This is a good time of year for film buffs. We're able to reflect on what the first six months has brought us, while still looking ahead at what's typically the better part of the year in film. We've got a couple of big summer movies left, as well as some of the smaller, critically acclaimed movies that are as much a feature of fall and winter as leaves and snow.

Narrowing down a list of films due out between now and December that look promising is almost a cruel practice, mainly because of the films that wind up being left out. There's the big ones, like The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1(11/21) and the final installment of The Hobbit(12/17). There's the comedy sequels to Horrible Bosses(11/26) and Hot Tub Time Machine(12/25), not to mention Dumb and Dumber To(11/14). Then there's the ones whose trailers just do a good job of selling you, like Simon Pegg's feel good comedy Hector and the Search for Happiness(9/26), or Michael Keaton's uber-weird superhero flickBirdman(10/17).


Image courtesy of: Roger Wong/INFphoto.com

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10.Wish I Was Here

Release Date: July 18 (limited release)
Director: Zach Braff
Starring: Zach Braff, Kate Hudson, Josh Gad

This is the first of three films on this list that have generated buzz for things other than what happens between their opening and closing credits. In the case of Wish I Was Here, it's that it's the product of Zach Braff's fairly controversial Kickstarter campaign. Regardless of your stance on crowdsourcing, though, it's Braff's first feature directed since Garden State, so we have the comfort of knowing even if the film ends up missing the mark we'll have a pretty stellar soundtrack.

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9.The Judge

Release Date: October 10
Director: David Dobkin
Starring: Robert Downey Jr, Robert Duvall, Vera Farmiga

Robert Downey Jr. seems born to play a fast-talking hot shot lawyer, and the chance to see he and Robert Duvall play off each other for a full movie is enough to make any "most anticipated" list.

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8. The Interview

Release Date: October 10
Directors: Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen
Starring: Seth Rogen, James Franco

Rogen and Goldberg are the comedy collaborators behind Superbad, Pineapple Express, and This is the End. If that's not enough to sell you, how about the face that North Korea has called this movie an "act of war"?

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7. Fury

Release Date: November 14
Director: David Ayer
Starring: Brad Pitt, Shia LaBeouf, Logan Lerman

Brad Pitt tries his hand at another World War II film, but this one looks slightly more conventional than Inglourious Basterds. It's got a look similar to Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers, and it's not likely that was just by coincidence. If Fury can give be half as effective as either of them it will be a worthy venture.

6. Guardians of the Galaxy

Release Date: August 1
Director: James Gunn
Starring: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Bradley Cooper

We've been inundated with comic book movies over the past decade or so, so when one comes up that looks as offbeat and unconventional as this does it's easy to get excited. Plus, Bradley Cooper as a talking Raccoon.

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5. Boyhood

Release Date: July 11
Director: Richard Linklater
Starring: Ethan Hawke, Patricia Arquette, Ellar Coltrane, Lorelei Linklater

You'll be hard pressed to read or hear anything about this film that doesn't mention its unique shooting style, and with good reason. It's a film about a family that takes place over the course of twelve years, and was shot in small increments over the course of twelve years, so all the characters age before our eyes. We've seen something similar done with the 7 Up documentary series, but nothing done as a scripted narrative film such as this.

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4. Kill the Messenger

Release Date: October 10
Director: Michael Cuesta
Starring: Jeremy Renner, Barry Pepper, Mary Elizabeth Winstead

Kill the Messenger has a powerhouse cast and an intriguing story of a journalist's involvement in the CIA's relationship with Nicaraguan drug cartel. The trailer manages to give away a ton while still feeling like a major tease.

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3. Kingsman: The Secret Service

Release Date: October 24
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Starring: Colin Firth, Taron Egerton, Michael Caine, Samuel L. Jackson

Matthew Vaughn, the director of Kick Ass and X-Men: First Class is something of a master of the modern action film. His movies are fun, fast, and somewhat mindless. Not mindless in the way that no thought was put into them, but mindless in the way that he's done all he can to make accessible films that are easy to watch (and re-watch). Kingsman seems to fall right in line with that.

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2. Foxcatcher

Release Date: November 14
Director: Bennett Miller
Starring: Steve Carell, Channing Tatum

Just watch the trailer and try not to get excited for this one. Steve Carell and Channing Tatum look and sound how we have never seen or heard them before. Add in that it's the third feature from Capote and Moneyball director Bennett Miller, Foxcatcher has all the promise in the world.

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1. Gone Girl

Release Date: October 3
Director: David Fincher
Starring: Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike

Based on the novel of the same name by Gillian Flynn, Gone Girl is directed by David Fincher, who is no stranger to the dark crime drama. Count on this film to be the one to own this year's award season.