THE FLICKS What’s on the list to tempt movie lovers

Highlights of the film slate for September and October (release dates are subject to change, and some films will play in limited release):

SEPTEMBER

“Across the Universe”: Beatles tunes are the backdrop for a musical romance between young lovers (Evan Rachel Wood and Jim Sturgess). Julie Taymor directs.

“The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford”: Brad Pitt is the Old West outlaw, with Casey Affleck as the man who’ll eventually gun him down.

“Balls of Fury”: The world of extreme pingpong is the setting for an action comedy featuring Christopher Walken and George Lopez.

“The Brave One”: A woman (Jodie Foster) goes on a vigilante rampage after her boyfriend is killed in an attack. Neil Jordan directs, Terrence Howard co-stars.

“The Brothers Solomon”: Socially bumbling siblings (Will Arnett and Will Forte) try to fulfill their dying father’s wish to have a grandchild.

“The Darjeeling Limited”: Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody and Jason Schwartzman star as brothers stranded on a spiritual journey across India.

“December Boys”: Daniel Radcliffe sets aside his Harry Potter persona in a drama of four orphaned teens on a summer seaside trip in 1960s Australia.

“Eastern Promises”: A Russian mob driver (Viggo Mortensen) meets a midwife (Naomi Watts) seeking the truth about an orphaned newborn. David Cronenberg directs.

“Feast of Love”: Morgan Freeman, Greg Kinnear and Radha Mitchell lead the cast in director Robert Benton’s ensemble romance.

“Fierce People”: A drug addict (Diane Lane) tries to repair life with her teenage son. With Donald Sutherland.

“The Game Plan”: Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson plays a football quarterback suddenly forced to care for a young daughter he never knew he had.

“Good Luck Chuck”: A cursed dentist (Dane Cook) learns that women find true love with the next man they date after him. Jessica Alba co-stars.

“Great World of Sound”: Two talent scouts for a small record label gradually learn it’s a con game preying on singers’ dreams of stardom.

“Halloween”: Rob Zombie retells the story of John Carpenter’s serial killer Michael Myers. With Malcolm McDowell.

“The Hunting Party”: A ruined TV journalist (Richard Gere) leads a former colleague (Terrence Howard) on the trail of a Bosnian war criminal.

“In the Shadow of the Moon”: Apollo astronauts share recollections in a documentary about the NASA moon landings.

“In the Valley of Elah”: Parents seek their missing son, who has just come home from Iraq. With Tommy Lee Jones, Susan Sarandon and Charlize Theron. Paul Haggis directs.

“Into the Wild”: Sean Penn directs a story about a young man (Emile Hirsch) who leaves behind his life for the Alaska wilderness.

“Ira & Abby”: A mismatched couple (Jennifer Westfeldt and Chris Messina) takes a stab at romance. With Jason Alexander, Frances Conroy and Fred Willard.

“I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With”: Jeff Garlin directs and stars with Sarah Silverman in a romantic comedy about a comedian still living with his mother.

“The Jane Austen Book Club”: Six modern people’s lives parallel Austen’s classic tales. With Maria Bello, Jimmy Smits and Amy Brenneman.

“The Kingdom”: Jamie Foxx is a fed tracking a friend’s killer in Saudi Arabia. With Jennifer Garner and Chris Cooper.

“King of California”: A precocious teen (Evan Rachel Wood) aids her loopy dad (Michael Douglas) in a search for buried treasure.

“Lust, Caution”: Director Ang Lee follows “Brokeback Mountain” with a World War II spy thriller set in Shanghai.

“Mr. Woodcock”: A man (Seann William Scott) learns his mother (Susan Sarandon) has fallen for his tyrannical high school gym teacher (Billy Bob Thornton).

“Resident Evil: Extinction”: Milla Jovovich fights zombies in the third flick based on the video game.

“Romance & Cigarettes”: John Turturro directs and co-stars in a working-class musical fantasy. With James Gandolfini, Susan Sarandon and Kate Winslet.

“Shoot ’Em Up”: A loner (Clive Owen) races to protect an infant from a criminal (Paul Giamatti).

“Silk”: A merchant has a forbidden affair with a woman in 19th-century Japan. With Keira Knightley and Michael Pitt.

“Sydney White”: A college freshman (Amanda Bynes) leads a bunch of frat-house dorks in a fight against campus snobs.

“3:10 to Yuma”: Russell Crowe and Christian Bale star in a Western about a captured outlaw whose gang aims to free him.

“Trade”: A Texas cop (Kevin Kline) joins a Mexican teen to pursue the youth’s sister, who has been abducted by sex traffickers.

OCTOBER

“Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead”: Brothers (Philip Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke) plot a robbery. With Albert Finney and Marisa Tomei.

“The Comebacks”: A loser coach gathers misfits for a college football team.

“Control”: Sam Riley and Samantha Morton star in the dark story of Joy Division singer Ian Curtis.

“Darfur Now”: Don Cheadle narrates a documentary examining genocide in Sudan.

“Dan in Real Life”: A widower (Steve Carell) falls for the girlfriend (Juliette Binoche) of his brother (Dane Cook).

“Elizabeth: The Golden Age”: Cate Blanchett reteams with co-star Geoffrey Rush and director Shekhar Kapur for more in the saga of Queen Elizabeth I.

“Feel the Noise”: A Harlem rapper (Omarion Grandberry) finds a new beat in Reggaeton, a mix of hip-hop, reggae and Latin sounds.

“Finishing the Game”: The hunt is on in a comic tale about the search for the new Bruce Lee to complete the martial-arts hero’s unfinished film.

“For the Bible Tells Me So”: A documentary examines how the Christian faithful deal with having a gay member in the family.

“Funny Games”: Two men take a family hostage in director Michael Haneke’s English-language remake of his 1997 thriller. With Naomi Watts and Tim Roth.

“Gone Baby Gone”: Ben Affleck directs brother Casey Affleck in the tale of private eyes searching for an abducted girl.

“The Good Night”: A musician in a failing relationship meets the perfect woman — in his dreams. With Gwyneth Paltrow, Penelope Cruz and Martin Freeman.

“Grace is Gone”: A father (John Cusack) takes his daughters on a road trip to postpone telling them their mother has been killed in Iraq.

“The Heartbreak Kid”: Ben Stiller rejoins the Farrelly brothers in the tale of a new hubby who meets his soul mate on his honeymoon.

“Hitman”: Timothy Olyphant stars in a video-game adaptation about a genetically engineered assassin.

“Lake of Fire”: A documentary examines the history and continuing conflicts of the abortion debate.

“Lars and the Real Girl”: A shy man (Ryan Gosling) finally meets the woman of his dreams — a life-size doll.

“Martian Child”: A widowed sci-fi writer (John Cusack) adopts a boy claiming to come from Mars. With Amanda Peet and Joan Cusack.

“Michael Clayton”: George Clooney is an attorney handling dirty work for a corporate firm embroiled in a major class-action suit.

“Music Within”: A soldier (Ron Livingston) who loses his hearing in Vietnam becomes an activist for the disabled.

“Rails & Ties”: Tragedy brings together a train conductor, his ailing wife and an orphaned boy. With Kevin Bacon and Marcia Gay Harden.

“Rendition”: A woman (Reese Witherspoon) races to find her Egyptian-born husband after he disappears on a flight to Washington. With Jake Gyllenhaal and Meryl Streep.

“Reservation Road”: A grieving father (Joaquin Phoenix) tracks the hit-and-run driver (Mark Ruffalo) who killed his son. With Jennifer Connelly and Mira Sorvino.

“Run, Fat Boy, Run”: A man (Simon Pegg) enters a marathon to help win back the fiancée he abandoned. David Schwimmer directs.

“The Seeker: The Dark is Rising”: A fantasy tale follows the exploits of a time-traveling warrior battling the forces of darkness.

“Saw IV”: The horror franchise is resurrected with another tale of killer Jigsaw’s grisly plots.

“Sleuth”: Michael Caine remakes his 1972 romp, playing a writer in a contest of mind games with his wife’s lover (Jude Law). Kenneth Branagh directs.

“Slipstream”: Anthony Hopkins directs and stars in a surreal tale of a screenwriter whose characters manifest themselves in his real life.

“Things We Lost in the Fire”: A widow (Halle Berry) finds solace in one of her husband’s friends (Benicio Del Toro). David Duchovny co-stars.

“Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married”: Perry adapts his stage play about infidelity among married friends. Janet Jackson co-stars.

“30 Days of Night”: An Alaska sheriff (Josh Hartnett) fights vampires who show up to feed during the monthlong night.

“Weirdsville”: Drug abusers end up on the run from a dealer and a satanic cult. With Wes Bentley, Scott Speedman and Taryn Manning.

“We Own the Night”: Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Wahlberg and Robert Duvall star in a crime thriller set against New York’s 1980s drug trade.

“Wristcutters: A Love Story”: People who’ve killed themselves find hope in an afterlife of dreary jobs. With Patrick Fugit, Shannyn Sossamon and Tom Waits.