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From studio execs to Joe Multiplex, everyone agrees it's been a long, painful summer. The good news for fall? Class appears to be back in session.
It's not just the return of actors who can act (Kevin Spacey in K-PAX and The Shipping News, Hilary Swank in The Affair of the Necklace, Daniel Day-Lewis in Gangs of New York) and top-flight directors (Cameron Crowe with Vanilla Sky, Steven Soderbergh with Ocean's 11, Martin Scorsese with Gangs of New York). It's not even the prospect of A-list stars hoping to prove their dramatic chops (Will Smith in Ali, Jim Carrey in The Majestic, Leonardo DiCaprio in, um, Gangs of New York), or the twin pop-lit juggernauts of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and The Fellowship of the Ring.
No, a glance at the films in our annual autumn roundup hints that after a season in which gizmo flicks have appeared and flamed out like so many steroid-enhanced fireflies, the good people of Hollywood now seem to be focusing on craft. It's what you might call turning over a new leaf.
