13 Must-See Fall Films

Our Huge 'Movies For Grownups' Fall Season Preview

Rejoice, movie fans! After a dismal summer when box office was down 16 percent, the fall season is upon us, and it looks good, with comebacks by Michelle Pfeiffer and Annette Bening, both 59; Nicole Kidman and Julia Roberts, both 50 when their films open; Mark Hamill, 65; and all the Oscar hopefuls you could want. Here are the films we're most looking forward to.

'Mother!' (Sept. 15)

The big news about the mind-messing psychological thriller Mother! isn't so much Oscar winners Jennifer Lawrence and Javier Bardem as home-invasion victims, but Oscar nominees Ed Harris and Michelle Pfeiffer playing their creepy guests. From the director of Black Swan, so it's going to be intense.

'Battle of the Sexes' (Sept. 22)

If you're one of the 90 million who watched tennis great Billie Jean King dethrone sexist Bobby Riggs in 1973 (or even if you aren't), you may like Steve Carell, 55, as the champion who wants more glory and Emma Stone (hoping for a second Oscar in two years) as the victor. From directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris (Little Miss Sunshine).

'Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House' (Sept. 29)

Liam Neeson, 65, plays the FBI guy who was Watergate's Deep Throat, President Richard Nixon's destroyer. Also, don't miss The Post (Dec. 22), with Meryl Streep, 68, as Washington Post owner Katharine Graham, who published the secret Pentagon Papers revealing government lies about the Vietnam War. Steven Spielberg, 70, cast Tom Hanks, 61, as editor Ben Bradlee.

'Blade Runner 2049' (Oct. 6)

After 35 years, Harrison Ford is back as Rick Deckard, former hunter of replicants (androids), with Ryan Gosling as the new hunter. It's going to look sensational because the director is one of Hollywood's most talented, Denis Villeneuve (Arrival), and the legendary cinematographer is Roger Deakins, 68, a 13-time Oscar nominee who might just grab that shiny doll this time.

'The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)' (Oct. 13)

What? Adam Sandler, 50, may win an Oscar as the son of an impossibly difficult artist father (Dustin Hoffman)? In a Netflix movie? That's what Hollywood trade magazine Variety says.

'Suburbicon' (Oct. 27)

At 56, George Clooney has earned more Oscar nods in more categories than anyone but Walt Disney. So the fact that he's getting raves for his direction of this sort-of-comic crime story set in 1959 suburbia is no surprise. Clooney buddy Matt Damon and Julianne Moore, 56, star in a 1986 script by Ethan and Joel Coen. Clooney was supposed to star, but what he really wanted to do was direct.

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'The Killing of a Sacred Deer' (Oct. 27)

Turning 50 this year was an excellent career move for Nicole Kidman: After the hit miniseries Big Little Lies and Sofia Coppola’s The Beguiled, she's teaming up with Colin Farrell in this psychological thriller, a Cannes Film Fest favorite about a surgeon and his wife who form a relationship with a sinister teenager.

'Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri' (Nov. 10)

In a hilarious, painful and foul-mouthed performance, Fargo Oscar winner Frances McDormand, 60, plays a mom determined to find her daughter's killer even if she has to attack her entire small town (especially sheriff Woody Harrelson) to do it. Should be catnip for fans of the Coen brothers, but the writer-director here is Martin McDonagh, best known for In Bruges.

'Murder on the Orient Express' (Nov. 10)

Kenneth Branagh directs and stars as mustachioed sleuth Hercule Poirot in this remake of the Agatha Christie murder mystery, with a cast to die for, including Penelope Cruz, Judi Dench, Johnny Depp, Willem Dafoe, Derek Jacobi and Michelle Pfeiffer.

'Wonder' (Nov. 17)

Julia Roberts returns as a mom raising a child with facial abnormalities (Jacob Tremblay from Room) and cruel schoolmates. Sounds like 1985's Mask, which boosted Cher's career. 

'Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool' (Dec. 15)

The Emmys will probably honor the Bette Davis-Joan Crawford show Feud, and the Oscars may honor another grownup star's turn as a legendary actress: Annette Bening, 59, as fading noir superstar Gloria Grahame (It's a Wonderful Life, In a Lonely Place), with a young ex-lover who still loves the vain, crazy genius lady. Bening has four nominations and no Oscar yet.

'Star Wars: The Last Jedi' (Dec. 15)

Mark Hamill comes back big-time as Luke Skywalker, with a posthumous appearance by Carrie Fisher as General Leia. Castmates Laura Dern and Benicio del Toro are 50, and Hamill, 65, is two years older than his Jedi mentor Alec Guinness was in the original. The Force is with them.

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