Coming Soon: November

So many movies, so little time. November proves another busy month of high-profile releases, and here’s what I’m looking forward to seeing:

November 7

Interstellar – Christopher Nolan returns with his Next Big Thing, and buzz about this one is surprisingly mixed. I’ve heard some people say it’s the most moving film they’ve seen all year, while others lament it goes off the rails. All I know is I’ll be seeing it at the IMAX on the Upper West Side that’s so massive you choose your seats when you buy tickets in advance. Trailer

Big Hero 6 – Not many animated movies can rise to the heights of Frozen, and this year hasn’t seen anything come even close to it. But Disney – in a Pixar hit drought – sees strong potential in Big Hero 6, a decidedly modern kids story of robots and technology. And yes, of friendship and triumphing over adversity. This is still Disney, after all. Trailer

Rosewater – Much news was made when John Stewart took leave from The Daily Show this summer to direct a film; at the time, I didn’t realize the close connections he had to the story. When one of the show’s segments featured an Iranian being interviewed by “spy” Jason Jones, he was interrogated and imprisoned by Iranian authorities. Rosewater is the film Stewart made out of those experiences. Trailer

The Theory of Everything – Eddie Redmayne is not a household name, but he’s tackling a role here that could make him one. As physicist Stephen Hawking, he and Felicity Jones star in the story of Hawking’s youth and relationship with the woman who would become his wife and see him through an accomplished, ground-breaking career. Trailer

November 14

Dumb and Dumber To – What a difference 20 years makes. There is no reason I would ever go see this film if its predecessor weren’t such a cultural phenomenon. Those tuxes. That truck. The stupid haircuts. It’s more than a little sad to see how Jim Carrey and Jeff Bridges have aged, but if they’re still having fun, so should we. Trailer

Foxcatcher – I have been purposefully not googling anything to do with this story, because I want to experience the film – which is based on an apparently grim, creepy true story – with completely fresh eyes. Comic Steve Carrell transforms into a wealthy wanna-be wrestling coach and channels all kinds of depths for what’s being hailed as perhaps the single best performance of the year. Trailer

November 21

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 – I have never read one of these books and I don’t plan on it. But I caught the first film on Netflix and what can I say? It hooked me. Hooked me enough to see the second when it came out last year, and that one hooked me even more than I was already hooked. So I’m stoked to see the next installment, and to see it without any of the baggage that comes with already knowing what happens! Trailer

November 28

The Imitation Game – On the other hand, here’s a film you sort of know the ending for, seeing how the good guys won World War II. Oh, and the fact that the trailer basically gives you the story from soup to nuts. And yet, they don’t get much hotter these days than Ben Cumberbatch, so he’s carrying this one all the way to big box office, to be sure. Trailer