15 -- "Team America: World Police," from the makers of "South Park," tells the satirical story of an international police force that embarks on a mission to save the world, starring a cast of marionettes.
22 -- "Alfie" stars Jude Law in Charles Shyer's remake of the 1960s classic, about a carefree ladies' man running amok in freewheeling London. With Marisa Tomei, Omar Epps and Nia Long.
"Mission: Impossible" meets "South Park" in "Team America: World Police," due out next month.
(Melinda Sue Gordon -- Paramount Pictures)
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22 -- "Stage Beauty" features Billy Crudup as the 17th-century British actor Edward "Ned" Kynaston, the most popular "leading lady" of his era at a time when women's roles could be played only by men. When that custom changes, Ned finds himself suddenly out of favor and out of work, until his dresser and protege (Claire Danes) helps him out of his funk.
22 -- "Surviving Christmas" stars Ben Affleck as a man who returns to his childhood home to spend the holiday of his dreams; only problem is, his family doesn't live there anymore. James Gandolfini and Catherine O'Hara co-star as Affleck's newly adopted family.
22 -- "Vera Drake" rewinds to 1950s London, where Imelda Staunton helps her working-class neighbors induce miscarriages for unwanted pregnancies until the authorities come knocking. From Mike Leigh ("Secrets and Lies," "Topsy- Turvy").
22 -- "The Grudge," American version of the Japanese horror hit, stars Sarah Michelle Gellar.
29 -- "The Machinist," with hotshot Christian Bale, examines a working man who has not slept in a year (we don't make this stuff up, we just report it, folks) who may be going mad or may be the victim of a conspiracy. With Jennifer Jason Leigh.
29 -- "Ray" stars Jamie Foxx as Ray Charles in Taylor Hackford's highly anticipated biopic about the late, great soul singer. With Regina King and Kerry Washington.
29 -- "Saw," with a sort of serial killer loves "Fear Factor" plot, reveals a sadist who forces morally wayward people to fight each other for survival (hence the saws). Stars Cary Elwes, Danny Glover, Monica Potter and Leigh Whannell.
NOVEMBER
TBA -- "The Green Butchers" is Danish director Anders Thomas Jensen's comedy about two brothers who, fed up with their boss at a butcher shop, decide to go into business for themselves. With Mads Mikkelsen, from "Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself."
TBA -- "Guerrilla: The Taking of Patty Hearst" is an account of the abduction of 19-year-old heiress Patricia Hearst by the Symbionese Liberation Army in 1974, from documentarian Robert Stone ("American Babylon").
TBA -- "Kinsey" stars Liam Neeson as the groundbreaking sex researcher in a biopic by Bill Condon ("Gods and Monsters"). The film features a spectacular supporting cast that includes Laura Linney, Peter Sarsgaard, John Lithgow and Oliver Platt.
TBA -- "Overnight" chronicles the brilliant if brief career of Troy Duffy, a bartender whose script was purchased by Harvey Weinstein of Miramax but whose dreams of fame and fortune never quite came to pass. The documentary is directed by Mark Brian Smith.
TBA -- "Undertow," by David Gordon Green ("George Washington"), stars Dermot Mulroney and Josh Lucas in a thriller about violence as it plays out through two generations of brothers.
5 -- "Alexander" features Colin Farrell in the role of the 4th-century B.C. Macedonian king, who became one of history's greatest military leaders as an improbably young man. With Angelina Jolie, Val Kilmer and Anthony Hopkins, from the director Oliver Stone.
5 -- "The Incredibles" is Pixar's animated feature about a family of superheroes who come out from undercover to save the world. With the voices of Holly Hunter and Samuel L. Jackson.
10 -- "The Polar Express" is Robert Zemeckis's animated adaptation of the Chris Van Allsburg story, about a little boy who doubts Santa Claus's existence until an extraordinary train ride changes his mind. With the voice of Tom Hanks.
10 -- "Seed of Chucky" is for everyone not going to see "The Polar Express." This is the fifth of what seems to be an endless series of the horror comedies featuring the title character, an unsavory doll who in this installment heads to Hollywood in order to bring his parents back from the dead.
12 -- "After the Sunset" features Pierce Brosnan as a master thief whose idyllic retirement is interrupted with one more game of cat-and-mouse with the FBI agent who has been his longtime nemesis. With Salma Hayek.
12 -- "Finding Neverland" stars Johnny Depp as "Peter Pan" author J.M. Barrie in a movie that traces Barrie's relationship with four fatherless children that inspired him to write the children's classic.
