And so, Fantasy Moguls players, curious visitors and other living species, I welcome you to Dances with the Arthouse. Together we are about to take a look at what the film scheduled to open in limited release Oct. 26 have to offer, and see if any of them is worth choosing. It's an interesting mix, with an inspirational '70s drama, a horror movie, a man-eating legend turning director, a couple of documentaries from renowned helmers, and Sidney Lumet's best film in decades. (Oops, I spilled the beans.)

Sometimes it only takes just one trailer to know that a film is going to connect with its audience. Take a look at the traier for Music Within, and you'll see what I mean. A first feature by Steven Sawalich (not one of the aforementioned filmmakers of renown; I'm pretty sure that no one's ever heard of this guy), the film is set in the post-Vietnam era, and depicts the real-life struggle of Richard Pimentel, a veteran who came back deaf from the war and ended up fighting for the rights of the Americans with disabilities, like himself and many others.

It looks like a quality inspirational movie, with the too-rarely-seen Ron Livingston in the lead (here's hoping that he still hasn't done his TPS reports), plus the likes of Michael Sheen, Melissa George, Rebecca de Mornay and (who knew he didn't only do Scary Movie sequels these days) Leslie Nielsen. It's too bad that this film is opening in the fall, when it's most likely to be lost among the big Oscar contenders. That's probably why Music Within is so cheap, even in Ultimate Movie Moguls leagues, where it's available for $2, despite being fairly certain to bring home a very nice User Rating, in the 7s at least. Weirdly, Fantasy Moguls predicts $8 million in box-office receipts, but that seems very unlikely ... unless MGM, which is distributing the film, pushes it hard. Perhaps then it could even grab one or two PTA points. Like I just said, however, that's very unlikely.

One film that could have more to offer than what Fantasy Moguls expects is The Signal. This horror movie that created a small sensation at Sundance in January has patiently waited for Halloween time to be released by the very busy indie distrib Magnolia Pictures (half a dozen films this fall). Some might be concerned by the fact that buzz around The Signal was high months ago and has predictably tailed off. The movie with three heads will be advantaged by its low key release, however, and the lack of a fresh scare offering on Halloween weekend (or at least the weekend prior to Halloween) should help. That's a slot you'd think would be hotly contested by horror movies, but this year is occupied only by Saw IV, a certain-to-be-stale retread that many horror fans don't really want to see (30 Days of Night will still be playing, but the box-office bloom tends to be off the rose after just one weekend with horror films these days).

The thrills in The Signal come by the way of technology, when every cell phone, television and radio start to broadcast a signal over and over again, a signal that turns everyone who listens to it crazy and violent. Thirsty for blood. Now, if that isn't more exciting than seeing that jigsaw killer come back for the fourth time, then I'm ready to buy Glitter on DVD and watch it three times in a row. Fantasy Moguls is particularly pessimistic concerning The Signal, giving it odds of just $400,000 in ticket sales, no PTA points, no Top 5, and a meager 5.9 User Rating. Not only that, but it's yours for just $3. Given it's not clear yet how limited the release will be, either the box-office totals or the PTA will be better than predicted. As for the User Rating, currently at 7.4 (275 votes) it should stay well above 6. Oh and, by the way, when I mentioned the three heads, I just meant that the film has three directors (rare enough to be worth mentioning), David Bruckner, Dan Bush and Jacob Gentry.

Ace actor and flesh devourer (onscreen, at least) Anthony Hopkins takes a rare turn behind the camera with Slipstream, his first film as a director in more than ten years (going back to August, in 1996). And, to be honest, the fim looks like a bit of a mess. Hopkins kept the lead role for himself, that an old screenwriter who tries to come up with a script but sees his characters come to life and interfere with reality. Presented at Sundance, Seattle International and a few other festivals, Slipstream could be the kind of film that may attract attention because of the names of those involved (in addition to himself, Hopkins has marshaled the likes of Christian Slater, John Turturro and Michael Clarke Duncan), but that  would otherwisebe vastly ignored. Strange premise, mixed reviews, Eurythmics tune in the trailer ...

Hopkins is one strongly popular and respected actor, however, and there's almost no doubt that a few curious viewers will show up to find out what Slipstream has to offer. Enough to achieve a $1 million gross? Maybe not. Enough to get a PTA point? Maybe, but not more. At least the User Rating should be better than the 6.1 announced, with a current tally of 8.7 (more than 150 votes). A respectable buy for $3.

When it comes to documentaries, names aren't as important as subject, but it does help when the director is an established specialist of the genre. Marc Levin is definitely that, so his new film Mr. Untouchable should draw some attention. The "untouchable" in question is Nicky Barnes, Harlem's biggest drug-lord of the '70s, whose nickname was given by no less than The New York Times. Coincidence or not, it's funny to note that Levin's doc opens only a few days before Ridley Scott's American Gangster, which captures the same time period and many of the same characters, only from a fictional perspective. Nicky Barnes is also in the Scott movie, portrayed by ... Cuba Gooding Jr.! (!!)

It's doubtful though that Mr. Untouchable will get a touch of American Gangster's hype and become an arthouse hit (although the two films also share strong marketing similarities, with their clearly related posters), but with a New York exclusive opening, the film could indeed grab the PTA point that Fantasy Moguls predicts. I'm sure there are a few cinephiles who remember that Marc Levin is the man who directed the powerful and sensitive urban drama Slam almost ten years ago. For $8, this Mr. is probably overpriced, although he should snag a decent User Rating.

Maybe Marc Levin isn't a big enough name for you. OK, then I have another documentary to present to you, one directed by none other than Oscar winner Jonathan Demme. For some, Demme is merely the filmmaker who gave us Something Wild, The Silence of the Lambs, and Philadelphia, but the man is also a fine documentary director, as he recently proved with The Agronomist and Neil Young: Heart of Gold. Now he's tackling a pretty famous political figure, with the aptly titled Jimmy Carter Man From Plains.

Of course I don't need to tell you who is the subject of the film, and I'm also pretty sure I don't need to detail his resume, as most of you probably know it better than I do. I'm just a Parisian guy who still hasn't quite figured out what are the rules of this strange sport called base-ball. Back to Jimmy Carter though, Demme's documentary more precisely takes interest in the former President's tour for his book Palestine: Peace not Apartheid. The film has gravitas, not only because of its theme, but also because it recently won three prizes at the Venice Mostra, a factor that always pumps up arthouse releases, especially when they opens in only one theater, as Jimmy Carter Man From Plains is scheduled to do (at the Angelika Film Center in New York City). With a $9 price tag in Ultimate leagues, this Sony Pictures Classics release sure doesn't look too bad on a slate, as it seems certain to grab at least a couple of PTA points and a valuable User Rating in the mid-to-high 7s.

If you ask me, though, the best-looking film of the week is Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, Sidney Lumet's new film, opening exactly 50 years after his first one, the true classic Twelve Angry Men. Lumet has outlived almost all of his angry men (only Jack Klugman is still alive), and he's back with what is, simply put, his best film in more than 20 years, easily.

If you look at the films Lumet has directed in the past two decades, all you see is a vague shadow (Night Falls on Manhattan was fine) of what the man was once capable of, especially in the '70s. That's the decade when he made Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon and Network for crying out loud. It was almost embarassing to see him recently remake Gloria, or screw around with the Vin Diesel (not funny) comedy Find Me Guilty. And yet, at 83, Lumet has turned out, quietly, one of the strongest character-oriented movies of the year. Before the Devil Knows You're Dead follows two brothers, one a petit bourgeois living above his means, and the other one a weak, broke divorcee, who, in desperate need of money, agrees to rob their parent's jewelry store under the influence of his big brother. Of course, nothing happens as planned.

Lumet may be an old man, but he still knows how to handle a (crime) drama, how to inject cleverness in his narration and, more than anything, how to direct actors. What Philip Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke produce on screen is nothing short of brilliant, and there is no doubt that Lumet has something to do with it (Albert Finney and a smoking-hot Marisa Tomei round out the cast). I know what you're thinking, a great film isn't always the best thing to have on one's slate if it can't deliver any valuable point. (I know, it's sad, but we live in a time when The Rock owns the box-office with &#@$! kiddie movies.) This one, however, might just be a nice catch.

Available for $7 in the October Ultimate Movie Moguls Leagues, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead could allow you to garner strong PTA, certainly more than the lonely point Fantasy Moguls is predicting. A tall of at least three seems more accurate, especially if the platform release intended by THINKFilm hits the right note. Fantasy Moguls also predicts more than $11 million in earnings, and given the quality of the R-rated (for "strong graphic sexuality, violence, nudity and drug use") picture and the real intention of the distributor to cherish Lumet's film, it could definitely end up making just such a haul. Critics will be pleased for sure, and the User Rating will definitely go higher than 6.6, at least into the mid-7s.

(P.S.: Don't you think the Juror No. 12 in Twelve Angry Men — Robert Webber, you may recall — looked a lot like Friday Night Lights's Kyle Chandler? I should say it the other way around, of course.)

Now it's time for my bonus pick of the week. New foreign films won't be numerous on Oct. 26 at arthouse theaters (in fact, there are none), so I've decided to put the light on one, coming to a theater near you this Christmas: Persepolis. Why? Because this animated feature, for the moment, has everything it takes to become an arthouse hit. Its career began at the Cannes Film Festival last May, where it won the Prize Jury, accompanied by enthusiastic critics. Then, this past summer, it became the sleeper of French box-office with more than 1 million entries (that's more than what Hollywood crap like Ghost Rider did over here). Then, to the surprise of most, it was chosen to represent the colors of France in the Best Foreign Film category at the next Oscars (everybody expected La Vie en Rose).

Adapted from a best-selling comic book, Persepolis is an autobiographical story of the youth of author and director Marjane Satrapi, a girl who grew up amidst the Iranian Revolution and emigrated to Europe when she left her teenager years. It's a black-and-white satirical film, funny, engaged and clever, that I'm sure Sony Pictures Classics is counting on for its year-end season. In fact, they care so much about the film that they hired Sean Penn, Gena Rowlands and Iggy Pop to lend their voices to the main characters in the U.S. version, along with Catherine Deneuve, already a voice in the original French version.

Right now the $10 price in Oct.-Dec. Ultimate leagues is a bit much for a film with only one weekend in release. Next season, however, it should be a very interesting catch ... if you have nothing against Freedom films, er, I mean French films. So keep an eye open for this special little Christmas gift.

I know you'd love for me to jump on this Iranian theme and expound a bit about the engagement of filmmakers under the Iranian regime, and maybe tell you what I think about the work of prodigy female director Samira Makhmalbaf ... but the truth is that my weekly word count is already up. Next week, however, I'll have hundreds more words to talk about a documentary about Darfur, another one about Uganda, and a third one (yep, it's a regular Doc Week) about ... Joe Strummer (who's the intruder?). So don't go too far.

Indie Jones is glad the pictures were recovered, but ticked that Spielberg didn't ask him to represent Fantasy Moguls at the Thank You lunch thing. Hello? It's Indie Frickin' Jones! Express your sympathy to danceswiththearthouse@gmail.com.