What you may need to know:

1. Venerable veteran Mike Leigh directs Timothy Spall in this biopic of Victorian artist JMW Turner, one of the forerunners of modern abstract art.

2. We liked his early landscapes better. #Hipster.

3. Mr Turner received glowing feedback from critics after its premiere at Cannes, where Spall took home the Best Actor award.

4. Spall is something of a Leigh regular, having also appeared in Life is Sweet (1990), Secrets and Lies (1996), Topsy-Turvy (1999) and All or Nothing (2002).

5. You can’t really go wrong with Leigh. Naked (1993) is a personal favourite, but Meantime (1984), Leigh’s portrait of life under Thatcher in the 1980s is well worth seeking out.

6. Broadsheet Prognosis: Painting is cool.

Release Date:  October 31

(DelBoy is away. Mark blogs about film, TV and other stuff at WhyBother.ie)

What you may need to know:

1. A father discovers his deceased son’s secret musical talents and with the help of a fellow music enthusiast bring this talent to life.

2. This is William H Macy‘s directorial debut. We will always have Jerry Lundegaard from the big screen Fargo (1996).

3. It also stars Justin Beiber’s on off girlfriend Selena Gomez.

4. The soundtrack is all original songs by Simon Steadman (formerly of Steadman) and ex Tears for Fears producer Charlton Pettus, otherwise known as indie duo SolidState.

5. Broadsheet Prognosis: Rudderless in some safe seas.

Release Date: TBC

(Delboy is away)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wFHiZHZVaU

What you may need to know:

1. Set in Depression-era North Carolina, George Pemberton (Bradley Cooper) is a successful timber magnate. He falls in love with the strong-willed Serena (Jennifer Lawrence), but after they are married he discovers that she cannot bear children.

2. Based on the 2008 bestselling novel by Ron Rash.

3. Danish director Susanne Bier won the best foreign language film Academy Award for In a Better World (2010).

4. The Academy loves a bit of period drama.

5. This is the third collaboration between Lawrence and Cooper after Silver Linings Playbook (2012) and American Hustle (2013).

6. Principal photography for Serena was completed in 2012, but Bier spent nearly two years in post-production. That’s a lot of editing.

7. Broadsheet Prognosis: Oscar bait.

Release Date: October 24

(DelBoy is away. Mark blogs about film, TV and other stuff at WhyBother.ie)

What you may need to know

1. Home invasion thriller in which Terri (Taraji P. Henson), is threatened by Colin (Idris Elba), a charming stranger who smooth-talks his way into her house. The unexpected invitation leaves her and her family terrorised and fighting for survival.

2. Screen Gems caused a stink this week by cancelling all scheduled press screenings for No Good Deed with the excuse of not wanting to spoil a plot twist for the audience.

3. First of all, no critic in their right mind would ever intentionally spoil a plot twist.

4. Second, the audience wouldn’t have known that there was a plot twist if Screen Gems hadn’t announced it in a press release.

5. Other movies not screened in advance include Movie 43 (2013), Meet the Spartans (2008) and anything by Uwe Boll. You can draw your own conclusions.

6. If that doesn’t tell you enough, then consider that the release of No Good Deed has already been postponed four times. Originally slated for release in October 2013, it was moved to January, then April 2014 before finally limping into US theatres today. Sometimes there’s a good reason for pushing a release back, but four times?

7. Elba seems to be struggling to translate an impeccable TV résumé into a movie career.

8. Broadsheet Prognosis: The signs are not good.

Release Date: November 21

(DelBoy is away. Mark blogs about film, TV and other stuff at WhyBother.ie)

What you may need to know:

1. A bear from deepest darkest Peru with a passion for all things British arrives in London in search of a new home. He is discovered by the Brown family in Paddington Station and is offered temporary accommodation. His well meaning yet accident prone manner results in all kinds of hilarious banter and hi-jinks.

2. Put your coat on Paddington. Yeez.

3. Paddington Bear first arrived in London in 1958. His Peruvian name is Pastuso.

4. The first Paddington Bear stuffed toy was made by Shirley and Eddie Clarkson with the prototype given as a Christmas gift to their two children; one of whom grew up to be Jeremy.

5. Colin Firth was originally pegged to play Paddington but voluntarily moved aside for Ben Whishaw as he felt his voice was just not suited to the role.

6. Nicole Kidman plays the evil taxidermist who wants Paddington stuffed and put on display. She admitted that her two youngest are not allowed to see the film as her role is “too awful and vicious“.

7. Paddington Bear’s creator Michael Bond was a cameraman on Blue Peter.

8. Broadsheet Prognosis: May I look in to your bag please sir? The one with the secret compartment?

Release date: November 28

(Delboy is away)

What you may need to know:

1. Aidan Bloom (Zach Braff) is a struggling actor, father and husband. At 35 he is still trying to find a purpose for his life. When Aidan’s father can no longer afford to pay for private education for his two children, he begins home schooling them.

2. First World Problems: The Movie.

3.  JD and Turk Ride Again.

4. Braff raised $3.1m through a hugely-successful Kickstarter campaign with the intention of preserving independent creative control and final cut. He also raised a lot of eyebrows after Worldview Entertainment subsequently stumped up the rest of the $10m budget.

5. If you ever feel like rewatching Garden State (2004), don’t. It’s like The Breakfast Club (1985) – just leave it be.

6. Broadsheet Prognosis: Excess sugar levels may be hazardous to those at risk of Diabetes.

Release Date: September 19

(DelBoy is away. Mark blogs about film, TV and other stuff at WhyBother.ie)

—

What you may need to know:

1. Ten years after a satellite crash lands in Mexico, an American soldier stationed somewhere in the Middle East has to cross alien controlled territory to attempt a rescue of his comrades.

2. Monsters: Dark Continent is the sequel to Gareth Edwards’ acclaimed debut Monsters (2010). Edwards just has an executive producer credit on this as he was too busy making Godzilla (2014) to direct the sequel.

3. Scoot McNairy who starred in the original is also an executive producer of this one. He played a blinder in Killing Them Softly (2012).

4. Monsters will become a franchise. There are 2 more sequels planned, one to be directed by Michael Bay. Bring the Rain!

5. The original Monsters is rumoured to have been made on a budget of $15,000 but it was closer to $500,000.

6. The sequel has another debutante in the director’s chair in Tom Green, the Englishman who directed Misfits, not the Canadian habitual attention seeker.

7. Local talent Sam Keeley in the house!

8. Broadsheet Prognosis: Monsters Inc.

Release Date: September 26

(Delboy is away)

What you may need to know:

1. Under the pseudonym of Wei Ling Soo, Stanley Crawford (Colin Firth) is the most celebrated magician of his age. He embarks on a mission to the Côte d’Azur to debunk the clairvoyant Sophie Baker (Emma Stone).

2. Holy crappy Photoshop Batman! Colin Firth must hold the record for actor appearing in movies with the worst …posters… ever. It must be written into his contract.

3. Woody Allen is the Prince of filmmaking. Since What’s Up, Tiger Lily (1966) the prolific 78-year-old has delivered a new movie almost every year. Magic in the Moonlight is the 46th movie that he has written and directed.

4. Still, not the greatest foster parent ever.

5. After last year’s phenomenal Blue Jasmine, Magic in the Moonlight has been getting mediocre reviews. But hey, with a workload like Allen’s, you can’t expect them all to be hits.

6. Annie Hall (1977) is usually cited as the pinnacle of his “early funny ones,” but if you haven’t seen Take the Money and Run (1969), do yourself a favour.

7. Broadsheet Prognosis: More Paul Daniels than David Blaine.

Release Date: 19th September

(DelBoy is away. Mark blogs about film, TV and other stuff at WhyBother.ie)

What you may need to know:

1. While visiting his brother in Colombia, Surfer Nick Brady (Josh Hutcherson) falls in love with the niece of drug lord Pablo Escobar (Benicio Del Toro).

2. Nick becomes embroiled in Colombia’s criminal underworld as he falls increasingly under the influence of the charismatic Escobar.

3. And you thought your in-laws were overbearing.

4. So, not an adaption of John Milton’s blank verse epic, then.

5. For our money, Del Toro’s career-defining role of was as Oscar Zeta Acosta in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998). Let’s not mention The Wolfman (2010).

6. Broadsheet Prognosis: Meet The Parents meets Traffic.

7. Pardon our French poster/subtitles.

Release Date: November 26 (USA)

(DelBoy is away. Mark blogs about film, TV and other stuff at WhyBother.ie)