Fall movies

I was checking out the Oscar bait due out later this year on imdb.com, and I have to say, pretty slim pickings so far. But there's a few promising films that look suitably depressing for holiday viewing:

Blue Valentine looks like a top contender - super depressing and buzzy star turns by the headliners, Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams. Bonus trivia - shooting of the film, which was scheduled to start right around the time Heath Ledger died, was delayed out of respect for MW.

Clint Eastwood has a new film that looks interesting, about 3 people "touched by death in different ways " called Hereafter with Matt Damon and Bryce Dallas Howard, among others.

Jeff Bridges is starring in the Coen brothers' remake of the John Wayne classic, True Grit. Kinda ballsy to tackle such an iconic film, though the young lady in the Kim Darby role (Hailee Steinfeld) is generating Oscar buzz.

Melissa Leo is in several films, all worth seeing I'm sure, but I've been waiting patiently for Welcome to the Rileys with Kristen Stewart and James Galdofini.

This is a must see - Never Let Me Go - a dystopian story based on the Kazuro Ishiguro novel, with a stellar cast including Kiera Knightley, Carey Mulligan, and Charlotte Rampling.

Philip Seymour Hoffman's directorial debut, Jack Goes Boating.

And arriving on Christmas Day - Helen Mirren as a Mossad agent pursuing a Nazi war crminal in The Debt.

I must admit, I'm also looking forward to some of the lighter fare:

Morning Glory - Rachel McAdams as a harried morning show producer, with Diane Keaton and Harrison Ford as the oil-and-water anchors.

How Do You Know - James L Brooks rom-com with the always adorable Reese Witherspoon and the always adorable Paul Rudd.

Love and Other Drugs - dramedy with Anne Hathaway and yummy yummy Jake Gyllenhaal based on the memoir of a drug rep during the launch of Viagra.

Also some movies that the kids will want to see that might not be totally painful to sit through (I'm planning to trick Larry into taking the kids to Yogi Bear):

Alpha and Omega - animated adventure about 2 young wolves.

Tangled - animated retelling of the Rapuzel story that actually looks really fun.

Gulliver's Travels - featuring Jack Black and a lot of CGI

There's lots more, but I always make a long list of movies I plan to see, and later find out that half of them weren't worth making the effort for. So I'm keeping my list small and we'll see where I'm at when the end of the year rolls around.