It's that time again. The Oscar season last year was unusually dominated by heavy, often brooding dramas. I liked several of them, but as a genre it's my least favorite. I am fascinated by exploring humanity, but I'd rather examine it in fantastical environs. Of course, sometimes simple, true-life dramas can do so in fantastical ways, which is one of the reasons I anticipate Tim Burton's Big Fish with such enthusiasm.

Two things change the Oscar scene this year from last. The Oscars are broadcasting a month earlier, and then there's the whole screener ban controversy, which is too much to get into here. But these two things may mean Oscar movies getting earlier starts in theaters.

The season already began earlier this month, with Brother Bear, a Disney animated film that is well-liked but not well-loved. It'll apparently be the last traditionally animated film from Disney for quite some time, and future Disney releases will be 3D-animated. It's an unfortunate move. Nothing about 3D animation makes it inherently better (or worse) than traditional, and there is much potential in it to mine.

Then came Matrix Revolutions, which is on track to do about half the business of Reloaded. Unlike many, I liked Reloaded as much as the original, but extremely negative word of mouth, which I am usually dubious about, was enough to dissuade me to wait for video.

Elf, which debuted two weekends ago and dropped only 18% at the box office last weekend, looks to be a financial hit for New Line and as much of a surprise as School of Rock. How can Elf not be a stupid, shallow little thing? But apparently it isn't.

Love Actually, from writer Richard Curtis (directing for the first time), aims to be to romantic comedy what It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World is to slapstick farce. Looney Tunes: Back In Action tanked at the box office, which is a good thing if the characters aren't handled any better than in Space Jam. I love Bugs and the gang to death, but let's face it, magic ages. Last weekend, I was at Master & Commander, based on the popular series of Patrick O'Brian novels. It's a fantastic seafaring adventure, and true to the reviews, the film finds the humanity in the rough and unnatural circumstances of being at sea in the early nineteenth century.

That brings us to the present. Here's what we've got to look forward to, or dread, as the case may be.

Nov 21 - Gothika

A psychiatrist (Halle Berry) wakes up as a patient in her own asylum. Ghosts, amnesia, and unspeakable crimes are trendy these days. A lot of people are keeping an eye on Berry, after a successful last couple of years, so this project is probably pivotal for her. The early word is good.

Nov 21 - The Cat In the Hat

I am singularly uninspired by live-action adaptations of Dr. Seuss, especially after The Grinch, which not even Ron Howard could keep from being over-saturated and unwieldy. There's a lot of talent behind the look and feel of both movies, but filming Seuss is like trying to film, I dunno, da Vinci. It doesn't translate. The Cat works much better with his voice unheard, and his world works better in two dimensions.

Nov 26 - The Missing

Speaking of Ron Howard, The Missing is what he did this year instead of The Alamo, when Disney refused Howard the high budget he wanted to do it. It looks like it was a fortunate development; The Missing has excellent buzz and good odds at the Oscar race. It's set in the Old West, and it's about a woman dealing with a threat to her child and the return of an estranged father at the same time. This is right in line with the exploration of humanity under abnormal circumstances that I was describing earlier. By transposing humanity out of the environment we see around us every day, it's conspicuous when aspects of it stay the same.

Nov 26 - Timeline

Richard Donner (Superman, Lethal Weapon) directed this adaptation of Michael Crichton's novel. Crichton's work is usually fun but thin. This one is a time-travelling adventure that steers back to medieval times. I'm all about that. Could be good, could be mediocre, but it's sure to be interesting.

Nov 26 - Bad Santa

Con artists Billy Bob Thornton and Bernie Mac...I don't know, dress up as Santa and swindle people or something. The trailers look horrid. If they are to be believed, the movie's single joke is that the characters hold unChristmaslike attitudes at Christmastime. Har har har.

Nov 26 - The Haunted Mansion

As was mentioned earlier in this forum, Eddie Murphy is talented, but not at picking projects. The Haunted Mansion offers me not one single ray of hope that it'll be anything but terrible. The advertising likens it to Pirates of the Caribbean, presumably because they're both based on Disneyland/World rides, but I don't know who's gullible enough to figure one will inevitably be as good as the other.

Dec 1 - Forbidden Warrior

The granddaughter of an Emperor is raised by a sorcerer and...probably some bad things happen. It looks to be a cross between the fantasy genre and Crouching Tiger. Depending on the balance, helpless villages may actually not get ransacked, and monsters might not even ooze goo. It's being released by "Cinamour Entertainment," so I bet you won't even be able to find this one until it hits DVD.

Dec 2 - The Land Before Time X (direct-to-video)

This series is the most hilarious series I've never seen. Well, I did see the first one. I wouldn't have thought, in a million years, that it would spawn nine sequels.

Dec 5 - The Last Samurai

I've seen this trailer too many times in the theater. But it looks good. Like Master & Commander, it seems to be a return to some old-fashioned adventure storytelling. The modern-day emphasis on visuals remains, but special effects do not dominate. I flip-flop on Tom Cruise a lot, but this looks good. It also stands a chance at the Oscars, but that's still up in the air.

Dec 12 - Stuck On You

Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear are co-joined twins in this Farrelly Brothers comedy co-starring Cher. If, before this project's conception, you had made up the premise for the Farrellys' next movie, it could pretty easily have been something like this. Expect it to be crude, but, although their track record is not spotless, the Farrellys do know how to elevate crude to almost noble heights.

Dec 12 - Something's Gotta Give

The trailers for this Jack Nicholson comedy look hilarious. Nicholson could do almost anything and make it fun to watch.

Dec 17 - The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Yeah, like you need me to tell you about this.

Dec 19 - Mona Lisa Smile

This is the story of women at a women-only school "where the students are torn between the repressive mores of the time and their longing for intellectual freedom," to quote the plot summary at the IMDb. This isn't normally my thing (Hollywood always screws up when it tries to do anything for which there are pressures of political correctness at play), but the cast is excellent. Julia Roberts plays an instructor -- she's good in the right roles and terrible in others, but this looks promising. Rounding out the cast are Kirsten Dunst, Julia Stiles, and Maggie Gyllenhaal, arguably THE three actresses of their generation whose talent have steered them around the teen idol stigmas that could prove the downfall of their peers. I haven't seen Gyllenhaal enough to have a personal opinion of her, but Dunst and Stiles are always watchable in my book. But as for whether I'll like this or not...it could go either way.

Dec 25 - Cold Mountain

Cold Mountain is not only a frontrunner for this year's Oscars, it was a frontrunner as long ago as last year. That means there are a lot of expectations to live up to. But the director, Anthony Minghella, is reliable, and the cast is outstanding: Jude Law, Nicole Kidman, Renee Zellweger, Natalie Portman, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Giovanni Ribisi, and Donald Sutherland. It's about a wounded soldier in the last days of the American Civil War. Just the sort of historical romance epic the Academy goes ga-ga over. Will it have the strength to threaten Return of the King? We'll see.

Dec 25 - Young Black Stallion

This IMAX movie looks gorgeous. I would doubt the story is more than competent, but the trailer seems like it will make a beautiful theatrical experience. I've never seen an IMAX movie, and this, especially considering who I'm married to, may well be my first.

Dec 25 - Paycheck

John Woo directs Ben Affleck and Uma Thurman in a sci-fi thriller with an amnesia subplot. Amnesia is a great device for stories like this, but Woo's fallen far from his heyday in Hong Kong.

Dec 25 - Cheaper By the Dozen

Steve Martin's still got it, but if he doesn't watch out, he's going to catch Eddie Murphy's script selection disease. I've seen the original movie, and it's not worth remaking; but the trailers don't suggest much of a tie between the two. The real "original" is the book anyway.

Dec 25 - Peter Pan

Was I just talking about good-looking movies? WOW this looks fantastic. Of course, I liked Hook. But the look and feel of this upcoming live action version of Peter Pan absolutely dazzles me. I'm there.

Dec 26 - House of Sand and Fog

The buzz is that the performances are outstanding, and the leads, Ben Kingsley and Jennifer Connelly, may wind up with Oscar nominations for it. But early reviews are calling it an extreme downer. Depressing is ok, but only if it's depressing in an exhilarating or edifying way. The brooding kind is just...well, depressing.

Dec 30 - Leprechaun: Back 2 tha Hood (direct-to-video)

Ain't nuthin' but a hip-hop thang. Just bidness in tha hood.

Jan 1 - The Gingerdead Man

From IMDb: "vil yet adorable Gingerbread men come to life with souls of three convicted killers - these real life cookie monsters reak havoc on the girl who sent the killers to the electic chair."

Jan 9 - Big Fish

Tim Burton's Big Fish opens wide on this date, but it'll be available in select cities as early as November. I'm pumped for this one, though Burton's track record with me is uneven. It's about a son who visits his estranged and dying father, who tells him some pretty wild stories. It's an odd, offbeat kind of premise, perfect for an odd, offbeat kind of director.


Other movies to watch for:

The Statement - limited, 12/12

A horror thriller about a Nazi executioner on the run. Michael Caine stars, and Norman Jewison directs.

The Company - limited, 12/25

Robert Altman's movies are very often light on story, though not at always. He excels at plunking his cameras amidst a couple dozen characters, filming them, and coming up with a compelling work. His directorial strategy leaves him open to periodic failures, but the risks pay off in such movies as The Player, Short Cuts, and Gosford Park. The word on The Company, which is centered around a group of ballet dancers, is good but not earthshatteringly strong. Who knows.

In America - limited, 12/26

This looks to be columnist David Poland's favorite movie of all time, even over The Hulk and Undercover Brother. It's also got good Oscar buzz behind it, particularly for Djimon Hounsou, who has a small but powerful role.