Fall review film listings.

September

8 Women. A who's who of French divas--including Catherine Deneuve, Isabelle Huppert, and Fanny Ardant--is brought together by gay director Francois Ozon (Criminal Lovers, Under the Sand) for this comedic murder mystery-musical set in an isolated mansion in 1950s France. Watch for Ardant's come-ons to Deneuve. (Focus Features)

His Secret Life. Ferzan Ozpetek (Steam) directs this story of a woman whose husband's death in a car accident leads to her discovery that he was living a secret life and had a gay lover. Set in Italy, the film stars Margherita Buy as the wife and Stefano Accorsi as the lover. (Strand Releasing)

October

Auto Focus. The story of Hogan's Heroes star Bob Crane and his secret life of pornography and drugs gets the big-screen treatment from hard-hitter Paul Schrader, with Greg Kinnear as Crane and Willem Dafoe as his partner in crime Johnny Carpenter. Watch out for the orgy scene, when Crane catches Carpenter's finger straying away from the ladies. (Sony Pictures Classics)

Food of Love. A love triangle intertwines an aspiring pianist (Kevin Bishop), a jaded one (Paul Rhys), and the maestro's lover (Allan Corduner) in this adaptation of David Leavitt's novel The Page Turner. As the three move from San Francisco to Barcelona to New York City, there's even time for a scene in group therapy in which suburban housewives discuss safe gay sex. (TLA Releasing)

Frida. Actor-producer Salma Hayek's labor-of-love movie is the true story of legendary Mexican painter Frida Kahlo and her lifelong love affair with Diego Rivera (Alfred Molina), although Julie Taymor's film doesn't shy away from Kahlo's many dalliances with women. A star-studded cast includes Ashley Judd, Antonio Banderas, and Ed Norton as Nelson Rockefeller. (Miramax)

Gerry. Gus Van Sant's highly experimental movie follows two friends (both named Gerry) as they get seriously lost on a desert hike. With little dialogue or plot and crawling along at a snail's pace, the film is open to interpretation--but there's no shortage of suggestion in the relationship between the two lead characters, played by Matt Damon and Casey Affleck. (ThinkFilm)

Hush! Ryosuke Hashiguchi's Japanese comedy deals with a gay man who is approached by a young woman to be her sperm donor. Coming out to family, issues of gay parenting, and universal themes of relationships are all here in the latest film from the director of Like Grains of Sand (1995) and A Touch of Fever (1992). (Strand Releasing)

Love in the Time of Money. This feature film from stage director Peter Mattei follows the lives of nine New Yorkers, kicking off with out actor Malcolm Gets as a married man, tired of his wife (Jill Hennessy), who comes out and comes on to an artist (Steve Buscemi) in his studio loft. The straight Buscemi is almost powerless to refuse him. (ThinkFilm)

The Rules of Attraction. The latest big-screen adaptation of a Bret Easton Ellis novel follows the younger brother (James Van Der Beek) of American Psycho's Patrick Bateman and the brother's crazy college friends. Never mind ultrastraight Van Der Beek's lame, imaginary same-sex smooch--check out former male model Ian Somerhalder as out gay lead character Paul, whose memorable dance on a hotel room bed with weird friend Dick (Russell Sams) to George Michael's "Faith" is one of the film's best scenes. (Lions Gate)

November

8 Mile. Rap megastar Eminem could reveal where his alleged homophobia comes from in this fictional drama set in the city limits of his hometown, Detroit, known as "8 Mile." Certainly he's working with some high-powered talent, including director Curtis Hanson and costars Brittany Murphy, Mekhi Phifer, and Kim Basinger (as his mom). (Universal)

Far From Heaven. Todd Haynes is back behind the camera for the first time since 1998's Velvet Goldmine with this lush homage to Douglas Sirk melodramas, in which a privileged 1950s housewife (Julianne Moore) has to deal with gossipy neighbors, a sexually confused husband (Dennis Quaid), and her growing relationship with her "Negro" gardener (Dennis Haysbert). (USA Films)

Femme Fatale. Brian DePalma returns to his flashy thriller roots with Femme Fatale, a deliciously preposterous piece that follows a glamorous bisexual jewel thief (played by supermodel Rebecca Romijn-Stamos) who assumes the identity of a look-alike who has committed suicide. Opening with a steamy lesbian love scene in the bathrooms of the Palais des Festivals at the Cannes Film Festival, the movie also involves Antonio Banderas as a cameraman in hot pursuit of her--and he poses as gay at one point. (Warner Bros.)

Smokers Only. A hard-hitting story about the obsession a disillusioned young woman develops with a handsome gay hustler who hangs around an ATM station in central Buenos Aires waiting for clients. Veronica Chen's directorial debut paints a bleak portrait of the Argentine capital's rent-boy subculture. (Strand Releasing)

Talk to Her. The latest opus from Spain's greatest filmmaker, Pedro Almodovar, may not be specifically gay in theme, but all the director's trademark sensibilities are at play in the colorful story of the love of two men for two women--both of whom are in comas. (Sony Pictures Classics)

The Weight of Water. There are strong lesbian undercurrents in Kathryn Bigelow's adaptation of Anita Shreve's novel, set partly in the present day and partly on the remote Isles of Shoals off New England in the 1800s. Best is the period story, in which Sarah Polley excels as the young Norwegian immigrant bound to her brother and to his alluring young wife (Vinessa Shaw). (Lions Gate)

December

Chicago. Gods and Monsters director Bill Condon wrote the movie adaptation of the smash Broadway musical, which teams Renee Zellweger as murderous Roxie Hart, Catherine Zeta-Jones as jealous convict Velma Kelley, Richard Gere as attorney Billy Flynn, and Queen Latifah as warden Mama Morton. Stage vet Rob Marshall makes his directorial debut. (Miramax)