Winter Movie Preview

November 2009 Movies[-] Hide Month

6	The Box High-concept psychological thriller from Donnie Darko director Richard Kelly. Cameron Diaz (in really bad accent) and husband James Marsden receive a simple wooden box that will grant them $1M, but will also simultaneously cause the death of someone elsewhere in the world.	» view trailer
6	A Christmas Carol This movie has been made a couple of dozen times, but never with Jim Carrey in the leading role. Or in 3-D.	» view trailer
6	The Fourth Kind Stretching credibility to its absolute breaking point, Milla Jovovich plays a psychologist investigating alien abductions in Nome, Alaska. Sorry, fellas, but judging by the trailer she is pretty heavily clothed throughout, very much unlike her September 2009 Maxim cover. Directed by first-timer Olatunde Osunsanmi. We just like saying that.	» view trailer
6	The Men Who Stare At Goats Jeff Bridges brings back large parts of his famed "Dude" role as the druggie, hippie leader of psychic soldiers on a mission in Iraq. George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, and Kevin Spacey co-star in what looks like either the best comedy of 2009 or a colossal bomb (so to speak).	» view trailer
13	Pirate Radio Once called The Boat That Rocked, this troubled Philip Seymour Hoffman comedy has already been released in the UK and had its US release date delayed. The only bright spot here looks to be the excellent soundtrack, which might make more dough than the movie's box office.	» view trailer
13	2012 This fall the disaster theme is primarily the latest pandemics, but director Roland Emmerich is determined not to let ancient prophecies take a backseat. Woody Harrelson and John Cusak star.	» view trailer
13	The Fantastic Mr. Fox Director Wes Anderson adapts Roald Dahl's popular kids book for the big screen and hires a bunch of big-name actors for the voices, including Meryl Streep, George Clooney, and Bill Murray.	» view trailer
20	The Blind Side Inspirational sports drama based on the true story of Michael Oher, a big kid with a very tough background who ended up being the Baltimore Ravens' First Round pick in the 2009 NFL draft.	» view trailer
20	Planet 51 Pixar-wannabe about an astronaut who lands on a planet where the inhabitants are stuck in a version of 1950's America. "The Rock" and Jessica Biel star. Sorry, fellas, only her voice is on display.	» view trailer
20	The Twilight Saga: New Moon Second installment of the epic vampire romance saga. Fans have been counting down the days for this one since the release of Twilight a year ago.	» view trailer
25	Ninja Assassin One of those movies where the title says it all. It's about a ninja who's an assassin. Directed by James McTeigue (V for Vendetta) who's been rumored to direct the next Superman movie.	» view trailer
25	Old Dogs The trailer for this comedy is painful to watch, and we're not just talking about the shots to the head and groin. Robin Williams and John Travolta star. Directed by Walt Becker, who also did Wild Hogs. That rhymes.	» view trailer
25	The Road This Road Warrior update, but with big-name stars (Viggo Mortensen and Charlize Theron), is based on a novel by Cormac McCarthy (No Country for Old Men). Despite its unrelenting darkness -- or perhaps because of it? -- a certain Oscar contender.	» view trailer

December 2009 Movies[-] Hide Month

4	Armored Matt Dillon, Laurence Fishburne, and Jean Reno star in this heist pic about employees at an armored-transport company who plan a big theft from their own company. The trailer is definitely not encouraging.	» view trailer
4	Brothers A heavy-duty drama starring Natalie Portman as a woman who falls for her brother-in-law (Jake Gyllenhaal) after her husband (Tobey Maquire) is presumed dead in Afghanistan. Maguire is aiming for Oscar gold by by adopting an unhealthy-looking Christian Bale-esqe weight loss plan. U2 soundtrack successfully provides added earnestness.	» view trailer
4	Everybody's Fine If there's an archetypal Hollywood Holiday Dramedy, Everybody's Fine would be it. Completely non-threatening, feel-good fare starring Drew Barrymore, Kate Beckinsale, and Robert DeNiro, who looks like he's taking it pretty easy before next summer's big Fockers sequel.	» view trailer
11	The Lovely Bones The best-selling novel about a brutally murdered teen who then watches over her family gets the Hollywood treatment with an A-list cast, including Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Weisz, and Susan Sarandon.	» view trailer
11	The Princess and the Frog Now that America has its first black president, Disney can safely create its first black princess! Anika Noni Rose is the voice of Princess Tiana, with other voices provided by John Goodman, Terrence Howard, and Oprah Winfrey.	» view trailer
18	Nine A musical with a big-name cast from the director of 2002's Chicago. The smart money is handicapping this as the favorite for Best Picture.	» view trailer
18	Avatar Skeptics are suggesting this might bomb because director James Cameron's latest epic (Titanic) was released 12 years ago, when Avatar's target demographic was still watching SpongeBob. Perhaps, but the trailer looks pretty far out. And, Zoe Saldana stars.	» view trailer
18	Did You Hear About the Morgans? We've seen infommercials with more chemistry than what's on display here between Hugh Grant and Sarah Jessica Parker. This high-concept romantic comedy follows an urban couple who's forced to enter the witness relocation program in Wyoming.	» view trailer
23	Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Sqeakuel Alvin and the Chipmunks I (2007) was such a huge box-office success ($217M) that we knew this was coming. We were just hoping it was a few more years off.	» view trailer
25	It's Complicated Every three years in December a Nancy Myers romantic comedy hits theaters. 2000: What Women Want, 2003: Something's Gotta Give, 2006: The Holiday, and now in 2009: It's Complicated. Is she human or machine? This one stars Alec Baldwin as married man who has an affair with his ex-wife (Meryl Streep).	» view trailer
25	Sherlock Holmes Stars Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, and Rachel McAdams. Directed by Guy Ritchie. This has hit written all over it in big, bold letters. So much so that Warner Brothers is already talking about a sequel starring Brad Pitt as Holmes' nemesis.	» view trailer

January 2010 Movies[-] Hide Month

8	Daybreakers Every January a few really bad horror movies creep into theaters and Daybreakers looks like it might be one of them — though this vampire pic stars some real talent, Willem Dafoe and Ethan Hawke.	» view trailer
8	Leap Year Romantic comedy starring Amy Adams (see Hottest Chicks of the Summer Flicks) and Matthew Goode as a ridiculously cute couple who fall in love when she's supposed to marry The Other Guy (Adam Scott), who played the dick role to perfection in Step Brothers.	» view trailer
8	Youth in Revolt Coming-of-age/losing-virginity comedy starring Michael Cera, Zach Galifianakis (the guy from The Hangover), and Justin Long (the Mac guy). Was originally set for an October 2009 release, which is never a very good sign.	» view trailer
15	The Book of Eli Post-apocalyptic spaghetti Western (now there's a phrase you don't hear every day) starring Denzel Washington as a man with a book that holds the secrets to save mankind (The Book of Eli). Gary Oldman is the baddie. Washington is 55 years old but still makes a convincing action hero.	» view trailer
15	The Spy Next Door Jackie Chan's an undercover CIA agent forced to babysit his girlfriend's kids. They cause all kinds of trouble, including mistakenly downloading a top-secret formula that gets a Russian terrorist involved. Expect loads of kid humor, including several kicks to the groin and spy gadgetry gone awry.	» view trailer
22	Extraordinary Measures "Based on a true story" drama about a couple (Brendan Fraser and Keri Russell) with terminally ill kids who look for help from an unconventional scientist (Harrison Ford). Better bring a box of Kleenex.	» view trailer
22	Legion This supernatural zombie thriller stars Dennis Quaid as one of a group of strangers stranded at a truck stop who become humanity's last line of defense when they discover the diner's young waitress is pregnant with the messiah. Will be pretty good if it's half as creepy as the trailer.	» view trailer
22	Tooth Fairy Dwayne Johnson — who no longer likes to be referred to as "The Rock" — stars as a tough minor league hockey player whose bad deed earns him a one-week sentence as a tooth fairy. Supporting cast includes Ashley Judd, Billy Crystal, and The Sound of Music's Julie Andrews as the leader of the Tooth Fairies.	» view trailer
29	Edge of Darkness Mel Gibson, in his first leading role since M. Night Shyamalan's Signs in 2002, stars as a Boston detective going vigilante while investigating the death of his activist daughter.	» view trailer
29	When in Rome Daredevil and Ghost Rider director Mark Steven Johnson tries his hand at romantic comedy with, based on the trailer, not so promising results. After Kristen Bell (Forgetting Sarah Marshall) steals some coins from a Roman "fountain of love," she is pursued by paramours including Will Arnett, Dax Shepard, and Danny DeVito.

February 2010 Movies[-] Hide Month

5	Dear John "From the author of The Notebook" is all you need to know about this earnest romance based on the Nicholas Sparks book, starring Channing Tatum (Fighting) and Amanda Seyfried (Mean Girls) as long-distance lovers. Chick flick supreme.	» view trailer
5	From Paris with Love "Buddy cop" action comedy with Jonathan Rhys Meyers playing the rookie to John Travolta's bald, goateed, badass super-agent. Directed by Pierre Morel, who knows shoot-em-up (Taken).	» view trailer
12	Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief Fans of Rick Riordan's best-selling children's adventure books anxiously await what director Chris Columbus does with the series, since he directed the first two (and arguably weakest) Harry Potter pics.	» view trailer
12	Valentine's Day Rom-com from Hollywood royalty Garry Marshall (Pretty Woman) has the largest all-star cast in the history of film: Bradley Cooper, Julia Roberts, Taylor Lautner, Anne Hathaway, Taylor Swift, Jessica Biel, Jessica Alba, Jamie Foxx, Ashton Kutcher, Jennifer Garner, Emma Roberts, Topher Grace, and Patrick Dempsey. Did we miss anybody?	» view trailer
12	The Wolfman This remake of the 1941 classic has been delayed a couple of times and there were six weeks of reshoots, so there's a high "bomb" factor in spite of talent like Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, and Emily Blunt.	» view trailer
19	Shutter Island Originally scheduled for an October 2009 release and expected to compete for multiple Oscars, this Scorsese-DiCaprio thriller was pushed to the dead of winter, which probably means it just isn't very good.	» view trailer
26	Cop Out Originally entitled A Couple of Dicks. Your tolerance for this movie will be in direct correlation to your tolerance of director Kevin Smith. Stars Bruce Willis, Tracy Morgan, and Seann William Scott. We've watched the trailer twice and cannot detect a single successful joke.
26	The Crazies Horror fans' expectations are high for the remake of George Romero's 1973 horror classic starring Timothy Olyphant and Radha Mitchell. Directed by Michael Eisner's son Breck, who's also remaking David Cronenberg's 1979 horror pic The Brood.	» view trailer

March 2010 Movies[-] Hide Month

5	Alice in Wonderland Hotly anticipated live-action remake of Disney's Alice in Wonderland with director (Tim Burton) and lead (Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter). Mia Wasikowska is Alice, a role that could turn her into a household name that's fun to say.	» view trailer
5	Brooklyn's Finest "From the Director of Training Day" comes a traditional crime drama starring Richard Gere, Don Cheadle, and Ethan Hawke. Set in Brooklyn, the biggest threat isn't the bad guys, but getting the accent right scene-to-scene.	» view trailer
12	Green Zone Director Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Supremacy, The Bourne Ultimatum) relocates Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) to Iraq during the 2003 search for Weapons of Mass Destruction.	» view trailer
12	Remember Me Hormone-crazed teen girls trying to catch a glimpse of star Robert Pattinson forced a lockdown of this pic's set back in July. Whether the movie amounts to more than a starrier version of a Hallmark Channel romance remains to be seen.	» view trailer
19	The Bounty Hunter Action-comedy-romance starring Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler. Aniston definitely has the comedic pedigree to make this work, but based on what we saw in last year's The Ugly Truth, Butler seems better suited (and built) for 300 and Gamer-type fare.
19	Hot Tub Time Machine Add 1 Part Back to the Future, 1 Part The Hangover, mix with Chevy Chase, and you get Hot Tub Time Machine. We predict A-lister John Cusak will regret taking this role.	» view trailer
19	Season of the Witch Action-packed period horror-thriller starring Nic Cage and Ron Perlman (Hellboy) as knights who transport a suspected witch to a monastery, where monks deduce her powers could be the source of the Black Plague.	» view trailer
26	Clash of the Titans Fans of the 1981 version starring Laurence Olivier as Zeus won't recognize the Louis Leterrier (The Incredible Hulk)-directed remake with all the CG monsters and a heavy metal music soundtrack. The all-star cast includes Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, and Gemma Arterton.	» view trailer
26	How to Train Your Dragon Another flick from DreamWorks Animation (Shrek, Kung Fu Panda, Monsters vs. Aliens), this time based on the popular Cressida Cowell book of the same name, about a young Viking boy who becomes friends with a dragon rather than killing it, breaking custom and earning scorn.	» view trailer

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