Coming out of a hot summer and a very cold box office, the fall lineup leaves little hope for a less gloomy forecast. Perhaps it’s time for studios to pay attention to the indie world once more, or just pay more attention to film investments during production, cutting off future M. Night Shyamalans before they burrow their way into feature films.

Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley and Emma Watson as Hermione Granger in Warner Bros. Pictures' fantasy adventure "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I.” (Photo by Jaap Buitendijk)

“The American”, out yesterday, feels like “The Road”, a top-notch novel with mixed feelings about a big screen debut. Still, it’s hard to dislike George Clooney. Robert Rodriguez continues his Grindhouse obsession tomorrow with “Machette”, the story of a Mexican ex-military action hero.

James Cameron’s new film technology is about to hit IMAXs once more. Is it a new “Star Wars” film? Nope. How about an epic fantasy film? Not at all. It’s “Resident Evil: Afterline” (September10), the fourth installment of the videogame adaptation of a world plagued by zombies. Prepare for guts in 3-D at a theater near you (insert joke here).

Ben Affleck follows his critical success, “Gone Baby Gone”, with “The Town” (September 17), a story about two cops, played by Ben Affleck and Jeremy Renner, who moonlight as bank thieves. It could be interesting, but if you’re as bored as I am with organized crime films, then who cares?

I hate to admit it, but I’m curious about “Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole” (September 24). From the studio responsible for the yawn-fest, “Happy Feat”, director, Zack Snyder (“300” and “Watchmen”), will try his hand at a children’s series, placing owls center stage. Daring, but if penguins – the most immobile bird – had their chance in the spotlight, then why not owls?

Michael Douglas reprises his role as the greedy man himself, Gordon Gekko, in “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps”. Too bad director, Oliver Stone, hasn’t made a decent film since the ‘90s and Douglas’ co-star, Shia LaBeouf, seems to be a death omen for franchises (“Indiana Jones” and “Transformers”).

“Cloverfield” director, Matt Reeves, is back with a remake of the 2008 Swedish horror film, “Let the Right One In”, a beautifully told tale about a 12-year-old boy who meets a vampire who’s been 12 for some time. Retitled, “Let Me In” (October 1), “Kick-Ass” star, Chloe Moretz, plays the young bloodsucker in what could be a bloody surprise or a bloody mess (though it’s sad there’s even an American remake of a foreign film that stands on its own).

The middle of October will bring two very promising films, “Jackass 3-D” and “Red”. Johnny Knoxville and his crew of imbeciles are sure to keep the laughs crass and the gags incredibly painful in the third big-screen installment of the MTV hit TV show.

“The Hangover” director, Todd Phillips, has another promising comedy, this time uniting “Hangover” star, Zach Galifianakis, with Robert Downey, Jr. in road movie, “Due Date” (November 5).

The same weekend, DreamWorks Animation steps up its game with a third film this year, “Megamind”, upping the supervillain game “Despicable Me” started with a costumed villain, voiced by Will Ferrell, fighting against a cocky superhero, voiced by Brad Pitt.

“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I” tells the first half of the final chapter of the wizarding saga that’s captured the imaginations of a worldwide audience for six films now. With director, David Yates, at the helm, it’s hard to imagine this one going wrong.

December looks a little skimpy compared to past years, but Darren Aronosky’s (“Requiem for a Dream” and “The Wrestler”) “Black Swan” (December 1) is sure to keep things psychedelic as Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis compete for ballet roles while they also fall prey to an unknown darkness.

The big blockbusters in the final days of the year are “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” and “TRON: Legacy”.

With a new director and studio, I truly hope my favorite “Narnia” book in C.S. Lewis’ beloved series won’t be held back by the prior films’ mediocre successes. Rather than a remake, “TRON” returns with Jeff Bridges in a virtual world that’s gone terribly wrong though the visual effects look much more promising.

Christmas Eve brings in two weak competitors to end it all: a Jack Black version of “Gulliver’s Travels”, pitted against “Little Fockers”.

The lukewarm appeal of these two films serve as the perfect metaphor for the fall film season, and the year for that matter: it all looks good enough but nothing seems to be as awe-inspiring as anything else from the previous decade.