The summer movie season is officially over, and this weekend we finally head into fall. Most of these impending new releases are vying for that elusive Oscar gold or any other semi-prestigious award being presented. We start this cinematic journey by looking at all the upcoming movies September has to offer. This first fall month is a little overcrowded, promising a fine mix of genre fare. We have a couple of Academy worthy dramas making their debut, an untested family franchise starter, a handful of comedies, yet another YA novel adaptation, an action epic based on a cult classic TV show, the return of an iconic trio and one independent coming-of-age shocker that promises to push the boundaries of everything that has arrived before it. Hold onto your seats...

Here are this September's can't miss releases:

[1] The Longest Week

The Longest Week

Tagline: She had him at 'I'm your best friend's girlfriend.'

Release Date: September 5

The Players: Jason Bateman, Olivia Wilde, Jenny Slate and Billy Crudup

Why You Can't Miss It: Jason Bateman returns to the big screen only a few months after making his directorial debut with the well received comedy Bad Words. Here, he plays the aimless son of rich parents who kick him out of their prestigious Manhattan Hotel. Suddenly penniless, he finds himself stuck in the middle of a midlife crisis, sleeping on his best friend's couch. It's here that Conrad Valmont meets the beautiful Beatrice Fairbanks, played by Olivia Wilde. The two quickly fall for one another, which greatly upsets Conrad's relationship with his longtime buddy (Billy Crudup). If all Jason Bateman movies are starting to look the same to you, you may want to pass. But if you enjoy smaller comedies with some grit, this could be just what you're looking for.

[2] Wetlands

Wetlands

Tagline: Get ready for Helen.

Release Date: September 5

The Players: Carla Juri, Christoph Letkowski and Marlen Kruse

Why You Can't Miss It: Wetlands promises to bring an electric shock of excitement to the local art house cinema, the likes of which hasn't been seen since Pulp Fiction and Trainspotting shook the 90s indie scene. Gleefully pushing the boundaries of human decency, this ribald coming of age tale follows a young woman obsessed with bodily fluids. Carla Juri is Helen, an eccentric girl with a strange attitude towards hygiene and sexuality who longs for the reunion of her divorced parents. This is one that will be talked about around the water cooler this fall. See it first, make your cooler friends jealous.

[3] Dolphin Tale 2

Dolphin Tale 2

Tagline: Winter's amazing true story...Now has HOPE.

Release Date: September 12

The Players: Morgan Freeman, Ashley Judd, Kris Kristofferson and Harry Connick Jr.

Why You Can't Miss It: Winter, the real-life-dolphin with the prosthetic tail, is back on the big screen for her second adventure. The team that saved her the first time around gather to find her a companion after Winter's surrogate mother dies. Enter Hope, a baby dolphin who brings joy back into Winter's lean life rescinding at the Clearwater Marine Hospital. Will these two find their way back into the wild? Or will we have to wait for the next sequel so that they can be set free? If you loved the first Dolphin Tale, you pretty much already know what the sequel has in store.

[4] The Drop

The Drop

Tagline: From the Author of Mystic River and Gone Baby Gone.

Release Date: September 12

The Players: Tom Hardy, Noomi Rapace and the late James Gandolfini

Why You Can't Miss It: The great James Gandolfini turns in one of his final performances with The Drop, starring as Marv, the cousin and employer of a lonely bartender named Bob Saginowski (Tom Hardy). Bob is embroiled in a complex money laundering scheme that catches him in the middle of a robbery gone wrong. He soon finds himself embedded in an investigation that starts to run roughshod over his own neighborhood, digging deep into the personal lives of his family, friends and foes. He discovers that they all must work together to make it out alive, no matter what the cost. The screenplay is based on a Dennis Lehane novel, the man behind other literary works turned into gritty, hard boiled crime movies such as Mystic River, Gone Baby Gone and Shutter Island. If those are some of your favorites, you won't want to miss this.

[5] Swearnet: The Movie

Sweartnet

Tagline: From the stars of Trailer Park Boys.

Release Date: September 12

The Players: Robb Wells, John Paul Tremblay and Mike Smith (aka The Trailer Park Boys)

Why You Can't Miss It: This fall promises to be big for Trailer Park Boys fans with not one, but two movies featuring the return of John Paul Tremblay, Robb Wells and Jonathan Torrens and an all-new season of the TV series, not to mention a handful of hour long comedy specials. While Trailer Park Boys: Don't Legalize It brings Ricky, Julian and Bubbles back to Sunnyvale trailer park, Swearnet: The Movie offers the real-life side of things as the trio set out to build their own TV empire. Fed up with being censored in their post-Trailer Park Boys lives, the out of work stars/world-renowned 'swearists' decide to start their own uncensored network on the internet.

[6] No Good Deed

No Good Deed

Tagline: First he gets into your house, then he gets into your head.

Release Date: September 12

The Players: Idris Elba and Taraji P. Henson

Why You Can't Miss It: Midnight trash doesn't come any classier than this. Idris Elba returns to his glossy schlock roots after appearing in 2009's Obsessed with something just as fun, and possibly more over the top. Terri (Taraji P. Henson) is a devoted wife and mother of two, living an ideal suburban life in Atlanta when Colin (Idris Elba), a charming but dangerous escaped convict, shows up at her door claiming car trouble. Terri offers her phone to help him but soon learns that no good deed goes unpunished as she finds herself fighting for survival when he invades her home and terrorizes her family.

[7] Search Party

Search Party

Tagline: n/a

Release Date: September 12

The Players: T.J. Miller, Krysten Ritter, Alison Brie and Jason Mantzoukas

Why You Can't Miss It: Jason Mantzoukas is making a name for himself as the funniest man alive in 2014, with people slowly beginning to discover his talents in front of the camera. He joins a fine ensemble cast here, with known scene stealers T.J. Miller, Alison Brie and Krysten Ritter for a comedy coup that should please indie movie fans looking for something that is both edgy and lighthearted. The story follows two friends who decide to reunite their buddy Nardo with his estranged fiance, a union they helped ruin. But things take a turn for the weird when Nardo finds himself carjacked and left naked in the heart of Ol' Mexico.

[8] The Skeleton Twins

Skeleton Twins

Tagline: Family is a cruel joke.

Release Date: September 12

The Players: Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader

Why You Can't Miss It: Saturday Night Live just hasn't been the same since Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader left to focus on their film careers. Here, they reunite for a slightly more serious affair. The two former co-stars play estranged twin siblings who cheat death on the same day. They decided to bond over the experience, realizing the key to fixing their messed up lives may just be fixing their broken relationship as brother and sister. While The Skeleton Twins is a drama, it does hold the promise of a few laughs, and it's sure to show off Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader's talents as more than just a couple of sketch clowns.

[9] The Maze Runner

Maze Runner

Tagline: Get ready to run.

Release Date: September 19

The Players: Dylan O'Brien, Kaya Scodelario, Will Poulter, Patricia Clarkson and an entire cast of mostly unknowns

Why You Can't Miss It: September is light on blockbuster epics, but it does hold the promise of one big action spectacle in the YA adaptation The Maze Runner, which should appeal to The Hunger Games and Divergent fans wanting something new while they wait for those franchises to deliver their next sequels. Newcomer Dylan O'Brien stars as Thomas, a young teenager who is dropped into a living maze known as The Glade. Joining a ragtag group of youngsters looking to escape, Thomas realizes that this shifting monument is nearly impossible to navigate, as its huge columns move and shift every night, never with the same configuration. It should provide the right amount of action and thrills needed to satisfy the entire family.

[10] Hector and the Search for Happiness

Hector and the Search for Happiness

Tagline: Everyone wants to find it.

Release Date: September 19

The Players: Simon Pegg, Rosamund Pike and Toni Collette

Why You Can't Miss It: Ah, the meaning of life. It's a great go-to in the world of cinema, and now Simon Pegg is in search of it in this coming-of-middle-age dramedy that sets one man off on a world full of adventure. Pegg, best known for his Cornetto Trilogy (aka the Blood and Ice Cream Trilogy) and co-starring roles in the Mission: Impossible and Star Trek franchises, takes on a different kind of role here as a quirky psychiatrist who has become increasingly tired of his humdrum life. As he tells his girlfriend, Clara (Rosamund Pike), he feels like a fraud: he hasn't really tasted life, and yet he's offering advice to patients who are just not getting any happier. So Hector decides to break out of his deluded and routine driven life. Armed with buckets of courage and child-like curiosity, he embarks on a global quest in hopes of uncovering the elusive secret formula for true happiness. And so begins a larger than life adventure with riotously funny results.

[11] This Is Where I Leave You

This is Where I Leave You

Tagline: Welcome home. Get uncomfortable.

Release Date: September 19

The Players: Jason Bateman, Tina Fey, Jane Fonda, Kathryn Hahn,Connie Britton, Timothy Olyphant, Adam Driver, Abigail Spencer, Ari Graynor and Rose Byrne

Why You Can't Miss It: Jason Bateman is back for his second movie this month! And this time, he's joined by Tina Fey and a cast of all-stars for this dramedy about an estranged family reuniting for their father's funeral. It marks the first time this entire brood has been under the same roof in many years, and now they will have to live with each other for an entire week. Also along for the ride is their over-sharing mother, played by Jane Fonda and an assortment of ex-lovers, divorced spouses and a few poorly timed surprises. Will it have what it takes to catch Oscar's eye? Or will it prove to be too funny for the Academy's liking?

[12] Tusk

Tusk

Tagline: Let me tell you a story...

Release Date: September 19

The Players: Justin Long, Haley Joel Osment, Genesis Rodriguez and Michael Parks

Why You Can't Miss It: Comedy director Kevin Smith is back with his second horror film after Red State with a new tale that kicks off his Canadian thriller trilogy. Taking a cue from The Human Centipede, this gruesome grind house worthy effort follows podcaster Wallace Bryton (Justin Long) who goes missing in the backwoods of Manitoba while interviewing a mysterious seafarer named Howard Howe. Bryton's best friend Teddy Craft and girlfriend Allison team with an ex-cop named Guy LaPointe to go looking for him, while Howard sets out to transform Wallace into his most beloved animal: A Walrus!

[13] A Walk Among the Tombstones

A Walk Among the Tombstones

Tagline: People are afraid of all the wrong things.

Release Date: September 19

The Players: Liam Neeson, Ruth Wilson and Dan Stevens

Why You Can't Miss It: Like Jason Bateman, all of Liam Neeson's movies are starting to look a bit samey. And A Walk Among the Tombstones is no exception. Luckily, the actor's appeal continue to be evergreen, and if we want a solid action thriller that delivers, we can always count on Liam! While it won't win any awards, or even be remembered too long after you've seen it, this action drama still offers the necessary bang for its buck. Neeson stars as Matt Scudder, an ex-NYPD cop who now works as an unlicensed private investigator operating just outside the law.  When Scudder reluctantly agrees to help a heroin trafficker hunt down the men who kidnapped and then brutally murdered his wife, the PI learns that this is not the first time these men have committed this sort of twisted crime...nor will it be the last. Blurring the lines between right and wrong, Scudder races to track the deviants through the backstreets of New York City before they kill again. If nothing else, it will serve in killing time! Will it be another classic for Liam Neeson to proudly tout on his resume? That remains to be seen.

[14] The Boxtrolls

Boxtrolls

Tagline: Dare to be square.

Release Date: September 26

The Players: Voices of Ben Kingsley, Toni Collette, Elle Fanning, Jared Harris, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost

Why You Can't Miss It: The Boxtrolls brings September's only high profile animated adventure, with this stop-motion work of art coming from the same team responsible for ParaNorman and Coraline. The story follows a young orphaned boy raised by underground cave-dwelling trash collectors. He must rise to the occasion and save his friends from an evil exterminator comes looking to kill them all. The Boxtrolls promises fun for the entire family!

[15] The Equalizer

The Equalizer

Tagline: From the director of Training Day.

Release Date: September 26

The Players: Denzel Washington, Chloe Moretz, and Melissa Leo

Why You Can't Miss It: Perhaps September's biggest and most high profile release is The Equalizer, which reunites director Antoine Fuqua with leading man Denzel Washington. The action drama is a reboot of the cult classic TV series of the same name, which follows McCall, a former black ops commando who has put himself into hiding, hoping to retire his secret life. He is called back into duty when a Russian call girl's life is threatened by the mob. If anyone can get the job done, it's Denzel! Sony has enough confidence in the upcoming thriller that they're already moving forward with a sequel in hopes of kick-starting a franchise. And it gives co-star Chloe Moretz a more adult role that is being compared to Jodie Foster in Taxi Driver.

[16] Jimi: All Is by My Side

Jimi All is By My Side

Tagline: Written and Directed by John Ridley.

Release Date: September 26

The Players: André Benjamin, Imogen Poots and Hayley Atwell

Why You Can't Miss It: Musician André Benjamin returns to the world of acting after a short hiatus to assume the role of rock god Jimi Hendrix. Though the movie wasn't allowed to use any of his original compositions, the hard-hitting drama in this anticipated biopic should more than make up for it. The story follows Jimi's pre-fame years as he trolls through London in 1966 and 1967. A more fictionalized account than some were expecting, some controversy has arisen over André's depiction of the guitarist as an abuser. Will that keep true fans away? Or make the movie more appealing?

[17] My Little Pony: Equestria Girls - Rainbow Rock

My Little Pony: Equestria Girls - Rainbow Rock

Tagline: n/a

Release Date: September 27

The Players: Voices by Tara Strong, Ashleigh Ball and Andrea Libman

Why You Can't Miss It: Bronies unite for this latest animated big screen adventure based on My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, which finds the horses of Equestria once again becoming real human girls, making the sexualized fantasy of it all just a little more creepy. Whether you're a fan or just fascinated by this phenomenon, which some have compared to the Hippie movement of the 1960s, there's no denying that the team behind this franchise know how to make an entertaining movie. This time out, Twilight Sparkle and her friends compete in a Battle of the Bands at the Canterlot High School "Mane Event" talent show against rival Adagio Dazzle and her band, the Dazzlings, to restore harmony back to Canterlot High. Will a billion brines be able to keep it in their pants? Or will you need to dress the kids in a rain slicker? If you're children are dying to see this on the big screen, maybe rent a projector. It might be best for all involved.

Those are the biggest and most exciting releases September has to offer. Which movies are you most excited for?