Holiday Movie Preview

Of course the holiday season can bring out the sequel in all of us, though this year’s follow-up fare might actually be worth watching. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, and the long-awaited Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues are all arriving soon. But November and December offer an array of new films in addition to those familiar franchises. Here is a look at seven of them.

NOV 22: NEBRASKA
The gist: An aging and alcoholic sweepstakes winner road trips with his distant son to claim the winnings.

The good: When’s the last time Bruce Dern had a lead role? The talented veteran actor takes center stage in this relationship drama that is a welcome 180-degree-turn from director Alexander Payne’s last outing, the Oscar-nominated George Clooney show The Descendants.

The bad: Will Forte is untested in this type of dramatic role. Can the Saturday Night Live comedian hold his own opposite Dern, and can he make us care?

Recommended if you like: About Schmidt, Stranger Than Paradise, cornfields.

DEC 6: INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS
The gist: An introverted, Bob Dylan-esque folk singer navigates the Greenwich Village music scene of the early 1960s and struggles with a series of rocky relationships.

The good: Directed by the Coen Brothers, whose sharp dialogue and attention to period detail should bring this tale of striving for personal and professional success to life.

The bad: With just a week in the life of this struggling musician featured, are the stakes high enough for audiences to truly care?

Recommended if you like: I’m Not There, A Serious Man, coffee breath.

DALLAS BUYERS CLUB
The gist: In the mid-1980s, a Texas electrician develops an elaborate and popular system for securing and sharing alternative therapies for HIV.

The good: With Mud and The Wolf of Wall Street, Matthew McConaughey is officially in the zone this year, and his turn as real-life HIV patient Ron Woodroof has Oscar written all over it.

The bad: Melisa Wallack wrote this movie, and her previous outing was the dismal Snow White flick Mirror Mirror.

Recommended if you like: 50/50, Erin Brockovich, cheekbones.

DEC 13: AMERICAN HUSTLE
The gist: A couple of disco-era con artists are forced to work with the authorities to bring down a roster of corrupt politicians and mobsters.

The good: Director David O. Russell’s ensemble is the most exciting cast all year: Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Louis C.K. and Jeremy Renner.

The bad: As long as you can handle some loud, flamboyant 1970s fashions, there’s very little downside to what looks like a remarkable thrill ride.

Recommended if you like: Argo, American Gangster, chest hair.

DEC 20: HER
The gist: An emotionally isolated writer develops feelings for his computer’s female-voiced operating system, cooed by Scarlett Johansson.

The good: Joaquin ?Phoenix plays tortured introverts so well, and leave it to writer-director Spike Jonze to craft a tragic love story that is both overtly sugary and chillingly off-kilter.

The bad: It may be hard not to just laugh at the guy who essentially falls head over heels for Siri.

Recommended if you like: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Punch-drunk Love, HAL-9000.

THE MONUMENTS MEN
The gist: Art historians and museum curators suit up for combat in an attempt to preserve the European art that Hitler’s forces are stealing and destroying at an alarming rate.

The good: Director-star George Clooney blends quirky humor into this unique, historically based tale with help from Matt Damon, Bill Murray and John Goodman.

The bad: Another December. Another 1940s-set drama. Audiences might be WWII-ed out.

Recommended if you like: Inglourious Basterds, Kelly’s Heroes, Renoir.