ONLINE ONLY: September: Hollywood’s armpit?

Ah, September. In many ways its arrival brings joy to people each year for three reasons: cooler weather, football and the return of quality television. \nWhile that’s great for those people, September typically isn’t kind to moviegoers. For those who follow films and release dates closely, it’s common knowledge that September is nothing more than a wasteland. \nI can remember seeing trailers and becoming completely engrossed by a film. Until I saw that it was being released in September. No matter how awesome it seemed, that atrocious month forced me to be cautious, if only a little. Sometimes I was wrong to discriminate based on release date, but on many occasions I wasn’t. “Once Upon A Time In Mexico,” I’m looking at you.\nAt one time, the film industry decided that September was the time to take a break. Films that were released weren’t up to par. Studios put out bad products and they didn’t get a good return because of it, and the box office numbers for September were always some of the lowest of the year.\nBut in recent years, the quality of the films released in September has slowly increased. Case in point, 10 years ago the No. 1 movie for the first weekend in September was the Steven Seagal environmentalist-vehicle, “Fire Down Below,” a film that scored an impressive 4.2 user rating on The Internet Movie Database and opened with a paltry $6 million. Even adjusted for inflation, that’s a disappointment. \nCompare that with last weekend’s No. 1 flick, “3:10 to Yuma,” which stars critic darlings Russell Crowe and Christian Bale. The film garnered huge praise, an 8.4 user rating on IMDB and opened to $14 million. While the box office isn’t overly impressive, it would have been an Oscar player had it been released later, and still may be. \nDuring the 10 years between the two, September has gradually displayed more important films, whether they were critically acclaimed or simply entertaining. A short list would include “Ronin,” “American Beauty,” “Zoolander,” “Matchstick Men” and “Shaun of the Dead.” With Yuma and other 2007 releases such as “Shoot ‘Em Up,” “Eastern Promises” and “The Kingdom,” the audience can finally recognize the month as something more substantial than a dumping ground for the newest Sean William Scott “comedy.” \nSome would say that the box office receipts for the month haven’t drastically improved over the years and that because that’s what matters, the month still falls short. That’s true in some cases, but there are films (“Sweet Home Alabama” and “Flightplan,” for example) that have opened well. More importantly, the caliber of the films has increased. More Oscar hopefuls are being released early to build momentum ahead of those coming out in the classic holiday weeks and it’s worked (“American Beauty”). \nSeptember will never be the month for all the expensive, tent-pole films or all the artsy, critical wonders. But if this trend continues, it will feature some of both, and give people another reason to look forward to the month.