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Before heading into 2008, a foreboding year which pundits believe will see a protracted screenwriter’s strike, Hollywood ends 2007 with its usual flurry of event pictures and Oscar-baiting performances. From dynamic duos like first-time partners Mike Nichols and Tom Hanks with Charlie Wilson’s War to veteran collaborators Tim Burton and Johnny Depp bringing Sweeney Todd, a noir barber’s musical, to life, to the welcome return of a once-great filmmaker—Francis Ford Coppola’s Youth Without Youth is his first film in a decade—there’s a lot to take in this month at the movies.

Atonement Dec. 7

Joe Wright’s follow-up to Pride & Prejudice is an equally literary venture, involving a misconstrued relationship between a rich heiress and a servant boy, and the effects WWII has on the Mother Country. But Atonement has two things going against it. First, like the British romance novel it is based on, the film spans decades and uses multiple actors to portray a single character. And two, I just used the phrase “like the British romance novel it is based on” to describe it. Atonement may not have audiences lining up around the block, but come Oscar Night, someone from cast or crew will be walking away with a trophy. Starring Keira Knightley, James McAvoy and Vanessa Redgrave. atonementthemovie.co.uk

I Am Legend Dec. 14

Based on Richard Matheson’s novel of the same name—a remarkable work long ago beamed to screen with mixed results in Omega Man, and ripped off gloriously via 28 Days Later—I Am Legend juxtaposes Will Smith as experimental scientist Robert Neville. After a man-made virus sweeps the globe, annihilating the world population and making parking in New York City a whole lot easier, Neville, the only known survivor, sets to work on a cure. He soon discovers he is not alone. It turns out the other survivors aren’t supermodels at all, but blood-sucking cannibals. Typical. iamlegend.warnerbros.com

Juno (limited release)

Studio executives hope Juno resonates more than a 90-minute PSA for adoption, but what the unplanned teen pregnancy dramedy will certainly do is introduce Ellen Page as a leading lady and cement 2007 as the official coming out party for uproarious everyman Michael Cera of Arrested Development and Superbad fame. When Page’s Juno MacGuff decides to go full-term with her pregnancy and give the baby up for adoption, she and best friend Cera face growing up faster than they ever expected. Also starring Jason Bateman, Jennifer Garner and Rainn Wilson. foxsearchlight.com/juno

Charlie Wilson’s War Dec. 25

A controversial figure in most circles, former U.S. Rep. Charles Wilson is taken to task by writer Aaron Sorkin, director Mike Nichols and star Tom Hanks for quietly increasing CIA funds to aid the Afghan Mujahideen in its struggle against the Soviets. No doubt some of the munitions and anti-aircraft cannons provided to Afghan rebels in pursuit of breaking the Red Army in the early 1980s are those being used against U.S. forces in the region today. This is what the CIA terms “blowback,” and you can bet Sorkin and Nichols want voters and candidates discussing the concept before next fall’s elections. Also starring Amy Adams, Emily Blunt, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Julia Roberts.

There Will Be Blood (limited release) Dec. 26

Based loosely on Upton Sinclair’s exclamation-loving novel Oil!, There Will Be Blood stars Daniel Day-Lewis as a turn-of-the-century prospector forced to battle a faith-healing young minister for a patch of land brimming with “Texas tea.” The film is Magnolia auteur P.T. Anderson’s first since 2002, though two years ago he ghost-directed A Prairie Home Companion with the ailing Robert Altman. But he has ceased to mime Altman here and pulled a full-on Terrence Malick. If Anderson and the reclusive Day-Lewis gracing the screen is not cool enough, the score was written and arranged by Radiohead’s genius guitarist Jonny Greenwood. Also starring Paul Dano and Ciaran Hinds. paramountvantage.com/blood

ALSO THIS MONTH: Children’s fantasy film The Golden Compass (12/7), Woody Allen’s twisted love caper Cassandra’s Dream (12/14, limited), Francis Ford Coppola’s WWII drama Youth Without Youth (12/14, limited), Julian Schnabel’s The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (12/19, limited), Nicolas Cage’s National Treasure: Book of Secrets (12/21), the Tim Burton musical Sweeney Todd (12/21) and the Judd Apatow-penned rock ’n’ roll spoof Walk Hard (12/21)