Hooray for the Fall Movie Season each year! Many outstanding films usually appear on the big screen during the months of October, November and December. Hopefully, 2006 will be no exception. Listed below are the upcoming October offerings I’m most eager to see.

The Departed.  Directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jack Nicholson, Matt Damon, Mark Wahlberg and Martin Sheen, this police thriller promises lots of intrigue and action. Will it be better than Infernal Affairs, the acclaimed Hong Kong version? Maybe not, but who wants to pass up a Jack Nicholson film? (October 6)  

Breaking and Entering. Filmmaker Anthony Minghella brings Jude Law, Juliette Binoche and Robin Wright Penn together for this drama about a London landscape architect (Law) who lives with his girlfriend (Penn) but begins an affair with a Bosnian refugee (Binoche). Ah, the eternal love triangle. (October 6)  

Man of the Year.  Imagine Jon Stewart of TV’s The Daily Show being elected President of the United States. That’s the type of situation poked fun at in this comedy starring Robin Williams as a political comedian who wins the nation’s top office. Could   voting-machine errors produce worse results? Hmm. (October 13)    

Infamous. Yikes!  It’s another movie about Truman Capote. But director Douglas McGrath has his own entertaining take on everyone and everything (see Nicholas Nickleby and Emma), so his new film is on my must-see list. (October 13)     

The Prestige.  Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale portray rival magicians in this turn-of-the-twentieth-century period drama. Wolverine and Batman battling it out before our very eyes?  I’m so there! And Michael Caine’s supporting appearance adds icing to the cake. (October 20)     

Flags of Our Fathers. Clint Eastwood presents the story of six young soldiers who planted the U.S. flag on Iwo Jima during World War II. Ryan Philippe, Adam Beach, Jesse Bradford, Barry Pepper, Joseph Cross and Benjamin Walker share the main acting duties in this historical drama. (October 20)     

Marie Antoinette. Kirsten Dunst as Marie Antoinette? You betcha. And she looks terrific in the previews. (October 20)

Babel. Four plotlines are loosely woven together in this emotional drama shot in four countries and five languages. It stars Cate Blanchett, Brad Pitt and Gael Garcia Bernal – three extremely watchable actors. (October 27)   

Catch a Fire. Derek Luke and Tim Robbins share top billing in Phillip Noyce’s provocative movie about real-life South African freedom fighter Patrick Chamusso. (October 27)

Running with Scissors. Annette Bening moves toward another Oscar nomination as a  bipolar mother who gives her son to her shrink in this film version of Augusten Burroughs’ popular memoir. Brian Cox, Alec Baldwin, Joseph Cross, Joseph Fiennes and Evan Rachel Wood round out the movie’s intriguing cast. (October 27)

Coming soon:  Part Two of Fallerama  

(All release dates are subject to change.)