Michael Dwyer previews some of the hottest film offerings coming to a cinema near youin the early new year
The Alamo
John Lee Hancock's western tackles the 1836 San Antonio stand-off between Texan and Tejano men led by Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie - played by Billy Bob Thornton and Jason Patric - and the forces of Mexican dictator Santa Anna. With Dennis Quaid and Patrick Wilson. Apr 30th.
American Splendor
This highly imaginative US indie features Paul Giamatti in a beguiling portrayal of underground artist Harvey Pekar, a bored and frustrated Cleveland hospital filing clerk who chronicles his life's problems in comic book form. With Hope Davis. On release.
The Barbarian Invasions
Quebecois director Denys Arcand's splendid sequel to The Decline of the American Empire, took two major awards at Cannes. It is as touching as it is acerbic, as deeply moving as it is hilarious, and superbly acted by a terrific ensemble cast. Feb 20th.
Big Fish
Tim Burton follows the deep disappointment that was Planet of the Apes with a tender and quirky family drama tracing the difficult relationship between a dying father (Albert Finney) and his son (Billy Crudup). Ewan McGregor plays the Finney character as an idealistic young man. With Jessica Lange, Alison Lohman and Helena Bonham Carter. Jan 30th.
Blind Flight
Ian Hart plays Belfast teacher Brian Keenan, with Linus Roache as English journalist John McCarthy in this dramatisation of their survival through years of captivity as hostages in the Lebanon in the 1980s. John Furse directs. March.
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In the second adaptation of Ulysses for the cinema, Stephen Rea plays Leopold Bloom with Angeline Ball as Molly and Hugh O'Conor as Stephen Dedalus. Directed by Sean Walsh. Feb 6th.
The Butterfly Effect
Doubling up as executive producer, Ashton Kutcher plays a young man struggling with personal demons in this thriller dealing with chaos theory. With Eric Stoltz. Apr 30th.
Capturing The Friedmans
Andrew Jarecki's critically acclaimed documentary deals with an upper-middle-class Jewish family whose lives are changed irrevocably when the father and the younger son are accused of serial child molestation. Apr 9th.
Carandiru
The new film from Hector Babenco, the Brazilian director of Pixote and Kiss of the Spider Woman, details the background to a massacre in the eponymous ao Paulo penitentiary in 1992 that resulted in the deaths of 111 inmates. Mar 19th.
The Cat In The Hat
Mike Myers takes the title role in this Dr Seuss adaptation that also features Dakota Fanning, Kelly Preston, Alec Baldwin and Will & Grace star Sean Hayes. Apr 2nd.
Dogville
Lars von Trier's shallow, rambling and pointless film crawls along for three hours, using a single stylised set for its banal tale of a supposedly mysterious stranger (Nicole Kidman) demeaned and abused in a tiny Rocky Mountains village populated entirely by stereotypes.
Feb 6th.
The Dreamers
Bernardo Bertolucci's stylish new film is set against the background of the May 1968 riots in Paris as it depicts an intense sexual menage à trois involving a young American student (Michael Pitt) and French twin siblings (Eva Green and Louis Garrel). Mar 5th.
Elephant
Winner of the Palme d'Or for best film at Cannes this year, Gus Van Sant's timely, simmering high-school drama, Elephant, establishes the calm before the storm when two teenage boys turn their weapons on the students and staff. It makes for jolting cinema. Jan 30th.
Girl With a Pearl Earring
The handsome but turgid film of Tracy Chevalier's best-seller features Colin Firth as Vermeer, Scarlett Johansson as the young servant who poses for one of his most famous paintings, and Cillian Murphy as the butcher who loves her. Peter Webber directs. Jan 16th.
Godsend
Nick Hamm's topical drama stars Robert De Niro as an expert in stem-cell research who's approached by a couple (Greg Kinnear and Rebecca Romijn- Stamos) to bring their son back to life after he is killed in a shooting accident. Apr 30th.
Gothik
A French actor-director Mathieu Kassovitz (La Haine) makes his US début with a thriller featuring Halle Berry as a psychologist held as a patient in the mental institution where she works. With Robert Downey Jr and Penelope Cruz. Apr 2nd.
Grand Theft Parsons
The new movie from Irish director David Caffrey follows the bizarre events beginning with the theft of the corpse of singer-songwriter Gram
Parsons from the Los Angeles airport mortuary. It stars Johnny Knoxville, Christina Applegate and Robert Forster. Mar 12th.
Haunted Mansion
In this Disney comedy based on a theme park ride, Eddie Murphy plays a property dealer selling a house populated by ghosts. Rob Minkoff, who made the two Stuart Little movies, directs. Feb 13th.
The Honeymooners
Irish writer-director Karl Golden's confident feature film debut features Alex Reid in a spirited performance as a woman unhappily involved with a married man (Conor Mullen), and Jonathan Byrne as the Dublin office worker who hires her to drive him to Donegal when he is jilted on his wedding day. Feb 27th.
House of Sand and Fog
Russian-born director Vadim Perelman's film of the Andre Dubus III novel is a tragic drama dealing with the conflict between two people for the ownership of a house - a proud Iranian former military officer (Ben Kingsley) and a down-and-out young woman (Jennifer Connelly). Feb 27th.
The Human Stain
Anthony Hopkins is crucially miscast as a mixed-race college lecturer in this blandly unimaginative adaptation of Philip Roth's novel, directed by Robert Benton. With Nicole Kidman, Ed Harris and Gary Sinese. Jan 23rd.
Kiss of Life
British writer-director Emily Young follows several award-winning shorts with her feature film début featuring Ingeborga Dapkunaite as a young woman living with her children in London while her aid worker husband (Peter Mullan) is in Eastern Europe. A tragic car accident changes everything. Mar/Apr.
Kitchen Stories
In Brent Hamer's bittersweet social comedy set in the early 1950s, Swedish researches study the kitchen routines of single men in a rural Norwegian town with a surplus of bachelors. Jan.
Infernal Affairs
Co-directed by Andrew Law and Alan Mak, this character-driven action-thriller is reputedly dripping with style and has been such a big hit in its native Hong Kong that it has spawned a successful sequel. Feb 27th.
It's All About Love
Director Thomas Vinterberg follows Festen, the best of the Dogme movies, with a fantastical romantic-thriller set in the near future and starring Joaquin Phoenix, Claire Danes and Sean Penn. Feb 13th.
Kill Bill Vol 2
"There's a personality change that happens between the two parts," explains Quentin Tarantino. "Now we slow down a little bit. We get to know the characters a bit more. Things are no longer 1-2-3 for The Bride. Real life rears its ugly head on her journey and she has to deal with that." Feb/Mar.
The Last Samurai
Edward Zwick's lavish 19th century epic stars Tom Cruise as an alcoholic American Civil War veteran summoned to Japan to teach the army about modern warfare. Jan 9th.
Looney Tunes: Back in Action
Joe Dante's nostalgic romp blends animated characters - Daffy Duck, Sylvester, Porky Pig and Tweety Pie - with humans played by Brendan Fraser, Steve Martin, Jenna Elfman, Joan Cusack and Timothy Dalton. Feb 13th.
Lost In Translation
Sofia Coppola's witty, acutely observed serious comedy of strangers in a strange land features Bill Murray in an endearing portrayal of a Hollywood movie star filming a whisky commercial in Japan, where he befriends a much younger but equally alienated American woman (Scarlett Johansson). Jan 9th.
Mambo Italiano
Emile Gaudreault's sharp comedy is set in Montreal as a couple of gay lovers come out - to the horror of their conservative Italian-Canadian Catholic parents. Peter Miller, Luke Kirby and Paul Sorvino star in this breezy romp that plays like a gay spin on Moonstruck. Apr 16th.
A Mighty Wind
Spinal Tap director Christopher Guest takes a humorous view of folk music in this tale of a tribute concert to mark the passing of a megastar of the genre. Joining Guest in the cast are Eugene Levy, Harry Shearer and Michael McKean. Jan 16th.
The Missing
Ron Howard's tough, edgy and visually striking western carries echoes of John Ford's masterpiece, The Searchers, in its compelling story of a woman (Cate Blanchett) reluctantly teaming up with her estranged father (Tommy Lee Jones) when her own daughter (Evan Rachel Wood) is abducted. Mar 12th.
Mona Lisa Smile
In a storyline inspired by Hillary Rodham Clinton's college experiences in the 1960s, the new Mike Newell movie stars Julia Roberts as a progressive college lecturer who advocates eschewing conformity. With Kirsten Dunst, Julia Stiles, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Juliet Stevenson. Feb 27th.
Osama
Siddiq Barmak's powerful Afghan drama, which he produced with Irish producer Julie leBrocquy, presents an appalling picture of life under the Taliban regime. Its focus is on a 13-year-old girl who risks posing as a boy to earn some money for her widowed mother, who is not allowed to work. Feb 20th.
The Passion of Christ
Mel Gibson, who is named after two saints, Mel and Colmcille, has stirred up a storm of controversy with his reputedly graphically violent dramatisation of the crucifixion and final hours of Jesus Christ, played by James Caviezel - even though very few have seen the film, which is in Latin and Aramaic. Apr 2nd.
Paycheck
Based on a Philip K. Dick story, John Woo's science-fiction thriller stars Ben Affleck as an ace computer engineer whose massive pay cheque has been cancelled and all his memories of the past two years erased. With Uma Thurman and Aaron Eckhart. Jan 23rd.
Runaway Jury
Gary Fleder's film of John Grisham's novel deals with a high-stakes lawsuit and the attempts of a jury member to manipulate the other jurors. With John Cusack, Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman and Rachel Weisz. Jan 16th.
Scary Movie 3
So this is what Charlie Sheen is doing now, joining Anna Faris, Denise Richards and Queen Latifah in the horror spoof series. This was originally sub-titled Episode 1 - Lord of the Brooms. Jan 23rd.
School of Rock
The new movie from the versatile, always interesting Richard Linklater features the irrepressible Jack Black as a deadbeat who talks his way into a private school and transforms some students into high-voltage rock 'n' rollers. Mike White, who wrote the screenplay, co-stars. Feb 6th.
Something's Gotta Give
Jack Nicholson plays a record company executive man involved with a much younger woman (Amanda Peet) until he realises that he really loves her playwright mother (Diane Keaton), but his doctor (Keanu Reeves) has fallen for her, too. Nancy Meyers, who made What Women Want, directs. Feb 6th.
The Statement
Brian Moore's political thriller, adapted by Ronald Harwood, who wrote The Pianist, and directed by Norman Jewison, features Michael Caine as a former Nazi executioner whose identity is exposed. With Tilda Swinton, Charlotte Rampling, Alan Bates, Jeremy Northam and Ciaran Hinds. Feb.
The Station Agent
American actor Tom McCarthy makes an engaging directing debut with this droll, serious comedy that won the audience award at the Sundance festival this year. Peter Dinklage plays a laconic four-foot-five loner who inherits a desolate train depot in a remote area of New Jersey. With Patricia Clarkson and Bobby Cannavale. Mar 26th.
Stuck On You
Good taste is unlikely to figure in the new comedy from brothers Peter and Bobby Farrelly. It features the physically dissimilar Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear as conjoined twins who move to Hollywood when one of them wants to pursue his acting ambitions. On release.
Sylvia
Gwyneth Paltrow is cast as US poet and writer Sylvia Plath in this dramatisation of her turbulent marriage to English poet Ted Hughes (Daniel Craig). Directed by Christine Jeffs. Jan 30th.
21 Grams
Mexican director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu follows his dazzling debut, Amores Perros, with another emotionally charged, multi-layered drama set over several months as an accident interconnects the lives of three characters and those closest to them. Sean Penn, Naomi Watts and Benicio del Toro head the excellent cast. Mar 5th.
Touching The Void
Documentary director Kevin Macdonald follows his Oscar-winning One Day in September with a docudrama recreating the hazardous 1985 journey of two young British mountaineers up and down a remote peak in the Peruvian Andes.
Jan.
Under The Tuscan Sun
An Oscar nominee this year for Unfaithful, Diane Lane plays a San Francisco writer getting over a difficult divorce and seeking fulfilment and a new life in Tuscany. Based on the novel by Frances Mayes, it is directed by Audrey Wells. Apr 2nd.
Uptown Girls
A wealthy young heiress (Brittany Murphy) is swindled by her business manager and has to work for the first time in her life - as nanny to a lonely but demanding young schoolgirl (Dakota Fanning). Mar 12th.
Zatoichi
The title character in the new Takeshi Kitano film is a legendary Japanese anti-hero who figured in more than 20 movies and a TV series in the 1960s. Kitano himself plays Zatoichi, a blind, seemingly frail but deadly swordsman. Mar 19th.
Release dates are subject to change