Ah yes, the autumn months -- when the leaves turn brown, the air becomes chillier, school is back in session, and talk turns to "BUT WHAT ARE ITS OSCAR CHANCES?!?" Looking over the year's final moviegoing stretch, there are certainly a few films that aren't actively gunning for all the gold statues; we doubt the horror-film sequels and blockbuster remakes hitting screens between Labor Day and New Year's Eve are crossing their fingers over nominations. But there's an abundance of stuff that carries a patina of prestige, a handful of film festival laurels, and an already active For Your Consideration campaign with a budget the size of Paraguay's gross national product that's ready to jockey for your eyeballs.

THE LOST BUS (September 19). Matthew McConaughey and America Ferrera star in this drama centered around the 2018 Camp Fire in the rural woods of Northern California, which ended up turning close to 154,000 acres of land into scorched earth and remains the single deadliest fire in the state's history. McConaughey is a school bus driver who helps shepherd dozens of kids caught in the danger zone to safety; Ferrera is the teacher who helps out. On paper, it sounds like just another true-story disaster movie, but the fact that filmmaker Paul Greengrass (Bloody Sunday, United 93) is calling the shots suggests a hyper-intense, you-are-there approach to this real-life blaze. Emagine White Bear

ANEMONE (October 3) Writer-director Ronan Day-Lewis makes his feature debut with this familial drama about pious man (Sean Bean) trekking deep into the woods to find his brother, a former British soldier who abandoned his wife and child years ago. This recluse still suffers from PTSD and prefers solitude to society; still, his sibling's mission is to bring him back into the fold and hopefully heal old wounds. The fact that this hermit-like figure is played Ronan's cowriter and father Daniel Day-Lewis -- and that the role signals his return to the screen after an eight-year absence -- is cause for celebration, to say the least. The always great Samantha Morton and Samuel Bottomsley (How to Have Sex) costar. AMC Rosedale, Emagine White Bear

ORWELL 2+2=5 (October 3). Raoul Peck (I Am Not Your Negro) looks at George Orwell's transformation from a cog in Britiain's colonialist machinery (he served on the police force in Burma in the 1920s) to political critic, essayist and world-renowned author of Animal Farm and 1984. Then the documentarian connects the dots between those two dystopian novels, the 20th century's totalitarian regimes, and the ways in which history tends to repeat itself. Like, say, in contemporary America. You would not call the outlook "good." Prime

AFTER THE HUNT (October 10) The remarkably prolific Luca Guadagnino -- he had both Challengers and Queer in theaters last year -- returns with a torn-from-the-headlines drama about a Yale professor (Julia Roberts) who finds herself defending a friend and fellow academic (Andrew Garfield) from charges of sexual assault. The fact that the j'accuse is coming from her protege (Ayo Edebiri) makes things extra-complicated; the extra wrinkle of Roberts' character having a few skeletons in the closet as well makes the situation damn near untenable. Bring on the cancel-culture handwringing! AMC Rosedale

A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE (October 10) A new Kathryn Bigelow thriller is always an event, and the Hurt Locker director's latest sound like a true nail-biter: Someone, somewhere, has launched a missile aimed at the United States. No one knows where it's come from or, more importantly, where it's headed -- which means a team of White House staff, military brass, and other high-level security types must figure out how to stop potential mass casualties with little info and next-to-no time to take down the rogue weapon. The title seems pretty apt, given the description. In the hot seat: Rebecca Ferguson, Idris Elba, Greta Lee, Anthony Ramos, Jared Harris, Jason Clarke and Tracy Letts. Netflix

Kiss of the Spider Woman (October 10) Bill Condon has directed everything from the James Whale biopic Gods and Monsters to the Oscar-winning Dreamgirls -- which could very well make him the ideal filmmaker to tackle this adaptation of the Broadway musical, based on Hector Babenco's 1985 movie of the same name, in which a political prisoner (Y Tu Mama Tabien / Andor star Diego Luna) and his cellmate (Tonatiuh) fall in love after bonding over their fandom for an actress. Cast in the part of the star they both admire -- previously played by Sonia Braga onscreen and Chita Rivera onstage -- is no less than Ms. Jennifer Lopez. Unknown at this time

FRANKENSTEIN (October 17) You might say that Guillermo del Toro -- award-winning writer-director, horror aficionado, maestro of the macabre -- has been chasing after Mary Shelley's Gothic interpretation of the Prometheus myth in one form or another throughout his prolific career. Now, the gentleman has finally made his own spin on this classic tale of daring to tread where no man should, i.e. making them monsters outta dead-people parts. Oscar Isaac is the good doctor know for his reanimation experiments; Jacob Elordi is the creature given both life and a sense of existential crises; Mia Goth, Ralph Ineson, and Christoph Waltz lend their talents as well. The fact that del Toro has cited artist Bernie Wrightson's sketches of the monster as a big inspiration gives us high expectations; that he also wanted to blend elements of both the original story and The Bride of Frankenstein makes us positively giddy. See it in a theater with a giant screen if you can, starting in October; it hits Netflix on November 7th. Netflix

THE MASTERMIND (October 17) Heist flicks? We dig 'em. Thrillers set in the 1970s? We like 'em a lot. Films directed by Kelly Reichardt, the Pacific Northwestern director whose character studies of bohos, outcasts, social misfits, and margin dwellers has made her one of the most significant American moviemakers working today? We love 'em. A heist flick directed by Reichardt, starring Josh O'Connor, Alana “One Third of HAIM” Haim, John Magaro, Bill Camp, Hope Davis and Gaby Hoffmann? It's like we've been granted three wishes, and they're all coming true at once. AMC Rosevill

HEDDA (October 29) Tessa Thompson takes on one of the theater roles that's a milestone for virtually every female actor: Hedda Gabler, the destructive newlywed hero of Henrik Ibsen's greatest play. (Come at me, fans of A Doll's House!) Director Nia DaCosta, who directed Thompson in her 2018 indie debut Little Woods, has promised not just an adaptation of a tragedy involving lies, dysfunctional marriages, suicide, envy and any number of other deadly sins but a “reimagining” of the classic work. Personally, you had us at “Tess Does Hedda.” Costarring Imogen Poots, Nina Hoss, Kathryn Hunter and Tom Bateman. Prime

PETER HUJAR'S DAY (November 7) The year is 1974. The place is downtown New York City. The interviewer is the writer Linda Rosenkrantz, and the interviewee is photographer Peter Hujar, who's agreed to tell his close friend all about his day as part of a book project she's working on. Filmmaker and Sundance's favorite son Ira Sachs (Forty Shades of Blue, Keep the Lights On, Passages) turns their conversations into a two-hander for Rebecca Hall and Ben Whishaw, all in an attempt to conjure up a long-lost Bohemia filled with cigarette smoke, intellectual banter, gossip and mash notes from the underground. Unknown at this time

THE RUNNING MAN (November 14) Who better to give us a Running Man for the 21st century than Edgar Wright, a filmmaker with a wonderfully sick sense of humor and a knack for goosing well-worn genre material? The real question is whether this story by Stephen King -- sorry, “Richard Bachman” -- written in the 1980s, about a game show where contestants are hunted for sport, will seem even mildly satirical in this day and age. (The source material does take place in the “futuristic” year of 2025, so….) Glen Powell is the man on the run, hoping to win cash prizes and avoid the hunters trying to kill him. Josh Brolin is the host who's making sure the broadcasting of this life-or-death spectacle is a ratings hit. Michael Cera, William H. Macy, Katy O'Brian, Sean Hayes and Lee Pace are either offering their support, competing against Powell or trying to murder him. You'll find out whether our man is a millionaire or toast after a word from our sponsor. AMC Roseville

HAMNET (November 27) Folks are already going nuts over this screen version of Maggie O'Farrell's novel, which focuses on the death of William Shakespeare's son Hamnet, and the way that his untimely passing sent his parents into a dizzying spiral of grief. Specifically, they've singled out Jessie Buckley's portrayal of the boy's mom and the Bard's wife, Agnes Shakespeare; expect to hear a lot about this performance as the Awards-Season Industrial Complex kicks into gear. But Paul Mescal's take on a grieving William Shakespeare and the direction from Chloé Zhao (The Rider, Nomadland) will likely get tongues wagging as well, and in terms of dramas that are apt to leave you tearful and emotionally shattered, this may be the one to beat. Emily Watson, Joe Alwyn and David Wilmot are also strutting and fretting across the soundstage as well. AMC Roseville