The winter months are usually the time when the silver screen is filled with the cream of the crop of moviemaking.
So far, there are only a handful of films that look like contenders for next year’s Oscar gold.
“Australia” (Nov. 26) is an early frontrunner because of its classic approach to storytelling. It looks to be an epic in the vein of “Gone with the Wind.” A sweeping story based around World War II is sure to get Oscar voters giving this film more than just a quick glance over.
Will Smith will once again take on a serious role in “Seven Pounds” (Dec. 19). After earning a best actor nomination for “The Pursuit of Happyness,” Smith portrays a suicidal man dealing with his role in an auto accident that claimed the lives of seven people.
In “Defiance” (Jan. 16), Daniel Craig hits the screen as one of three brothers on the run from the Nazis in 1941. Along with his brothers, Craig helps stage one of the largest rescue missions of Jews from the Holocaust. Not only will Craig probably get critical praise for his role, the film itself will make a stand for best picture because of its weighty subject matter.
The stylish “The Spirit” (Dec. 25) could break down best pictures walls with its combination of live-action and animation.
As sure as some of these films could gain critical and commercial success, nothing is set in stone and each film will no doubt have to be weighed on its own merits.
Nov. 26
Four Christmases
Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn kick off the Christmas season in this comedy about a married couple from two divorced families who are tasked with attending four Christmas Day celebrations.
Australia
Set in northern Australia before World War II, an English aristocrat (Nicole Kidman) inherits a sprawling ranch reluctantly pacts with a stock-man (Hugh Jackman) in order to protect her new property from a takeover plot. As the pair drive 2,000 head of cattle over unforgiving landscape, they experience the bombing of Darwin, Australia, by Japanese forces firsthand.
Also opening: Transporter 3
Dec. 5
Punisher: War Zone
This unexpected sequel stars Ray Stevenson as renegade former FBI agent Frank Castle as he continues his crusade to punish violent criminals. This film picks up as Castle arrives in New York to take on the city’s underworld bosses.
Dec. 12
Day the Earth Stood Still
Is this a remake nobody asked for or a new vehicle for Keanu Reeves to take back his science fiction crown? In the original film in 1951, a flying saucer orbits Earth and lands in Washington, D.C., where aliens exit the vehicle with an important message for its citizens. The new film supposedly stays close to the original movie, but only time will tell.
Also opening: Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Nothing Like the Holidays
Dec. 19
Yes Man
Funnyman Jim Carrey takes on the task of telling everyone “yes” for a whole year. The film is based on Danny Wallace’s second book published in 2005. In the book, he describes how he spent six months saying “yes” where once he would have said “no.”
Seven Pounds
Will Smith stars as a man who is close to suicide for his role in an auto accident that claimed the lives of seven people. He finds a reason to live, and to atone, when he falls for a woman (Rosario Dawson) who wants to help him deal with his grief.
Also opening: The Tale of Despereaux, Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Dec. 25
The Spirit
Directed by “Sin City’s” Frank Miller, “The Spirit” is another comic book adaptation. A rookie cop played by Gabriel Macht returns from the dead to fight crime from the shadows of Central City. His main opposition is a former lab technician who has reinvented himself as criminal mastermind The Octopus (Samuel L. Jackson).
Valkyrie
The long-delayed World War II film starring Tom Cruise finally gets a release date. Near the end of WW II, Claus von Stauffenberg (Cruise) leads a group of fellow German army colonels in an attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler. The event would later be called the July 20 Plot of 1944.
Frost/Nixon
BBC host David Frost interviews Richard Nixon in 1977, where the scandal-plagued President opens up about his role in the Watergate scandal.
Also opening: Bedtime Stories, Hurricane Season, Marley & Me
Jan. 9
Bride Wars
Two best friends (Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway) become rivals when a clerical error results in their respective weddings being held at the same place on the same day.
The Unborn
Haunted by strange dreams and recurring ghostly visions, Casey Beldon (Odette Yustman) turns to a spiritual advisor (Gary Oldman) for help. Together, they learn that Casey had a twin brother who never made it to term, and that her intended sibling is tied to a curse that requires Casey’s death in order to manifest itself in our world.
Also opening: Not Easily Broken
Jan. 16
Defiance
Based on a true story, “Defiance” is a tale of family, honor, vengeance and salvation in World War II. The year is 1941 and the Jews of Eastern Europe are being massacred by the thousands. Managing to escape certain death, three brothers take refuge in the dense surrounding woods they have known since childhood. Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber and Jamie Bell star as brothers who organize the largest armed rescue of Jews during the Holocaust.
Also opening: Hotel Dogs, My Bloody Valentine, Paul Blart: Mall Cop, Notorious, I Love You, Man
Jan. 23
Underworld: Rise of the Lycans
A look at how the werewolf named Lucian (Michael Sheen) led an uprising against an aristocratic vampire sect, a revolt that will mark the beginning of a centuries-old war between the two races.
Also opening: Possession, Inkheart
Jan. 30
The Uninvited
After her mother’s death and her subsequent hospital stay, Anna Rydell (Emily Browning) returns home to be with her sister and her father, who has become engaged to Rachel (Elizabeth Banks), her mother’s former nurse. Anna is visited by her mother’s ghost, who reveals that the new woman in her father’s life is not whom she pretends to be.
Taken
A former spy (Liam Neeson) relies on his old skills to save his daughter (Maggie Grace), who was kidnapped by slave traders during her vacation in Paris.
Also opening: Chilled in Miami
