The grosses were higher, the movies were worse. That was the tenor of most of the media coverage of the summer movie season, and if you spent May through August at the Hollywood 27, you probably wouldn’t argue. But the deluge of remakes, retreads, and titles that end in numerals is slowing to a trickle, thanks to the onset of autumn.

The fall movie season is typically the time the major studios roll out their prestige items for year-end awards consideration and cold-weather box-office returns. That’s not to say there’s a moratorium on action movies, teen comedies, and effects-driven blockbusters. Some of these even look pretty cool, such as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (Nov. 16) and The Fellowship of the Ring (Dec. 19), the first in Peter Jackson’s eagerly awaited Lord of the Rings trilogy.

But the fall months promise a plethora of films by returning masters and newcomers of interest. The sole frustration may be the “platform” limited-release strategy, which ensures many of these films won’t arrive in local theaters until after the New Year. Don’t hold your breath waiting for the latest from Jean-Luc Godard (In Praise of Love), Claire Denis (Trouble Every Day), Jacques Rivette (Va savoir), or Shohei Imamura (Warm Water Under a Red Bridge), as these festival-circuit favorites may take months to leave the major markets. And yet there should be enough films of interest to keep all but the most insatiable moviegoer occupied. To wit:

Zoolander Only one man stands to stop the assassination of the president of Malaysia. Unfortunately, that man is Derek Zoolander (Ben Stiller), a mousse-brained male model who thinks bulimia is the ability to read minds. Co-writer/director Stiller devised Zoolander for the VH1 Fashion Awards, and while sketch characters rarely translate well to screen—all apologies to fans of A Night at the Roxbury and It’s Pat—the manic previews are very funny. Besides, it’s about time David Duchovny and Fabio appeared in the same movie. (Sept. 28)

Mulholland Drive Working in the mindblowing vein of his pulp apocalypse Lost Highway, David Lynch scrambled this rejected TV pilot into anything but a straight story; the resulting head-scratcher dazzled audiences this year at Cannes. A car wreck on L.A.’s Mulholland Drive links the fate of an amnesiac woman and an aspiring actress. Did we mention this features a supporting turn by Billy Ray Cyrus? We always wondered what Eraserhead would look like with a mullet. (Oct. 12)

Waking Life As far as we’re concerned, this is the film to beat for 2001—a visionary animated feature by Richard Linklater (Dazed and Confused) that fills the mind and eye to bursting, while expanding the form and possibilities of movies. Linklater follows a drowsy Austinite, Wiley Wiggins, as he drifts in and out of a dream state. The shifting perspective allows Linklater to engage in philosophical debates, arguments about movies, and meditations on love, work, daily life, and consciousness itself—all in a revolutionary technique that turns backgrounds and cityscapes into a constantly kinetic dreamworld. Buy a ticket, and see the future. (Oct. 19)

From Hell Directors Allen and Albert Hughes confront England’s most notorious menace I society—no, not Margaret Thatcher—in their lavish filming of the Alan Moore-Eddie Campbell graphic novel. Johnny Depp plays a Scotland Yard investigator on the trail of the ghastly Jack the Ripper. Heather Graham is the Victorian lovely who intrigues them both. Here’s hoping that much of Moore’s copious research survives, along with his provocative thesis that the Ripper gave birth to the soul-numbing horrors of the 20th century. (Oct. 19)

Heist The latest David Mamet shell game involving double-crossing crooks, this one focusing on a jewel heist and two old partners (Gene Hackman and Danny DeVito) who know better than to trust each other. The trailers supply plenty of action and rhythmic low-life fatmouthing, and Rebecca Pidgeon’s punky haircut is mighty becoming. (Oct. 26)

Monsters, Inc. No one has blended digital animation and narrative more satisfyingly than Pixar Studios, which follows Toy Story 2 with this peek at the bogeymen who hide in kids’ closets—working-stiff monsters who tremble at the thought of the tykes they’re supposed to scare. With the voices of John Goodman, Billy Crystal, Bonnie Hunt, and Steve Buscemi. (Nov. 2)

The One Jet Li faces his most lethal adversary yet—Jet Li. In this sci-fi yarn from Final Destination director James Hong, the martial-arts superstar plays a ghoul who hops across parallel dimensions, killing his other selves and gaining their power. It’s left to the last remaining parallel self to shut him down—which should lead to the delirious spectacle of Li attempting to kick his own ass. (Nov. 2)

Amelie This French export arrives on waves of strong press and ecstatic word of mouth; one writer estimated, without exaggeration, that it had been seen by almost every resident of Paris. A romantic comedy about luck and destiny, the feathery fairy-tale concoction involves a kindhearted Parisian waitress (Audrey Tautou) who has the power to reward the good and punish the wicked. The director is Jean-Pierre Jeunet, the slapstick stylist and fantasist best known for his sci-fi cannibal comedy Delicatessen. Bon appetit. (Nov. 2)

The Man Who Wasn’t There Joel Coen split the director’s prize at Cannes this year (with David Lynch) for this black-and-white noir piece about a cuckolded barber (Billy Bob Thornton) who decides to take a little off the top of his wife’s lover (James Gandolfini). Thornton is said to be excellent, and the cast includes Frances McDormand, Michael Badalucco, and Ghost World’s Scarlett Johansson. (Nov. 2)

Windtalkers John Woo directed this World War I drama based on the U.S. military’s use of “code talkers,” Navajo soldiers whose oral tradition allowed them to memorize and transmit complex codes. Nicolas Cage is the serviceman assigned to protect code talker Adam Beach—or kill him if he falls into enemy hands. If this does well, maybe it will inspire someone to give Woo’s tremendous Vietnam War epic Bullet in the Head its first U.S. release. (Nov. 9)

Ali Will Smith as Muhammad Ali? The previews of a fleet, bulked-up Smith doing Ali’s electrifying trash-talking have made us believers. Michael Mann’s biopic follows the champ from his early success as Cassius Clay to his emerging social consciousness and his outspoken stance against the Vietnam War. Mario Van Peebles plays Malcolm X; Jeffrey Wright is photographer Howard Bingham. However the rest intrigues you, you’ll definitely want to see Jon Voight as Howard Cosell. (Dec. 7)

Ocean’s 11 The Rat Pack artifact gets a big-budget, all-star retooling by director/cinematographer Steven Soderbergh (Erin Brockovich), whose ability to invest high-concept studio projects with visual and formal invention is all but unmatched. The plot involves a scheme to knock over several Las Vegas casinos in a single night; George Clooney is Frank Sinatra, Brad Pitt is Dean Martin, Julia Roberts is Angie Dickinson, and Elliott Gould is...thanking his agent. (Dec. 7)

Vanilla Sky Tom Cruise, Penelope Cruz—what, they couldn’t get Harry Crews? Cameron Crowe (Almost Famous) wrote and directed this American remake of Alejandro Amenábar’s Spanish thriller Open Your Eyes, in which a disfigured playboy (Cruise) gets a new face, a new romantic interest—and new reasons to think he’s losing his mind. (Dec. 15)

Gosford Park Described in initial press reports as director Robert Altman’s tip of the hat to Jean Renoir’s The Rules of the Game, this ensemble piece examines mores—and murder—among the upper classes during a weekend shooting party in 1930s England. The cast alone guarantees interest: Richard E. Grant, Helen Mirren, Kristin Scott Thomas, Emily Watson, Michael Gambon, Alan Bates, and Clive Owen, with Ryan Phillippe and Bob Balaban as token Americans. (Dec. 21)

Gangs of New York Martin Scorsese recalls the good old days of New York vice in the fall’s most hotly anticipated film: a large-scale adaptation of Herbert Asbury’s history of 19th-century NYC street gangs. Leonardo DiCaprio battles Daniel Day-Lewis for dominance, which sounds like anything but a fair fight; various cronies and combatants include Cameron Diaz, John C. Reilly, Liam Neeson, and Jim Broadbent. Watch for Nashvillian Maura O’Connell as a songbird of the streets. (Dec. 21)

The Royal Tenenbaums The new comedy from Rushmore director Wes Anderson and his star/co-writer Owen Wilson concerns a family of teen geniuses whose early promise came to a crushing halt. Now grown, the children (played by Ben Stiller, Luke Wilson, and Gwyneth Paltrow) must face their bitter feelings toward their estranged father (Gene Hackman). The ensemble includes Bill Murray, Anjelica Huston, Danny Glover, and Seymour Cassel—not exactly the Max Fischer Players. (Dec. 25)