Fall movie season is upon us and after the summer, it's the second most profitable of the quarterly movie seasons, with the Winter/Spring season far behind in last place. Fall is also the time of year for the big award winning movies to debut, but for this preview, we're focusing mostly on the sci-fi and fantasy genre movies. You know, the movies that do all the big business in the fall. Since we're covering a four-month period, I won't be able to spotlight them all, but I'll try to mention other notable films from various genres each month as well. 

September 20

The Colony

Climate change creates the setting for this end of the world sci-fi/drama. This film has a pretty solid cast, so I'm surprised it's rolling out as a limited release, but it looks like it may be worth checking out if you can find it.

September 27

Rush

Ron Howard looks to go after some more Oscars with this film based on a real life Formula 1 racing rivaly from the 70's. I don't know much about racing, but I like Ron Howard movies, and who doesn't want to see Thor's Chris Hemsworth and Tron's Olivia Wilde hook up?

Also of note in September: Riddick, Salinger, Insidious: Chapter 2, The Family, Prisoners, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, Don Jon

October 4

Gravity

This film looks like something that befits the Oculus Rift as much as it does a movie but does it ever look intense. Perhaps too intense for Bullock or Clooney to drop any Portal 2 "I'm in space" jokes, but a geek can dream.

October 11

Machete Kills

I have to admit I was a bit letdown by the first Machete movie, but maybe they were trying too hard to make it fit with the fake trailer that ran during Grindhouse. Now it looks like they are going all out and more over the top than ever. Plus, it's Lady Gaga's film debut!

October 18

Carrie

Even though it's being remade for what feels like the umpteenth time, this version of Carrie really has a stellar cast. Whether that's enough to make audiences show up for another dance at the prom remains to be seen.

Also of note in October: Captain Phillips, Runner Runner, Escape Plan, Haunter, The Counselor

November 1

Ender's Game

The first big movie in a month of heavy hitters. Ford has had a poor success rate at the box office lately, so it's hard to say whether his presence in the movie hurts or helps it, but it is based on Orson Scott Card's acclaimed, bestselling science fiction novel. If the movie doesn't succeed, more blame may go to the author's controversial political views than anything else.

November 8

Thor: The Dark World

Iron Man 3 followed up the box office success of The Avengers by making almost as much money itself. Now it's Thor's turn and I imagine this film will do much better business than the first entry in the Thor movie series, but maybe not quite as much as those two films. 

November 22

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

A new director joins the series, but that never stopped the momentum of the Twilight films, so I will doubt it will matter here either. The middle act of a trilogy can often be the toughest to pull off, but the fan base appears to be all-in no matter what. 

November 27

Frozen

The reason the video above is for the French language trailer is because the trailer that was put out for the domestic release as of this writing didn't hint at anything concerning the actual plot of the movie and seemed like more of a generic, cutesy short. Hopefully the film continues the quality resurgence Disney studio animation has shown recently and is more reflective of the international trailer.

Oldboy

Spike Lee claims that this adaptation is not a remake of the south Korean cult classic action movie but his own, unique film based on the Japanese manga of the same name. Either way, there are sure to be comparisons, and in a crowded Thanksgiving weekend, it's tough to imagine this ultra-violent film breaking out.

Also of note in November: Free Birds, About Time, The Wolf on Wall Street, Nebraska, Homefront

December 13

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Could also be subtitled "This Time You'll See the Dragon" since that was a major complaint of the first film in the Hobbit Trilogy. I have to say, this is the movie I'm most looking forward too. I was pleasantly surprised by the first film despite the naysayers and I'm excited to see that dragon as well.

December 18

Her

The premise sounds intriguing (it's basically a man falling in love with Siri) but it could either be a huge hit or a big joke, based on how it's handled by Director Spike Jonze. It was already pushed back from November and now won't even go wide until January, so the studio may be thinking it could generate some Oscar buzz.

December 20

Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues

It's the only pure comedy featured in this preview, mainly because the first film is so quotable and has a huge fan following. It's going to be hard to beat the original in my mind, and mainly depends on whether Will Ferrell can let the jokes shine or if he hogs the spotlight and hams it up as much as he has in most of his movies these days.

December 25

47 Ronin

Keanu Reeves straps on the wire harness for the first time in a while as he embarks on another action movie where he is the "one" that can save everybody. Can't say the trailer really excited me, but they are going with a big Christmas release so the studio must feel they have something good here.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Ben Stiller directs and stars in this long-in-the-works adaptation of the popular short story. When this film was first being conceived in the mid-90's, Jim Carrey was set to star. I think Stiller is a wiser, more grounded choice and the advancements in effects can only help the film as it finally hits theaters this Christmas.

Also of note in December: Inside Llewyn Davis, American Hustle, The Monuments Men, Jack Ryan




Even if your favorite isn't listed, please rank these 15 highlighted films based on how interested you are in seeing them. And take to the comments to give any props to the films I did gloss over or missed completely. Every geek has a voice here, and I have no problem seeing lots of opinions fill the comment boxes below.