For all the crazed media attention, you would think that the only movie Hollywood produced all year was The Dark Knight. Heath Ledger’s death generated more than usual interest for a comic book movie, and the deafening roar of approval and gargantuan box office success obliterated nearly every other story. If you weren’t paying attention, you might not have noticed that two other heroes, Iron Man and Indiana Jones, each grossed over $300 million here in the States, or the $215 million-plus twin animated smashes of Wall-E and Kung Fu Panda. And heaven forbid that the fat, balding, straight, white guy critics would deign to acknowledge the two chick flick hits, Sex and the City ($150 million in the States) and Mamma Mia ($350 million worldwide).

So, no, The Dark Knight has not been the only Hollywood story in 2008, and thankfully, the summer, which is all about box office, is over. Its time for the autumn harvest of prestige films designed to reap critics’ awards and Oscar nominations. But last year’s three-month writers’ strike slowed down production to such a crawl that this year looks pretty lean, with the studios holding out all of their award contenders until the holidays. So the fall season is looking suspiciously like summer, with only a few serious films and most of the rest aimed at a predominately male audience.

ACTION

Bangkok Dangerous (September 5) sees a hit man (Nicolas Cage) attempt to go straight by falling in love with a local woman, but forces keep pulling him back into the killing biz. In Eagle Eye (September 26), a young man (Shia LaBeouf) becomes an unwitting member of a terrorist cell plotting a political assassination. An interracial couple (Patrick Wilson, Kerry Washington) move to Lakeview Terrace (September 19) and come into conflict with their next door neighbor, an LAPD cop (Samuel L. Jackson) who has a problem with their relationship. Max Payne (October 17) is a video game adaptation, starring Mark Wahlberg as a DEA agent trying to solve his family’s murders while staving off supernatural forces. RocknRolla (October 10) is another one of Guy Ritchie’s British gangster movies, starring Gerard Butler and Tom Wilkinson as perpetrators of a London real estate scam.

ANIMATION

After several years of too many animated films cannibalizing one another, this year sees the genre return to sanity with fewer releases. The only major animated film to come out this season is Igor (September 19), putting Dr. Frankenstein’s hunchbacked assistant (John Cusack) front and center. It is funny for kids, and just smart-alecky and twisted enough for adults.

BIOGRAPHY

W. (October 17) is not a straightforward biopic, so much as director Oliver Stone’s comic rumination on the life and presidency of George W. Bush (Josh Brolin). As he attempts to follow in the footsteps of his father (James Cromwell), W. nearly wrecks the country in the process. The big questions are whether or not the populace is sick to death of this man (George, not Oliver) and how this might galvanize the Republicans to retaliate in November’s general election.

COMEDY

Adrien Brody and Mark Ruffalo star as The Brothers Bloom (October 24), veteran conmen who may have met their match in an enigmatic weathy woman (Rachel Weisz). After last year’s Oscar winning Best Picture, No Country For Old Men, the Coen Brothers return with Burn After Reading (September 12), starring Brad Pitt, Frances McDormand, George Clooney, Tilda Swinton and John Malkovich, about two gym employees who attempt to scam a CIA agent. Fanboys (September 19) sees four friends attempt to break into George Lucas’ Skywalker Ranch to steal an advance copy of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace to fulfill the dying wish of a terminally ill friend.

Ghost Town (September 19) has Ricky Gervais surviving a near-death experience but coming out of it with the ability to communicate with dead people. Mike Leigh’s character comedy Happy-Go-Lucky (October 17) sees a school teacher (Sally Hawkins) keep her sense of humor despite a string of bitter disappointments. British funnyman Simon Pegg plays a magazine contributor who burns too many bridges along the way to success in How to Lose Friends & Alienate People (October 3). Sex Drive (October 10) is a moronic teen sex comedy about a high school senior who travels from Chicago to Knoxville in a car he borrowed from his brother to hook up with a babe he met online.

Synecdoche, New York (October 24) is writer-director Charlie Kaufman’s latest meta-comedy, this one about a theatre director (Philip Seymour Hoffman), who struggles with women and career as he attempts to create a life-size replica of New York City inside a warehouse. What Just Happened? (October 3) is a Hollywood satire that chronicles two weeks in the life of a fading producer (Robert De Niro) who’s having a rough time trying to get his new movie made.

COPS & ROBBERS

Pride and Glory (October 24) stars Edward Norton, Colin Farrell and Noah Emmerich as members of a prominent family of New York cops shaken when Norton uncovers a scandal at his sibling’s precinct. Righteous Kill (September 12) features Oscar winners Robert De Niro and Al Pacino playing cat-and-mouse with each other as they attempt to unravel a string of murders that connect to a case they solved years ago.

DOCUMENTARY

Morning Light (October 17) follows fifteen young sailors after they are chosen for a six-month training in order to compete in one of the most challenging open-ocean sailing races in the world. Religulous (October 3) is Bill Maher’s controversial look at the beliefs and tenets of all organized religions of the world.

DRAMA

Tyler Perry’s The Family That Preys (September 12) follows old friends Kathy Bates and Alfre Woodard as they embark on a cross-country road trip together. I’ve Loved You For So Long (October 31) is a French-language drama, starring Kristin Scott Thomas as a woman attempting to rebuild her family relationships after a 15-year estrangement.

FAMILY

Beverly Hills Chihuahua (October 3) sees a pampered Beverly Hills pooch named Chloe (voiced by Drew Barrymore) get lost in Mexico while on vacation. City of Ember (October 10) is a fantasy about a girl who attempts to save her underground city before their power source goes out forever. The TV sensation comes to the big screen in High School Musical 3: Senior Year (October 24), as Zac Efron and Vanessa Anne Hudgens struggle with the idea of being separated from one another as college approaches.

HORROR

The Haunting of Molly Hartley (October 31) occurs as a troubled teen starts at a new school but finds that her horrific past has followed her. In Passengers (October 24), a grief counselor (Anne Hathaway) working with a group of plane-crash survivors finds herself at the root of a mystery when her clients begin to disappear. Quarantine (October 10) mixes Blair Witch Project and Cloverfield as residents are locked into their apartment building by the CDC to contain some unknown virus. The season’s only sequel so far, Saw V (October 24) offers more blood-and-guts, slice-and-dice trickery.

LITERARY ADAPTATIONS

Blindness (September 19) strikes everyone in a big city except for Julianne Moore, who must decide if she should worry about the rest of humanity or simply save herself. Body of Lies (October 10) reteams director Ridley Scott with favorite actor Russell Crowe and adds Leonardo DiCaprio in this tale of anti-terrorism espionage. From the writer of Fight Club, Choke (September 26) is a quirky comedy about a sex-addicted con man (Sam Rockwell) who pays for his mother’s (Anjelica Huston) hospital bills by pretending to choke in fancy restaurants. Nights in Rodanthe (September 26) is a swooning romance, starring Diane Lane and Richard Gere, who fall in love at a North Carolina inn. Based on Dancing With Shiva, Rachel Getting Married (October 3) gives recovering addict Kym (Anne Hathaway) a chance to reunite with her family at her sister’s wedding. The Secret Life of Bees (October 17) follows Dakota Fanning as she flees her abusive family, with Jennifer Hudson in tow, and moves in with an eccentric trio of beekeeping sisters.

MESSAGE MOVIES

Battle in Seattle (September 19) documents activists (Charlize Theron, Woody Harrelson) disrupting a meeting of the World Trade Organization in Seattle in 1999. Crossing Over (October 24) is a Crash-like look at immigration, starring Harrison Ford, Sean Penn, Ashley Judd and many others. Towelhead (September 12) looks at an Arab-American teenager’s struggles to find love and acceptance in new surroundings.

PERIOD PIECE

Changeling (October 24) is director Clint Eastwood’s examination of the real-life case of a 1920s Los Angeles mother (Angelina Jolie), who thought her missing son was switched with another child as part of a government conspiracy. The Duchess (September 26) chronicles the life of Georgiana Cavendish (Kiera Knightley), the 18th century aristocrat and ancestor of Princess Diana, who endured a difficult marriage to the Duke of Devonshire (Ralph Fiennes). Flash of Genius (October 17) is the true story of Robert Kearns (Greg Kinnear), inventor of windshield wipers, who sued the automotive industry for stealing his idea.

REMAKE

The Women (September 12) brings a contemporary slant to the 1939 classic of friends (Meg Ryan, Annette Bening, Jada Pinkett Smith, Debra Messing) dealing with marriage, divorce, philandering husbands and opportunistic mistresses (Eva Mendes).

ROMANCE

My Best Friend’s Girl (September 19) is Kate Hudson, who falls for the womanizing jerk (Dane Cook) hired by Hudson’s boyfriend (Jason Biggs) to repulse her. Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist (October 3) is a mainstream love story set amidst NYC’s queer-core punk scene. Zack and Miri Make a Porno (October 31) watches as lifelong platonic friends Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks look to solve their respective cash flow problems by making an adult film together.

SPORTS

The Express (October 3) is a drama based on the life of Ernie Davis (Rob Brown), a high school football standout who is recruited by Syracuse University, where he becomes the first African-American to win the Heisman Trophy.

WAR

The Lucky Ones (September 26) takes a road trip with three Iraq War soldiers (Tim Robbins, Rachel McAdams, Michael Pena) on leave, as they pool their resources and energies to reunite with loved ones back home. Miracle at St. Anna (September 26) is Spike Lee’s account of a battalion of black soldiers trapped in a Tuscan village during WWII.

WESTERN

Appaloosa (September 17) is an Arizona town protected by lawmen Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen, whose efforts to end the reign of a tyrannical rancher (Jeremy Iron) are interrupted by the arrival of a double-dealing widow (Renee Zellweger).