As I was thinking of what to include in my annual Fall Preview this year, the sheer number of risky films coming out of Hollywood this year impressed me. Numerous period epics, literary adaptations and picture’s headlined by women litter the landscape, and on paper almost every single one of them looks like they could be a winner. There is also a who’s who of directing talent; Tarantino, Burton, Altman, Weir, Coen, Iñárritu, Eastwood, Chabrol, Campion, Benton, Wachowski, Jackson, Van Sant, Dante, Kassovitz, Howard, Zwigoff, Arcand, Sheridan, Zwick, Newell, Minghella and Woo just to name a few; bring their visions to the screen, a clash of auteuristic titans not seen in ages.

Like last year, I’m going to narrow this fall’s offerings down to the five I am most excited about seeing. Unlike last year, this is an almost impossible task. Some of the movies I’m not putting on my list of five this year? How about “Ghost World” director Terry Zwigoff’s second film “Bad Santa” and Ron Howard’s surreal and spooky looking western “The Missing” with Cate Blanchett.

Then there is that small little film by the Wachowski Brothers that finalizes their rage against machines, not to mention John Woo’s attempt to resurrect the career of Ben Affleck with the Phillip K. Dick adaptation “Paycheck.” Also left off: Robert Benton’s “The Human Stain,” the Julia Roberts/Kirsten Dunst/Julia Stiles period flick “Mona Lisa Smile,” Robert Altman’s “The Company,” Gus Van Sant’s Cannes prize winner “Elephant” and the Texas-sized epic “The Alamo.”

I want to see all of those and more, but when whittling things down to five, some picking and choosing must seriously be done. With that said, here are the five movies – in order of release – coming to theaters between now and the end of the year that I most want to see. I’m not saying any of them are going to be great – or even good, for that matter – they’re just the group that has me most excited about munching popcorn and sipping on a Diet Coke in a darkened theater.

(Directed by Clint Eastwood, starring Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon, Laurence Fishburne, Laura Linney and Marcia Gay Harden, written by Brian Helgeland from the novel by Dennis Lehane, opening Oct. 8 in select cities, wide Oct. 15)

Eastwood is probably the most successful actor-turned-director in history. At this point, he has now directed more movies than he has starred in and been directed by others. Throughout his career behind the lens, he has shown a subtle grace and majesty that has slowly developed into his directorial trademark. Now, with “Mystic River,” Eastwood might be tackling his most complex and sorrow-filled story yet. The story of three childhood friends, each affected by a tragedy against one of them, dealing with the murder of one of their children has been universally acclaimed from Cannes and back again. It is a story about death, literal and metaphorical, and the unsettling dark residue left by unmitigated evil. I’m betting on a hard sit due to the subject matter, but with a cast this good and a director so self-assured, I can’t wait to see it.