Do you feel that tingly shift in the air? There’s a change a-coming to the multiplex as fall brings its award-season harvest to market.

Sure, there’s lighter fare: Tim Burton returns to form with stop-motion tale “Frankenweenie,” about a boy and his (dead) dog (Oct. 5). And “Here Comes the Boom” promises another dose of catnip for those of us who guiltily love Kevin James (Oct. 12).

But now is the time when studios and major indies alike begin to send their award-season contenders forth. There are scores of films opening between now and Thanksgiving, and here are 10 we think you should consider seeing to be in the thick of the conversation.

“Argo”

Opens Oct. 12.

Directed by Ben Affleck. Starring Affleck, Bryan Cranston, Alan Arkin and John Goodman.

Could this political thriller’s arrival be more disconcertingly timely? Set in 1979, “Argo” follows a CIA operative (Affleck) to Tehran where he must rescue six American foreign-service workers who escaped the storming of the U.S. Embassy. His cover? That they are a Canadian film crew scouting locations for a sci-fi flick. (Goodman and Arkin hold down the fort in Los Angeles.) Inspired by a true story that came to light when President Clinton declassified a number of documents, “Argo” is whip-smart, hilarious, moving.

“Seven Psychopaths”

Opens Oct. 12.

Written and directed by Martin McDonagh. Starring Colin Farrell, Sam Rockwell, Woody Harrelson and Christopher Walken.

We shih-tzu not, this dark comedy from McDonagh, a master of the genre ( “In Bruges” onscreen, “The Lieutenant of Inishmore” onstage), recounts what happens when bumbling criminals kidnap a mobster’s beloved pooch.

“Cloud Atlas”

Opens Oct. 26.

Directed by Andy and Lana Wachowski and Tom Tykwer. Starring Tom Hanks, Halle Berry and Jim Broadbent.

This season, some ambitious filmmakers are taking seriously notions of interconnectedness — from Rian Johnson to Paul Thomas Anderson to the Wachowskis. Of course, those siblings began pulling on cosmic threads more than a decade ago with “Matrix.” For this epic, time-striding tale, the Chicago duo teamed with Tykwer (“Run Lola Run”) to adapt David Mitchell’s bestselling, far-reaching, interwoven tale in which its cast takes on multiple roles as the film spans 500 years of human history.

“Flight”

Opens Nov. 2.

Directed by Robert Zemeckis. Starring Denzel Washington, Don Cheadle, John Goodman and Melissa Leo.

After pulling off an emergency landing more daring than “Sully” Sullenberger’s “Miracle on the Hudson,” Capt. Whip Whitaker’s reputation is sullied and his feat called into question when his battle with the bottle comes to light. Zemeckis has been a bit too giddy about motion-capture technology’s ability to “improve” acting — “Beowulf” “Christmas Express” and “A Christmas Carol.” Here the director of “Forrest Gump” and “Cast Away” works with one of the finest actors around to land an old-fashioned drama.

“The Sessions”

Opens Nov. 2.

Directed by Ben Lewin. Starring John Hawkes, Helen Hunt and William H. Macy.

Since premiering to enthusiastic reactions and two prizes at the Sundance Film Festival, this quietly moving film has changed its name from “The Surrogate.” But nothing will alter the fact that Lewin’s drama — based on journalist-poet polio survivor Mark O’Brien’s account of disability and sex — is shattering and celebratory. Hawkes and Hunt are terrific as Mark and his sex therapist.

“Skyfall”

Opens Nov. 9.

Directed by Sam Mendes. Starring Daniel Craig, Judi Dench, Javier Bardem, Naomie Harris and Bérénice Marlohe.

Windfall is more like it. When Daniel Craig donned the tux and the swim trunks of one of the most famous onscreen characters of all time in “Casino Royale,” a very successful Bond was reissued. Craig is here to stay, and we’re not complaining. Installment 23 finds 007 fighting closer to home, with a villain (Bardem) bent on destroying MI6 and making Dench’s M suffer.

“Lincoln”

Opens Nov. 16.

Directed by Steven Spielberg. Starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, David Strathairn, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, James Spader, Hal Holbrook and Tommy Lee Jones.

The nation will have recently elected its 45th president when Spielberg’s much-anticipated film about POTUS 16 opens. Playwright Tony Kushner whittles down Doris Kearns Goodwin’s 900-page tome “Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln,” focusing the drama on the final months of Lincoln’s life. The publicity photo is eerie. No stranger to achieving the uncanny, two-time Oscar winner Day-Lewis will likely emerge a front-runner in a very competitive best-actor Oscar race.

“The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2”

Opens Nov. 16.

Directed by Bill Condon. Starring Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner.

For some there is no bigger fowl to roast than this vampire franchise based on Stephenie Meyer’s blockbuster novels. Even so, collectively we’ll be yammering about this meet-the-young-parents sequel because the pop-culture demigods demand it.

“Anna Karenina”

Opens Nov. 21.

Directed by Joe Wright. Starring Keira Knightley, Aaron Johnson and Jude Law.

Tom Stoppard takes on Tolstoy. Keira Knightley revisits Garbo. Ah, the hubris and human possibility in this period drama that re-teams Wright with the star of his successful big-screen adaptations “Pride & Prejudice” and “Atonement.”

“The Silver Linings Playbook”

Opens Nov. 21.

Directed by David O. Russell. Starring Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro and Jackie Weaver.

Philadelphia native son and the burg’s unabashed booster, Bradley Cooper plays Pat Solatano, a man who returns to the home of his parents (De Niro and Weaver) after a stint in a mental institution. He wants to right his life and reunite with his estranged wife. Lawrence portrays a woman sure to complicate matters. The film, which won the audience award at the Toronto Film Festival, takes its title from Matthew Quick’s bestselling novel in which nothing in the Solatano household cannot be cured by a Philadelphia Eagles win.

Lisa Kennedy: 303-954-1567, lkennedy@denverpost.com or twitter.com/bylisakennedy