11. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
Release Date: Nov. 22nd While I dont necessarily like that Summit felt like they had to tack on the title of the first one, ala Twilight, to get people to realize its a sequel, Im nonetheless excited that The Hunger Games was a big enough hit that this one is on the way. In my mind, its the best of the book trilogy, though just barely. (I love them all.) The story picks up not long after the events of the first film, with Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) back home in District 12, living in the Winners Village that had previously only been home to the lone D12 winner - Haymitch Abernathy (Woody Harrelson). Having won the 74th Games, Katniss and Peeta are glad to put those event behind them and move on with their lives, knowing that theyll never have to compete again. But before they know it, its reaping time again, and this being the 75th anniversary of the great uprising against the Capitol, they have something extra sinister planned. This year, the tributes will be chosen out of a pool of the former victors of each District. Reminder time: Katniss is the only female winner, and the males = Peeta and Haymitch. Guess who gets chosen? With the tributes ranging from their teens (Katniss/Peeta) to the elderly, and a crazy new arena, the stakes are way higher than the first one. Should be a killer film. (I know, I know...)
10. Thor: The Dark World
Release Date: Nov. 8th Count me in with the group that thought Thor kicked ass. Was it perfect? No, but it succeeded at marrying two VERY different worlds and making it not seem like utter malarkey in the process. Considering all the previous Marvel movies, up til then had been set in as real a world as possible, Thor was a huge gamble. It paid off. Loki was, obviously, the main villain in this summers The Avengers and Thor set a few other things in motion that will only come into view in Phase 2 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU, as some have taken to calling it). Thor: The Dark World will apparently deal almost exclusively with expanding the galaxy, The Nine Realms, how the events of Thor, and more importantly The Avengers, have rippled across said galaxy. New planets, new baddies, new weapons (probably) and more Natalie Portman - what more can you want?