Horses, prime ministers, babysitters, chipmunks and Roman soldiers. And that girl with the dragon tattoo.

Dec. 2

Coriolanus

Cast: Ralph Fiennes, Gerard Butler, Brian Cox, Vanessa Redgrave.
Director: Fiennes
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Fiennes makes his directorial debut and stars in this lesser-known Shakespeare play that is garnering Oscar attention. Fiennes plays a top-level Roman soldier making his way through the city’s political sphere. The movie is set in a present-day Rome that’s run by the military. Everyone speaks Shakespearean English in John Logan’s script. Fiennes blogged about the story’s meaning for us today: “From hubristic generals, manipulative spin-doctors, and guerilla insurgents to issues of sexism and devastating food riots the play is rich in potential contemporary significance.”

We Need To Talk About Kevin

Cast: Tilda Swinton, John C. Reilly, Ezra Miller, Siobhan Fallon.
Director: Lynne Ramsay.
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The movie, based on a 2003 novel by Lionel Shriver, about a mother (Swinton) dealing with the aftershocks of a school massacre perpetrated by her son shook up the audiences at Cannes. More than a drama, a horror story for parents. “These are not just people her son has killed. She’s killed them, by proxy,” said Ramsay at Cannes. The director said she was motivated to make the movie because she was thinking of having children of her own. One of the themes: the mother’s ambivalence toward maternity may have influenced the son’s development.

Dec. 9

A Dangerous Method

Cast: Michael Fassbender, Keira Knightley, Viggo Mortensen, Vincent Cassel.
Director: David Cronenberg.
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A high-profile historical drama based on the turbulent relationships between fledgling psychiatrist Carl Jung, his mentor Sigmund Freud, and Sabina Spielrein, the troubled but beautiful young woman who comes between them. Mortensen, making his third consecutive film with the iconoclastic Cronenberg, told THR: “It’s essentially about people who are very intelligent, ambitious to be remembered and make their mark and also may be vulnerable to the point of being paranoid. David doesn’t shy away from the academic.”

I Melt With You

Cast: Thomas Jane, Rob Lowe, Jeremy Piven, Carla Gugino, Sasha Grey.
Director: Mark Pellington.
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After its Sundance showing, EW’s Owen Gleiberman wrote that “I Will Melt With You” — the tale of four 40-something guys who head to Big Sur for a week of reliving their liberated college days — is “… no ordinary bad movie. It’s howlingly, outrageously bad.” He wanted to walk out after 15 minutes. Lowe told EW: “If we did [the movie] right, a percentage of the audience will walk out.” The actors said they knew they were taking a big risk doing the film. “It was a complete emotional root canal,” Piven told EW. “But we all committed completely to it and went to that very dark place.”

New Year’s Eve

Cast: Robert De Niro, Sarah Jessica Parker, Ashton Kutcher, Jessica Biel.
Director: Garry Marshall.
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An ensemble romantic comedy, Marshall’s latest valentine “celebrates love, hope, forgiveness, second chances and fresh starts, in the intertwining stories of couples and singles, told amidst the pulse and promise of New York City on the most dazzling night of the year.”

The Sitter

Cast: Jonah Hill, Sam Rockwell, Ari Graynor, Jessica Hecht.
Director: David Gordon Green.
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Hill plays a college student on suspension who is coaxed into babysitting the kids — two boys and a wild 8-year-old girl — next door in a comedy from Green, who directed “The Pineapple Express.” “It’s kind of like an R-rated, insane version of “Adventures in Babysitting,” Hill told MTV. In anticipation of the comedy, fans can call (917) 409-7838, and leave a message for Hill. As an extra incentive to call, Hill will randomly answer the phone.

W.E.

Cast: Abbie Cornish, Natalie Dormer, Oscar Isaac, Andrea Riseborough.
Director: Madonna.
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Madonna’s second directing effort is a two-tiered romantic drama focusing on the affair between King Edward VIII and American divorcée Wallis Simpson and a contemporary romance between a married woman and a Russian security guard. Madonna says: ‘W.E.’ is about the nature of true love, and the sacrifices and compromises that are often made. I’ve wanted to tell this story for a very long time, and bringing it to life has been a great adventure for me.” The Weinstein Company has acquired U.S. right.

Young Adult

Cast: Charlize Theron, Patrick Wilson, Patton Oswalt, J.K. Simmons.
Director: Jason Reitman.
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Cody is the draw here. This is her latest script and the film reunites Cody with Reitman, who directed her Oscar-winning hit “Juno.” The story: A frustrated Young Adult writer (Theron) obsessed with her high school days goes back to her hometown to try to win over her married high school sweetheart. ScriptShadow reviewed the script: “Diablo Cody has gotten rid of a lot of her Diablo Cody-isms. She’s listened to her critics, and there’s no overly cute dialogue to distract us from the story.”

Dec. 16

Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked

Featuring: Alyssa Milano, Anna Faris, Christina Applegate, Justin Long.
Director: Mike Mitchell.
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The third entry in the popular family series finds the Chipmunks and Chipettes aboard a cruise ship. The fun ends when they accidentally go overboard and end up marooned in a tropical paradise. They discover their new turf is not as deserted as it seems.

The Iron Lady

Cast: Meryl Streep, Jim Broadbent, Richard E. Grant, Harry Lloyd.
Director: Phyllida Lloyd.
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Should Hollywood reserve the 2010 Oscar for Streep? She’s the likely frontrunner for her portrayal of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, which was possibly the toughest challenge of her career. The performance has caused controversy in England. The Daily Mail had a stern article, detailing inaccuracies in the biopic, which was screened for an audience of Thatcher’s closest friends. The article claims the movie uses dream and hallucination scenes to paint Thatcher as a woman haunted by regret over her own ambition.

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Jared Harris, Rachel McAdams, Stephen Fry, Noomi Rapace.
Director: Guy Ritchie.
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The sequel… or maybe we should call it the second movie in what looks like it could be a nice franchise. In this one, Holmes (Downey, Jr.) and his longtime trusted associate, Dr. John Watson (Law), take on Professor Moriarty (Harris), with the help of Holmes’s older brother Mycroft (Fry) and a Romani woman named Sim (Rapace). The draw here is Moriarty, the famous villain. Harris told MTV: “I don’t feel that this guy had any sense of morality. He doesn’t see things as right or wrong; he sees things as possible or not possible. From that point of view, the character was liberated and free to do anything.”

Dec. 2

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

Cast:  Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara, Stellan Skarsgård.
Director: David Fincher.
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You’ve read the book, you’ve seen the Swedish movie… and now you can’t wait to see Fincher’s take on the mystery thriller. Skarsgård, who plays Martin Vanger, provided an update to E! Online: “I’ve seen the Swedish movie and I thought it was good. I think Fincher and the writer Steven Zaillian can do even more with it.” All eyes will be on Rooney, the relative unknown who won the coveted role of Lisbeth Salander. Skarsgard: “Obviously, Fincher wanted to go with someone even younger than the Swedish version. He wanted someone more vulnerable, more androgynous and I think it pays off. I think Rooney is doing a great job.”

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

Cast: Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Josh Holloway, Paula Patton, Simon Pegg.
Director: Brad Bird.
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The last Mission Impossible film five years ago set a box office low (though it still made $134 million.) The MI:4 director Bird is making his debut in the world of live-action after excelling in animated features (“The Incredibles,” “Ratatouille”.) The plot: The IMF is shut down when it’s implicated in the bombing of the Kremlin, causing Ethan Hunt and his new team to go rogue to clear their organization’s name. Renner plays a mysterious agent who joins the team.

Dec. 23

The Adventures of Tintin

Cast: Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis, Daniel Craig, Simon Pegg.
Director: Stephen Spielberg.
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If you haven’t been introduced before, get ready to meet Tintin. He’s a young reporter whose adventures were written and drawn by Belgian cartoonist Georges “Herge” Remi. Big around the world. Not so much in America. Spielberg’s performance-capture, CG-animated feature, produced by Peter Jackson, should change that. In this tale, a combination of three of Herge’s stories, Tintin and his friends discover directions to a sunken ship commanded by Capt. Haddock’s ancestor and go off on a treasure hunt. Spielberg and Jackson are planning a trilogy.

In The Land of Blood and Honey

Cast: Zana Marjanovic, Goran Kostic, Rade Serbedzija.
Director: Angelina Jolie.
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It began with the flu. Quarantined from her children in an attic and left with nothing else, Jolie started writing a wartime drama set in Bosnia. The story — Jolie leaned on husband Brad Pitt for advise — has led to her directorial and screenwriting debut. She didn’t intend to direct but didn’t trust anyone with the project. Jolie made two versions of the film, shooting separately in English and Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian.

We Bought A Zoo

Cast: Matt Damon, Scarlett Johansson, Thomas Haden Church, Elle Fanning.
Director: Cameron Crowe.
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The adaptation of Benjamin Mee’s memoir is one of three Crowe films this year. Mee’s book told the true story of how he uprooted his family and moved to the English countryside to run a dilapidated zoo following the death of his wife. Crowe’s adaptation, scripted by Aline Brosh McKenna, moves the setting from England to California. Crowe knew California locales that would be right for the story. “Plus,,” he said. “I wanted to work with Matt Damon, and I think he gets things done pretty well with his natural accent… so we started casting American actors.”

Dec. 25

The Darkest Hour

Cast: Emile Hirsch, Olivia Thirlby, Max Minghella, Rachael Taylor.
Director: Chris Gorak.
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Not just another alien invasion movie. This one is set in Moscow. Aliens, Moscow… and 3-D special effects. Director Chris Gorak, who was the art director on “Minority Report” and “Fight Club,” has movie fans optimistic that the special effects will be awesome. The producers have put out some amazing concept art. One photo shows that the aliens are composed of lethal wave energy, with the ability to shred apart human life. They are invisible 90 percent of the time. The film’s opening was moved from Dec. 23 to Christmas Day to avoid “The Adventures of Tinton.”

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Cast: Thomas Horn, Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock, Viola Davis.
Director: Stephen Daldry.
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Hanks, Bullock, a sentimental story about a boy whose father died on 9/11. It adds up to a lot of Oscar attention. Based on a 2005 novel by Jonathan Safran Foer, a precocious boy named Oskar sets out to solve the mystery of a key he disovers in his late father’s closet. It is a search which leads him into the lives of strangers and history. Horn, who won the kids’ edition of “Jeopardy,” makes his acting debut. Hanks and Bullock play his parents. Writer Eric Roth has “Forrest Gump” and “The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button” on his resume.

Dec. 28

War Horse

Cast: Jeremy Irvine, Emily Watson, David Thewlis
Director: Stephen Spielberg.
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Michael Morpurgo’s 1982 children’s novel about a young boy and a horse became a Tony Award-winning play, and now comes under the magic spell of Spielberg. “Its heart and its message provide a story that can be felt in every country,” said Spielberg, who delves into World War I for the first time. The story: Joey, young Albert Narracott’s beloved horse, is sold to the cavalry and shipped to France. Joey serves in the British and German armies. But Albert cannot forget Joey, and, still not old enough to enlist in the army, he embarks on a dangerous mission to find and bring him home. Relatively unknown stage actor Irvine won the lead after impressing Spielberg with his “natural, authentic” performance.

Dec. 30

A Separation

Cast: Peyman Moaadi, Leila Hatami, Sareh Bayat, Shahab Hosseini.
Director: Asghar Farhadi.
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The story focuses on an Iranian middle-class couple who separate, and the intrigues which follow when the husband hires a lower-class caretaker for his elderly father. The film received the Golden Bear for Best Film and the Silver Bears for Best Actress and Best Actor at the Berlin International Film Festival, becoming the first Iranian film to win the Golden Bear.