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Prey For Rock and Roll Drama about an all-girl punk band trying, despite their turbulent personal lives, to find breakthrough success in the Los Angeles music world. Based on musician Cheri Lovedog’s autobiographical rock musical. Alex Steyermark makes his feature directorial debut from a screenplay by Lovedog and Robin Whitehouse. With Gina Gershon (“Driven,” “Demonlover”), Drea de Matteo (“Deuces Wild”), Lori Petty (“Clubland”), Shelly Cole (TV’s “Gilmore Girls”), Marc Blucas (“I Capture the Castle”), Ivan Martin (“People I Know”), Sandra Seacat (“Crazy in Alabama”) and Nancy Pimental (“Dumb and Dumberer”). Also known as “My Favorite Sin.” 104 min. R: Language; sexual content; drug use; brief violence. Oct. 3 in Los Angeles and San Francisco; Oct. 17 in New York. MAC.   Runaway Jury Legal thriller, set in New Orleans, about a juror who conspires with his girlfriend to manipulate a jury deciding a landmark gun-lobby case. Based on the novel by John Grisham (“A Time To Kill,” “The Rainmaker”). Directed by Gary Fleder (“Don’t Say a Word,” “Impostor”) from a screenplay by Brian Koppelman & David Levien (“Rounders,” “Knockaround Guys”). With John Cusack (“Identity”), Rachel Weisz (“Confidence”), Dustin Hoffman (“Confidence”), Gene Hackman (“The Royal Tenenbaums”) and Jeremy Piven (“Old School,” “Scary Movie 3”). Scope. PG-13: Violence; language; thematic elements. Oct. 17. Fox.   School of Rock Comedy about a down-and-out rock musician who finds himself forced to impersonate a 5th-grade substitute teacher to make ends meet. Directed by Richard Linklater (“Waking Life,” “Tape”) from a screenplay by Mike White (“Orange County,” “The Good Girl”). With White (“The Good Girl”), Jack Black (“Orange County”), Sarah Silverman (“Evolution”), Joan Cusack (“Where the Heart Is”), Cole Hawkins (“Changing Lanes”), Joanna Adler (“Down To You,” “The Event”) and Lauren Adler (“Mona Lisa Smile”). Flat. 110 min. PG-13: Some rude humor; drug references. Oct. 3. Paramount. The Singing Detective Drama, set in 1950s Chicago, about a pulp novelist whose painful skin rash causes him to hallucinate and blend the details of his life with those of his long-out-of-print detective series. Based on the 1986 BBC miniseries. Directed by Keith Gordon (“Waking the Dead”) from a screenplay by Dennis Potter (“Pennies From Heaven,” “Track 29”). With Robert Downey Jr. (“Wonder Boys,” “Gothika”), Robin Wright Penn (“White Oleander”), Katie Holmes (“Phone Booth,” “Pieces of April”), Carla Gugino (“Spy Kids 3D: Game Over”), Mel Gibson (“Signs”), Jeremy Northam (“Possession”) and Adrien Brody (“Love the Hard Way,” “Dummy”). Flat. 109 min. R: Strong sexual content; language; some violence. Oct. 24 limited. Paramount Classics.   Sylvia Examination of the troubled and tragic marriage of British poet laureate Ted Hughes and American poet Sylvia Plath, who eventually killed herself following several failed suicide attempts. Based on Hughes’ collection of poems “Birthday Letters.” Directed by Christine Jeffs (“Rain”) from a screenplay by John Brownlow. With Gwyneth Paltrow (“View From the Top”), Daniel Craig (“Road to Perdition”), Amira Casar (the TV miniseries “Arabian Nights”), Blythe Danner (“The Invisible Circus”), Lucy Davenport (“Gangs of New York”), Michael Gambon (“Open Range”), Jared Harris (“Igby Goes Down,” “Dummy”) and Eliza Wade. R: Sexuality/nudity; language. Oct. 17 in New York and Los Angeles; wider Oct. 24. Focus.   Veronica Guerin Drama, based on a true story, about the Dublin journalist who was murdered in 1996 after she wrote a series of revealing articles about various local crime figures. Directed by Joel Schumacher (“Bad Company,” “Phone Booth”) from a screenplay by Carol Doyle (“Washington Square”) and Mary Agnes Donoghue (“Deceived,” “White Oleander”). With Cate Blanchett (“Heaven,” the “Lord of the Rings” series), Brenda Fricker (“Masterminds”), Darragh Kelly (“Nora”), Ciarán Hinds (“Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life”) and Gerard McSorley (“Bloody Sunday”). Scope. 98 min. R: Violence; language; some drug content. Oct. 17. Buena Vista. Returner Japanese-language sci-fi thriller about a time-traveler from the future who teams with an assassin to prevent an impending alien invasion. Written and directed by Takashi Yamazaki. With Takeshi Kaneshiro (“Fallen Angels”), Ann Suzuki (“Snow Falling on Cedars”), Kirin Kiki (“The Mystery of Rampo”), Goro Kishitani and Yukiko Okamoto. Flat. 116 min. Oct. 17. IDP. Classics.   Scary Movie 3 The third installment of the “Scary Movie” franchise, this time spoofing, among other things, “Signs,” “The Ring,” “Hulk” and “8 Mile.” Returnees from parts one and two include actors Anna Faris (“May”) and Regina Hall (“Malibu’s Most Wanted”). Newcomers to the series include director David Zucker (“BASEketball,” “My Boss’s Daughter”), screenwriters Pat Proft (“Wrongfully Accused”) and Craig Mazin (“Rocket Man,” “Senseless”), and actors Charlie Sheen (“Being John Malkovich”), Denise Richards (“Empire”), Eddie Griffin (“Undercover Brother”), Queen Latifah (“Bringing Down the House”), Peter Boyle (“The Santa Clause 2”), Anthony Anderson (“Malibu’s Most Wanted”), Leslie Nielsen (“Wrongfully Accused,” “Men With Brooms”) and Jeremy Piven (“Old School,” “Runaway Jury”). Oct. 24. Miramax.   Shattered Glass Drama based on the true story of former New Republic associate editor Stephen Glass, whose career derailed after editors discovered many of the sources in his stories had been fabricated. Screenwriter Billy Ray ("Hart’s War”) makes his feature directorial debut from his own screenplay. With Hayden Christensen (“Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones”), Chloë Sevigny (“American Psycho,” “Party Monster,” “Demonlover”), Melanie Lynskey (“Abandon”), Steve Zahn (“Daddy Day Care”) and Greg Kinnear (“Auto Focus”). Scope. PG-13: Language; sexual references; brief drug use. Oct. 17 in New York and Los Angeles. Lions Gate.   The Station Agent Comedy-drama, set in rural New Jersey, about a dwarf loner (with a passion for trains) who finds himself drawn into the lives of two others: an intrusive hot dog vendor and an emotionally-scarred artist. Actor Thomas McCarthy (“The Guru”) makes his feature directorial debut from his own screenplay. With Peter Dinklage (“Human Nature,” “Just a Kiss”), Patricia Clarkson (“All the Real Girls,” “Pieces of April”), Bobby Cannavale (“Washington Heights”), Michelle Williams (“Me Without You”), Raven Goodwin (“Lovely and Amazing”), Paul Benjamin (“Rosewood”) and Richard Kind (“Confessions of a Dangerous Mind”). Flat. 88 min. R: Language; some drug content. Oct. 3 in New York and Los Angeles. Miramax.     Texas Chainsaw Massacre Remake of 1974 horror thriller about five young adults in rural Texas who find themselves subjected to the wrath of a chainsaw-wielding maniac and his sadistic family. Veteran music-video director Marcus Nispel (No Doubt’s “Spiderwebs,” Gloria Estefan’s “Turn the Beat Around”) makes his feature directorial debut from a screenplay by Scott Kosar. With Eric Balfour (“America’s Sweethearts”), Jessica Biel (“The Rules of Attraction”), Jonathan Tucker (“The Deep End”), Erica Leerhsen (“Hollywood Ending”), Lauren German (“A Walk to Remember”) and Mike Vogel (“Grind”). Flat. 100 min. R: Strong horror violence/gore; language; drug content. Oct. 17. New Line.     Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself Romantic comedy-drama, set in Glasgow, Scotland, about two brothers who find their lives transformed by a harried single mother. Lone Scherfig (“Italian For Beginners”) makes his English-language directorial debut from a screenplay by Scherfig and Anders Thomas Jensen (“Open Hearts”). With Jamie Sives (“Mean Machine”), Adrian Rawlins (the “Harry Potter” series), Shirley Henderson (“Once Upon A Time in the Midlands,” “Hypnotic”), Susan Vidler (“Trainspotting”), Robert McIntosh and Lisa McKinlay. Scope. 122 min. Oct. 24 in New York; wider Nov. 7. ThinkFilm. Anything Else Romantic comedy, set in New York, about a frustrated comedy writer who contemplates dumping both his low-rent manager and his sexually dysfunctional actress-girlfriend. Written and directed by Woody Allen (“The Curse of the Jade Scorpion,” “Hollywood Ending”). With Allen (“Hollywood Ending”), Christina Ricci (“Pumpkin”), Jason Biggs (“American Wedding”), Jimmy Fallon (“Almost Famous”), Danny DeVito (“Death to Smoochy”), Stockard Channing (“Le Divorce”) and singer Diane Krall. R: A scene of drug use; some sexual references. Sept. 19. DreamWorks.     Dummy Comedy about a young introvert who learns to express himself with ventriloquism. Written and directed by Greg Pritikin. With Adrien Brody (“Love the Hard Way,” “The Singing Detective”), Milla Jovovich (“Resident Evil”), Illeana Douglas (“The Adventures of Pluto Nash”), Vera Farmiga (“Dust”), Jessica Walter (“Slums of Beverly Hills”) and Jared Harris (“Igby Goes Down,” “Sylvia”). 90 min. Sept. 12. Artisan.       Mambo Italiano Comedy, set in Montreal, about an Italian immigrant couple who discover that their son – who recently defied his family’s traditional wishes by getting a place of his own – has invited his new male lover to live with him. Based on the play by Steve Galluccio. Written and directed by Emile Gaudreault. With Luke Kirby ("Halloween Resurrection"), Ginette Reno ("It’s Your Turn, Laura”), Paul Sorvino (“See Spot Run,” “Ciao America”), Claudia Ferri (“Stardom”), Johnny Griffin and Peter Miller. 99 min. R: Language; sexual situations. Sept. 19 in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. IDP.   To Be and To Have Documentary about a rural single-class French school (with students ranging in age from four to 10) and its soon-to-retire teacher. Directed by Nicolas Philibert. Also known as “Etre et Avoir.” Flat. 104 min. Sept. 19 in New York and Los Angeles. New Yorker. Demonlover Thriller about a female exec who, while working to undermine a deal between two multinational corporations, discovers a link between one of the companies and an on-line torture site. Written and directed by Olivier Assayas (“Late August, Early September,” “Les Destinées”). With Connie Nielsen (“Basic”), Chloë Sevigny (“American Psycho,” “Party Monster,” “Shattered Glass”), Gina Gershon (“Driven,” “Prey for Rock and Roll”), Charles Berling (“How I Killed My Father”) and Jean-Baptiste Malartre (“Les Destinées”). 120 min. Sept. 19 limited. Palm.     Luster Comedy-drama about a skateboarder who spends a weekend wandering Los Angeles’ homosexual neighborhoods in search of a sex partner. Written and directed by Everett Lewis. With Justin Herwick (“Broken Vessels”), Sean Thibodeau (“The Ladies Man”), Pamela Gidley (“The Little Vampire”), Shane Powers, Barry Wyatt and Jonah Blechman. 90 min. Sept. 12. TLA.   Taking Sides Drama, based on a true story of post-World War II Berlin, about a hard-nosed U.S. officer chosen to investigate and interrogate the famous Berlin Philharmonic conductor Wilhelm Furtwangler during the Allied de-Nazification trials. Based on the 1995 play by Ronald Harwood. Directed by István Szabó (“Sunshine”) from a screenplay by Harwood (“The Pianist”). With Harvey Keitel (“Red Dragon”), Moritz Bleibtreu (“Das Experiment”), Stellan Skarsgård (“City of Ghosts”), Birgit Minichmayr (“The Farewell”) and Ulrich Tukur (“Bonhoeffer”). Flat. 108 min. Sept. 5 in New York and Los Angeles. New Yorker.