(Re-posted from LimitéMagazine.com)

With the start of September comes the much-anticipated fall film season—the time of year when studios and independent distributors alike present their best hopes for Oscar gold and some big box office dollars. This season, keep your eye on some key dramas like Gravity,Inside Llewyn Davis, American Hustle, and The Wolf of Wall Street, among others. And following his turn in this spring’s Star Trek into Darkness, British import Benedict Cumberbatch continues to make waves this side of the Atlantic in four features (12 Years a Slave, The Fifth Estate, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, August: Osage County).

Tell us in the comments which films you’re most looking forward to seeing.

Note: All non-authored pieces’ loglines are courtesy of IMDb.com.

SEPTEMBER

SALINGER

Director: Shane Salerno

Cast: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Edward Norton, John Cusack, Martin Sheen, Danny DeVito, Judd Apatow

Genre: Documentary

Release Date: September 6

Logline: An unprecedented look inside the private world of J.D. Salinger, the reclusive author of The Catcher in the Rye.

TOUCHY FEELY

Director: Lynn Shelton

Cast: Rosemarie DeWitt, Ellen Page, Josh Pais, Allison Janney, Ron Livingston, Scott McNairy, Tomo Nakayama

Genre: Drama

Website: magpictures.com/touchyfeely

Release Date: September 6

Logline: A massage therapist is unable to do her job when stricken with a mysterious and sudden aversion to bodily contact. Meanwhile, her uptight brother’s floundering dental practice receives new life when clients seek out his healing touch. 

THE FAMILY

Director: Luc Besson

Cast: Robert De Niro, Dianna Agron, Michelle Pfeiffer, Tommy Lee Jones

Genres: Action, Comedy, Crime

Release Date: September 13

Logline: The Manzoni family, a notorious mafia clan, is relocated to Normandy, France under the witness protection program, where fitting in soon becomes challenging as their old habits die hard.

ENOUGH SAID

Director: Nicole Holofcener

Cast: James Gandolfini, Toni Collette, Catherine Keener, Julia Louis-Dreyfus

Genre: Comedy

Release Date: September 20

Logline: A divorced woman who decides to pursue the man she’s interested in learns he’s her new friend’s ex-husband.  

PRISONERS

Director: Denis Villeneuve

Cast: Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Viola Davis, Maria Bello, Paul Dano, Melissa Leo, Terrence Howard

Genres: Crime, Drama, Thriller

Website: prisonersmovie.warnerbros.com

Release Date: September 20

Logline: When Keller Dover’s daughter and her friend go missing, he takes matters into his own hands as the police pursue multiple leads and the pressure mounts. But just how far will this desperate father go to protect his family?

RUSH

Director: Ron Howard

Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Olivia Wilde, Daniel Brühl

Genres: Action, Biography, Drama

Website: rushmovie.com

Release Date: September 20

Logline: A biography of Austrian Formula 1 champion driver Niki Lauda and the 1976 crash that almost claimed his life. Mere weeks after the accident, he got behind the wheel to challenge his British rival, James Hunt.

THANKS FOR SHARING

Director: Stuart Blumberg

Cast: Gwyneth Paltrow, Mark Ruffalo, Pink, Josh Gad, Joely Richardson, Tim Robbins

Genres: Comedy, Drama

Website: thanksforsharingmovie.com

Release Date: September 20

Logline: A romantic comedy that follows the lives of three friends who meet while attending 12-step meetings to help treat their addiction to sex. 

BAGGAGE CLAIM

Director: David E. Talbert

Cast: Paula Patton, Taye Diggs, Jill Scott, Adam Brody, Tia Mowry-Hardrict, Djimon Hounsou, Christina Milian, Derek Luke

Genre: Comedy

Release Date: September 27

Logline: Pledging to keep herself from being the oldest and the only woman in her entire family never to wed, Montana embarks on a 30-day, 30 thousand-mile expedition to charm a potential suitor into becoming her fiancé. 

CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF

MEATBALLS 2

Directors: Cody Cameron, Kris Pearn

Cast: Neil Patrick Harris, Anna Faris, Terry Crews, Andy Samberg, Bill Hader, Benjamin Bratt

Genres: Animation, Comedy, Family

Website: cloudy-movie.com

Release Date: September 27

Logline: Flint Lockwood now works at The Live Corp Company for his idol Chester V. But he’s forced to leave his post when he learns that his most infamous machine is still operational and is churning out menacing food-animal hybrids. 

DON JON

Director: Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Scarlett Johansson, Julianne Moore

Genre: Comedy

Website: donjonmovie.tumblr.com

Release Date: September 27

Logline: A New Jersey guy dedicated to his family, friends, and church, develops unrealistic expectations from watching porn and works to find happiness and intimacy with his potential true love.

OCTOBER

GRAVITY

by Morgan Goldin

Director: Alfonso Cuarón

Cast: Sandra Bullock, George Clooney

Genres: Drama, Sci-fi

Website: gravitymovie.warnerbros.com

Release Date: October 4

Summary:

One of the most horrifying scenarios, Gravity tells a story of survival in the most hostile environment imaginable: space. After a piece of debris collides with their shuttle, astronauts Matt Kowalsky (Clooney) and Dr. Ryan Stone (Bullock) must work out a strategy to avoid perishing in the unknown terrain of our solar system. A straightforward survival story, this taut, claustrophobic thriller probably looks like every astronaut’s worst nightmare realized.

The trailer alone qualifies as one of this year’s most effective pieces of cinema. Featuring footage from the reportedly 17-minute-long single take sequence opening (!), the trailer hurtles the viewer into this disorientating and terrifying situation without any warning. Originally pitched for Universal Studios, this project has been in turnaround for awhile, but got tracked into production once director Alfonso Cuarón (Y Tu Mamá También, 2001) had Warner Bros. acquire the property. Known for meticulous, photorealistic special effects and combining raw human interest elements with pure spectacle, Cuarón co-wrote the screenplay with his son, Jonas. After production, the digitally shot film was converted in 3D. Considering the last science fiction film Cuarón directed was the masterpiece Children of Men, audiences should reasonably expect to be left awestruck from this immensely talented filmmaker. 

PARKLAND

Director: Peter Landesman

Cast: Zac Efron, Marcia Gay Harden, Tom Welling, Ron Livingston, Paul Giamatti, Billy Bob Thornton, James Badge Dale, Jackie Earle Haley, Colin Hanks, Mark Duplass

Genre: Drama

Release Date: October 4

Logline: A recounting of the chaotic events that occurred at Dallas’s Parkland Hospital on the day US President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. 

RUNNER RUNNER

Director: Brad Furman

Cast: Ben Affleck, Justin Timberlake, Gemma Arterton, Anthony Mackie

Genres: Crime, Drama, Thriller

Website: runnerrunnermovie.com

Release Date: October 4

Logline: When a poor college student who cracks an online poker game goes bust, he arranges a face-to-face with the man he thinks cheated him, a sly offshore entrepreneur.  

CAPTAIN PHILLIPS

Director: Paul Greengrass

Cast: Tom Hanks, Catherine Keener, Barkhad Abdi

Genres: Action, Drama

Website: captainphillipsmovie.com

Release Date: October 11

Logline: The true story of Captain Richard Phillips and the 2009 hijacking by Somali pirates of the US-flagged MV Maersk Alabama, the first American cargo ship to be hijacked in 200 years.  

MACHETE KILLS

Director: Robert Rodriguez

Cast: Danny Trejo, Alexa Vega, Mel Gibson, Amber Heard, Sofía Vergara, Vanessa Hudgens, Jessica Alba, Michelle Rodriguez, Lady Gaga, Charlie Sheen, Antonio Banderas, Demian Bichir, Cuba Gooding Jr., Edward James Olmos

Genres: Action, Crime, Thriller

Release Date: October 11

Logline: The US government recruits Machete to battle his way through Mexico in order to take down an arms dealer who looks to launch a weapon into space.  

ROMEO AND JULIET

Director: Carlo Carlei

Cast: Hailee Steinfeld, Douglas Booth, Ed Westwick, Damian Lewis, Paul Giamatti, Stellan Skarsgård

Genres: Drama, Romance

Release Date: October 11

Logline: When the star-crossed lovers of two enemy families meet, forbidden love ensues. 

12 YEARS A SLAVE

Director: Steve McQueen

Cast: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Kenneth Williams, Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, Brad Pitt, Paul Dano, Sarah Paulson, Garret Dillahunt, Paul Giamatti, Quvenzhané Wallis, Alfre Woodard, Scoot McNairy, Dwight Henry

Genre: Drama

Website: foxsearchlight.com/12yearsaslave

Release Date: October 18 (limited)

Logline: In the pre-Civil War United States, Solomon Northup, a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery.  

ALL IS LOST

Director: J.C. Chandor

Cast: Robert Redford

Genre: Action

Website: allislostfilm.com

Release Date: October 18

Logline: After a collision with a shipping container at sea, a resourceful sailor finds himself, despite all efforts to the contrary, staring his mortality in the face. 

CARRIE

Director: Kimberly Peirce

Cast: Chloë Grace Moretz, Julianne Moore, Judy Greer

Genres: Drama, Horror, Sci-fi

Website: carrie-movie.com

Release Date: October 18

Logline: A reimagining of the classic horror tale about Carrie White, a shy girl outcast by her peers and sheltered by her deeply religious mother, who unleashes telekinetic terror on her small town after being pushed too far at her senior prom. 

ESCAPE PLAN

Director: Mikael Håfström

Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, 50 Cent, Jim Caviezel, Vincent D’Onofrio, Vinnie Jones, Amy Ryan

Genres: Action, Mystery, Thriller

Website: escapeplanmovie.com

Release Date: October 18

Logline: When a structural-security authority finds himself incarcerated in a prison he designed, he has to put his skills to escape and find out who framed him. 

THE FIFTH ESTATE

Director: Bill Condon

Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Daniel Brühl, Carice van Houten, Peter Capaldi, Anthony Mackie, Stanley Tucci, Laura Linney

Genre: Drama

Release Date: October 18

Logline: A dramatic thriller based on real events, The Fifth Estatereveals the quest to expose the deceptions and corruptions of power that turned an Internet upstart into the 21st century’s most fiercely debated organization. 

KILL YOUR DARLINGS

Director: John Krokidas

Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Elizabeth Olsen, Michael C. Hall, Kyra Sedgwick, Dane DeHaan, Ben Foster, Jennifer Jason Leigh, David Cross, Jack Huston, David Rasche

Genres: Drama, Romance

Release Date: October 18

Logline: A murder in 1944 draws together the great poets of the beat generation: Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, and William Burroughs.  

THE COUNSELOR

Director: Ridley Scott

Cast: Brad Pitt, Goran Visnjic, Michael Fassbender, Cameron Diaz, Penélope Cruz, Javier Bardem, John Leguizamo, Rosie Perez

Genres: Crime, Drama, Thriller

Website: thecounselormovie.com

Release Date: October 25

Logline: A lawyer finds himself in over his head when he gets involved in drug trafficking.

NOVEMBER

ABOUT TIME

Director: Richard Curtis

Cast: Domhnall Gleeson, Rachel McAdams, Bill Nighy

Genres: Comedy, Drama, Sci-Fi

Website: abouttimemovie.com

Release Date: November 1 (limited)

Logline: At the age of 21, Tim discovers he can travel in time and change what happens and has happened in his own life. His decision to make his world a better place by getting a girlfriend turns out not to be as easy as you might think.

DALLAS BUYERS CLUB

Director: Jean-Marc Vallée

Cast: Matthew McConaughey, Jennifer Garner, Jared Leto, Steve Zahn

Genre: Drama

Release Date: November 1

Logline: The story of Texas electrician Ron Woodroof and his battle with the medical establishment and pharmaceutical companies after being diagnosed as HIV-positive in 1986, and his search for alternative treatments that helped establish a way in which fellow HIV-positive people could join for access to his supplies.  

ENDER’S GAME

Director: Gavin Hood

Cast: Asa Butterfield, Abigail Breslin, Harrison Ford, Hailee Steinfeld, Ben Kingsley, Viola Davis

Genres: Action, Adventure, Sci-fi

Website: if-sentinel.com

Release Date: November 1

Logline: Seventy years after a horrific alien war, an unusually gifted child is sent to an advanced military school in space to prepare for a future invasion.  

FREE BIRDS

Director: Jimmy Hayward

Cast: Woody Harrelson, Owen Wilson, Amy Poehler

Genres: Animation, Comedy

Release Date: November 1

Logline: Two turkeys from opposite sides of the tracks must put aside their differences and team up to travel back in time to change the course of history—and get turkey off the holiday menu for good. 

LAST VEGAS

Director: Jon Turteltaub

Cast: Robert De Niro, Michael Douglas, Morgan Freeman, Mary Steenburgen, Kevin Kline

Genre: Comedy

Release Date: November 1

Logline: Three 60-something friends take a break from their day-to-day lives to throw a bachelor party in Las Vegas for their last remaining single pal.  

THOR: THE DARK WORLD

by Saidah Russell

Director: Alan Taylor

Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Christopher Eccleston, Tom Hiddleston, Kat Dennings, Idris Elba, Chris O’Dowd, Anthony Hopkins, Zachary Levi, Stellan Skarsgård, Benicio Del Toro

Genres: Action, Adventure, Fantasy

Release Date: November 8

Summary:

Thor: The Dark World is the long-awaited sequel to the 2011 surprise hit Thor and the first film to reunite audiences with the Norse superhero since The Avengers premiered during the Summer of 2012. This next installment is set one year after the events of The Avengers as a mysterious and ancient being, Malekith (Eccleston), threatens to destroy the universe, plunging it back into darkness. In order to defeat Malekith and restore peace to his world, Thor (Hemsworth) must join forces with his greatest enemy: his brother Loki (Hiddleston), as well as Jane Foster (Portman) and her team from the first film.

Details have steadily been revealed since the sequel was announced in 2011. After Kenneth Branagh opted out of directing the sequel, producers decided on Alan Taylor, a relative unknown in terms of Hollywood blockbusters. This change in direction has done little to slow the film’s momentum, however. As the release date approaches, the buzz for Thor: The Dark World has only been growing. At Comic Con, Hiddleston appeared in character to premiere a new clip, and for YouTube‘s Geek Week, an extended trailer was released. Judging from what’s been released so far, it seems this latest film is a worthy addition to the Marvel franchise.  

THE WOLF OF WALL STREET

by Opal Hope Bennett

Director: Martin Scorsese

Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, P.J. Byrne, Jon Favreau, Matthew McConaughey, Jonah Hill, Kyle Chandler, Christine Ebersole, Jean Dujardin, Rob Reiner, Shea Whigham, Spike Jonze

Genres: Crime, Drama

Website: thewolfofwallstreet.com

Release Date: November 15

Summary:

In their first collaboration since 2010′s Shutter Island, Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese take on the true story of fallen stockbroker Jordan Belfort in the film adaptation of his memoir, The Wolf of Wall Street. Belfort’s story reads like a cross between Gordon Gekko and The Billionaire Boys Club, circa the 1990s. It chronicles his swift rise to wealth and excess as a 20-something, big shot broker and his equally swift fall into corruption, SEC investigations, and ultimately prison. The film’s bombastic trailer suggests the presence of a comedic thread despite the high stakes bad behavior being depicted (e.g., look for a dance scene where DiCaprio appears to be channeling Seinfeld‘s Elaine Benes).

Slated to open on November 15, The Wolf of Wall Street marks the fifth film where DiCaprio and Scorsese have teamed up together (their first project was 2002′s Gangs of New York). The film’s screenwriter is 4-time Emmy winner Terence Winter (HBO’s The Sopranos and Boardwalk Empire); this film marks his first foray into movies. Rounding out the on-screen talent is a strong supporting cast that includes Jonah Hill, Spike Jonze, Jon Favreau, and Matthew McConaughey.

THE HUNGER GAMES:

CATCHING FIRE

by Stephanie Dawson

Director: Francis Lawrence

Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Elizabeth Banks, Jena Malone, Sam Claflin, Woody Harrelson, Stanley Tucci, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Donald Sutherland, Lenny Kravitz

Genres: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

Release Date: November 22

Summary:

In the much-anticipated sequel, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark, the first dual victors of the Hunger Games, take their customary victory tour across Panem. During the Games, Katniss’s strong spirit and compassion—and a spark of love between the two—won over hearts throughout Panem and ignited rebellion against the Capitol. As they tour Panem, the uprisings spread. President Snow and the Capitol plan retribution against Katniss and Peeta as they prepare for the 75^th Hunger Games, also known as the Quarter Quell.

The film stars Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence and introduces new cast members, including Oscar winner Philip Seymour Hoffman, Emmy winner Jeffrey Wright (Quantum of Solace, 2008), veteran character actress Amanda Plummer (Pulp Fiction, 1994) and new British heartthrob Sam Claflin (Snow White and the Huntsman, 2012). The writing and directing team is also new for the sequel. The movie was adapted for the screen from Suzanne Collins’s book by Simon Beaufoy (127 Hours, 2010) and Michael Arndt (Little Miss Sunshine, 2006) and directed by Francis Lawrence (I Am Legend, 2007).

Following the lead from previous teen franchises, the third and final book in the series, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, is slated to be broken into two films, to be released in 2014 and 2015. 

NEBRASKA

Director: Alexander Payne

Cast: Bruce Dern, Will Forte, June Squibb

Genre: Drama

Release Date: November 22

Logline: An aging, booze-addled father makes the trip from Montana to Nebraska with his estranged son in order to claim a million-dollar Mega Sweepstakes Marketing prize.  

BLACK NATIVITY

Director: Kasi Lemmons

Cast: Forest Whitaker, Angela Bassett, Jennifer Hudson, Tyrese Gibson, Mary J. Blige

Genres: Drama, Musical

Website: foxsearchlight.com/blacknativity

Release Date: November 27

Logline: A street-wise teen from Baltimore who has been raised by a single mother travels to New York City to spend the Christmas holiday with his estranged relatives, where he embarks on a surprising and inspirational journey.  

FROZEN

Directors: Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee

Cast: Kristen Bell, Josh Gad, Idina Menzel, Alan Tudyk

Genres: Animation, Adventure, Comedy

Website: movies.disney.com/frozen

Release Date: November 27

Logline: Fearless optimist Anna teams up with Kristoff in an epic journey, encountering Everest-like conditions and a hilarious snowman named Olaf in a race to find Anna’s sister Elsa, whose icy powers have trapped the kingdom in eternal winter. 

GRACE OF MONACO

Director: Olivier Dahan

Cast: Nicole Kidman, Tim Roth, André Penvern, Parker Posey, Paz Vega, Frank Langella, Derek Jacobi

Genre: Drama

Release Date: November 27 (limited)

Logline: The story of former Hollywood star Grace Kelly’s crisis of marriage and identity during a political dispute between Monaco’s Prince Rainier III and France’s Charles De Gaulle, and a looming French invasion of Monaco in the early 1960s. 

OLDBOY

Director: Spike Lee

Cast: Josh Brolin, Elizabeth Olsen, Samuel L. Jackson, Sharlto Copley

Genres: Action, Drama, Mystery

Release Date: November 27

Logline: Obsessed with vengeance, a man sets out to find out why he was kidnapped and locked up into solitary confinement for 20 years without reason.  

MANDELA: LONG WALK TO

FREEDOM

Director: Justin Chadwick

Cast: Idris Elba, Naomie Harris, Terry Pheto

Genre: Drama

Release Date: November 29 (limited)

Logline: A chronicle of Nelson Mandela’s life journey from his childhood in a rural village to his inauguration as the first democratically elected president of South Africa.  

DECEMBER  

INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS

by Minnie Li

Directors: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen

Cast: Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, John Goodman, Garrett Hedlund, Justin Timberlake

Genre: Drama

Website: insidellewyndavis.com

Release Date: December 6 (limited)

Summary:

The Coen Brothers return with another tale of the everyman. Set in early 1960s Greenwich Village, Llewyn Davis (Issac) is a struggling, couch-surfing folk musician, whose worldly possessions are a guitar and an orange tabby cat. Life is bleak as he stumbles through wintery New York City. He pursues a dream that takes him through odd jobs to troubles with friends and dreary gigs. Most talented musicians never make it, and Llewyn doesn’t.

The Coens loosely based their screenplay on music pioneer Dave Van Ronk’s memoir, The Mayor of MacDougal Street. Though he resembles him, Llewyn is not Ronk. He is of the young generation coming against the Eisenhower years of conformity, seeking cultural authenticity from the American heartlands where folk music originates.

T Bone Burnett stands in for the fourth time as musical producer, and the soundtrack features the voices of Marcus Mumford and the film’s cast. The movie won the 2013 Grand Prix at Cannes, receiving favorable reviews along the way. Nonesuch will release the soundtrack, which includes Bob Dylan’s never-before-released song, “Farewell.” A concert is scheduled for The Town Hall in NYC on September 29. 

OUT OF THE FURNACE

Director: Scott Cooper

Cast: Christian Bale, Casey Affleck, Zoe Saldana, Forest Whitaker, Woody Harrelson, Sam Shepard, Willem Dafoe

Genre: Thriller

Release Date: December 6

Logline: When Rodney Baze mysteriously disappears and law enforcement fails to follow through, his older brother, Russell, takes matters into his own hands to find justice. 

AMERICAN HUSTLE

by Curtis John

Director: David O. Russell

Cast: Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Jeremy Renner, Jack Huston, Louis C.K., Michael Peña

Genre: Drama

Release Date: December 13 (limited)

Summary:

A fictionalization of the ABSCAB sting of the late 1970s in which public officials were caught accepting bribes in return for political favors,American Hustle tells the story of sly con man Irving Rosenfeld (Bale), who along with his equally crafty British partner Sydney (Adams) is forced to work for unconventional FBI agent Richie DiMaso (Cooper). DiMaso pushes them into the enticing world of New Jersey powerbrokers and mafia where they encounter Carmine Polito (Renner), a passionate political operator caught between the con artists and feds. Yet it’s Irving’s unpredictable wife Rosalyn (Lawrence) who could be the one to pull the thread that brings the entire operation crashing down.

It is surprising that a feature film about this investigation has never been produced. There was to be a comedic version, Moon over Miami, from director Louis Malle and starring John Belushi and Dan Ackroyd, but with Belushi’s fatal 1981 cocaine overdose, screenwriter John Guare instead staged it as a small play. This is better, though, for modern moviegoers, as craftsman David O. Russell gets to play with first-rate actors to present audiences with an intense, yet still comedic take on this scandal.  

THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF

SMAUG

Director: Peter Jackson

Cast: Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Benedict Cumberbatch, Cate Blanchett, Evangeline Lilly, Orlando Bloom, Hugo Weaving, Lee Pace, Andy Serkis, Billy Connolly

Genres: Adventure, Fantasy

Website: thehobbit.com

Release Date: December 13

Logline: The Dwarves, Bilbo, and Gandalf have successfully escaped the Misty Mountains, and Bilbo has gained the One Ring. They all continue their journey to get their gold back from the Dragon, Smaug.  

SAVING MR. BANKS

Director: John Lee Hancock

Cast: Emma Thompson, Tom Hanks, Colin Farrell, Ruth Wilson, Paul Giamatti, Rachel Griffiths, Bradley Whitford, Jason Schwartzman, B.J. Novak

Genres: Comedy, Drama

Website: movies.disney.com/saving-mr-banks

Release Date: December 13 (limited)

Logline: Author P. L. Travers reflects on her difficult childhood while meeting with filmmaker Walt Disney during production of the adaptation of her eponymous novel.  

TYLER PERRY’S

A MADEA CHRISTMAS

Director: Tyler Perry

Cast: Tyler Perry, Chad Michael Murray, Tika Sumpter, Kathy Najimy, Larry the Cable Guy

Genre: Comedy

Release Date: December 13

Logline: Madea dispenses her unique form of holiday spirit on a rural town when she’s coaxed into helping a friend pay her daughter a surprise visit in the country for Christmas. 

HER

Director: Spike Jonze

Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams, Scarlett Johansson, Olivia Wilde, Rooney Mara, Chris Pratt

Genres: Comedy, Drama, Romance

Release Date: December 18 (limited)

Logline: A lonely writer develops an unlikely relationship with his newly purchased operating system that’s designed to meet his every need. 

THE MONUMENTS MEN

Director: George Clooney

Cast: George Clooney, Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, John Goodman, Jean Dujardin, Hugh Bonneville

Genres: Comedy, Drama

Website: monumentsmenmovie.com

Release Date: December 18

Logline: In a race against time, a crew of art historians and museum curators unite to recover renowned works of art stolen by Nazis before Hitler destroys them.  

ANCHORMAN:

THE LEGEND CONTINUES

Director: Adam McKay

Cast: Will Ferrell, Christina Applegate, Paul Rudd, Jim Carrey, Kristen Wiig, Harrison Ford, Steve Carell, Nicole Kidman, James Marsden, Liam Neeson, Kirsten Dunst, Tina Fey, Sacha Baron Cohen, Amy Poehler, Vince Vaughn

Genre: Comedy

Website: anchormanmovie.com

Release Date: December 20 (limited)

Logline: With the ’70s behind him, San Diego’s top-rated newsman, Ron Burgundy, returns to take New York’s first 24-hour news channel by storm.  

THE PAST

Director: Asghar Farhadi

Cast: Bérénice Bejo, Tahar Rahim, Ali Mosaffa

Genres: Drama, Mystery

Release Date: December 20

Logline: An Iranian man deserts his French wife and two children to return to his homeland. Meanwhile, his wife starts up a new relationship, a reality her husband confronts upon his wife’s request for a divorce. 

AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY

by Daniel Quitério

Director: John Wells

Cast: Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Dermot Mulroney, Benedict Cumberbatch, Abigail Breslin, Ewan McGregor, Sam Shepard, Juliette Lewis, Chris Cooper, Margo Martindale, Misty Upham

Genres: Comedy, Drama

Release Date: December 25 (limited)

Summary:

Tracy Letts is a name to remember. Coming fresh off his Tony win for his leading performance in Broadway’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, the actor will be featured throughout Season 3 of Showtime’sHomeland, premiering September 29. But it’s not Letts’s acting acumen that will be making an impact this fall film season. Placed firmly near his Tony on his mantelpiece is the other Tony and the Pulitzer Prize he won for his Best Play August: Osage County. Now the third of his plays that the writer adapted for the big screen (the previous two were Killer Joe, 2011, and Bug, 2006), August is set during the high summer weeks in Letts’s home state of Oklahoma. It features Violet (Streep), the cancer-stricken, drug-addicted matriarch of the dysfunctional Weston family, as she and her clan gather together following the passing of her husband.

Starring an all-star cast lead by Oscar winners Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts and produced by Academy Award winners George Clooney, Grant Heslov, and Harvey Weinstein (alongside Jean Doumanian and Steve Traxler), this film has “Oscar” written all over it. This big screen adaptation is directed by John Wells, whose film directing experience is limited to just one other feature (2010′s The Company Men). Despite being a relative newcomer to film, the capable Wells has previously staked a firm claim in television, having won six Emmys for producing The West Wing and ER.

August: Osage County is slated for a limited release beginning this Christmas.  

GRUDGE MATCH

Director: Peter Segal

Cast: Robert De Niro, Sylvester Stallone, Kim Basinger, Kevin Hart, Alan Arkin

Genres: Comedy, Sport

Release Date: December 25

Logline: A pair of aging boxing rivals are coaxed out of retirement to fight one final bout—50 years after their last match. 

JACK RYAN: SHADOW ONE

Director: Kenneth Branagh

Cast: Chris Pine, Kevin Costner, Keira Knightley, Kenneth Branagh

Genres: Action, Drama, Thriller

Release Date: December 25

Logline: Jack Ryan, a young, covert CIA analyst, uncovers a Russian plot to crash the US economy with a terrorist attack. 

THE SECRET LIFE OF

WALTER MITTY

Director: Ben Stiller

Cast: Ben Stiller, Kristen Wiig, Adam Scott, Sean Penn, Shirley MacLaine, Patton Oswalt

Genres: Comedy, Drama

Release Date: December 25

Logline: An office worker who lives inside fantasy worlds where he gets to live an adventurous life while romancing his co-worker sets off a global journey to fix things when both of their jobs are threatened. 

LONE SURVIVOR

Director: Peter Berg

Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Ben Foster, Eric Bana, Taylor Kitsch, Emile Hirsch

Genres: Action, Drama, Thriller

Website: lonesurvivorfilm.com

Release Date: December 27 (limited)

Logline: Based on the failed June 28, 2005 mission “Operation Red Wings.” Four members of SEAL Team 10 were tasked with the mission to capture or kill notorious Taliban leader Ahmad Shahd. Marcus Luttrell was the only member of his team to survive.