The stars are lined up for a busy season of action, drama, comedy, animation, thrillers, literary adaptations and some potential cinematic game changers
THE WORDS (Sept. 7) Bradley Cooper goes from People magazine’s Sexiest Man to Broadway’s Elephant Man to a plagiarizing man in this thriller. Jeremy Irons is the wronged writer whose words Cooper steals; Olivia Wilde is the woman in the middle. The Bottom Line: Directors Brian Klugman and Lee Sternthal co-wrote “Tron: Legacy.” Good thing Cooper’s character didn’t steal from a screenwriting program, he’d be fighting Mario now.
THE COLD LIGHT OF DAY (Sept. 7) Mabrouk El Mechri, who made the witty Jean-Claude Van Damme mockumentary “JCVD,” turns his attentions to old-school action. The new Superman, Henry Cavill, plays an American who agrees to a relaxing family vacation in Spain — where his entire family is kidnapped. The Bottom Line: Bruce Willis and Sigourney Weaver as (perhaps double) agents? We’re in.
FINDING NEMO 3-D (Sept. 14) Pixar’s lost-fish tale — a huge hit when it came out in 2003 — returns to theaters. Albert Brooks’ sweetly plaintive voice work may still make this hard for parents, but Ellen DeGeneres’ loopy Dore keeps things swimming. The Bottom Line: The pristine Pixar family adventure will look even better in 3-D.
RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION (Sept. 14) Milla Jovovich’s unkillable franchise is back for a fourth sequel to the 2002 videogame-spawned original. As a virus continues to turn people into zombies, Jovovich’s Alice goes after the folks who started it. She winds up in New York, among other places. The Bottom Line: Postapocalyptic popcorn flicks have a place in fall, too.
THE MASTER (Sept. 14) Philip Seymour Hoffman stars as a charismatic mystery man who starts a religious-cultural-mysterioso cult in the 1950s that proposes an unorthodox belief system. Joaquin Phoenix plays a drifter who rises in the ranks. Amy Adams is the mystery woman behind the man in this much-buzzed-about drama. The Bottom Line: Writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson (“There Will Be Blood”) has, by all appearances, roughly based his fictional story on L. Ron Hubbard, founder of Scientology
THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER (Sept. 21) Writer-director Stephen Chbosky adapts his own best-selling novel, about a high school freshman (Logan Lerman) whose life changes when he meets two eccentric seniors (a post-“Potter” Emma Watson and the always-interesting Ezra Miller). The Bottom Line: A beloved young-adult book looks set to become a beloved teen movie.
END OF WATCH (Sept. 21) Can a cop be too good at his job? Maybe so, according to this crime thriller from writer-director David Ayer (who also wrote “Training Day”). Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña are the dedicated team patrolling the streets of L.A., until they come up against cartel members who don’t appreciate their diligence. The Bottom Line: Gyllenhaal’s always worth watching, but it’s also nice to see Peña moving up to leading roles.
DREDD (Sept. 21) A futuristic judge (Karl Urban) takes matters into his own vigilante hands when the system fails. He teams up with a young idealist (Olivia Thirlby) to reign in thugs. The Bottom Line: The 1995 Sly Stallone version of a British comic strip isn’t recalled beyond some sartorially stupid ideas. At least this version has a couple of watchable performers going for it: Urban (Dr. McCoy in J.J. Abrams’ “Star Trek”) and Thirlby (one of indie cinema’s quirkiest cuties).
TROUBLE WITH THE CURVE (Sept. 21) Robert Lorenz has produced many Clint Eastwood movies, but this will be his first time at the helm. Looks like he’s made a good choice for a directorial debut: Eastwood plays an aging baseball scout forced to rely on estranged daughter Amy Adams for help. Justin Timberlake, John Goodman and Matthew Lillard are also on the team. The Bottom Line: It’s hard to overestimate a lineup like that.
HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET (Sept. 21) Jennifer Lawrence and Elisabeth Shue play a mother and daughter in a creepy situation: The house next door is where a young girl murdered her parents but spared her brother. When Lawrence’s character falls for him, strange things occur. The Bottom Line: Anything Lawrence even looks at is a potential draw for “Hunger Games” fans. A horror-thriller may be a bull’s-eye for Katniss aficionados.
HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA (Sept. 28) This kids’ creep comedy is set at a monsters’ luxury hotel, where proprietor Dracula (voiced by Adam Sandler) invites the Wolfman, Frankenstein, the Invisible Man and the Mummy for his daughter’s (Selena Gomez) 118th birthday. When a human (Andy Samberg) shows up seeking shelter, Drac’s daughter is in danger of being an ex-ghoul.
The Bottom Line: This mad monster party ought to at least invite Tim Burton to cater it.
FRANKENWEENIE (Oct. 5) Tim Burton finds inspiration everywhere, including from within. He has remade his own 1984 short film as a 3-D, stop-motion homage to “Frankenstein” and other classic horror stories. In this version, a suburban boy brings his dog back from the dead, with predictably unpredictable results. Burton muse Johnny Depp is absent, but Winona Ryder and Martin Short are here. The Bottom Line: Burton may be the only auteur who could sell a black-and-white movie to the animated crowd.
PITCH PERFECT (Oct. 5) Anna Kendrick, so good in “Up in the Air” and “50/50” (and a minor “Twilight” player), plays a college a cappella singer whose dreams of a gleeful future could be thwarted when a bunch of goofball guys join the school chorus. The Bottom Line: Director Jason Moore’s tune cred includes Broadway’s “Avenue Q.”
SINISTER (Oct. 5) There is simply no excuse for anyone to buy a haunted house in the 21st century. But apparently novelist Ethan Hawke wasn’t in a Googling mood when he moved his family into a former murder site. And now they’re all going to pay the price. The Bottom Line: Director Scott Derrickson didn’t exactly reinvent the wheel with “The Day the Earth Stood Still” or “The Exorcism of Emily Rose.” But if anyone can elevate a now-ordinary found-footage concept, it’s eternally underrated Hawke.
TAKEN 2 (Oct. 5) Liam Neeson will look for you. He will find you. And he will force you to see this sequel to his 2009 hit, about a retired assassin who trashes Paris to save his kidnapped daughter. In the sequel, Neeson’s Bryan Mills heads after his wife (Famke Janssen), taken hostage while the family vacations in the Middle East. The Bottom Line: Couldn’t these people just go to Disney World once in a while?
HERE COMES THE BOOM (Oct. 12) Funnyman Kevin James plays a high school music instructor who fights to save his academic program. Which can mean only one thing: He has to fight in a mixed martial arts tournament. The Bottom Line: This comedy may make an odd-couple double feature with the public-school drama “Won’t Back Down.”
ALEX CROSS (Oct. 19) Tyler Perry — a man still best known as Madea — isn’t the most obvious choice to replace Morgan Freeman as James Patterson’s popular detective Alex Cross. But he comes with a built-in fan base, and he has achieved pretty much every goal he has ever set. Plus, director Rob Cohen (“The Fast and the Furious”) knows from action. The Bottom Line: Too bad the title’s not “Tyler Perry Presents Rob Cohen’s James Patterson’s Alex Cross.” Then it’d be a hit.
PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 (Oct. 19) More caught--on-camera goosebumps, this time directed by the guys who made the is-it-real-or-not? docudrama “Catfish.” The Bottom Line: The next sequel could show security camera footage from Macy’s and people would show up.
KILLING THEM SOFTLY (Oct. 19) Brad Pitt, who continues to surprise with eclectic choices, plays a hit man on the trail of two guys who got some mobster poker players mad. Directed by Andrew Dominik, who did Pitt’s “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.”
The Bottom Line: Like his pals George Clooney and Matt Damon, Pitt likes subverting his movie-star image. This Tarantinoesque turn continues that.
CHASING MAVERICKS (Oct. 26) Gerard Butler plays a surfer god in the 1990s. But far from “Point Break,” Butler and the dude (Jonny Weston) he’s teaching the ways of the board to are after tubular waves, not criminality. The Bottom Line: Surfing remains the best visual sport the movies have yet to catch correctly. Maybe this one will hang ten.
FLIGHT (Nov. 2) Denzel Washington is an airline pilot who lands his jet through a dangerous scenario, becoming a hero. Then the media and FAA scrutiny begins, and it turns out the Sully-like captain has skeletons in his cockpit. Directed by Robert Zemeckis. The Bottom Line: It’s been a dozen years since “Cast Away,” Zemeckis’s last grown-up, non-CG film. That’s a high bar, but here’s hoping “Flight” soars.
THE MAN WITH THE IRON FISTS (Nov. 2) Collaborators RZA and Eli Roth imagined this edgy martial arts movie as an ode to their Hong Kong heroes, the Shaw Brothers. The soundtrack ranges from the Black Keys to Kanye to My Chemical Romance, while the cast features RZA, Lucy Liu and Russell Crowe as competing warriors in 19th-century China. The Bottom Line: The tag line pretty much says it all: “They Put the ‘F-U’ in Kung Fu.”
WRECK -IT RALPH (Nov. 2) This 3-D animated comedy-actioner stars John C. Reilly as the voice of Ralph, a videogame villain who leaps out of the title he has been terrorizing for 30 years and into different games, where he hopes to be a hero. Can he save the day when a threat comes to the entire arcade? Directed by “Simpsons” and “Futurama” vet Rich Moore. The Bottom Line: Combine “Tron” with “The Purple Rose of Cairo” — and Pixar’s John Lasseter, who co-produced — and the extra points add up.
SKYFALL (Nov. 9) James Bond is back, 50 years after his big-screen debut. Here 007 — Daniel Craig, in his third time in the tux — targets a villain (blond Javier Bardem) out to destroy all of MI6. Naomie Harris and Bérénice Marlohe are the newest Bond girls, Albert Finney and Ralph Fiennes add thespian heft, and there’s even a new, young Q, played by Ben Whishaw. The Bottom Line : Ian Fleming’s spy seems primed for a high-water mark, after the hit reboot “Casino Royale” and the underwhelming (but successful) “Quantum of Solace.” Sam Mendes directs. If “Skyfall” falls, it’d be shocking ... positively shocking
THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN — PART TWO (Nov. 16) Well, this is awkward. But we’re all adults, and understand that real life and fiction are two separate entities. So we will attend Bill Condon’s final chapter of “Twilight” with open hearts, ready to embrace Bella (Kristen Stewart) and Edward (Robert Pattinson) as vampires who are ready to live happily ever after (and after). But first, of course, they have to save their daughter from the wrath of the Volturi. The Bottom Line: Don’t expect the K-Stew/R-Patz breakup to impact “Twilight’s” bottom line. Everyone wants to see this story end (if only to watch the whole series all over again).
LIFE OF PI (Nov. 21) Director Ang Lee’s 3-D drama of a shipwreck survivor who shares his lifeboat with a Bengal tiger and attempts to find a meaning in life will open the New York Film Festival. The Bottom Line: Lee’s been away from cinemas for three years. And the last time he dealt with tigers — even metaphorical ones — we got the classic “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.”
RED DAWN (Nov. 21) This remake of one of the Reagan era’s most hyperbolic, hedonistically watchable action films resets the clock to the present day, with North Koreans invading the U.S. of A. Chris Hemsworth and Josh Hutcherson — who filmed it before they were in “The Avengers” or “The Hunger Games,” respectively — lead the teen rebels known as the Wolverines. The Bottom Line: The movie has been on the shelf so long, it’s like it came out of a time capsule.
RISE OF THE GUARDIANS (Nov. 21) This 3-D animated fantasy, based on William Joyce’s “The Guardians of Childhood” books, features Jude Law as the voice of the Nightmare King. His evil plans must be stopped by Jack Frost (Chris Pine), the Tooth Fairy (Isla Fisher), the Easter Bunny (Hugh Jackman) and Santa Claus (Alec Baldwin). The Bottom Line: Are you going to bet against that cast of characters?
SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK (Nov. 21) Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence star in David O. Russell’s comic drama (from Matthew Quick’s novel) about a guy just out of a mental institution and who meets a clinically depressed young woman. She could be his ticket to happiness, as well as his partner at a strange dance competition. The Bottom Line: Russell’s coming off “The Fighter,” which like all his films was hard to pigeonhole, disarmingly funny and emotionally epic. This looks to be no different.
All release dates subject to change
Francois Duhamel
Daniel Craig is back in his third 007 adventure,
LAWLESS (Aug. 29) A literary adaptation tackling historical events, as performed by multiple Oscar nominees sporting accents. Yes, it’s the first awards contender of the season. Perhaps most notably, John Hillcoat’s take on Matt Bondurant’s moonshine epic represents Shia LaBeouf’s most concerted effort to be taken seriously as an actor. He plays one of three bootlegging brothers running illegal liquor during Prohibition. The Bottom Line: With a cast including Gary Oldman, Guy Pearce, Tom Hardy, Jessica Chastain and Mia Wasikowska, this is more Roederer than rotgut.THE WORDS (Sept. 7) Bradley Cooper goes from People magazine’s Sexiest Man to Broadway’s Elephant Man to a plagiarizing man in this thriller. Jeremy Irons is the wronged writer whose words Cooper steals; Olivia Wilde is the woman in the middle. The Bottom Line: Directors Brian Klugman and Lee Sternthal co-wrote “Tron: Legacy.” Good thing Cooper’s character didn’t steal from a screenwriting program, he’d be fighting Mario now.
THE COLD LIGHT OF DAY (Sept. 7) Mabrouk El Mechri, who made the witty Jean-Claude Van Damme mockumentary “JCVD,” turns his attentions to old-school action. The new Superman, Henry Cavill, plays an American who agrees to a relaxing family vacation in Spain — where his entire family is kidnapped. The Bottom Line: Bruce Willis and Sigourney Weaver as (perhaps double) agents? We’re in.
FINDING NEMO 3-D (Sept. 14) Pixar’s lost-fish tale — a huge hit when it came out in 2003 — returns to theaters. Albert Brooks’ sweetly plaintive voice work may still make this hard for parents, but Ellen DeGeneres’ loopy Dore keeps things swimming. The Bottom Line: The pristine Pixar family adventure will look even better in 3-D.
RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION (Sept. 14) Milla Jovovich’s unkillable franchise is back for a fourth sequel to the 2002 videogame-spawned original. As a virus continues to turn people into zombies, Jovovich’s Alice goes after the folks who started it. She winds up in New York, among other places. The Bottom Line: Postapocalyptic popcorn flicks have a place in fall, too.
THE MASTER (Sept. 14) Philip Seymour Hoffman stars as a charismatic mystery man who starts a religious-cultural-mysterioso cult in the 1950s that proposes an unorthodox belief system. Joaquin Phoenix plays a drifter who rises in the ranks. Amy Adams is the mystery woman behind the man in this much-buzzed-about drama. The Bottom Line: Writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson (“There Will Be Blood”) has, by all appearances, roughly based his fictional story on L. Ron Hubbard, founder of Scientology
THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER (Sept. 21) Writer-director Stephen Chbosky adapts his own best-selling novel, about a high school freshman (Logan Lerman) whose life changes when he meets two eccentric seniors (a post-“Potter” Emma Watson and the always-interesting Ezra Miller). The Bottom Line: A beloved young-adult book looks set to become a beloved teen movie.
END OF WATCH (Sept. 21) Can a cop be too good at his job? Maybe so, according to this crime thriller from writer-director David Ayer (who also wrote “Training Day”). Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña are the dedicated team patrolling the streets of L.A., until they come up against cartel members who don’t appreciate their diligence. The Bottom Line: Gyllenhaal’s always worth watching, but it’s also nice to see Peña moving up to leading roles.
DREDD (Sept. 21) A futuristic judge (Karl Urban) takes matters into his own vigilante hands when the system fails. He teams up with a young idealist (Olivia Thirlby) to reign in thugs. The Bottom Line: The 1995 Sly Stallone version of a British comic strip isn’t recalled beyond some sartorially stupid ideas. At least this version has a couple of watchable performers going for it: Urban (Dr. McCoy in J.J. Abrams’ “Star Trek”) and Thirlby (one of indie cinema’s quirkiest cuties).
TROUBLE WITH THE CURVE (Sept. 21) Robert Lorenz has produced many Clint Eastwood movies, but this will be his first time at the helm. Looks like he’s made a good choice for a directorial debut: Eastwood plays an aging baseball scout forced to rely on estranged daughter Amy Adams for help. Justin Timberlake, John Goodman and Matthew Lillard are also on the team. The Bottom Line: It’s hard to overestimate a lineup like that.
HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET (Sept. 21) Jennifer Lawrence and Elisabeth Shue play a mother and daughter in a creepy situation: The house next door is where a young girl murdered her parents but spared her brother. When Lawrence’s character falls for him, strange things occur. The Bottom Line: Anything Lawrence even looks at is a potential draw for “Hunger Games” fans. A horror-thriller may be a bull’s-eye for Katniss aficionados.
HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA (Sept. 28) This kids’ creep comedy is set at a monsters’ luxury hotel, where proprietor Dracula (voiced by Adam Sandler) invites the Wolfman, Frankenstein, the Invisible Man and the Mummy for his daughter’s (Selena Gomez) 118th birthday. When a human (Andy Samberg) shows up seeking shelter, Drac’s daughter is in danger of being an ex-ghoul.
The Bottom Line: This mad monster party ought to at least invite Tim Burton to cater it.
Kerry Hayes
Viola Davis and Maggie Gyllenhaal in 'Won't Back Down'
FRANKENWEENIE (Oct. 5) Tim Burton finds inspiration everywhere, including from within. He has remade his own 1984 short film as a 3-D, stop-motion homage to “Frankenstein” and other classic horror stories. In this version, a suburban boy brings his dog back from the dead, with predictably unpredictable results. Burton muse Johnny Depp is absent, but Winona Ryder and Martin Short are here. The Bottom Line: Burton may be the only auteur who could sell a black-and-white movie to the animated crowd.
PITCH PERFECT (Oct. 5) Anna Kendrick, so good in “Up in the Air” and “50/50” (and a minor “Twilight” player), plays a college a cappella singer whose dreams of a gleeful future could be thwarted when a bunch of goofball guys join the school chorus. The Bottom Line: Director Jason Moore’s tune cred includes Broadway’s “Avenue Q.”
SINISTER (Oct. 5) There is simply no excuse for anyone to buy a haunted house in the 21st century. But apparently novelist Ethan Hawke wasn’t in a Googling mood when he moved his family into a former murder site. And now they’re all going to pay the price. The Bottom Line: Director Scott Derrickson didn’t exactly reinvent the wheel with “The Day the Earth Stood Still” or “The Exorcism of Emily Rose.” But if anyone can elevate a now-ordinary found-footage concept, it’s eternally underrated Hawke.
TAKEN 2 (Oct. 5) Liam Neeson will look for you. He will find you. And he will force you to see this sequel to his 2009 hit, about a retired assassin who trashes Paris to save his kidnapped daughter. In the sequel, Neeson’s Bryan Mills heads after his wife (Famke Janssen), taken hostage while the family vacations in the Middle East. The Bottom Line: Couldn’t these people just go to Disney World once in a while?
Claire Folger
Ben Affleck directs and stars in 'Argo.'
HERE COMES THE BOOM (Oct. 12) Funnyman Kevin James plays a high school music instructor who fights to save his academic program. Which can mean only one thing: He has to fight in a mixed martial arts tournament. The Bottom Line: This comedy may make an odd-couple double feature with the public-school drama “Won’t Back Down.”
ALEX CROSS (Oct. 19) Tyler Perry — a man still best known as Madea — isn’t the most obvious choice to replace Morgan Freeman as James Patterson’s popular detective Alex Cross. But he comes with a built-in fan base, and he has achieved pretty much every goal he has ever set. Plus, director Rob Cohen (“The Fast and the Furious”) knows from action. The Bottom Line: Too bad the title’s not “Tyler Perry Presents Rob Cohen’s James Patterson’s Alex Cross.” Then it’d be a hit.
PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 (Oct. 19) More caught--on-camera goosebumps, this time directed by the guys who made the is-it-real-or-not? docudrama “Catfish.” The Bottom Line: The next sequel could show security camera footage from Macy’s and people would show up.
KILLING THEM SOFTLY (Oct. 19) Brad Pitt, who continues to surprise with eclectic choices, plays a hit man on the trail of two guys who got some mobster poker players mad. Directed by Andrew Dominik, who did Pitt’s “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.”
The Bottom Line: Like his pals George Clooney and Matt Damon, Pitt likes subverting his movie-star image. This Tarantinoesque turn continues that.
CHASING MAVERICKS (Oct. 26) Gerard Butler plays a surfer god in the 1990s. But far from “Point Break,” Butler and the dude (Jonny Weston) he’s teaching the ways of the board to are after tubular waves, not criminality. The Bottom Line: Surfing remains the best visual sport the movies have yet to catch correctly. Maybe this one will hang ten.
Jay Maidment
Tom Hanks and Halle Berry in 'Cloud Atlas'
FLIGHT (Nov. 2) Denzel Washington is an airline pilot who lands his jet through a dangerous scenario, becoming a hero. Then the media and FAA scrutiny begins, and it turns out the Sully-like captain has skeletons in his cockpit. Directed by Robert Zemeckis. The Bottom Line: It’s been a dozen years since “Cast Away,” Zemeckis’s last grown-up, non-CG film. That’s a high bar, but here’s hoping “Flight” soars.
THE MAN WITH THE IRON FISTS (Nov. 2) Collaborators RZA and Eli Roth imagined this edgy martial arts movie as an ode to their Hong Kong heroes, the Shaw Brothers. The soundtrack ranges from the Black Keys to Kanye to My Chemical Romance, while the cast features RZA, Lucy Liu and Russell Crowe as competing warriors in 19th-century China. The Bottom Line: The tag line pretty much says it all: “They Put the ‘F-U’ in Kung Fu.”
WRECK -IT RALPH (Nov. 2) This 3-D animated comedy-actioner stars John C. Reilly as the voice of Ralph, a videogame villain who leaps out of the title he has been terrorizing for 30 years and into different games, where he hopes to be a hero. Can he save the day when a threat comes to the entire arcade? Directed by “Simpsons” and “Futurama” vet Rich Moore. The Bottom Line: Combine “Tron” with “The Purple Rose of Cairo” — and Pixar’s John Lasseter, who co-produced — and the extra points add up.
SKYFALL (Nov. 9) James Bond is back, 50 years after his big-screen debut. Here 007 — Daniel Craig, in his third time in the tux — targets a villain (blond Javier Bardem) out to destroy all of MI6. Naomie Harris and Bérénice Marlohe are the newest Bond girls, Albert Finney and Ralph Fiennes add thespian heft, and there’s even a new, young Q, played by Ben Whishaw. The Bottom Line : Ian Fleming’s spy seems primed for a high-water mark, after the hit reboot “Casino Royale” and the underwhelming (but successful) “Quantum of Solace.” Sam Mendes directs. If “Skyfall” falls, it’d be shocking ... positively shocking
David James, SMPSP
Daniel Day-Lewis as Abraham Lincoln
THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN — PART TWO (Nov. 16) Well, this is awkward. But we’re all adults, and understand that real life and fiction are two separate entities. So we will attend Bill Condon’s final chapter of “Twilight” with open hearts, ready to embrace Bella (Kristen Stewart) and Edward (Robert Pattinson) as vampires who are ready to live happily ever after (and after). But first, of course, they have to save their daughter from the wrath of the Volturi. The Bottom Line: Don’t expect the K-Stew/R-Patz breakup to impact “Twilight’s” bottom line. Everyone wants to see this story end (if only to watch the whole series all over again).
LIFE OF PI (Nov. 21) Director Ang Lee’s 3-D drama of a shipwreck survivor who shares his lifeboat with a Bengal tiger and attempts to find a meaning in life will open the New York Film Festival. The Bottom Line: Lee’s been away from cinemas for three years. And the last time he dealt with tigers — even metaphorical ones — we got the classic “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.”
RED DAWN (Nov. 21) This remake of one of the Reagan era’s most hyperbolic, hedonistically watchable action films resets the clock to the present day, with North Koreans invading the U.S. of A. Chris Hemsworth and Josh Hutcherson — who filmed it before they were in “The Avengers” or “The Hunger Games,” respectively — lead the teen rebels known as the Wolverines. The Bottom Line: The movie has been on the shelf so long, it’s like it came out of a time capsule.
RISE OF THE GUARDIANS (Nov. 21) This 3-D animated fantasy, based on William Joyce’s “The Guardians of Childhood” books, features Jude Law as the voice of the Nightmare King. His evil plans must be stopped by Jack Frost (Chris Pine), the Tooth Fairy (Isla Fisher), the Easter Bunny (Hugh Jackman) and Santa Claus (Alec Baldwin). The Bottom Line: Are you going to bet against that cast of characters?
SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK (Nov. 21) Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence star in David O. Russell’s comic drama (from Matthew Quick’s novel) about a guy just out of a mental institution and who meets a clinically depressed young woman. She could be his ticket to happiness, as well as his partner at a strange dance competition. The Bottom Line: Russell’s coming off “The Fighter,” which like all his films was hard to pigeonhole, disarmingly funny and emotionally epic. This looks to be no different.
All release dates subject to change
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