5 To See In November!

I got into such a fit recently while trying to decide which films to put on my 3 To See segment for the month, and I ultimately found that there were simply too many films coming out to promote such a narrow group. Even expanding the radius of the list by two doesn't offer enough recognition to some of the hopefully great films of this month. There are definitely some films that people should rightfully overlook. Dwayne Johnson's Faster looks like just another action failure. Morning Glory has no sanctity left, due to a foul comedic atmosphere. Don't even get me started on Skyline. It just looks like wasted potential for a science fiction film.

However, for the most part, this is a fantastic month to be going out to the theaters. There are films that I wish I could put on this list. Todd Philips' Due Date looks like another similarly hilarious film like The Hangover, and it puts together two of the most talked about actors of today, Robert Downey Jr. and Zach Galifiankis. The Next Three Days looks fantastic, but it is nonetheless doomed because it falls on the same release date as the #1 film on our list. Finally, there is the Dreamworks Animation film Megamind, which I've been playing both sides of the field on. I have no idea whether it will turn out to be great or as just another failure like Madagascar.

5. 127 Hours

I've been generally up in the air on this film, because I just don't know if it has what it takes to make it into the top 10 for Best Picture. The trailers have always kept me at a distance, making me question immediately whether all the preemptive praise is deserved. The reviews have been, for the most part, average. A few of them have gone into adoration of this film, and I'm still not certain. I'm looking forward to it, but reluctantly. It's a film that should be higher up on my list, but it simply isn't. What everyone instinctively feels for 127 Hours, I just don't, and I can't give myself into it entirely.

4. Love and Other Drugs

The last huge ? on my list is Edward Zwick's upcoming comedy starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway. Like everybody else who watched the trailer for the first time, I thought it looked like a pretty smart comedy at first. Watching it over again, I find some obvious cliches, and I feel like this is a film of gradual transformation of characters where they change over the course of two hours. That simply doesn't entirely work in the context of a trailer. Word has been that the film is a great romantic comedy, and some are saying that it's Zwick's best. I'm still on the fence, but I'm a little more inclined to embrace Love and Other Drugs than I am for 127 Hours.

3. Tangled

From here on, I have general faith in my decisions on this list. Obviously, I didn't warm up to this film immediately from the first trailer, because it was far too cutesy for my tastes. In some ways, I'm still not entirely on to this film, but that's my way with most Disney films. Two years ago, Bolt was released under similar circumstances, and it turned out to be great. The second trailer for Tangled brought a lot more of the amusing comedic aspect to it, and I think this has that sort of fun potential. It has a sort of hand drawn quality without being hand drawn, and I'm sure it will look beautiful in 3D. Nothing quite suits the format like bright colors. Tangled opens on Thanksgiving weekend, which is always a lucrative frame for family releases.

2. The King's Speech

Of all the films on this list, The King's Speech is the only one I've already seen, so I'm more than a little biased in putting it this far up on the list. Don't let that distract you, because this is one of the most enjoyable films likely to hit the Oscar crowd. I've heard some people favoring The Social Network for Best Picture right now on the fact that it's a lot more of a mainstream film. In truth, that's not even a fact, because I found The King's Speech to be a lot more accessible to a wide audience. It has a lot more comedy than originally expected, and it has immense heart to go along with that. If this film was marketed for a wider crowd, I'm sure they would love it. The film opens in limited release on Black Friday, but should expand to a wider audience going into December.

1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1

I'm not going to waste this opportunity on yet another Oscar plug for the film to be nominated for Best Picture. I can't say anything else for certain until the film is actually released. What I can tell you is why you absolutely have to see it. For the past ten years, David Heyman, J.K. Rowling, and the entire crew of the series has been working to build this world of magic, locations, and characters, and within the next year it is all going to come to a conclusion. This is the beginning of that end, and everything is going to be tied up by the end of it. This is our last adventure with these characters, and it's not something to be breezed through.

The first part has plenty of action in it, but the focus is more on our core characters. The relationships between Harry, Ron, and Hermione are going to be examined and tested to the breaking point. These characters have trusted in one another for six years, and that trust is corroding. They're on their own, and nobody else can help them, so it's a pretty poor time for them to have such conflict. There is more conflict than in any of the films that have come before, and death is an almost constant visitor. In the first half, at least five characters will meet their tragic end. Director David Yates has been building up to this, and it most certainly cannot disappoint.