There came a point this summer when six words began to strike dread in my heart: "Based on the comic book by …"

Don't get me wrong. "The Dark Knight" and "Iron Man" offered incredible visual experiences and generated new excitement about seeing movies in theaters, which is great. But there are only so many gadgets and troubled/transformed protagonists one can take before wanting something different.

Like a movie based on a novel that isn't graphic. And women in lead roles. Good thing fall always follows summer, then, bringing with it the smaller, prestige films of awards season.

But those can get tiresome, too. How many dramas about dysfunctional families can one person take? It's possible that by mid-November I will begin to yearn for comic book films.

With an eye toward the all-important concept of variety, I have compiled a list of 25 films to look out for in the 2008 fall and holiday seasons. This list is based partly on early awards buzz, partly on what the kids are talking about ("Twilight"; "High School Musical 3"), and partly on curiosity factor ("Beverly Hills Chihuahua").

Dates are subject to change, and a few of the holiday-season probably will spill into early 2009:

Miracle at St. Anna – Spike Lee directs this story of four soldiers (Derek Luke, Michael Ealy, Laz Alonso and Omar Benson Miller) stuck behind enemy lines in Italy during World War II. One of the most visually exciting directors working today, Lee has never made a big war movie, but he's done just about everything else, and already has shown, with "Malcolm X," that he can work on a larger, historical scale. (Sept. 26)

Beverly Hills Chihuahua – Drew Barrymore voices the role of Chloe, a pampered pooch from Beverly Hills lost in Mexico and in search of home. Salma Hayek and George Lopez lend their voices as well. The trailer depicts chihuahuas engaging in computer-manipulated dancing and singing. This is an actual movie? It's really happening? (Oct. 3)

The Duchess – Keira Knightley plays Georgiana Spencer, 18th century Duchess of Devonshire and part of the line of aristocratic Spencers that later included Diana, Princess of Wales. Ralph Fiennes is the creepy Duke of Devonshire. Knightley shines in period dramas, but at this point, it would be nice to see her wearing jeans and playing a modern heroine. (Oct. 3)

Flash of Genius – Greg Kinnear plays the real-life inventor of the intermittent windshield wiper, a guy who for years sought legal and financial acknowledgment from the big automakers. The genial Kinnear does well when he plays obsessed guys, as he did in "Little Miss Sunshine" and "Auto Focus," which wasn't about the car industry at all. (Oct. 3)

Body of Lies – Ridley Scott directs frequent collaborator Russell Crowe, who plays a canny CIA official manipulating an operative in the field (Leonardo DiCaprio). Scott's last matchup of two big stars in a tough-guy film ("American Gangster") worked well, so this one looks promising. (Oct. 10)

W. – After his restrained, respectful "World Trade Center," Oliver Stone appears to have returned to his provocateur ways, if this film's trailer, which depicts a hard-partying young George W. Bush (Josh Brolin), is any indication. Judging by the fishbowl-angle shots, the tone looks seriocomic. Or maybe just comic. (Oct. 17)

The Secret Life of Bees – In this adaptation of Sue Monk Kidd's best-seller, a girl (Dakota Fanning) leaves her troubled home in Georgia, along with the family's housekeeper (Jennifer Hudson), for a South Carolina town that holds clues to her late mother's past. There she meets a trio of beekeeping sisters played by Queen Latifah, Alicia Keys and Sophie Okonedo ("Hotel Rwanda") (Oct. 17)

Pride and Glory – This saga of corruption and filial bonds among Irish American New York City cops has been sitting in the can for a while, perhaps because it seemed like it should star Mark Wahlberg yet did not. It stars Colin Farrell and Edward Norton as cops and brothers-in-law. Sacramento's own Joe Carnahan co-wrote the screenplay. (Oct. 24)