Released: December 13
Director: Peter Ramsey
Voice cast: Chris Pine, Alec Baldwin, Isla Fisher, Jude Law, Hugh Jackman
Mythological children’s avengers assemble for DreamWorks’ latest animation, which finds the Earth under attack from a villain named Pitch (voiced by Jude Law) and the Immortal Guardians — Jack Frost (Chris Pine), the Tooth Fairy (Isla Fisher), North (Alec Baldwin) and Bunny (Hugh Jackman) — standing as mankind’s last line in seasonal defense (and holiday merchandising). Producer Guillermo del Toro sprinkles some of his dark fairy tale dust on proceedings, but really we’re sold on the promise of hearing Alec Baldwin voice the movie’s badass Santa — we know how much he loves to discipline naughty kids.
Released: December 13
Director: Josh Radnor
Cast: Josh Radnor, Elizabeth Olsen, Zac Efron, Richard Jenkins, Allison Janney
How I Met Your Mother star Josh Radnor delivers his second film as writer-director, this time going the tried-and-true indie route of the thirtysomething man returning to his youth. Radnor is a college lecturer who becomes involved with one of his students, a cliche helped immeasurably by the fact she’s played by breakout star Elizabeth Olsen (Martha Marcy May Marlene) — that and the presence of supporting actor Zac Efron, who continues to try and shake his teen pin-up image by appearing as a campus stoner. Critics are have been generally favorable in the US. “Despite the possible creepiness of the scenario,” says the Village Voice‘s Andrew Schenker, “Radnor plays the scenes between himself and Olsen with restrained intelligence.”
Released: December 26
Director: Rich Moore
Voice cast: John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Jane Lynch, Jack McBrayer, Alan Tudyk
What if an 8-bit arcade villain grew tired of mindlessly being the bad guy and wanted to do some good for a change? That’s the premise of Disney’s big animated adventure, in which Ralph (John C. Reilly), a Donkey Kong-style thug constantly trounced by do-gooder Fix-It Felix (Jack McBrayer), escapes his game and goes on a hunt for a medal that will prove his worth. Ralph’s quest takes him through a kaleidoscope of cross-platform gaming, with a veritable who’s-who of game character cameos (watch for a scene-stealing Qbert) and jokes for fans of all ages. A sizeable hit in the US recently, it’s also a smash with critics like Cinema Autopsy‘s Thomas Caldwell, who calls Ralph “a major advancement for Walt Disney Animation Studios in all regards.”
Released: December 26
Director: Peter Jackson
Cast: Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Cate Blanchett, Andy Serkis, Elijah Wood, Hugo Weaving
One book became two movies, and two movies became three: Has Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson overstretched his long-gestating adaptation of Tolkien’s fantasy classic, or are audiences about to be lavished with a prequel trilogy of untold richness? The curtain at last rises on part one of the cycle with An Unexpected Journey, which, we might safely assume, depicts the rather impolite intrusion of a wizard and his dwarves upon the life of a hobbit bound for an awfully big adventure. Returning stars Ian McKellen, Andy Serkis, Cate Blanchett and the New Zealand Tourist Commission join franchise newcomer Martin Freeman as the eponymous Bilbo Baggins, whose excited trepidation precisely mirrors our own. Early word is — cautiously — promising. “Setting aside technological considerations,” says Alice Tynan at The Vine, “The Hobbit is nothing short of a joyous homecoming.”
Released: December 26
Director: Tom Hooper
Cast: Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried, Sacha Baron Cohen, Helena Bonham Carter, Eddie Redmayne
It’s been nearly 30 years since the famous musical debuted on the West End, but the popular power of Les Mis hasn’t dimmed — hence this all-star version, directed by the Oscar-winning director of The King’s Speech, Tom Hooper. Hugh Jackman (as Valjean) and Anne Hathaway (Fantine) finally reunite after their spirited song-and-dance routine from the Oscars a few years back (let’s not forget Hathaway’s Les Mis riff with James Franco, either), belting out Victor Hugo’s tales of poverty and injustice in the company of Russell Crowe (Inspector Javert) Amanda Seyfried (Cossette) and Sweeney Todd warblers Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter (who play the Thénardiers). There’s already talk of awards love for the film and Hathaway’s turn in particular, with early buzz from critics’ screenings suggesting this is going to be on a lot of year-end best-of lists.
Released: December 26
Director: Andy Fickman
Cast: Billy Crystal, Bette Midler, Marisa Tomei, Madison Lintz, Joshua Rush, Kyle Harrison Breitkopf
If that still of Billy Crystal being shot in the crotch by a water-pistol-wielding scamp doesn’t have you lining up at the box office for this, then frankly we don’t know what we can say to convince you. Parental Guidance stars Crystal and Bette Midler as grandparents faced with babysitting daughter Marisa Tomei’s unruly kids, whose “21st century behaviour” clashes with their “old-school” parenting. Water-pistols: The new terror favoured by uncontrollable post-millennial children. Apparently. There might be fun to be had, but proceed with caution — director Andy Fickman was responsible for She’s the Man, among other not-quite modern cinema classics.
Released: December 27
Director: Ang Lee
Cast: Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan, Adil Hussain , Rafe Spall, Gerard Depardieu
In 2012’s battle of epics about the human spirit, Ang Lee might have taken a look at Cloud Atlas and chuckled, “My story’s better. It’s got tigers.” And what a wonder of visual effects the beast is. Yann Martel’s supposedly “unfilmable” novel becomes something entirely filmic in Lee’s capable hands, at once as huge as the universe and as intimate as an old-fashioned adventure yarn. Recounted via flashback, this is the tale of Pi (Suraj Sharma), a shipwreck survivor who spends months at sea on a lifeboat with only his wits — and a fearsome Bengal tiger, “Richard Parker” — as his companion. This near-wordless, feature-length sequence is both visually and dramatically breathless, and the 3D, so unnecessary in just about everything else on screen, is genuinely rewarding here. “A riveting fantasia of pure cinema,” says Slant‘s R. Kurt Osenlund.
Released: December 26
Director: Ben Wheatley
Cast: Alice Lowe, Steve Oram, Eileen Davies
Director Ben Wheatley generated a considerable amount of cult buzz for last year’s thriller Kill List, and early word on his follow up is equally strong. A horror-comedy that follows a couple (Alice Lowe and Steve Oram, who also penned the screenplay) whose idyllic caravan jaunt across the English countryside takes a very wrong turn, Sightseers earned plenty of strong notices as it rolled out across the festival circuit throughout the year, with critics taken by the movie’s deft balance of grisly psychosis and character-driven laughs. “It sounds a little heavy,” wrote ScreenCrush‘s Jordan Hoffman, “but it is actually rather funny.”
Released: December 26
Director: Dustin Hoffman
Cast: Maggie Smith, Billy Connolly, Michael Gambon, Tom Courtenay, Pauline Collins
Unless you count his uncredited work on 1978’s Straight Time, this marks the first time that 75-year-old acting legend Dustin Hoffman has stepped behind the camera to direct — which is a hell of a wait in the annals of actors-turned-directors. The project he’s chosen certainly sounds pretty middle of the road — a comedy-drama set in a home for retired opera singers — but with a cast including Maggie Smith (his co-star in Hook, bless), Tom Courtenay and Billy Connolly, the cards are stacked with quality thespians, and that premise is sure to provide much-needed relief for older audiences looking for holiday alternatives. Plus, early notices are looking strong. “Hoffman has delivered a love letter to the elderly thesps of his adoptive country,” writes The Guardian‘s Catherine Shoard. “We can forgive him its falsehoods.”
Released: January 3
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Cast: Tom Cruise, Rosamund Pike, Robert Duvall, Werner Herzog
Tom Cruise scored one of his biggest hits in an age this time last year with Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol, and he’ll be hoping to take his return to the action genre to the bank again with this one. But let’s just cut to the real reason we’re excited by this, shall we? Werner Herzog plays an arch villain called The Zec, and he’s up against Tom Cruise. Yup, it’s the Werner Herzog-Tom Cruise showdown we’ve always hoped would happen. The movie’s an adaptation of Lee Child’s hit novel One Shot, in which Jack Reacher, an ex-army police officer, is called in to rescue a city under siege. Cruise is back in his comfort zone and M:I leather jackets here, while the support cast includes the ever-dependable Robert Duvall and Richard Jenkins. Written and directed by Christopher McQuarrie, the man behind Bryan Singer’s The Usual Suspects and Cruise-curio Valkyrie.
Released: January 10
Director: Sacha Gervasi
Cast: Anthony Hopkins, Helen Mirren, Scarlett Johansson, Jessica Biel, Danny Huston, Toni Collette
Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho remains one of the finest horror thrillers in all of cinema history, and this film — which stars Sir Anthony Hopkins as the great director — attempts to take us behind the scenes on the tense production of the movie, where Hitch battled studio doubters and (according to this account, at least) endured some marital turbulence with his long-suffering wife Alma Reville (Helen Mirren). It’s a big topic to take on, especially in the eyes of film fans, and reaction so far to Sacha Gervasi’s picture has run the gamut from high praise to outright dismissal. Rolling Stone‘s Peter Travers enthuses that it’s an “unexpectedly poignant look at a career and a marriage,” but The New York Times‘ Manohla Dargis is less complimentary. “It’s fluff,” she seethes. Also starring Scarlett Johansson as Janet Leigh, which leads to — if you must know these things — a Psycho shower scene recreation.
Released: January 10
Director: Ruben Fleischer
Cast: Emma Stone, Ryan Gosling, Sean Penn, Josh Brolin Giovanni Ribisi, Nick Nolte
If the prestige trimmings of aspirational Oscar fare aren’t your thing at this awards-grabbing time of year, then this looks shamelessly violent and entertaining. Ruben Fleischer (Zombieland) directs this flashy tale of hoods and law enforcers set in the Los Angeles underworld of the 1940s and ’50s, as local cops try to repel the encroach of East Coast mafia types on the city. Detective Ryan Gosling and gangster moll Emma Stone provide the thespian eye candy to swoon over, Sean Penn plays a mob boss, Josh Brolin appears as Gosling’s cop partner, and Giovanni Ribisi will inevitably play some fringe crazy person. Which, frankly, he excels at. Nick Nolte, Michael Peña and Robert Patrick round out an enjoyable cast. Here’s hoping this one delivers.
Released: January 10
Directors: Chris Butler and Sam Fell
Voice cast: Kodi Smit-McPhee, Anna Kendrick, Casey Affleck, John Goodman, Tucker Albrizzi, Jeff Garlin, Bernard Hill
One of the year’s two macabre stop-motion animations (alongside Tim Burton’s Frankenweenie), ParaNorman is the latest from the studio that delivered the wondrous Coraline, though it’s decidedly more comedic with its John Hughes-meets-George Romero pitch. Norman (voiced by Kodi Smit-McPhee) is an outcast kid who can see into the world of the undead, which proves a handy skill when his town is overrun by zombies released by an ancient local curse. Meticulously animated and home to a strong anti-bullying message, the movie was a modest hit overseas but a resounding success with critics. “Beautifully rendered in 3-D stop-motion animation,” praised The Wrap‘s Alonso Duralde, “the film combines ghoulishness and hilarity in a way that suggests Evil Dead 2 for the Nickelodeon set.”
Released: January 17
Director: Judd Apatow
Cast: Paul Rudd, Leslie Mann, Jason Segel, Charlyne Yi, Megan Fox, Albert Brooks, Melissa McCarthy, Lena Dunham, John Lithgow, Chris O’Dowd
Ever wonder what happened to Debbie (Leslie Mann), Katherine Heigl’s sister from Knocked Up, and her husband Pete (Paul Rudd)? Well Judd Apatow’s going to fill you in either way in this spin-off from his hit 2007 comedy, which follows the maritally-challenged couple as they head into their forties. Rudd and Mann are joined by an all-star comedy cast for Apatow’s first gig behind the camera since Funny People (he produced last year’s hit Bridesmaids), so expect a lot of improv (it’s a “mere” 134 minutes), sentimental life truths and, no doubt, dick jokes. Early reviews out of the US suggest another success for comedy’s super-producer. “Apatow’s got a gift for writing every character in the film deeper than expected,” says Drew McWeeny at HitFix, “and his supporting cast really gets a chance to shine.”
Released: January 17
Director: Pete Docter
Voice cast: John Goodman, Billy Crystal, Steve Buscemi, Jennifer Tilly, James Coburn
Pixar’s sequel Monsters University is set to be their big summer 2013 release, and so, as they did with the Toy Story films, they’re re-releasing the original film to cinemas in 3D to whet our appetites. So here’s your chance to catch 2001’s Monsters, Inc. again on the big screen (or for the first time, if you’re young enough), and relive one of the jewels in Pixar’s pre-Disney crown. Billy Crystal and John Goodman voice two blue-collar beasts whose day job it is to frighten sleeping children and generate screams for their factory — which sounds somewhat terrifying on paper, but is of course very charming and, as per vintage Pixar, wonderfully and energetically crafted in practice. The sequel sure has a lot to live up to.
Released: January 24
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Cast: Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonard DiCaprio, Samuel L. Jackson, Kerry Washington, Don Johnson, Jonah Hill, Amber Tamblyn, Michael Parks
Quentin Tarantino finally delivers the full-blown Spaghetti Western he’s been toying with via riffs and references over several of his movies now; though, this being Tarantino, the extent to which it sticks to one genre is anyone’s guess. Inglourious Basterds‘ star Christoph Waltz plays a German bounty hunter who rescues Jamie Foxx’s slave Django, and together they set out on a mission of vengeance to free Django’s wife from Leonardo DiCaprio’s ruthless plantation owner. While clearly inspired by the classic Django series, this is sure to be Tarantino’s own particular beast, with the trailer already suggesting his usual playful genre cross-pollination is in full effect. Even better, Serious Actor Leonardo DiCaprio — who’s already picked up a Best Supporting Actor award from the National Board of Review — looks like he’s cutting loose at last to have some scenery-chomping fun.
Released: January 24
Director: Anne Fletcher
Cast: Seth Rogen, Barbra Streisand, Kathy Najimy, Colin Hanks, Adam Scott
At last, Seth Rogen and Barbra Streisand together for the Jewish comedy summit of the year. Well, maybe. Rogen’s been quiet this year (after having appeared in seemingly everything there for a while), so it’ll be interesting to see how he fares with this return to the big screen opposite the evergreen Streisand, last seen in the less-than-flattering Fockers comedies. The two play bickering son and mother, natch, on a cross-country road trip as he tries to sell an invention and she searches for a long-lost love. Hilarity ensues. Or… does it? From the director of The Proposal and 27 Dresses — so consider yourself, well, informed.
Released: January 24
Director: Juan Antonio Bayona
Cast: Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor, Soenke Möhring, Tom Holland, Geraldine Chaplin
Quietly sneaking up on everyone is this drama about an English family caught in Thailand on Boxing Day 2004, when that catastrophic tsunami laid waste to the area. Naomi Watts — who’s being mentioned as a possible Oscar nominee in some circles — and Ewan McGregor star as the couple stranded with their kids in the centre of the mayhem, which looks convincingly rendered on screen. It’s certainly a different form of horror for director Juan Antonio Bayona, whose last film was the creepy kid-ghoul chiller The Orphanage, but critics who’ve seen it thus far seem to be enthused. “The most harrowing disaster movie in many a moon,” enthuses Variety‘s Justin Chang, “The Impossible marries a tremendous feat of physical filmmaking to an emotional true story of family survival.”
Released: January 31
Director: David O. Russell
Cast: Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Jacki Weaver, Chris Tucker
Critics in the US have been raving about this one for months, and the latest from director David O. Russell (The Fighter, Three Kings) seems like an easy bet for a Best Picture (and Actor and Actress) nomination at this point. Bradley Cooper stars as an estranged husband just out of a mental institution who tries to get his life back on track — with the unlikely help of a young, slightly deranged widow, played with maximum Oscar visibility by The Hunger Games‘ Jennifer Lawrence. Aggressive quirkiness, dance contests and life revelations are all part of Russell’s package if that’s your thing, and it is, it must be said, great to see De Niro (as Cooper’s sports-mad dad) making some use of his talent again. “It’s alive in a way that suddenly makes you remember to what degree most Hollywood movies aren’t,” says Dana Stevens at Slate.
Released: January 31
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Cast: Joel Edgerton, Jessica Chastain, Mark Strong, Chris Pratt
Kathryn Bigelow isn’t straying too far from the global terrain that won her Best Directing and Picture Oscars back in 2010 for the Iraqi war movie The Hurt Locker — and the acclaim coming out of the US for this film looks like the move is paying off. Bigelow’s reunited with writer Mark Boal for this thriller that dramatises the American military intelligence’s pursuit of al Qaeda main man Osama Bin Laden, with Jessica Chastain spearheading the mission’s special ops team. No matter that we know how this all turned out, because Bigelow is a sure hand at delivering white-knuckle action sequences like few others. We know this because we’ve seen her real career masterpiece, Point Break, several hundred times, and look forward to a scene here in which Bin Laden sky-dives out of a jet on a surfboard, possibly to a track by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. If that happens, Bigelow’s second Oscar is in the bag.
Released: January 31
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Cast: Denzel Washington, Kelly Reilly, John Goodman, Don Cheadle, Melissa Leo, Bruce Greenwood
Remember Robert Zemeckis? Having spent years wandering the wilderness of the uncanny valley with mo-cap movies like Beowulf and The Polar Express, the man who gave us Back to the Future, Forrest Gump and Cast Away returns to live action with a big, character-driven adult drama featuring one of the planet’s last real movie stars. Denzel Washington is a lock for an Oscar nom as Whip Whitaker, a brilliant but boozy pilot who miraculously lands a doomed plane, only to face a rigorous legal investigation and a battle with his personal demons; while Zemeckis resoundingly shows he hasn’t forgotten how to make a real movie. “What lends it that force are not the carefully calibrated moral ambiguities of the script,” writes Tom Shone in The Guardian, “but the bruised, defiant soul that appears to us in the form of Denzel Washington.”
Released: November 30
Director: Peter Ramsey
Voice cast: Chris Pine, Alec Baldwin, Isla Fisher, Jude Law, Hugh Jackman
Mythological children’s avengers assemble for DreamWorks’ latest animation, which finds the Earth under attack from a villain named Pitch (voiced by Jude Law) and the Immortal Guardians — Jack Frost (Chris Pine), the Tooth Fairy (Isla Fisher), North (Alec Baldwin) and Bunny (Hugh Jackman) — standing as mankind’s last line in seasonal defense (and holiday merchandising). Producer Guillermo del Toro sprinkles some of his dark fairy tale dust on proceedings, but really we’re sold on the promise of hearing Alec Baldwin voice the movie’s badass Santa — we know how much he loves to discipline naughty kids.
Released: November 30
Director: Mike Newell
Cast: Jeremy Irvine, Ralph Fiennes, Helena Bonham Carter, Robbie Coltrane, Sally Hawkins, Jason Flemyng
Charles Dickens’ classic gets dusted off once again in time for the holiday season, this time in the hands of veteran director Mike Newell (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Four Weddings and a Funeral, and, uh, Prince of Persia). Jeremy Irvine leaves his war horse behind to play Pip, the novel’s orphan protagonist, while the colourful supporting cast of characters is dependably stocked with Potter (and every other British period drama) alums like Ralph Fiennes (as Magwitch), Robbie Coltrane (Mr. Jaggers), and Burton contract player Helena Bonham Carter (who else but Miss Havisham). Pretend David Lean never made this and it could be a treat.
Released: November 30
Director: Ben Wheatley
Cast: Alice Lowe, Steve Oram, Eileen Davies
Director Ben Wheatley generated a considerable amount of cult buzz for last year’s thriller Kill List, and early word on his follow up is equally strong. A horror-comedy that follows a couple (Alice Lowe and Steve Oram, who also penned the screenplay) whose idyllic caravan jaunt across the English countryside takes a very wrong turn, Sightseers earned plenty of strong notices as it rolled out across the festival circuit throughout the year, with critics taken by the movie’s deft balance of grisly psychosis and character-driven laughs. “It sounds a little heavy,” wrote ScreenCrush‘s Jordan Hoffman, “but it is actually rather funny.”
Released: November 30
Director: Xavier Dolan
Cast:
Melvil Poupaud, Suzanne Clément, Nathalie Baye
Precocious French-Canadian auteur Xavier Dolan has never been shy for ambition — still only 23, he’s already got a bunch of buzzed-about features (I Killed My Mother, Heartbeats) behind him — and his latest, which premiered to mixed reactions at Cannes, is a nearly-three-hour drama about a male-to-female transsexual and her relationship with a lover that unfolds over an entire decade. By turns indulgent and moving, it’s a must-see for Poupaud’s leading turn — that and, as Ultra Culture‘s Charlie Lyne correctly notes, the fact that “Dolan still does attractive young people walking in slow-motion to electropop better than anyone else.”
Released: November 30
Director: Thomas Vinterberg
Cast:
Mads Mikkelsen, Thomas Bo Larsen, Susse Wold
The mighty Mads Mikkelsen, star of After the Wedding, Valhalla Rising and of course, the Bondian ball-busting of Casino Royale, plays a lonely kindergarten teacher faced with public humiliation when he’s falsely accused of indecent exposure against one of his students. The Danish star won the Best Actor prize at Cannes for his performance and by all accounts rightfully so, and some critics, such as The Daily Telegraph‘s Robbie Collin, have heralded the film as director Thomas Vinterberg’s best work since his acclaimed Dogme drama, The Celebration.
Released: December 7
Director: Martin McDonagh
Cast: Colin Farrell, Sam Rockwell, Christopher Walken, Tom Waits, Woody Harrelson, Abbie Cornish, Olga Kurylenko
Taking a shot at some kind of meta Tarantino-meets-Charlie Kaufman commentary on screen violence (or, you know, something), In Bruges writer-director Martin McDonagh returns with a comedy about a frustrated screenwriter (Farrell) who may or may not be inventing various crazy people in his mind to inspire his latest movie. Sam Rockwell plays his shady criminal associate, Christopher Walken is very, well, Walken-esque as a retiring dog-napper, and Tom Waits shows up as a serial killer-killing serial killer. The mind bends! Critics, at least thus far in the US, seemed to dig it on the whole.
Released: December 5
Director: RZA
Cast: RZA, Russell Crowe, Lucy Liu, Gordon Liu, Cung Le
Having spent his music career in thrall to martial arts movie samples, Wu-Tang mastermind the RZA unleashes his fandom behind the camera to make his directorial debut with this unhinged kung fu free-for-all. RZA plays the titular fist fighter, a humble blacksmith thrown into a violent fray when his town becomes the focus of a showdown between warring clans. The influence of a lifetime spent watching Shaw Brothers movies is on full display here (there’s a requisite cameo by Gordon Liu), as is the imprint of RZA buddy Quentin Tarantino. Notable for a bizarrely lascivious Russell Crowe, Fists may not be a masterpiece, but as The New York Times‘ Manohla Dargis claims, it’s “as erratically enjoyable as it is consistently ridiculous.”
Released: December 7
Director: Lee Toland Krieger
Cast: Rashida Jones, Andy Samberg, Elijah Wood, Ari Graynor, Chris Messina
Yet another emotionally twisty Los Angeleno relationship comedy to follow Ruby Sparks, Celeste and Jesse Forever explores the tricky terrain of exes who’re inseparable because they’re also best friends. As Celeste, a manically funny Rashida Jones (who also wrote) proves she’s got the comedic and dramatic chops to headline more movies, while Andy Samberg redeems his sorry appearance in That’s My Boy with a likeable supporting turn as Jesse. For a comedy, it’s also, as Slant‘s Chris Cabin offers, “bravely committed to the emotional rigours of its central relationship.”
Released: December 13
Director: Peter Jackson
Cast: Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Cate Blanchett, Andy Serkis, Elijah Wood, Hugo Weaving
One book became two movies, and two movies became three: Has Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson overstretched his long-gestating adaptation of Tolkien’s fantasy classic, or are audiences about to be lavished with a prequel trilogy of untold richness? And will humble cinemas be able to handle his future-of-human-vision 48-frames-per-second digital projection? The curtain at last rises on part one of the cycle with An Unexpected Journey, which, we might safely assume, depicts the rather impolite intrusion of a wizard and his dwarves upon the life of a hobbit bound for an awfully big adventure. Returning stars Ian McKellen, Andy Serkis, Cate Blanchett and the New Zealand Tourist Commission join franchise newcomer Martin Freeman as the eponymous Bilbo Baggins, whose excited trepidation precisely mirrors our own.
Released: December 14
Director: James Ponsoldt
Cast: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Aaron Paul, Octavia Spencer, Nick Offerman
Because nothing dispels an ale- and pipe-fueled hobbit hangover better than a hard-hitting indie about a young couple whose relationship is bound by a shared life of alcoholism. Mary Elizabeth Winstead finally gets to show she can act (we knew you could, Mary), playing the wife who decides it’s time to sober up while her husband (Aaron Paul) continues boozing — which can’t be at all good for the marriage. If the holiday season seems like an odd time of year to be taking in an apparently downbeat addiction drama, perhaps Roger Ebert’s words of praise will serve as encouragement: “This is a serious movie about drinking,” he assures us, “but not a depressing one.”
Released: December 14
Director: Jonathan Demme
Cast: Neil Young, Jonathan Demme
Any time director Jonathan Demme trains his talents on music, take note. Besides helming arguably the greatest concert movie ever (Talking Heads’ Stop Making Sense), he’s made two acclaimed collaborations with Neil Young (Heart of Gold and Trunk Show), and now reunites with the veteran rocker for a third film — this one a road trip the two men take to one of Young’s concerts. It’s a ride that’ll be heaven for fans: cut with live footage, Young and Demme drive from the musician’s home in Ontario to Toronto, and along the way he tells stories of his youth and career. “Mr. Young’s passionate cracked whine assumes an oracular power,” raves The New York Times‘ Stephen Holden. Oracular power. Indeed.
Released: December 20
Director: Ang Lee
Cast: Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan, Adil Hussain , Rafe Spall, Gerard Depardieu
In 2012’s battle of epics about the human spirit, Ang Lee might have taken a look at Cloud Atlas and chuckled, “My story’s better. It’s got tigers.” And what a wonder of visual effects the beast is. Yann Martel’s supposedly “unfilmable” novel becomes something entirely filmic in Lee’s capable hands, at once as huge as the universe and as intimate as an old-fashioned adventure yarn. Recounted via flashback, this is the tale of Pi (Suraj Sharma), a shipwreck survivor who spends months at sea on a lifeboat with only his wits — and a fearsome Bengal tiger, “Richard Parker” — as his companion. This near-wordless, feature-length sequence is both visually and dramatically breathless, and the 3D, so unnecessary in just about everything else on screen, is genuinely rewarding here. “A riveting fantasia of pure cinema,” says Slant‘s R. Kurt Osenlund.
Released: December 21
Director: Jason Moore
Cast: Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, Elizabeth Banks, Brittany Snow, Skylar Astin
It’s not every day you see a movie about an all-girl a capella group on campus, but Pitch Perfect is just such a rarity. And it’s pretty great, according to critics in the States, anyway. Anna Kendrick (Up in the Air, 50/50, Twilight) plays a college freshman reluctantly convinced to lead the school’s girl chorus The Bellas, who include Brittany Snow (Hairspray) and breakout star Rebel Wilson (Bridesmaids). Though the old battle-of-the-bands style formula is predictable stuff, critics have praised the performances and the film’s winning energy. “The girls, for the most part,” says Laura Beck at the Village Voice, “are genuinely funny, weird, real, and, most excitingly, confident.” And we didn’t even mention Gle-… oops.
Released: December 21
Director: Amy Berg
Cast: Damien Wayne Echols, Jason Baldwin, Jessie Misskelley
It remains one of the most fascinating murder cases in modern American history: The so-called “West Memphis Three,” teenagers jailed for the grim 1993 slayings of three children, spent two decades imprisoned only to be released in 2011 after new DNA evidence came to light supporting their innocence. Among the celebrities who rallied behind the boys’ appeal was director Peter Jackson, who produced (alongside WM3 member Damien Echols) this engrossing three-hour documentary examining the case and the fallout from the failure of justice. Nick Cave and Warren Ellis provide the soundtrack, because where there’s murder in the South, of course you’ll find those guys.
Released: December 26
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Cast: Tom Cruise, Rosamund Pike, Robert Duvall, Werner Herzog
Let’s just cut to the real reason we’re excited by this, shall we? Werner Herzog plays an arch villain called The Zec, and he’s up against Tom Cruise. Yup, it’s the Werner Herzog-Tom Cruise showdown we’ve always hoped would happen. The movie’s an adaptation of Lee Child’s hit novel One Shot, in which Jack Reacher, an ex-army police officer, is called in to rescue a city under siege. Cruise is back in his comfort zone and M:I leather jackets here, while the support cast includes the ever-dependable Robert Duvall and Richard Jenkins. Written and directed by Christopher McQuarrie, the man behind Bryan Singer’s The Usual Suspects and Cruise-curio Valkyrie.
Released: December 26
Director: Colin Trevorrow
Cast: Aubrey Plaza, Mark Duplass, Jake M. Johnson
Among the recent trend of average indie movies dressed up with sci-fi gimmicks (Another Earth, Seeking a Friend for the End of the World), Safety Not Guaranteed has emerged as the real deal. A magazine writer (Johnson) and his interns (including Parks and Recreation comedienne Aubrey Plaza) set out to investigate a loner (Mark Duplass) who claims to have invented time travel — and will take the right person with him, though he can’t promise they’ll return. Emerging director Colin Trevorrow captures a ramshackle, lo-fi sci-fi vibe, and Plaza and Duplass make for a likeably strange duo. Critics embraced it, too. “As indie-film nerd-mances go,” says the Village Voice‘s Karina Longworth, “this one is genuinely sweet.”
Released: December 28
Director: Andy Fickman
Cast: Billy Crystal, Bette Midler, Marisa Tomei, Madison Lintz, Joshua Rush, Kyle Harrison Breitkopf
If that still of Billy Crystal being shot in the crotch by a water-pistol-wielding scamp doesn’t have you lining up at the box office for this, then frankly we don’t know what we can say to convince you. Parental Guidance stars Crystal and Bette Midler as grandparents faced with babysitting daughter Marisa Tomei’s unruly kids, whose “21st century behaviour” clashes with their “old-school” parenting. Water-pistols: The new terror favoured by uncontrollable post-millennial children. Apparently. There might be fun to be had, but proceed with caution — director Andy Fickman was responsible for She’s the Man, among other not-quite modern cinema classics.
Released: January 1
Director: John Luessenhop
Cast: Alexandra Daddario, Tania Raymonde, Bill Moseley, Trey Songz
Tobe Hooper’s original Texas Chainsaw Massacre was a grimy little shocker that unsettled audiences upon release back in 1974. It’s hard to imagine anyone will be saying the same about this movie, which marks the seventh film in the franchise — for anyone still counting, after 2006’s forgotten prequel Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning. This installment is apparently a direct sequel to the first film, and concerns a young woman who inherits the house inhabited by Leatherface and his clan of cheerful hillbillies. If you enjoy the spectacle of squealing horror victims being carved up in an extra dimension, this one’s in 3D; though the fact that it’s coming out in the US studio’s dumping ground of January might be a slight worry.
Released: January 1
Director: Juan Antonio Bayona
Cast: Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor, Soenke Möhring, Tom Holland, Geraldine Chaplin
Quietly sneaking up on everyone is this drama about an English family caught in Thailand on Boxing Day 2004, when that catastrophic tsunami laid waste to the area. Naomi Watts — who’s being mentioned as a possible Oscar nominee in some circles — and Ewan McGregor star as the couple stranded with their kids in the centre of the mayhem, which looks convincingly rendered on screen. It’s certainly a different form of horror for director Juan Antonio Bayona, whose last film was the creepy kid-ghoul chiller The Orphanage, but critics who’ve seen it thus far seem to be enthused. “The most harrowing disaster movie in many a moon,” enthuses Variety‘s Justin Chang, “The Impossible marries a tremendous feat of physical filmmaking to an emotional true story of family survival.”
Released: January 1
Director: Dustin Hoffman
Cast: Maggie Smith, Billy Connolly, Michael Gambon, Tom Courtenay, Pauline Collins
Unless you count his uncredited work on 1978’s Straight Time, this marks the first time that 75-year-old acting legend Dustin Hoffman has stepped behind the camera to direct — which is a hell of a wait in the annals of actors-turned-directors. The project he’s chosen certainly sounds pretty middle of the road — a comedy-drama set in a home for retired opera singers — but with a cast including Maggie Smith (his co-star in Hook, bless), Tom Courtenay and Billy Connolly, the cards are stacked with quality thespians, and that premise is sure to provide much-needed relief for older audiences looking for holiday alternatives. Plus, early notices are looking strong. “Hoffman has delivered a love letter to the elderly thesps of his adoptive country,” writes The Guardian‘s Catherine Shoard. “We can forgive him its falsehoods.”
Released: January 11
Director: Tom Hooper
Cast: Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried, Sacha Baron Cohen, Helena Bonham Carter, Eddie Redmayne
It’s been nearly 30 years since the famous musical debuted on the West End, but the popular power of Les Mis hasn’t dimmed — hence this all-star version, directed by the Oscar-winning director of The King’s Speech, Tom Hooper. Hugh Jackman (as Valjean) and Anne Hathaway (Fantine) finally reunite after their spirited song-and-dance routine from the Oscars a few years back (let’s not forget Hathaway’s Les Mis riff with James Franco, either), belting out Victor Hugo’s tales of poverty and injustice in the company of Russell Crowe (Inspector Javert) Amanda Seyfried (Cossette) and Sweeney Todd warblers Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter (who play the Thénardiers). There’s already talk of awards love for Hathaway, even though no-one’s really seen the movie yet. But the trailer’s impressive, you have to admit.
Released: January 11
Director: Ruben Fleischer
Cast: Emma Stone, Ryan Gosling, Sean Penn, Josh Brolin Giovanni Ribisi, Nick Nolte
If prestige adaptations of West End musicals aren’t your thing, then this looks shamelessly violent and entertaining. Ruben Fleischer (Zombieland) directs this flashy tale of hoods and law enforcers set in the Los Angeles underworld of the 1940s and ’50s, as local cops try to repel the encroach of East Coast mafia types on the city. Detective Ryan Gosling and gangster moll Emma Stone provide the thespian eye candy to swoon over, Sean Penn plays a mob boss, Josh Brolin appears as Gosling’s cop partner, and Giovanni Ribisi will inevitably play some fringe crazy person. Which, frankly, he excels at. Nick Nolte, Michael Peña and Robert Patrick round out an enjoyable cast. Here’s hoping this one delivers.
Released: January 18
Director: Ben Lewin
Cast: John Hawkes, Helen Hunt, William H. Macy
IMDb’s synopsis sounds like the set up for a comedy punch line: “A man in an iron lung who wishes to lose his virginity contacts a professional sex surrogate with the help of his therapist and priest.” Hilarity, however, doesn’t quite ensue in this drama, which is being heralded as a showcase for some fantastic performances. Expect to see the Academy take notice of John Hawkes and Helen Hunt when the acting nominations are announced, as this is the kind of movie that grown-ups love and complain that they don’t see often enough. Or, as FilmDrunk‘s Vincent Mancini asserts, it’s “that exceedingly rare combination of sexy, clever and sweet, a winning tale of one charming disabled man’s quest to get some stank on his hangdown.”
Released: January 18
Director: Pete Docter
Voice cast: John Goodman, Billy Crystal, Steve Buscemi, Jennifer Tilly, James Coburn
Pixar’s sequel Monsters University is set to be their big summer 2013 release, and so, as they did with the Toy Story films, they’re re-releasing the original film to cinemas in 3D to whet our appetites. So here’s your chance to catch 2001’s Monsters, Inc. again on the big screen (or for the first time, if you’re young enough), and relive one of the jewels in Pixar’s pre-Disney crown. Billy Crystal and John Goodman voice two blue-collar beasts whose day job it is to frighten sleeping children and generate screams for their factory — which sounds somewhat terrifying on paper, but is of course very charming and, as per vintage Pixar, wonderfully and energetically crafted in practice. The sequel sure has a lot to live up to.
Released: January 18
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Cast: Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonard DiCaprio, Samuel L. Jackson, Kerry Washington, Don Johnson, Jonah Hill, Amber Tamblyn, Michael Parks
Quentin Tarantino finally delivers the full-blown Spaghetti Western he’s been toying with via riffs and references over several of his movies now; though, this being Tarantino, the extent to which it sticks to one genre is anyone’s guess. Inglourious Basterds‘ star Christoph Waltz plays a German bounty hunter who rescues Jamie Foxx’s slave Django, and together they set out on a mission of vengeance to free Django’s wife from Leonardo DiCaprio’s ruthless plantation owner. While clearly inspired by the classic Django series, this is sure to be Tarantino’s own particular beast, with the trailer already suggesting his usual playful genre cross-pollination is in full effect. Even better, Serious Actor Leonardo DiCaprio looks like he’s cutting loose at last to have some scenery-chomping fun.
Released: January 25
Director: Steven Spielberg
Cast: Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, Tommy Lee Jones, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, James Spader, David Strathairn, Hal Holbrook, John Hawkes, Jackie Earle Haley
True, he’s no animatronic rappin’ Abe, but Daniel Day-Lewis gives the sort of powerhouse, original performance you’d expect — nay, demand — as the iconic President in Steven Spielberg’s solid and refreshingly reigned-in drama. Focusing on the last days of Lincoln’s term as he attempts to pass the anti-slavery bill, the film is a suspenseful political piece and a gallery of ace character acting — especially from Tommy Lee Jones, Sally Field and a comedic James Spader. It’s “absorbing, densely packed,” and “sometimes funny,” notes the Hollywood Reporter‘s Todd McCarthy. And rousing, too: you’ll get chills when Lincoln declares, “Be excellent to each other… and party on, dudes!”
Released: January 25
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Cast: Joel Edgerton, Jessica Chastain, Mark Strong, Chris Pratt
Kathryn Bigelow isn’t straying too far from the global terrain that won her Best Directing and Picture Oscars back in 2010 for the Iraqi war movie The Hurt Locker. She’s reunited with writer Mark Boal for this thriller that dramatises the American military intelligence’s pursuit of al Qaeda main man Osama Bin Laden, with Jessica Chastain spearheading the mission’s special ops team. No matter that we know how this all turned out, because Bigelow is a sure hand at delivering white-knuckle action sequences like few others. We know this because we’ve seen her real career masterpiece, Point Break, several hundred times, and look forward to a scene here in which Bin Laden sky-dives out of a jet on a surfboard, possibly to a track by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. If that happens, Bigelow’s second Oscar is in the bag.
Released: January 25
Director: Jee-woon Kim
Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Johnny Knoxville, Forest Whitaker, Jaimie Alexander, Genesis Rodriguez, Harry Dean Stanton, Peter Stormare
With his less-than-stellar gubernatorial term fading from memory, Arnold Schwarzenegger has been busy orchestrating his movie comeback and this — following two Expendables cameos — marks his first proper leading role since 2003’s Terminator 3. With the action landscape irrevocably altered and heroes of yore reduced to jokey nostalgia, it’ll be interesting to see how this one fares. Arnie’s definitely picked a hard, no-nonsense looking actioner (he’s the grizzled sheriff of a dusty town under siege), and his director, Korean Jee-woon Kim, is known for his tough, uncompromising dirges of adult violence like I Saw the Devil and A Tale of Two Sisters. That said, it wouldn’t be an Schwarzenegger picture if there weren’t at least a couple of cheesy one-liners, would it? His co-star is Johnny Knoxville, after all.
Released: January 25
Director: Taylor Hackford
Cast: Jason Statham, Jennifer Lopez, Clifton Collins Jr.,Michael Chiklis, Nick Nolte
He’s been played by the likes of Lee Marvin (in John Boorman’s incomparable Point Blank) and Mel Gibson (in Payback), and now Donald E. Westlake’s hard-boiled thief gets the 21st-century treatment in the shape of Jason Statham’s titular turn. Ray director Taylor Hackford adapts this tale in which Parker, betrayed by those he trusts, goes into hiding as a wealthy Texan — you can see for yourself just how inconspicuous the Stath looks in that picture — and teams up with Jennifer Lopez (remember her?) to get vengeance on his former crew. As action-movie pedigrees go it’s not the easiest one to live up to, but Statham at least has the potential to do the character justice.
Released: February 1
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Cast: Denzel Washington, Kelly Reilly, John Goodman, Don Cheadle, Melissa Leo, Bruce Greenwood
Remember Robert Zemeckis? Having spent years wandering the wilderness of the uncanny valley with mo-cap movies like Beowulf and The Polar Express, the man who gave us Back to the Future, Forrest Gump and Cast Away returns to live action with a big, character-driven adult drama featuring one of the planet’s last real movie stars. Denzel Washington is a lock for an Oscar nom as Whip Whitaker, a brilliant but boozy pilot who miraculously lands a doomed plane, only to face a rigorous legal investigation and a battle with his personal demons; while Zemeckis resoundingly shows he hasn’t forgotten how to make a real movie. “What lends it that force are not the carefully calibrated moral ambiguities of the script,” writes Tom Shone in The Guardian, “but the bruised, defiant soul that appears to us in the form of Denzel Washington.”
Released: February 1
Director: Roger Michell
Cast: Bill Murray, Olivia Williams, Laura Linney, Samuel West, Olivia Colman
The whims of Bill Murray’s project selection are legendary. Thus we get this turn as US President Franklin D. Roosevelt in Notting Hill director Roger Michell’s gentle character piece, a movie that couldn’t look more geared towards Oscar season bait if it tried. Added to the comedy-icon-takes-dramatic-role factor, the story focuses on the Stateside visit of the King and Queen of England — the very ones you may remember from that other Academy-endorsed period pic, The King’s Speech. Murray, being Murray, is wonderful, but the reviews so far have been decidedly mixed. “More a King’s Speech footnote… Park only flies when Bill’s centre stage,” offers Total Film, while Time‘s Richard Corliss is considerably less charitable: “Director Roger Michell’s movie is, pretty consistently, dreadful.” It is nice to see Murray and his Rushmore co-star Olivia Williams reunited as Mr. and Mrs. Roosevelt, though.
Released: February 1
Director: Walter Hill
Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Jason Momoa, Sarah Shahi, Christian Slater
The Expendables movies seem to have bolstered Sylvester Stallone’s strangely bullish late-career run. With his old rival Schwarzenegger stripped to action basics for The Last Stand, Stallone looks to have taken the same tack with Bullet to the Head, in which he plays a hitman who joins forces with a cop to take out a shared foe. The trailer — in which Sly announces himself a “problem solver” who “takes out the trash” — plays close to parody, but the director, interestingly, is none other than the great Walter Hill. While his last credit was 2002’s Wesley Snipes thriller Undisputed, Hill’s been a producer on Deadwood and, lest anyone forget, was the man behind The Warriors, 48 Hrs. and The Driver — genres classic all of them. Expect plenty of action hero editorialising when Stand and Bullet arrive within a week of each other.
