Last year's Milwaukee Film Festival opened with "Blue Valentine," a bleak drama about the break-up of a romance.

This year, it's a bleak comedy called "Natural Selection" that screens tonight at 7 at the Oriental Theatre.

Beyond the bleakness, the movies share another common attribute: strong female leads. This time, it's Rachael Harris, playing the frustrated wife whose husband uses religious reasons not to have sex with her (after a botched abortion as a teenager, she's been told she can't have children).

When the husband suffers a serious stroke (while having solitary sex), he tells her that he fathered a son as a sperm donor. That begins the journey that is the core of this movie, which picked up a slew of honors at this year's South By Southwest film and music festival in Austin, Texas.

Harris' Linda is the reason to watch this 90-minute road trip, as we watch her come to terms with an unsatisfied life. She's best known for memorable, if small, roles in TV and movies. Here, she's the focus of the entire film, and she's completely believable in the somewhat mousy role.

You'll have to get a ticket to tonight's screening, since "Natural Selection" is only scheduled to run one time during the Film Festival. As of Wednesday evening, it wasn't sold out. And if it is, there may be a limited number of "rush" tickets available at the door.

Here's the South By Southwest trailer of "Natural Selection":

As for the rest of the film festival, which runs through Oct. 2, you can track down the printed schedule, or scan the lineup on-line at Milwaukee Film's detailed Web site.

Tonight's new stuff: The fall TV season continues to unfold this week, with some big returning shows tonight, starting on ABC with the 7 p.m. premiere of the rebooted "Charlie's Angels," the new season of "Grey's Anatomy" begins with a two-hour episode at 8 on Channel 12.

• CBS: There's an hour of "Big Bang Theory" at 7, followed by the new "Person of Interest" at 8, and the return of "The Mentalist" at 9 on Channel 58.
• Fox: The second two-hour episode of "The X Factor" features more auditions.
• NBC: "Community" returns at 7, followed by "Parks and Recreation" at 7:30. "The Office" brings us James Spader at 8, and the new (and heavily hyped) "Whitney" fills the 8:30 slot. The new crime drama, "Prime Suspect," with Maria Bello, airs at 9 p.m. on Channel 4.
• CW: "The Vampire Diaries" airs at 7, followed by "The Secret Circle" at 8 on Channel 18.

Speaking of James Spader: There's something creepily intriguing about the promos for James Spader, who replaces Kathy Bates on "The Office."

NBC offers this promo for tonight's season premiere: