By this time you're wondering — what happened to the end of the world and the diner? In Scott Stewart's LEGION (January 22), a greasy-spoon waitress finds herself pregnant with the Messiah, much to the dismay of stars Paul Bettany and Dennis Quaid. As for Michael Lembeck's TOOTH FAIRY (January 22), it features Dwayne Johnson as a hockey player who must take on the title persona for a week as punishment. Sounds as if co-stars Julie Andrews and Billy Crystal might be putting in penalty time as well.
Sometimes tough situations require EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES (January 22) — as in this true story directed by Tom Vaughan about a man who seeks a cure for his son's disease. Brendan Fraser and Harrison Ford star. Another dad fights for his kid in Martin Campbell's THE EDGE OF DARKNESS (January 29), as a homicide detective investigates the death of his activist daughter and attracts the attention of government spooks. It was shot locally, with Mel Gibson, Danny Huston, and Ray Winstone.
At other times, it might be best to follow the old adage WHEN IN ROME (January 29). For the spouseless loser played by Kristen Bell in this Mark Steven Johnson comedy, that means stealing coins from a Roman fountain; a deluge of suitors follows, including, perhaps, Josh Duhamel, but probably not Anjelica Huston.
VIDEO: The trailer for Shutter Island
FEBRUARY
Real-life terror returns in DEAR JOHN (February 5), Lasse Hallström's adaptation of the Nicholas Sparks novel in which a soldier falls for a conservative co-ed and re-enlists after 9/11. Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried star. And in Pierre Morel's FROM PARIS WITH LOVE (February 5), a US embassy employee and a spy must stop a terrorist attack on the title city. Let's hope John Travolta and Jonathan Rhys Meyers fare better than the puppets in Team America.
If not, there's always that old stand-by: the gods. Chris Columbus adapts Rick Riordan's book PERCY JACKSON AND THE LIGHTNING THIEF (February 12), in which a boy discovers he is a descendant of the Olympic deities and must do battle with evildoers. Kevin McKidd and Uma Thurman star. Maybe they'll make things safe for VALENTINE'S DAY (February 12), Garry Marshall's interlinking multi-narrative about couples on the title holiday, with an ensemble cast that includes Taylor Lautner, Bradley Cooper, and the ubiquitous Anne Hathaway.
Speaking of Taylor Lautner: I wonder how his Twilight lycanthrope would hold up against the real McCoy? Benicio del Toro takes on the title role in Joe Johnston's remake of THE WOLFMAN (February 12), which co-stars Emily Blunt and Anthony Hopkins. Not to be outdone, Nicolas Cage plays a knight escorting a sorceress suspected of causing the plague to a monastery in SEASON OF THE WITCH (February 19), with Dominick Sena and Ron Perlman, in what sounds like a Monty Python version of The Seventh Seal.
Another woman is put away in SHUTTER ISLAND (February 19), Martin Scorsese's adaptation of Dennis Lehane's gothic thriller. She disappears from the title insane asylum, and Boston's finest are brought in to solve the case. Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Michelle Williams, and many local landmarks star.
