Ahhh....it’s finally fall. There’s a crispness in the air, everyone’s a-buzz about Halloween, and Austin Film Festival is literally right around the corner. For me, Oscar season kicks off the moment I hit my first AFF screening, as it’s usually a smorgasbord of festival favorites and early Oscar front-runners. So what films do we recommend catching this year?

Check out our list after the jump!

The Artist
Everyone who has seen this film has been going nuts for it. A French silent black and white film, The Artist focuses on a declining Hollywood actor as talkie films are on the rise. Jean Dujardin won the Best Actor award at Cannes this year, and the film is supposed to be an absolute delight.

Like Crazy
Another festival darling, Like Crazy has been making the rounds since it won the Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic Film at the 27th Sundance Film Festival. Starring upcoming indie talent Anton Yelchin and relative newbie Felicity Jones, Like Crazy is supposed to be a heartbreaking and intimate tale on young love.

Shame
Okay, okay, fine I have a crush on Michael Fassbender, and, yes, he DOES go full frontal in this film. While that colors me intrigued, it is, however, not the reason this film is on my list. Fassbender reteams with director Steve McQueen, who directed Fassbender’s breakout moment in Hunger, for a film that delves into sexual addictions, intimacy issues, and control. It also stars Carey Mulligan, who I absolutely adore.

The Descendants
Can George Clooney do no wrong? Spoiler alert: no, he cannot. The Descendants marks Alexander Payne’s return to directing since 2004’s Sideways. Clooney plays a dad of two disconnected daughters struggling to keep his ancestral Hawaiian land after his wife falls into a coma. Everyone who saw the film at the Toronto Film Festival raved about Payne’s latest film.

Martha Marcy May Marlene
What you may have heard about this film is that it is the star-making performance by The Other Olsen Sister, Elizabeth. But it’s also rumored that Olsen, along with the superb John Hawkes, is incredibly captivating in a film about a young girl’s life after traumatically fleeing a cult in the Catskills. Director Sean Dirkin won Best Directing Award at Sundance, and the film is supposed to be an powerful psychological thriller.

You’ll notice that Albert Nobbs isn’t on this list. That’s because I kinda hate Glenn Close. Sorry...

Learn more about the films screening at this year’s Austin Film Festival and plan your schedule!

-- Darcie Duttweiler