A LATE QUARTET (NR) Another star-filled, late year release hoping for some awards love, A Late Quartet stars Philip Seymour Hoffman, Christopher Walken, Catherine Keener and Mark Ivanir (Schindler’s List) as a world-renowned string quartet struggling to stay together amidst egos, death and lust. Director Yaron Zilberman (the documentary Watermarks) makes his directorial debut from a script he co-wrote with Seth Grossman (The Elephant King and the third Butterfly Effect). With the awkwardly named Imogen Poots and the incomparable Wallace Shawn. (Ciné)

BRAVE (PG) A good, not great, Pixar film, Brave strays into traditional Disney territory after a tremendously magical first act. Headstrong Scottish Princess Merida (wonderfully voiced by the lovely Kelly Macdonald) wants to choose her own destiny. She does not want to marry the first-born of the clans allied with her father (v. Billy Connolly), but her mother, Queen Elinor (v. Emma Thompson), will hear none of her complaints. In typical stubborn teenage fashion, Merida short-sightedly asks a wood-carving witch (v. Julie Walters) for a spell to change her mother. The aftermath of the spell leads to some heartwarming and charming derring-do, but the sitcom-ish mix-up is a bit stock for what we’ve come to expect from the studio that gave us Wall-E and Up, two animated features that transcended their cartoonish origins.

CHEERFUL WEATHER FOR THE WEDDING (NR) A young woman, Dolly Thatcham (Felicity Jones, who didn’t break so much out with Like Crazy), questions her marital decision, while her fiancé (James Norton) and former lover, Joseph (Luke Treadaway (the awesome Attack the Block), wait downstairs. Early word for director Donald Rice’s directorial debut is very positive. “Downton Abbey” fans will want to take note of Elizabeth McGovern’s presence, while original recipe “Office”-mates will be pleased to see Mackenzie “Gareth” Crook. Based on the 1932 novel by Julia Strachey.

• THE COLLECTION (R) Let’s face it; you haven’t seen The Collector, the 2009 predecessor to this torture porn from Saws IV-VII writers Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan, who directed. The Saw-ish premise of The Collector involved an ex-con, Arkin (Josh Stewart), whose criminal behavior gets him locked in a house booby trapped by a serial killer affectionately known as The Collector because he always takes one victim, his favorite, home with him. The Collection begins where its precursor left off. Stewart’s Arkin is trapped in one of The Collector’s trunks. Escaping after a bloody, well-planned mass murder, Arkin is forced to enter the killer’s HQ (smartly located at The Argento Hotel) by a tough (“Generation Kill”’s Lee Tergesen) seeking a rich man’s daughter (Emma Fitzpatrick). Less an improvement over the original than an expansion, The Collection suffers the same faults of severely unstable plotting and poorly delivered exposition, as well as delivers similar thrills of gory murders. The Collector’s motives are unnecessarily fleshed out, and his ludicrously monstrous nature is undermined. The first movie is tighter, but horror fans disappointed by the latter Saws and Dario Argento’s more recent output will be entertained enough by the sequel’s over-the-top kills and illogical narrative.

DEADFALL (R) In the middle of a whiteout, two siblings, Addison (Eric Bana) and Liza (Olivia Wilde), make a run for it after a botched casino heist. After some convoluted plot machinations, both end up at the same family’s Thanksgiving celebration. Director Stefan Ruzowitzky’s The Counterfeiters won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Deadfall’s previous titles were Kin (eh) and Blackbird (uh). With Charlie Hunnam (FX’s “Sons of Anarchy”), Kate Mara, Treat “Roger Mortis” Williams, Kris Kristofferson and Sissy Spacek.

FLIGHT(R) Robert Zemeckis returns to live action movies for adults (since 2000's Cast Away) with this Denzel Washington-starring after-work special about alcoholism dressed up as an airplane crash drama. Captain Whip Whitaker (Washington) may be a great pilot, but he's not such a great guy. Yet while hungover, still drunk and high on coke, Whitaker saves most of the 102 souls on flight 227 after a mechanical failure requires him to pull off an unconventional crash landing. Starring a big handful of swell actors—Don Cheadle, Bruce Greenwood, John Goodman, Melissa Leo join Washington—Flight calls to mind a '70s issue movie (something Sidney Lumet or Norman Jewison might have directed Al Pacino in) wrapped in a tense, quasi-legal drama. Every part is exceptional, though it is Washington's latest award-worthy turn (his first since 2007's American Gangster) who lifts the movie above the cloudy inspirational moralizing that probably would have occurred with another star (say Will Smith). The crash sequence alone deserves a spot on the shortlist for 2012's best scenes; don't be surprised if Denzel and Flight soar come awards season.

FUN SIZE (PG-13) This teen Halloween comedy is the cinematic equivalent of getting those orange and black wrapped peanut butter candies while trick or treating at some old lady’s house. Wren (Victoria Justice, “Zoey 101”) loses her Spider-Man-costumed little brother, Albert (Jackson Nicoll), on Halloween and enlists her shallow BFF, April (Jane Levy), and the nerdy kid who’s crushing on her, Roosevelt (Thomas Mann, Project X), in her quest to find lil’ bro. Director Josh Schwartz tapped the teenage zeitgeist twice on TV (“The O.C.” and “Gossip Girl”), but his small screen talents fail to translate to the big screen in his feature directing debut. Fun Size is not funny at any size, despite a script from “The Colbert Report” writer Max Werner. When Johnny Knoxville is excruciating and Chelsea Handler is a highlight, something is way off, comedically. 

HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET (PG-13) Another soporific, unscary PG-13 horror movie that will draw in the teens and tweenies, House at the End of the Street stars The Hunger Games’ Jennifer Lawrence as Elissa, who moves to a new town with her divorced mom (Elisabeth Shue). Soon Elissa is smitten with her cute new neighbor, Ryan (Max Theriot, a horror vet from My Soul to Take), the town bogeyman whose parents were murdered by his younger sister, Carrie Anne. Despite an overactive, handheld camera, director Mark Tonderai does little of note with the script from David Loucka, who wrote the even less frightening Dream House. (Too bad story contributor Jonathan Mostow didn’t direct; his Breakdown was much more chilling.) Pleasantly, the movie’s costumer chose to clothe the beautiful Lawrence in tank tops. Besides that sartorial diversion, HATES proves that little potential yields little disappointment. The only intriguing gambit is how the movie’s twist is perpetuated, not spoiled, by the trailer. However, that twist isn’t worth a theatrical viewing of this pedestrianly average horror flick.

HYDE PARK ON THE HUDSON (R) The surprisingly versatile Bill Murray looks to make a fine 32nd president in this Oscar hopeful. Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s love affair with his cousin, Margaret Stuckley (Laura Linney), becomes the focus of a 1939 weekend visit from the King and Queen of England (Samuel West and Olivia Colman). Director Roger Michell previously helmed Notting Hill, Changing Lanes, Venus and 2010’s Morning Glory; this film looks like it could be better than all of those combined. With Rushmore’s Olivia Williams as Eleanor Roosevelt.

• KILLING THEM SOFTLY (R) I have a lot of respect for Andrew Dominik’s first two films, Chopper and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, but his third film, while well-acted and stylishly violent, overdoses on the unlikability of its underworld characters. Two small-timers, Frankie (Scoot McNairy, who needs to be a bigger star) and Russell (Ben Mendelsohn), knock over a mob-connected card game run by Markie Trattman (Ray Liotta). Seeing as Markie’s previously knocked over the game, they assume Markie will be dealt with and that will be that. But when enforcer Jackie Cogan (Brad Pitt) shows up, he figures out the plot, and the blood starts to flow. Pitt creates another layered portrayal of a character far removed from his Hollywood superstar life. Is there another pretty boy actor who proved to be as talented as Pitt? Unfortunately, Pitt’s superb performance is Killing Them Softly’s zenith. Two scenes too many are wasted on James Gandolfini’s overly morose, alcoholic hitman, Mickey, and Dominik, adapting George V. Higgins’ novel, seasons the film with awful, inhumane dialogue that too rarely turns darkly comic. Killing Them Softly could be the grim other side of the coin to the bloodily good-humored Seven Psychopaths.

LAY THE FAVORITE (R) Brit director Stephen Frears can claim some great films—Dangerous Liaisons, The Grifters, High Fidelity and The Queen. Unfortunately, festival buzz for Lay the Favorite has not been particularly positive. Beth (recent It-Girl Rebecca Hall), a Las Vegas cocktail waitress, is wooed by Dink (Bruce Willis), a sports gambler, after she proves to be a sports betting savant. Unsurprisingly, Dink’s wife, Tulip (Catherine Zeta-Jones), is not happy about the new relationship. With Vince Vaughn, Joshua Jackson, Laura Prepon and Corbin Bernsen.

LIFE OF PI (PG) Having last thought of Yann Martel’s novel when I read it nearly 10 years ago, the ineffective trailers for Ang Lee’s adaptation failed to remind me of how wonderful and energetic Pi Patel’s life had been. I recalled a shipwreck, a lifeboat and a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. The imaginatively conceived and beautifully told work of art created by Brokeback Mountain Oscar winner Lee, who certainly deserves his third nomination, reminded me of the many, small joys that add up to make the life of Pi. Do not let the underwhelming previews deprive you of one of the year’s most moving, most artistic films of the year. The opening anecdote relating the origin of Pi’s name conjures up the modern fairy tale magic of past crowd-pleasers Amelie and Hugo. Delicate performances from newcomer Suraj Sharma, stranded for lengthy sequences with nothing but a tiger for a costar, and the ever-excellent Irrfan Khan (most recently seen in The Amazing Spider-Man). Lee smartly utilizes 3D technology to add depth to the storytelling and awe to the viewing experience; Life of Pi will probably be the only award winning film of 2012 I recommend seeing in 3D. 

LINCOLN (PG-13) Historical biopics do not come much more perfect than Steven Spielberg’s take on our 16th president’s struggle to end slavery by way of the 13th Amendment. Rather than tell Abraham Lincoln’s life story, screenwriter Tony Kushner (the Oscar nominee for Munich also wrote the excellent “Angels in America”) chose the ideal, earth-shattering month upon which to focus. He populates Spielberg’s 19th-century hallways with living, breathing figures of American history like William Seward (David Strathairn), Thaddeus Stevens (Tommy Lee Jones), Alexander Stephens (Jackie Earle Haley), Edwin Stanton (Bruce McGill) and Ulysses S. Grant (Jared Harris), but the film will be remembered and lauded as another platform from which Daniel Day-Lewis can solidify his claim to the title of greatest living actor. He uncannily becomes Lincoln with such ease; he also humanizes a larger-than-life figure we tend to treat far too reverently. Awards are sure to come. His authentic performance helps keep Spielberg’s best film since 1998’s Saving Private Ryan from falling into the hagiographical trap. Lincoln is also the bipartisan film our post-election America needs to remind us what to expect from great leaders. If these elected representatives could compromise to make history, certainly ours can to salvage the present.

LOOPER (R) Whoa! Ever since Brick, I have waited for Rian Johnson to make good on that coolly stylish teen-noir’s immense promise. Johnson might still have better films to come, but this tricksy, time travel, sci-fi noir ensures Brick’s promise has been fulfilled. In a future where time travel is an illegal reality, hitmen called loopers wait in the past for gangsters to send them their targets. Armed with a blunderbuss, Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) awaits his marks, knowing one day he will have to “close the loop,” meaning kill his older self. When Old Joe (Bruce Willis) finally shows, the showdown doesn’t go as smoothly as planned. Had The Terminator mated with a film noir, Looper would be the exciting result. Don’t expect any lengthy scientific discussions of time travel (that doesn't mean the film doesn’t have a lot to say; one flaw is a too-wordy middle act). Do expect lots of violence, a bit of a mind trip and the best Bruce Willis movie in years. Willis might still be the top draw, but the talented Gordon-Levitt as a young Bruno keeps the movie moving. Looper is certainly 2012’s best science fiction and is shortlisted for the year’s best.

THE ODD LIFE OF TIMOTHY GREEN (PG) From an odd, sweet place, Frank Zappa’s son Ahmet, comes The Odd Life of Timothy Green. The locale is familiar, though, to screenwriter-director Peter Hedges, who adapted his own novel What’s Eating Gilbert Grape? for director Lasse Hallstrom, who must have been busy as this project seems tailor-made for his sentimental modern fairy tales. Before finally accepting their barren existence, Cindy and Jim Green (Jennifer Garner and Joel Edgerton) put all their wishes for a child in a box and bury them in their fertile garden. After a freak storm, the Greens have a new arrival, 10-year-old, leaf-legged Timothy (CJ Adams). Desiring to right all the wrongs of their own childhoods, Cindy and Jim attempt to give Timothy the perfect adolescence. The Odd Life of Timothy Green might appeal more to kind-hearted, older kids, thanks to Adams’ cute but not cutesy Timothy, despite its being an above average parenting fable. As for these parents, Garner’s appeal chills the further “Alias” recedes, though Edgerton works hard to warm her. It’s a good thing they have David Morse, Dianne Wiest, Common, Ron Livingstone, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Rosemarie DeWitt and the always excellent M. Emmet Walsh on which to rely.

THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER (PG-13) Stephen Chbosky (he wrote the screenplay for Chris Columbus' big-screen Rent) directs the adaptation of his own YA novel about a freshman (Logan Lerman, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief) being mentored by two seniors (Emma Watson and Ezra Miller). Most of the movie's prerelease buzz has focused on Watson's first major post-Harry Potter role, but it's Miller, so good in We Need to Talk About Kevin, that I want to see in action. With Nina Dobrev of “The Vampire Diaries.” (Ciné)

PLAYING FOR KEEPS (PG-13) A former pro athlete (Gerard Butler) attempts to repent for his past indiscretions by coaching his son’s soccer team. Unfortunately, the temptation of his players' beautiful, restive moms is too much for him. Director Gabrielle Muccino does not have much to recommend him (Seven Pounds and The Last Kiss) outside of The Pursuit of Happyness, a film for which I cared little, and Butler’s romcom track record is weak (The Ugly Truth? The Bounty Hunter?). With Jessica Biel, Judy Greer, Dennis Quaid, Uma Thurman and Catherine Zeta-Jones.

RED DAWN (PG-13) This preposterous movie borne of the Cold War fears and tensions of the 1980s need not have been remade. A motley group of teenagers (including Chris “Thor” Hemsworth, Josh “Peeta” Hutcherson and Tom Cruise’s adopted kid, Connor Cruise) stage an insurgency against communist invaders; the North Koreans, with an assist from the Russians, replace the original’s Soviet/Cuban alliance. The idea that these teens could transform into an elite fighting force so quickly either underestimates North Korean military readiness or overestimates American teenagers' military prowess. Worse, this new Dawn simply lacks the indelible, if absurd, moments from the original, making it hard to imagine future audiences marveling at the new cast as we do the original’s “once was-ers” nearly 30 years later. Red Dawn Redux fails to rouse feelings of patriotism or jingoism and will not be remembered come 2014.  

RISE OF THE GUARDIANS (PG) Author William Joyce’s very cool idea is brought to the big screen by first-time animated feature director Peter Ramsey and fantastical executive producer Guillermo del Toro. Holiday legends North (aka Santa, who is voiced very Russianly by Alec Baldwin), Bunny (v. Hugh Jackman) and Tooth (v. Isla Fisher) are joined by Jack Frost (v. Chris Pine) as they do battle with the evil Pitch (v. Jude Law). Imagining massive audiences of children falling hard for this potential animated franchise is not hard. The computer-generated animation is engaging (though one must wonder what thought process led to such an unappealingly birdlike appearance for the Tooth Fairy), and the narrative is action-packed. Adults will be intermittently bored by the pedestrian plotting and obvious obstacles placed in front of the legendary heroes. Hopefully, a sequel will take increased advantage of the extraordinary concept rather than relying so much upon tired cartoon storytelling.

THE SESSIONS (R) In this Special Jury Prize and Audience Award winner at Sundance, where it was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize, Mark, living in an iron lung, desires to lose his virginity and so hires a sex surrogate (Helen Hunt). William H. Macy plays Mark’s priest. Sixty-something writer-director Ben Lewin (“Ally McBeal”’s highest rated episode, “Let’s Dance”) based the film on the story of Berkeley-based poet-journalist Mark O’Brien. With Moon Bloodgood, Adam Arkin and Rhea Perlman. (Ciné)

SILENT HILL: REVELATION 3D (R) Adapting videogames to the big screen is tricky. Christophe Gans and Roger Avary’s 2006 Silent Hill set the (admittedly low) bar for a great videogame adaptation. Rose Da Silva’s trek to save her daughter Sharon from the titular town’s evil cultists was creepy and atmospheric, yet utterly nonsensical. In writer-director Michael J. Bassett’s sequel, Sharon has grown up to be Heather Mason (Michelle Williams lookalike Adelaide Clemens), who must return to Silent Hill to find her dad, Chris-now-Harry (Sean Bean). Bassett overreaches, attempting to right the narrative wrongs of Gans/Avary, reward fans of Silent Hill 3 and open up the weird, confusing town of Silent Hill for the uninitiated, all in three, terrifying dimensions. The psychological scares that dominate the games are slight, though Bassett provides a couple of memorable monsters (the mannequin spider deserved more screen time). Bassett’s story makes more sense than his predecessor’s, thanks to dialogue that is 99 percent expository (and 100 percent awful); most of the acting stinks too. Indiscriminating horror fans may enjoy a second trip to Silent Hill, but the outing is probably best enjoyed by experienced gamers looking to take a shortened trek through Heather’s six (or so) hour gaming adventure.

SKYFALL (PG-13) The middle third of Daniel Craig’s third outing as James Bond is the best 007 adventure in 20, maybe even 30, years. Too bad director Sam Mendes (American Beauty) and his team of scripters won’t just let Bond be Bond for the entirety of the film. Skyfall almost completely unravels before the opening credits. The pre-credits chase—involving Bond, a female agent, a train and a baddie—concludes with M (Judi Dench) showing no faith in her best agent, a decision that makes little sense in this, or any, Bond-verse. In three films, Bond has gone from a newly licensed Double 0 to a dinosaur; when can Bond just be Bond again? (At least Quantum of Solace got that very right.) For an hour and in its tantalizing conclusion, Skyfall dresses in the formalwear of traditional Bond: Q, an all-time great villain, Silva (a blonde, 100% pure crazy Javier Bardem), and more. Bond has always been about balancing cool deadliness with world-saving silliness. Through Moore and Brosnan’s tenures, the balance favored silly; Craig’s scale might be tipped too far in the opposite direction. If the right mixture can be found, we could again see a candidate for Best Bond Ever.

SMASHED (R) Six years after his impressive debut Off the Black, Cedar Shoals graduate James Ponsoldt (he was in town in August filming his third feature, The Spectacular Now, at cross-town rival Clarke Central) returns with his sophomore effort. A hard-drinking married couple (Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Aaron Paul) are put to the test when the wife sobers up. Hopefully, buzz from Paul’s white-hot performance on television’s “Breaking Bad” will benefit Ponsoldt’s film. With newly minted Oscar winner Octavia Spencer and real-life couple, Nick Offerman (“Parks and Recreations”) and Megan Mullally. (Ciné)

TROUBLE WITH THE CURVE (PG-13) You’ll have no Trouble with the Curve so long as old man jokes, spryly delivered by a grouchier than usual Clint Eastwood, can keep you entertained for two hours. As aging baseball scout Gus Lobel, Eastwood seems to be workshopping a new stand-up routine (after his speech at the Republican National Convention, who knows?). He constantly mutters one-liners to himself, be he alone or sharing a scene with one of the movie’s terrific supporting actors, including Amy Adams, Justin Timberlake, John Goodman, or the gaggle of familiar old faces that play Gus’ scouting rivals. When the script asks him to act, Eastwood can still make any movie fan’s day. Adams and Timberlake bring some refreshing youth to this rather aged dramedy. Director Robert Lorenz hasn’t learned as much from his longtime collaborator as you'd like (he’s been Eastwood’s assistant director since 1995’s The Bridges of Madison County and producer since 2002’s Blood Work); writer Randy Brown’s Mitch Albom-y script doesn’t help. Fortunately, the capable bunch of on-camera talent, led by Hollywood’s elder statesman, should please the hometown crowds wishing to play a game of “Spot the Shots of Athens.”

THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN—PART 2 (PG-13) The Twilight Saga has consistently improved as filmmakers have changed and the series has… um… matured? Bella (Kristen Stewart) is now a vampire; she and her husband, Edward (Robert Pattinson), have a new baby, Renesmee, whose existence threatens the vampire world’s ruling family, the Volturi (led by Michael Sheen). Now the Cullens, the Quileute wolves (including Taylor Lautner’s Jacob) and several blood-sucking pals must make a stand against the invading Italian vamps. Stephenie Meyer’s phenomenon concludes as satisfactorily as one would expect, though Breaking Dawn—Part 1 exceeds its follow-up, mostly thanks to the former’s more horrific plot. Part 2’s concluding battle merely proves Meyer’s non-monsters aren’t really vampires; they are romantic superheroes. The terrible CGI work—the needlessly computer-generated baby Renesmee vies for the worst special effect of 1992—shows the lack of serious craftsmanship with which this material has been handled.

WRECK-IT RALPH (PG) 2012 has been a good year for animation. Good luck deciding on the year's best animated feature from a strong list that includes Brave, Frankenweenie, ParaNorman and now Wreck-It Ralph. In Disney's latest, Wreck-It Ralph (v. John C. Reilly), the bad guy from popular arcade game Fix-It Felix Jr., decides he wants to be a good guy. Leaving the safety of his own regenerating world, Ralph enters a Halo-ish first-person shooter named Hero's Duty in search of a medal. Too bad Ralph is better at wrecking things than fixing them. This cute, inventive cartoon boasts several creative game worlds like the cavity-friendly candyland of Sugar Rush and a treasure trove of easter eggs for lifelong and newer gamers. Director Rich Moore definitely learned a thing or two from his time working on the inside joke heavy worlds of Matt Groening, "The Simpsons" and "Futurama." The voicework by Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Jack McBrayer, Jane Lynch, Alan Tudyk, Mindy Kaling and more is top-notch, but one expects that level of competence from a high-profile animated feature. It's the plentiful heart and laughter Wreck-It Ralph offers viewers of all ages, gamer or not, that sets it apart.