Top 10 movies coming to theaters in November and December

We're nearing the end of 2014, and we've already seen a lot of the biggest movies of the year like Guardians of the Galaxy and Gone Girl. There are plenty of huge movies coming out in 2015, so it's easy to already be looking ahead to next year and getting excited for that slate of films.

Let's not forget that we have two more months to go in 2014, and still plenty of excellent films to look forward to in that time. In fact, while by this time of year we tend to have already seen the major blockbusters, there are always a huge amount of movies coming out that will probably be big at the Academy Awards.

Some of these are movies you may not have heard much about before, but they've gotten huge buzz in early screenings and seem to be major contenders for the Oscars. That tends to be how a lot of Oscar movies work. You have your big movies like Gravity, but then movies like The King's Speech and 12 Years a Slave which kind of come out of nowhere and that a lot of people didn't see when they first came out.

As yourselves this though: Isn't it satisfying to hop aboard the hype train for a movie before it starts winning big so you can cheer it on at the awards shows? To do that, let's run through some of the big movies coming out in the next two months, some of which are major blockbusters and others of which are smaller releases, and discuss whether they'll have any chance at the Academy Awards next year.

Credit: Kristin Callahan/ACE/INFphoto.com

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10. Interstellar

This one probably won’t be up for any major Oscar nominations based on early reviews, but it’s still a Christopher Nolan blockbuster and for that reason alone it’s going to be worth seeing in theaters. The movie stars Matthew McConaughey as an astronaut on a mission through a wormhole which may be humanity’s last hope. Early reviews have been mostly positive, with some criticizing the script for obvious flaws, but everyone generally agreeing it’s a visually stunning ride. Like last year’s Gravity, Interstellar is looking to be one of those movies that everyone needs to check out if only for the incredible visual experience.

Interstellar opens in theaters on November 7th.

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9. The Theory of Everything

A biopic about physicist Stephen Hawking (Eddie Redmayne) and his wife (Felicity Jones), The Theory of Everything got a lot of praise for its performances when it premiered at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, and the movie currently holds an 86% on Rotten Tomatoes. In particular a lot of critics are saying Eddie Redmayne is a shoe in for best actor for his performance as Stephen Hawking, and The Guardian wrote that it's an “astonishing, genuinely visceral performance which bears comparison with Daniel Day-Lewis in My Left Foot." The Academy always tends to like a good drama based on true events around this time of year, so this definitely seems like one to check out that will be popping back up around Oscar time.

The Theory of Everything opens in theaters on November 7th.

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8. Foxcatcher

Foxcatcher is a biographical crime drama about Olympic Wrestling Champion Mark Schultz (Channing Tatum), his coach, paranoid-schizophrenic John du Pont (Steve Carell), and a relationship that goes to some pretty dark places.

This movie seems really interesting because it’s going to give Steve Carell a chance to impress us with a completely serious performance. It’s not just a performance that isn't funny; it’s an extremely dark character, and it sounds like something unlike anything Carell has ever attempted before. Early reviews have praised the performances of Steve Carell, Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo, with Carell specifically getting a lot of praise for a seriously creepy performance. The movie holds a 91% on Rotten Tomatoes, and it seems from the early reviews that we might very well see Steve Carell at the Oscars for his performance this year.`

Foxcatcher opens in theaters on November 14th.

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7. The Imitation Game

Another potentially Oscar-worthy biopic, The Imitation Game stars Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock) as Alan Turing, famed computer scientist and mathematician who helped cracked Nazi Germany’s enigma code during World War II.

The movie received a lot of praise at the Toronto International Film Festival and won the People’s Choice Award for Best Film, the highest award there is at TIFF. Critics described the movie as an excellent thriller and particularly praising Cumberbatch’s performance, with The New York Times saying it’s “"delicately nuanced, prickly and tragic.” This could be the movie that gets Cumberbatch his first Oscar.

The Imitation Game opens in theaters in the United States on November 28th.

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6. Wild

From the director of Dallas Buyers Club, which was nominated for Best Picture at this year’s Academy Awards, Wild stars Reese Witherspoon as Cheryl Strayed, who decides to hike the Pacific Crest Trail alone following her divorce and the death of her mother.

The movie is based on the true story of Cheryl Strayed who wrote about her experience in the book Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail. The film holds an 87% on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics praising Witherspoon's performance. Variety called it her best performance in nine years since Walk the Line, and seems she is definitely a candidate for Best Actress. And with critics also praising the overall film and Jean-Marc Vallée's direction, it could definitely be a Best Picture contender, too.

Wild will be released on December 5th.

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5. Inherent Vice

Paul Thomas Anderson (Boogie Nights, Magnolia, There Will Be Blood, The Master) is one of the best directors working today, and just because he’s involved, Inherent Vice is going to be worth seeing.

The film takes place in 1970s Los Angeles and follows detective Larry “Doc” Sportello (Joaquin Phoenix) who is investigating the disappearance of his ex-girlfriend’s new boyfriend. The film is based on the novel by Thomas Pynchon and also stars Josh Brolin, Owen Wilson, Katherine Waterson and Reese Witherspoon.

The movie premiered at the New York Film Festival last month, and early reviews have been mostly positive, with the movie holding a 71% on Rotten Tomatoes. This is Anderson’s lowest scoring film, and reviews indicate it’s a pretty weird, confusing, complicated movie that might require a few viewings to make sense of it. It sounds like the movie may not be up to Anderson’s high standard, and we may not see it at the Oscars, but just the fact that it’s a new Paul Thomas Anderson film means it’s going to be worth checking out.

Inherent Vice opens in theaters on December 12th.

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4. Exodus: Gods and Kings

Exodus: Gods and Kings is the new biblical film by Ridley Scott, acclaimed director of movies like Gladiator. The movie tells the story of Moses (Christian Bale) rising against Pharaoh Ramses and leading 600,000 slaves out of Egypt in the midst of a series of plagues.

Exodus has not yet been screened for critics, but we can pretty much guarantee that at the very least it will be a visually stunning film with a great performance from Christian Bale. It remains to be seen if the movie will be good enough to be Oscar caliber, or if it will essentially just be fun, pop entertainment, but it definitely seems like it could a biblical epic that makes it big at the Academy Awards.

Exodus: Gods and Kings opens on December 12th.

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3. American Sniper

American Sniper is a biopic that tells the story of a hero during the Iraq War directed by Clint Eastwood, so just from that description it definitely sounds like a movie we’ll be seeing around Oscar time, and it could potentially be the Hurt Locker or Zero Dark Thirty of this year.

The movie tells the real story of Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper), the Navy SEAL who was the most lethal sniper in American history and author of the bestselling autobiography, American Sniper. It’s the kind of true story and political war film that the Academy always goes for, and especially coming from Clint Eastwood, it seems like an obvious pick for the Academy.

American Sniper opens in limited release on December 25th and in wide release on January 16th.

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2. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

The Hobbit movies have not done nearly as well as The Lord of the Rings at the Academy Awards. Each Lord of the Rings movie was nominated for Best Picture, and that was back when there were only five nominees. Now, with up to 10 possible nominees, neither Hobbit movie has been nominated for Best Picture, only receiving nods for things like visual effects and production design.

That doesn't necessarily rule out the possibility that the Academy will give Peter Jackson some more appreciation this year for his last effort in Middle Earth, but it does seem pretty unlikely that the movie will end up taking home anything outside of the technical awards. But this is still going to be a massive movie that any even casual Lord of the Rings fan should be excited for, and the conclusion to this whole saga (probably). The movie is looking to be like a giant Thanksgiving dinner for fans of movies like these, almost definitely running over 3 hours and with a 45 minute battle sequence. It may not get much love at the Academy, but it’s still probably the big event movie for the end of the year.

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies opens on December 17th.

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1. Into the Woods

This one seems like it could go either way. Based on the hit Broadway show, Into the Woods is the new musical from Disney which features the intertwining plots of a bunch of Grimm fairy tales including Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, Rapunzel and Cinderella.

The movie comes from director Rob Marshall, whose other musical film Chicago won Best Picture in 2002. If Into the Woods can generate that kind of enthusiasm, Marshall at least has a serious shot at Best Director.
The movie also features a bunch of actors who could be Oscar contenders including Meryl Streep as the evil witch.

But then there’s been a lot of controversy arising over reports that the movie would be taking huge liberties with the stage play to make it more family friendly and Disneyfied, and that could seriously hurt its Oscar chances if it’s more concerned with appealing to a wide audience than being a good film. Stephen Sondheim has gone on the record to say that some major plot changes have been made, such as the removal of the relationship between Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf, and one major character will not die in the film who dies in the play just because Disney said so.

So the movie seems like it has a lot of potential to be the big musical the Oscars give a lot of love to, but it also has just as much potential to be a huge disappointment and fail to live up to the hype of the original play.

Into the Woods opens on December 25th.