Real life comes into play
The 2015 Holiday Movie Preview is a snapshot of films opening through early January. Release dates and other details, as compiled by Kevin Crust, are subject to change.
Sunday
Codegirl
Documentary follows teams of high school girls from around the world as they compete in the Technovation Challenge, an international app development contest. Directed by Lesley Chilcott. Filmbuff
Wednesday
Brooklyn
Saoirse Ronan stars as a young Irish immigrant making her way in 1950s Brooklyn but torn between her new home and romance and the pull of her past. With Domhnall Gleeson, Emory Cohen, Jim Broadbent and Julie Walters. Written by Nick Hornby, based on the novel by Colm Tóibín. Directed by John Crowley. Fox
Searchlight Pictures
Friday
Frame by Frame
Four Afghan photojournalists, part of an emerging free press after the 2001 fall of the Taliban, are profiled in this documentary. Directed by Mo Scarpelli and Alexandria Bombach.
Heart of a Dog
Artist Laurie Anderson reflects on the life and death of her dog, Lolabelle, in this nonfiction feature. Abramorama and HBO Documentary Films
Heneral Luna
The authority of Gen. Antonio Luna, commander of the Philippine Revolutionary Army, is challenged as war breaks out in 1899. With John Arcilla, Arron Villaflor and Mon Confiado. Written by Henry Hunt Francia, E.A. Rocha and Jerrold Tarog. Directed by Tarog. Abramorama
Lost in the Sun
A small-time crook finds an unlikely accomplice in a recently orphaned teenage boy, and the two embark on a string of robberies. With Josh Duhamel, Lynn Collins and Josh Wiggins. Written and directed by Trey Nelson.
Entertainment One
Love
An American writer in Paris embarks on an erotic relationship with an unstable woman, which gets further complicated when they involve a pretty neighbor. With Karl Glusman, Aomi Muyock and Klara Kristin. Written and directed by Gaspar Noe. Alchemy
Miss You Already
The relationship of lifelong best friends is tested when one develops cancer and the other becomes pregnant. With Toni Collette, Drew Barrymore and Dominic Cooper. Written by Morwenna Banks. Directed by Catherine Hardwicke. Roadside
Attractions
The Peanuts Movie
The lovable loser Charlie Brown and his daring beagle, Snoopy, embark on fateful adventures. With the voices of Noah Schnapp, Hadley Miller and Alex Garfin. Written by Craig Schulz, Bryan Schulz and Cornelius Uliano. Directed by Steve Martino. In 3-D.
20th Century Fox
Sex, Death and Bowling
An 11-year-old boy rallies his turbulent family, including his fashion designer uncle, to compete in a local bowling tournament. With Adrian Grenier, Selma Blair, Bailey Chase, Melora Walters, Drea de Matteo, Mary Lynn Rajskub. Monterey Media
Spectre
A cryptic message from his past sends secret agent James Bond on a trail to uncover a sinister organization. With Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz and Lea Seydoux. Written by John Logan, Neal Purvis and Robert Wade. Directed by Sam Mendes. Columbia Pictures / MGM
Spotlight
A fact-based drama about the Boston Globe’s monthslong investigation of a coverup of abuse in the Catholic Church. With Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams and Liev Schreiber. Written by Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer. Directed by McCarthy. Open
Road Films
This Isn’t Funny
Stand-up comics attempt to balance a romantic relationship with career and family challenges. StarringKatie Page,Paul Ashton, Anthony LaPaglia, Edi Gathegi, Mimi Rogers, David Pasquesi, Danielle Panabaker, Mark Harelik, Gia Carides, Angie Milliken, Beth Stelling, Ahmed Bharoocha and Will Weldon. Written by Ashtonand Page. Directed by Ashton. Candy Factory
Trumbo
In the 1940s, screenwriter Dalton Trumbo’s successful career comes crashing down as he and other Hollywood figures are blacklisted for their political beliefs. With Bryan Cranston, Elle Fanning and Diane Lane. Written by John McNamara.
Directed by Jay Roach.
Bleecker Street
Welcome to Leith
Documentary chronicles the actions of a white supremacist, who begins buying up land in a small North Dakota town 70 miles south of the Bakken oil fields. Directed by Michael Beach Nichols and Christopher K. Walker.
First Run Features
What Our Fathers Did: A Nazi Legacy
A documentary following two men, both sons of highranking Nazi officials, as they travel through Europe and examine the sins of their fathers. Directed by David Evans. Oscilloscope Laboratories
Wrecker
Two best friends take a road trip to a musical festival in the desert, only to wind up pursued by a psychotic tow truck driver. With Anna Hutchison and Drea Whitburn. Written by Michael Bafaro and Evan Tylor. Directed by Bafaro. XLrator
Media
Xenia
A Greek teen from Crete seeks out his brother in Athens and the two then set out for Thessaloniki, where they believe their father is living. With Kostas Nikouli, Nikos Gelia and Aggelos Papadimitriou. Directed by
Panos H. Koutras. Strand
Releasing
Nov. 13 Addiction: A 60’s Love Story
A college dropout finds himself immersed in pornography and drug addiction in 1968 New York. With Ian Harding, Evanna Lynch and Carol Kane. Written by Jason Noto, story by Max Bornstein and Michael Riess. Directed by Tate Steinsiek. Breaking Glass
Pictures
Ayanda
After the death of her father, a young South African woman strives to save his auto repair shop. With Jafta Mamabolo, Fulu Moguvhani and Nthati Moshesh. Written by Trish Malone. Directed by Sara Blecher.
Array
By the Sea
Angelina Jolie Pitt writes, directs and costars with husband Brad Pitt as an American writer and his wife attempting to repair their failing marriage in a quiet seaside resort in 1970s France. With Mélanie Laurent, Melvil Poupaud, Niels Arestrup and Richard Bohringer. Universal Pictures
Condemned
The toxic waste in an old building on Manhattan’s Lower East Side transforms its residents into maniacs thirsting for blood. With Dylan Penn and Ronen Rubinstein. Written and directed by Eli Morgan Gesner. RLJ Entertainment
Cut Snake
An Australian crime thriller about an ex-con in mid-1970s Melbourne whose attempt to go straight is complicated by the arrival of his charming yet dangerous former cellmate. With Sullivan Stapleton, Alex Russell, Jessica De Gouw and Megan Holloway. Written by Blake Ayshford. Directed by Tony Ayres.
The Hallow
A conservationist from London inadvertently stirs up an ancient evil force in rural Ireland. With Joseph Mawle, Bojana Novakovic, Michael McElhatton and Michael Smiley. Written by Corin Hardy and Felipe Marino. Directed by Hardy.
IFC Films
Heist
When a casino robbery goes wrong, the crooks hijack a city bus leading to a highstakes police pursuit in this action thriller. With Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Robert De Niro, Kate Bosworth and Mark-Paul Gosselaar. Written by Stephen Cyrus Sepher and Max S. Adams, story by Sepher. Directed by Scott Mann. Lionsgate Premiere
Love the Coopers
Four generations gather for their annual Christmas Eve festivities, which are upended by unexpected guests and a surprising turn of events. With Alan Arkin, John Goodman, Ed Helms, Diane Keaton and Olivia Wilde. Written by Steven Rogers. Directed by Jessie Nelson. CBS Films
Man Up
Mistaken identity at London’s Waterloo Station leads to a madcap evening of emotional risk-taking for the romantically challenged Lake Bell and the newly divorced Simon Pegg. With Olivia Williams. Written by Tess Morris. Directed by Ben Palmer. Saban Films
My All American
An undersized football player faces unforeseen challenges playing for fabled University of Texas coach Darrell Royal. With Finn Wittrock, Aaron Eckhart, Sarah Bolger and Robin Tunney. Written and directed by Angelo Pizzo, based upon the book “Courage Beyond the Game: The Freddie Steinmark Story” by Jim Dent. Clarius Entertainment
Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict
This documentary profiles the heiress and cultural empresario who championed such artists as Max Ernst, Jackson Pollock, Alexander Calder and Marcel Duchamp. Directed by Lisa Immordino Vreeland.
Submarine Deluxe
Sand Dollars
Geraldine Chaplin plays an older American woman who carries on a complex relationship with a much younger local girl in the Dominican Republic. With Yanet Mojica and Ricardo Ariel Toribio. Written and directed by Israel Cárdenas and Laura Amelia Guzmán. Breaking
Glass Pictures
Shelter
Jennifer Connelly and Anthony Mackie play homeless people on the streets of New York City who turn to each other to survive. With Amy Hargreaves and Bruce Altman. Written and directed by Paul Bettany.
Screen Media Films
Song of Lahore
Documentary explores the changing lives of several Pakistani classical musicians when their new album earns them international accolades and a concert at Lincoln Center. With Wynton Marsalis. Directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and Andy Schocken. Broad
Green Pictures
Steve McQueen: The Man & LeMans
Behind-the-scenes documentary looks at the movie star as he works on his passion project set at the famed 24-hour French auto race. With Chad McQueen and John Sturges. Written by
Gabriel Clarke. Directed by Clarke and John McKenna.
FilmRise
Sweet Micky for President
Pras Michel of the Fugees mounts an unlikely political campaign to elect crossdressing musician Michel Martelly to lead corruptionridden Haiti in this documentary. Story by Michel. Directed by Ben Patterson.
Ignite Channel
Theeb
As war rages in the Ottoman Empire, the lives of two young Bedouin brothers are interrupted by the arrival of a British soldier and his guide. With Jacir Eid, Hassan Mutlag and Hussein Salameh. Written by Naji Abu Nowar and Bassel Ghandour. Directed by Nowar. Film Movement
The 33
Dramatic telling of the 2010 Chilean mine disaster, when an international team raced the clock to rescue 33 miners trapped 200 stories below ground. With Antonio Banderas, Rodrigo Santoro, Juliette Binoche, James Brolin, Lou Diamond Phillips and Gabriel Byrne. Written by Mikko Alanne, Craig Borten and Michael Thomas, based on the screen story by José Rivera and the book “Deep Down Dark” by former Times staffer Hector Tobar. Directed by Patricia Riggen.
Warner Bros.
Nov. 20
Altered Minds
A noted psychiatrist is accused of conducting experiments on his adopted children. With Judd Hirsch. Written and directed by Michael Wechsler. Gravitas
Ventures
Carol
Cate Blanchett stars as a married woman who falls in love with young shopgirl Rooney Mara in 1950s New York, where their relationship is tested by societal conventions. With Sarah Paulson, Kyle Chandler, Jake Lacy and Cory Michael Smith. Written by Phyllis Nagy, based on the novel “The Price of Salt” by Patricia Highsmith. Directed by Todd Haynes. The Weinstein
Co.
Censored Voices
Original recordings of interviews with Israeli soldiers at the end of the Six-Day War are the basis for this documentary. With Amos Oz and Avraham Shapira. Directed by Mor Loushy. Music Box
Films
Criminal Activities
An insider trading tip inspires four longtime friends to make an investment that goes south and entangles them with the mob. With John Travolta, Dan Stevens and Michael Pitt. Written by Robert Lowell. Directed by Jackie Earle Haley. RLJ
Entertainment
Drone
The dark side of militarized remote-controlled aircraft that promise precision strikes is scrutinized in this documentary. Directed by Tonje Schei. Flimmer Film and Ryan Bruce Levey Film Distribution
Entertainment
A beleaguered stand-up comic traverses the California desert playing desolate gigs while searching for his estranged daughter. With Gregg Turkington, Tye Sheridan, John C. Reilly, Michael Cera and Amy Seimetz. Written by Rick Alverson, Turkington and Tim Heidecker. Directed by Alverson. Magnolia Pictures
#Horror
The terror of an online game is all too real for a group of privileged suburban tween girls. With Chloe Sevigny, Timothy Hutton, Natasha Lyonne, Balthazar Getty and Taryn Manning. Written and directed by Tara Subkoff. IFC Midnight
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 2
Jennifer Lawrence is back for the fourth and final film in the YA franchise, which pits Katniss and friends against President Snow as they attempt to liberate the citizens of Panem. With Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Julianne Moore, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Donald Sutherland. Written by Peter Craig and Danny Strong, adaptation by Suzanne Collins, based upon her novel, “Mocking jay.” Directed by Francis Lawrence.
Lionsgate
James White
His mother’s serious illness forces a young New Yorker to confront his self-indulgent, self-destructive ways. With Christopher Abbott, Cynthia Nixon, Scott “Kid Cudi” Mescudi, Makenzie Leigh, Ron Livingston and David Call. Written and directed by Josh Mond. The Film Arcade
Kingdom of Shadows
Filmmaker Bernardo Ruiz profiles three disparate individuals — a nun, a smuggler-turned-rancher and a Homeland Security official — on the front lines of the U.S.-Mexico drug war. Participant Media
Legend
Tom Hardy plays notorious twin gangsters Ronald and Reggie Kray wreaking havoc on the 1960s London underworld. With Emily Browning, David Thewlis, Christopher Eccleston and Chazz Palminteri. Written and directed by Brian Helgeland, based on the book “The Profession of Violence” by John Pearson. Universal
Pictures
Mediterranea
Migrants from Burkina Faso endeavor to reach Italy only to find their struggles magnified once they reach Europe. With Koudous Seihon and Alassane Sy. Written and directed by Jonas Carpignano. Sundance
Selects
Mustang
In a village in northern Turkey, the youthful exuberance of five adolescent sisters is tempered as they are prepared for more traditional female roles. With Dogba Doguslu, Elit Iscan, Gunes Sensoy, Ilayda Akdogan and Tugba Sunguroglu. Written by Deniz Gamze Ergüven and Alice Winocour. Directed by Ergüven. Cohen Media Group
The Night Before
Three longtime friends — Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen and Anthony Mackie — fend off adulthood while pursuing the ultimate Christmas party. With Lizzy Caplan, Jillian Bell, Michael Shannon and Mindy Kaling. Written by Jonathan Levine and Evan Goldberg & Kyle Hunter & Ariel Shaffir. Directed by Levine. Columbia Pictures
Secret in Their Eyes
FBI investigator Chiwetel Ejiofor turns up a new lead in the murder of a young girl, a case that tore apart his team 13 years earlier. With Nicole Kidman and Julia Roberts. Written and directed by Billy Ray. STX Entertainment
Very Semi-Serious: A Partially Thorough Portrait of New Yorker Cartoonists
A documentary look at the artists and illustrators whose work enlivens the pages of the literary magazine. Directed by Leah Wolchok. HBO Documentary Films
Nov. 25
Creed
“Fruitvale Station” star Michael B. Jordan and director Ryan Coogler team with Sylvester Stallone as Apollo Creed’s son asks his late father’s former rival, Rocky Balboa, to return to boxing as his trainer. With Tessa Thompson, Phylicia Rashad and Anthony Bellew. Written by Coogler & Aaron Covington, based on characters from the “Rocky” series written by Stallone.
Warner Bros.
The Good Dinosaur
An apatosaurus makes a human friend in a world where dinosaurs did not go extinct in Pixar’s latest animated film. With the voices of Jeffrey Wright, Frances McDormand, Steve Zahn, Anna Paquin and Sam Elliott. Directed by Peter Sohn. Walt Disney Pictures
Victor Frankenstein
James McAvoy stars, with Daniel Radcliffe as Igor, in this revamp of Mary Shelley’s classic tale, in which the doctor’s cutting-edge research into immortality goes too far, resulting in terrifying consequences. Written by Max Landis. Directed by Paul McGuigan. 20th Century Fox
Nov. 27
The Danish Girl
Eddie Redmayne stars as an artist who discovers her identity as a woman and becomes a transgender pioneer with the help of his wife and fellow artist in 1920s Copenhagen. With Alicia Vikander, Ben Whishaw, Sebastian Koch, Amber Heard and Matthias Schoenaerts. Written by Lucinda Coxon, based on the book by David Ebershoff. Directed by Tom Hooper. Focus Features
Killing Them Safely
The introduction of the Taser was supposed to revolutionize police work, but this documentary questions why hundreds of people have died from injuries related to the weapon. With Tom Smith and Rick Smith. Written by Nick Berardini and J. Gonçalves. Directed by Berardini. Sundance
Selects
Submerged
Survival is the goal for friends when their party limo is run off the road by armed kidnappers. With Cody Christian, Talulah Riley, Jonathan Bennett, Tim Daly and Mario Van Peebles. Written by Scott Milam. Directed by Steven C. Miller. IFC Midnight
The Wonders
The life of a beekeeping family in Tuscany is intruded upon by the arrival of a disturbed teenaged boy and a reality television show. With Alba Rohrwacher, Monica Bellucci, Alexandra Lungu, Sam Louwyck, Sabine Timoteo and Agnese Graziani. Written and directed by Alice Rohrwacher.
Oscilloscope Laboratories
Dec. 4
Christmas Eve
Six groups of New Yorkers are trapped in elevators by a power outage, resulting in a night of laughs, romance and life-changing discoveries. With Patrick Stewart, Cheryl Hines, Jon Heder, Gary Cole and Max Casella. Written and directed by Mitch Davis. Unstuck LLC
Close Range
To protect his family, a rancher battles a drug cartel and corrupt law enforcement. With Scott Adkins. Written by Chad Law & Shane Dax Taylor. Directed by Isaac Florentine. XLrator
Media
Dementia
A disabled Vietnam War veteran is tormented by his sadistic live-in nurse. With Gene Jones and Kristina Klebe. Written by Meredith Berg. Directed by Mike Testin. IFC Midnight
Every Thing Will Be Fine
A tragic auto accident forces a writer to look deep within himself to find redemption. With James Franco, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Rachel McAdams. Written by Bjørn Olaf Johannessen. Directed by Wim Wenders. IFC Films
Hitchcock/ Truffaut
Based on the original recordings of the weeklong 1962 meeting between the two filmmakers, this documentary explores the mysteries of mise-en-scène and the man who directed “Psycho,” “The Birds” and “Vertigo.” With Martin Scorsese, Wes Anderson, David Fincher, Olivier Assayas, Peter Bogdanovich, Arnaud Desplechin, James Gray, Kiyoshi Kurosawa and Richard Linklater. Directed by Kent Jones. Cohen Media
Group
Janis: Little Girl Blue
Amy Berg’s documentary explores the short, tumultuous life of rock singer Janis Joplin. Narrated by Chan Marshall. With Dick Cavett, Sam Andrew, D.A. Pennebaker, Bob Weir, Laura Joplin and Michael Joplin. Written and directed by Amy Berg. FilmRise
Krampus
A family’s lack of Christmas spirit triggers the onslaught of a dark force and his minions. With Adam Scott, Toni Collette, David Koechner and Conchata Ferrell. Cowritten by Michael Dougherty, Zach Shields and Todd Casey. Directed by Dougherty. Universal Pictures
The Lady in the Van
Maggie Smith reprises her stage role as the title character who parks her vehicle in the driveway of a writer and remains for 15 years. With Alex Jennings, James Corden and Dominic Cooper. Written by Alan Bennett, from his play. Directed by