Another summer has come and gone, leaving behind its usual share of hits (Finding Nemo) and misses (Dumb and Dumberer), its surprises (The Italian Job) and its disappointments (Hollywood Homicide). As always, the fall season is shaping up to be in better condition, unleashing an array of pictures the studios have been waiting to release until now, for whatever reason. And it looks like the really big guns are being whipped out this fall, judging from the huge list of upcoming releases -- which made it difficult to compile this article.

With so many great-looking pictures on the horizon, narrowing down the list of my most anticipated ten was a tough task to accomplish. Still, I found a handful that tickled my fancy, and I'm most psyched-up about the fall movie season because of the following flicks: 

1. Kill Bill: Volume 1 (Oct. 10). Come October, acclaimed filmmaker Quentin Tarantino returns with his first picture since Jackie Brown (1997). Kill Bill: Volume 1 is the first part of Tarantino's violent, blood-soaked opus about a bride (Uma Thurman) who returns from a coma to seek revenge on her sleazy ex, Bill (David Carradine), with swordplay, martial arts, and assorted kung fu moves included in the mix. Part two of QT's stylish saga has yet to have a release date, but I predict that once the first section of Kill Bill hits theatres, fans will be asking for more of Tarantino's latest project.

2. The Matrix Revolutions (Nov. 5). Okay, so this is another film that's bound to show up on most people's list of  anticipated pictures. But being one of those who loved how filmmaking brothers Andy and Larry Wachowski continued their sci-fi saga with The Matrix Reloaded, I'm on pins and needles anticipating how they'll end the series. The stage is set for the last battle for humanity's future, with the human resistance led by prophesized warrior Neo (Keanu Reeves) against their machine oppressors. Although the questions posed and the dialogue spoken in Reloaded turned off many  a Matrix fan, my sense of intrigue has been piqued. I'm expecting The Matrix Revolutions to deliver an intelligent blend of science fiction, revolutionary action, and dazzling special effects, just like its two predecessors.

3. Matchstick Men (Sept. 12). I'm a big fan of movies about con men, from The Sting to House of Games, so the quirky caper comedy Matchstick Men is right up my alley. Ridley Scott directs Nicolas Cage in the tale of a neurotic con artist who takes on a long-lost daughter (Alison Lohman) while trying to pull off a big score with the help of his partner (Sam Rockwell). The plot sounds like simple stuff, but I suspect Scott has more than a few tricks up his sleeve here. The trailers are playful and intriguing. They suggest this is a movie holding more cards than it's showing. 

4. Bubba Ho-Tep (limited release Sept. 19). I challenge you, dear reader, not to smile at the sheer quirkiness of this concept. An aging Elvis Presley (Bruce Campbell) teams up with a still-alive JFK (Ossie Davis) to combat a soul-stealing mummy wreaking havoc in their nursing home. This is
an insane idea that comes from the mind of Phantasm creator Don Coscarelli. For a year or more, fans have been eagerly anticipating a wider opening for this oddball picture. After  gathering positive reviews on the festival circuit, Bubba Ho-Tep is at last due in theatres, albeit in a very limited release. Hopefully, word-of-mouth will lead to a much wider audience. 

5. Mystic River (limited release Oct. 8; wider Oct. 15).  Plot details of Clint Eastwood's latest directorial debut are being kept under wraps, but readers of the Dennis Lehane novel know what Mystic River has in store for them. Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, and Kevin Bacon play a trio of friends who reconnect in the present day after a tragic event binds them together, but going any further into the story would spoil the picture for you. However, from the looks of the trailer, Eastwood and his Blood Work screenwriter Brian Helgeland may have created an ominous masterpiece. 

6. Once Upon a Time in Mexico (Sept. 12). With this movie, director Robert Rodriguez caps off two trilogies in 2003. He released the final chapter of the Spy Kids series in July, and Once Upon a Time in Mexico  finalizes the modern-day Western trilogy he began with his debut picture, El Mariachi, and carried on in the popular actioner Desperado. After Johnny Depp's acclaimed turn in Pirates of the Caribbean, he's featured here as a corrupt CIA agent out to hire a mariachi/hitman played by --who else? --Antonio Banderas. The trailers are tantalizing, the style in full gear, and Rodriguez seems ready to rock the cinemas with another experiment in coolness.

7. Cabin Fever (Sept. 12). Sometimes the less I see about a movie before it's released the more interest I have in it. That's the case with Cabin Fever, an independent horror flick about a group of twentysomethings who try to fend off a flesh-eating virus in the woods. This movie has horror fans quite  excited, and if the buzz the project has generated at various film festivals is any indication, we're in for a real treat.  

8. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Oct. 17). While most horror fans look forward to seeing Cabin Fever, many of them were ready to destroy New Line's offices when plans were first announced about remaking Tobe Hooper's horror classic, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. But after a trailer for the update came out, it became clear the original picture's creepy vibe would remain intact. Judging from this trailer, the filmmakers have done an admirable job updating the tale of friends who encounter the wrath of a cannibalistic family, including the power tool-happy Leatherface. The new TCM  may be even more gore-oriented than Hooper's version, but as long as the picture comes with a strong sense of psychological terror, it should keep fans happy. 

9. The Order (Sept. 5). It certainly seems like the horror genre is set to take major control of the fall movie season. Writer/director Brian Helgeland reunites with his A Knight's Tale cast members Heath Ledger, Shannyn Sossamon, and Mark Addy for The Order, a religious horror picture not to be confused with the Van Damme vehicle of the same name. Ledger plays a young priest investigating murders attributed to a "sin eater," someone who fatally absolves the guilty of their sins. Will this be America's answer to The Wicker Man? That's yet to be determined, but Helgeland just might strike gold again with a cast that led him to glory the first time around.

10. Wonderland (limited release Oct. 3). The Wonderland murders of 1981were a shocking sight for the Los Angeles Police Department. Wonderland focuses on a murder investigation that took place during that time, one that involved porn star John Holmes (Val Kilmer).  This risky Lions Gate feature follows in the same vein as The Salton Sea, the picture that resurrected Kilmer's own career last year. Delving into such intriguing areas as sex, mystery, and violence, director James Cox promises to deliver something a little off the beaten path with Wonderland. 

These are only ten of the many highly anticipated pictures set to arrive in the fall. Other must-sees for yours truly include the Coen Bros.' Intolerable Cruelty, Russell Crowe's seafaring epic Master and Commancer:The Far Side of the World, the biopic Shattered Glass, and the adaptation of John Grisham's Runaway Jury. This fall season could be one of the most eclectic in recent memory...even if it means having to sit through the dreadful-looking House of the Dead to get to the good stuff.

Release dates are always subject to change, so check often to see when your must-sees are scheduled to come out.