, Alicia Keys), who teach them about the world of beekeeping.  “Phoebe in Wonderland” (Sept. 12) Elle Fanning stars as a 9-year-old girl who has behavioral problems.  An unconventional teacher (Patricia Clarkson) casts Phoebe in the lead role in “Alice in Wonderland.” “Crossing Over” (Oct. 24) This ensemble film explores the hardships of illegal immigrants as they try to establish lives in Los Angeles. Sean Penn plays a border patrol agent, while Ashley Judd co-stars as a defense attorney. “Battle in Seattle” (Sept. 19) Stuart Townsend directs a fictional look at the “battle” that occurred between protestors and police when the WTO met in Seattle in 1999. Woody Harrelson, Andre Benjamin and Charlize Theron co-star. “Towelhead” (Sept. 12) A young Arab girl named Jasira (Summer Bishil) is sent to live with her strict Lebanese father (Peter Macdissi) in small town Texas, and she becomes obsessed with her bigoted Army reservist neighbor (Aaron Eckhart). “Hounddog” (Sept. 19) Known mostly for its controversial rape scene, this film is actually about a troubled Southern girl (Dakota Fanning) who takes comfort in the music of Elvis Presley.

Note: Dates are subject to change.

MORE FROM FALL MOVIE GUIDE

Clooney, Pitt, Craig burst into theaters

Clooney, Pitt, Craig burst into theaters Viggo, Nic and Shia are all about fall action De Niro, Pacino, Wahlberg have fall thrills Meg Ryan, Simon Pegg bring fall laughs Foxx, Downey Jr. have fall’s Oscar bait Seth Rogen, Diane Lane find love in the fall ‘High School,’ talking dogs bring family fun   Images: Fall into upcoming movies   Add Fall movie guide headlines to your news reader: