The close of 2010 is upon us, but that doesn't mean Tinseltown is finished giving us an assortment of movies. This is the time of year when Hollywood brings out their big guns, films in every genre they hope will successfully cap off their fiscal year and be remembered come Oscar nomination time a few weeks later.Some end up classics in the making, others expensive duds that fail to please the masses. The following is a preview of upcoming films that will either be remembered for years to come, or forgotten as quickly as it takes to eat your popcorn.NOVEMBER19HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 1Part 1 begins as Harry, Ron and Hermione set out on their perilous mission to track down and destroy the secret to Voldemort's immortality and destructionâ€"the Horcruxes. On their own, without the guidance of their professors or the protection of Professor Dumbledore, the three fr! iends must now rely on one another more than ever. But there are Dark Forces in their midst that threaten to tear them apart.
Even before its release, the first half of the seventh and final film in the Harry Potter saga was the fifth-biggest generator of advance ticket sales in history, after selling out 1,000 theaters across the United States. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 grossed $24 million in the U.S. and Canada during its midnight showing, and beat the record for the highest-grossing midnight gross of the series previously held by Half Blood Prince, which made $22.2 million. The film also grossed $61.2 million on its opening day in the United States, making it the fifth biggest single day gross of all-time When the smoke cleared Monday morning the sequel had grossed $125 million at the U.S. box-office with fans desperately hopi! ng the next eight months would fly by until next summer's fina! le. THE NEXT THREE DAYSLife seems perfect for John Brennan (Russell Crowe) until his wife, Lara (Elizabeth Banks), is arrested for a gruesome murder she says she didn't commit. Three years into her sentence, John is struggling to hold his family together, raising their son and teaching at college while he pursues every means available to prove her innocence. With the rejection of their final appeal, Lara becomes suicidal and John decides there is only one possible, bearable solution: to break his wife out of prison. Refusing to be deterred by impossible odds or his own inexperience, John devises an elaborate escape plot and plunges into a dangerous and unfamiliar world, ultimately risking everything for the woman he loves.
Paul Haggis' third feature is not getting the notice it deserves at the box-office. That's probably due to the fact that children's fil! ms rule this holiday season and the film's plot takes its time to get in gear. Still it's an entertaining picture that deserves more than a second glance. NOVEMBER 24TANGLEDWalt Disney Pictures presents "Tangled," (formerly Rapunzel) an action-packed, swashbuckling, animated musical comedy about the girl behind 70 feet of magical, golden hair. A princess stolen from her parents' castle as a baby, Rapunzel (voice of Mandy Moore) is locked in a hidden tower longing for adventure. Now an imaginative and determined teenager, she takes off on a hilarious, hair-raising escapade with the help of a dashing bandit (voice of Zachary Levi). With the secret of her royal heritage hanging in the balance and her captor in pursuit, Rapunzel and her cohort find adventure, heart, humor, and hair... lots of hair. With original music by Alan Menken and lyrics by Glenn Slater, this comedic re-imagining of the classic Brothers Grimm fairytale comes to theaters in Disney Digital 3D.
On it's first day of release, Disney's 50th animated feature managed to score $11.5 million at the box-office earning the highest Thanksgiving holiday opening day grosses ever. It beat the previous highest Thanksgiving weekend opener, another Disney feature, Toy Story 2, which went onto score $57.3 million over the course of its entire holiday weekend back in 1999. Tangled is expected to make close to $65 million over the course of its five-day holiday weekend, but the numbers won't be high enough to beat Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1, which actually won the Wednesday box office with $14.4 million. Still this is a great victory for Disney who appear to be back in the saddle with animated classics in the making. BURLESQUEAli (Christina Aguilera) is a small-town girl with a big voice who escapes hardship and an uncertain future to follow her dreams to LA. After stumbling upon The Burlesque Lounge, a majestic! but ailing theater that is home to an inspired musical revue, Ali lands a job as a cocktail waitress from Tess (Cher), the club's proprietor and headliner. Burlesque's outrageous costumes and bold choreography enrapture the young ingenue, who vows to perform there one day. Soon enough, Ali builds a friendship with a featured dancer (Julianne Hough), finds an enemy in a troubled, jealous performer (Kristen Bell), and garners the affection of Jack (Cam Gigandet), a bartender and fellow musician. With the help of a sharp-witted stage manager (Stanley Tucci) and gender-bending host (Alan Cumming), Ali makes her way from the bar to the stage. Her spectacular voice restores The Burlesque Lounge to its former glory, though not before a charismatic entrepreneur (Eric Dane) arrives with an enticing proposal. 
The recipient of many unfavorable re! views, only time will tell if Burlesque will be a complete fai! lure at the box-office or cult classic like Paul Verhoeven's Showgirls. The fact that Steve Antin's film lacks nudity or Robert Davi means it has a tough act to follow. FASTERAfter 10 years in prison, Driver (Dwayne Johnson) has a singular focus - to avenge the murder of his brother during the botched bank robbery that led to his imprisonment. Now a free man with a deadly to-do list in hand, he's finally on his mission...but with two men on his trail - a veteran cop (Billy Bob Thornton) just days from retirement, and a young egocentric hitman (Oliver Jackson- Cohen) with a flair for the art of killing and a newfound worthy opponent. The hunter is also the hunted. It's a do or die race to the list's finish as the mystery surrounding his brother's murder deepens, and new details emerge along the way hinting that Driver's list may be incomplete.
Ditching ! his Disney persona, which never seemed to work, Johnson's energy and presence carries the film for only a short while until it collapses due to a weak story and lack of a proper villain. LOVE & OTHER DRUGSAnne Hathaway portrays Maggie, an alluring free spirit who won’t let anyone - or anything - tie her down. But she meets her match in Jamie (Jake Gyllenhaal), whose relentless and nearly infallible charm serve him well with the ladies and in the cutthroat world of pharmaceutical sales. Maggie and Jamie’s evolving relationship takes them both by surprise, as they find themselves under the influence of the ultimate drug: love. 
Gyllenhaal and Hathaway are two beautiful people who look great together onscreen, but Edward Zwick's film can't make up its mind if it wants to be a romantic comedy, a satire about modern medicine and pha! rmaceuticals, or a melodrama about whether love will triumph o! ver illn ess. NOVEMBER 26THE KING'S SPEECHThe story of the man who would become King George VI, the father of the current Queen, Elizabeth II. After his brother abdicates, George ‘Bertie’ VI (Colin Firth) reluctantly assumes the throne. Plagued by a dreaded nervous stammer and considered unfit to be King, Bertie engages the help of an unorthodox speech therapist named Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush). Through a set of unexpected techniques, and as a result of an unlikely friendship, Bertie is able to find his voice and boldly lead the country into war.
A surprising good film that not only features a comedic look at the relationship between a King and his speech therapist, but offers a glimpse of a real life monarchy in trouble and how a man must conquer his personal fears to lead a country. DECEMBER 3BLACK SWANA supernatural th! riller set in the world of New York City ballet. "Black Swan" centers on a veteran ballerina (Portman) who finds herself locked in a competitive situation with a rival dancer, with the stakes and twists increasing as the dancers approach a big performance. But it's unclear whether the rival is a supernatural apparition or if the protagonist is simply having delusions.
Natalie Portman's performance as a ballerina discovering her dark side is a mesmerizing psychotic trip that unfolds in an entertaining fashion only Darren Aronofsky can do so well. An Oscar nom for Portman is a dead lock and a win almost definite. I LOVE YOU PHILLIP MORRISBased on a book by Houston Chronicle crime reporter Steve McVicker, the fact-based film casts Carrey as Steven Russell, a married father whose exploits landed him in the Texas criminal justic! e system. He fell madly in love with his cellmate Phillip Morr! is (Ewan McGregor), who eventually was set free, which led Russell to escape from Texas prisons four times.
Nearly two years after it premiered at Sundance, Glenn Ficarra and John Requa's cult classic in the making arrives with another over-the-top yet sympathetic performance from Carrey that just might make the Academy take notice come Oscar time. THE WARRIOR'S WAY"The Warrior's Way," a visually-stunning modern martial arts western starring Korean actor Dong-gun Jang who plays an Asian warrior assassin forced to hide in a small town in the American Badlands. Rounding out the ensemble cast are Kate Bosworth ("Superman Returns"), Oscar-winner Geoffrey Rush ("Shine"), Danny Huston ("The Kingdom"), and Tony Cox ("The Hustle"). The fantasy action film was written and directed by newcomer Sngmoo Lee, and is being produced by Barr! ie M. Osborne ("The Lord of the Rings"), Jooick Lee ("Seven Swords") and Michael Peyser ("Hackers").
The answer to what ever happened to Kate Bosworth's career, the Superman Returns leading lady stars alongside South Korean actor Jang Dong-gun as well as Geoffrey Rush who appears to be taking the money and running with this one. “Ninjas?†Damn right. Also: BARNEY'S VERSION -- The picaresque and touching story of the politically incorrect, fully lived life of the impulsive, irascible and fearlessly blunt Barney Panofsky (Paul Giamatti) a hard-drinking, cigar-smoking, foulmouthed 65-year old hockey fanatic and television producer.RARE EXPORTS: A CHRISTMAS TALE -- In the depths of the Korvatunturi mountains, 486 metres deep, lies the closest ever guarded secret of Christmas. The time has come to dig it up!ALL GOOD TH! INGS -- A romantic drama mystery film directed by Andrew Jarec! ki starr ing Ryan Gosling and Kirsten Dunst. The film is inspired by the life of Robert Durst as it tells the story about an heir to a New York real estate fortune whose wife, Kathleen McCormack, disappears.DECEMBER 10THE TOURIST"The Tourist" revolves around Frank (Depp), an American tourist visiting Italy to mend a broken heart. Elise (Jolie) is an extraordinary woman who deliberately crosses his path. Against the breathtaking backdrop of Venice, Frank pursues a potential romance but soon finds himself the pursued as he and Elise are caught in a whirlwind of intrigue and danger.
A project already plagued by the coming and goings of various actors and directors, Depp is actually the replacement of Avatar's Sam Worthington who previously replaced Tom Cruise as the lead. Director Lasse Hallstrom stepped down over scheduling conflicts to be r! eplaced by Bharat Nalluri who was later replaced by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck. He too would eventually leave the project, only to return some time later. Then there are rumors that Jolie became angered by Depp's request that their steamy sex scene be cut from the film. The star power of it's two leads will no doubt attract an audience, but with only one film under his belt (The Lives of Others) is von Donnersmarck cut out for his first American feature? THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADEREdmund and Lucy Pevensie, along with their pesky cousin Eustace Scrubb find themselves swallowed into a painting and on to a fantastic Narnian ship headed for the very edges of the world. Joining forces once again with their royal friend Prince Caspian and the warrior mouse Reepicheep, they are whisked away on a mysterious mission to the Lone Islands, and beyond. On this bewitching voyage that will test their hearts and spirits, the trio will face magical Dufflep! uds, sinister slave traders, roaring dragons and enchanted mer! folk. On ly an entirely uncharted journey to Aslan’s Country â€" a voyage of destiny and transformation for each of those aboard the Dawn Treader â€" can save Narnia, and all the astonishing creatures in it, from an unfathomable fate.
Despite the fact that Disney chose not to distribute a third Narnia film and director Andrew Adamson (now serving as producer) stepped down to be replaced by Michael Apted, things appear to be business as usual for this successful series of adaptations of C.S. Lewis' classic children's novels. THE FIGHTERA drama about boxer "Irish" Micky Ward's (Mark Wahlberg) unlikely road to the world light welterweight title. His Rocky-like rise was shepherded by half-brother Dicky (Christian Bale), a boxer-turned-trainer who rebounded in life after nearly being KO'd by drugs and crime.
Controversial director (for his on set tantrums not his films) David O'Russell's first film since 2004's poorly received I Heart Huckabees has Oscar written all over it. Wahlberg, Amy Adams and Melissa Leo all have a shot at nominations, but Christian Bale is a dead lock in the Best Supporting Actor category, proving again what a powerful actor and chameleon he truly is. THE COMPANY MENA drama about the impact that a corporate downsizing has on both its casualties and survivors. Ben Affleck plays a corporate hotshot whose Porsche and six-figure salary vanish after he gets laid off. Kevin Costner plays his brother-in-law, a salt-of-the-earth drywall installer who gives him a construction job. Tommy Lee Jones is a senior partner in the firm, a principled man who struggles with the greedy actions of his partners. 
/>DECEMBER 17TRON LEGACYSam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund), a rebellious 27-year-old, is haunted by the mysterious disappearance of his father Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges), a man once known as the world's leading video-game developer. When Sam investigates a strange signal sent from the old Flynn's Arcade -- a signal that could only come from his father-- he finds himself pulled into a digital world where Kevin has been trapped for 20 years. With the help of the fearless warrior Quorra (Olivia Wilde), father and son embark on a life-or-death journey across a cyber universe -- a universe created by Kevin himself that has become far more advanced with vehicles, weapons, landscapes and a ruthless villain who will stop at nothing to prevent their escape.
The holiday event film of the season that has th! e potential to have as much an impact on filmmaking and 3D as last year's Avatar. The longest gap ever between a film and it's sequel (twenty-eight years) this follow-up to the 1982 original stands to put Jeff Bridges back on the map and make stars out of Hedlund, Wilde and first time director Joseph Kosinski. HOW DO YOU KNOWA romantic comedy centered on a love triangle between a professional softball player Lisa Jorgenson (Reese Witherspoon), a corporate executive (Paul Rudd), his lawyer (Jack Nicholson) and a major-league pitcher (Owen Wilson) for the Washington Nationals.
The latest from director James L. Brooks who has once again managed to snag Nicholson, this time in a supporting role. Rudd and Wilson are perfect for this type of material with Witherspoon as the woman caught in the middle. Also: CASINO JAC! K -- The final film of the recently deceased George Hickenloop! er which focuses on the career of Washington, D.C. lobbyist, and businessman Jack Abramoff (Kevin Spacey), who was involved in a massive corruption scandal that led to the conviction of himself, two White House officials, Rep. Bob Ney, and nine other lobbyists and congressional staffers.RABBIT HOLE -- John Cameron-Mitchell's (Hedwig and the Angry Inch) latest adapted by David Lindsay-Abaire from his 2005 stage play. Sometime after the death of their young son, Danny, Becca (Nicole Kidman) and Howie Corbett (Aaron Eckhart) continue to cope with their grief. In time Becca becomes closer acquainted with the teenage driver who accidentally hit the boy.DECEMBER 22TRUE GRITFourteen-year-old Mattie Ross's (Hailee Steinfeld) father has been shot in cold blood by the coward Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin), and she is determined to bring him to justice. Enlisting the help of trigger-happy, drunken U.S. Marshal, Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges), she sets out with him -- over his objections -- to hunt d! own Chaney. Her father's blood demands that she pursue the criminal into Indian territory and find him before a Texas Ranger named LeBoeuf (Matt Damon) catches him and brings him back to Texas for the murder of another man.
Following his recent Best Actor Oscar win for Crazy Heart, Bridges re-teams with the Coen Bros twelve years after The Big Lebowski. Though it may be a remake of the John Wayne film of the same name, which won the Duke an Oscar, it's a sure bet that the Coen Bros, directing their first western, will take the story in an intriguing and fresh direction. LITTLE FOCKERSIt has taken 10 years, two little Fockers with wife Pam (Polo) and countless hurdles for Greg to finally get “in†with his tightly wound father-in-law, Jack. After the cash-strapped dad takes a job moonlighting for a drug company, however, ! Jack’s suspicions about his favorite male nurse come roaring! back. W hen Greg and Pam’s entire clanâ€"including Pam’s lovelorn ex, Kevin (Owen Wilson)â€"descends for the twins’ birthday party, Greg must prove to the skeptical Jack that he’s fully capable as the man of the house. But with all the misunderstandings, spying and covert missions, will Greg pass Jack’s final test and become the family’s next patriarch…or will the circle of trust be broken for good?
Ten years after the original and after dozens of terrible comedies where Robert DeNiro has sold out, its a wonder anyone is interested in revisiting these characters for a third time. GULLIVER'S TRAVELSIn a contemporary re-imagining of the classic tale, Jack Black stars as Gulliver, a big-talking mailroom clerk who, after he’s mistakenly assigned a travel piece on the Bermuda Triangle, suddenly finds himself a gia! nt among men when he washes ashore on the hidden island of Lilliput, home to a population of very tiny people. At first enslaved by the diminutive and industrious Liliputians, and later declared their hero, Gulliver comes to learn that it’s how big you are on the inside that counts.
The real reason as to why co-star Emily Blunt was forced to step down from playing the Black Widow in Iron Man 2. You can almost hear author Jonathan Swift screaming from his grave as this remake chucks the other stories from Gulliver's adventures and focuses on his time with the tiny inhabitants of the island of Lilliput. Add more of Jack Black's nonsense and you've got what's sure to be an embarrassing film for all involved. One reader best described it as looking like “a turd covered in burnt hair.†That sounds about right. Also: SOMEWHERE ! -- In Sophia Coppola's fourth feature, Stephen Dorff stars as ! Johnny M arco, a Hollywood bad-boy stumbling through a life of excess at the Chateau Marmont when he receives an unexpected visit from his 11-year-old daughter, played by Elle Fanning. Their meeting challenges his lifestyle and forces him to make necessary changes.COUNTRY STRONG -- A rising young singer-songwriter (Garrett Hedlund) gets involved with a fallen country music star (Gwenyth Paltrow) and the pair embark on a tour to resurrect her career, helmed by her husband/manager (Tim McGraw) who accompanies them along with a beauty-queen-turned-singer (Leighton Meester). Complications arising from romantic entanglements and old demons threaten to derail them all.DECEMBER 25THE ILUSIONISTSylvain Chomet's (The Triplets of Belleville) latest tells the story of a dying breed of stage entertainer whose thunder is being stolen by emerging rock stars. Forced to accept increasingly obscure assignments in fringe theaters, garden parties and bars, he meets a young fan who changes his life fore! ver.
/>DECEMBER 29ANOTHER YEARMike Leigh's tale of a married couple (Jim Broadbent, Ruth Sheen) who have managed to remain blissfully happy into their autumn years, are surrounded over the course of the four seasons of one average year by friends, colleagues, and family who all seem to suffer some degree of unhappiness.
With a standout performance by Lesley Manville as Broadbent and Sheen's hopeless friend Mary, the film has a strong chance of receiving a Best Supporting Actress nomination. BIUTIFULWritten by Nicolás Giacobone and Armando Bo, Biutiful is a story of a man in free fall who is on the road to redemption. Connected with the afterlife, Uxbal (Bardem! ) is a tragic hero and father of two who's sensing the danger ! of death . He struggles with a tainted reality and a fate that works against him.
According to Variety even with some critical support, the predominantly Spanish-language film will prove a tough challenge for distributors and audiences. A steady accretion of harrowing details, Biutiful represents something of a departure for Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, even as it confirms the pervasive bleakness of his worldview. Still, with Bardem winning Best Actor at this year's Cannes Film Festival, there's a good chance an Oscar nom may come his way. THE WAY BACKPeter Weir's first film since Master and Commander is the fact-based story of the escape of soldiers from a Siberian gulag in 1940. It is based on several sources, most notably the Slavomir Rawicz book "The Long Walk: The True Story of a Trek to Freedom." The book is Rawicz's account of bei! ng captured by the Red Army in 1939 and his journey to freedom with other inmates. The group crossed the Siberian arctic, the Gobi desert and the Himalayas, finally settling in Tibet and India. With Jim Sturgess, Colin Farrell, Ed Harris, Saoirse Ronan, and Mark Strong.
You can't go wrong with Peter Weir and Ed Harris already has Best Supporting Actor Oscar buzz for his portrayal as the sole American of the group. DECEMBER 31BLUE VALENTINEDirected by Derek Cianfrance the film centers on a married couple, Dean (Ryan Gosling) and Cindy (Michelle Williams), and their relationship over a number of years by shifting between different time periods. Problems with the marriage center around Cindy's ambition, juxtaposed to Dean's contentment to center his life around his wife and child.
On October 8, 2010 Blue Valentine was officially given an NC-17 rating, reportedly due to an emotionally intense sex scene. However, the Weinstein Company appealed the decision and is aiming for an R without any trims to the film since an NC-17 rating would significantly harm the film's potential box office take. 
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