The Plot: Trying to rebuild his life after his wife's death, a writer (Cusack) adopts a troubled young boy (Coleman) who believes he's a Martian.

THE BUZZ: Who says there aren't any roles for men in their 40s? John Cusack has never been busier, and while we haven't feel affection for any of his post-High Fidelity projects, we're most curious about Martian, Cusack's reunion with Max writer-director Menno Meyjes. And it's good to know author David Gerrold isn't just a consultant on the project - he's also an executive producer who we hear didn't sign off on the script until version #12 or something. Too bad the movie version of Gerrold won't be an out gay man, as in real life ... but at least Joan Cusack is playing David's sister!

The Plot: Two brothers (Hoffman and Hawke), both in dire financial straits, conspire to rip off their parents' jewelry store, only to experience a lethal miscue that puts the entire family on a collision course.

THE BUZZ: If you're up to date on your movie blogs and other sources of insider information, you already know that many have already named Devil the film of the year -- in fact, plenty of the movie's supporters go back 50 years (!) to reference Sidney Lumet's debut (12 Angry Men) when discussing its structure and integrity. As you would expect, Hoffman and Hawke are being tipped for Best Actor nominations, though we hear playwright Kelly Masterson's script also favors its supporting characters ... a second win for Tomei, playing an adulterous wife in this Greek tragedy? To die!

Here's the trailer, and here's some no-spoiler tidbits from the IFC Blog.

The Plot: A look at the life of influential musician Joe Strummer - before, during, and after his time with the Clash.

THE BUZZ: "Hands of law have sorted through my identity
But now this sound is brave
And wants to be free - anyway to be free"

Julien Temple is back in Filth and Fury form with his caring look at his friend Joe Strummer's life and work, offering a detailed profile of Strummer's fascinating early years and his rise to fame, surrounding it all in a musical/historical context. Look for this to unfurl throughout the holidays, garnering word-of-mouth as it goes. Plus, campfire songs.

The Plot: A series of violent events ensue after a hunter (Jones) decides to keep the heroin and $2 million in cash he discovers amongst a pile of dead men near the Rio Grande.

THE BUZZ: Can anyone explain why it's taken so many years for the Coen brothers and Tommy Lee Jones to work together? They couldn't have picked a better story for their first venture, as this adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's novel conjures up comparisons to Blood Simple and The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada; only the most ineffective studio could muck-up selling audiences on the idea of these three filmmakers coming together for a mystery set on the U.S.-Mexico border. TLJ has never had more momentum, as he follows up In the Valley of Elah with this, another buzz-generating role (he also adapted and stars in In the Electric Mist, Bertrand Tavernier's first English-language picture since 'Round Midnight). Meanwhile, Coen bros. fans can breathe a sigh of relief since it appears that the boys are back on solid ground; they wisely back-burned a pair of lesser-sounding projects for Old Men and Burn After Reading (as of this writing, BAR is currently filming).

The Plot: Santa's little-known brother, embittered by living in the shadow of his sibling's spotlight, is forced to move back to the North Pole.

THE BUZZ: 'Tis the season for another slightly off-color Christmas comedy. This year, instead of Billy Bob Thornton or Will Ferrell spreading the holiday cheer, its Vaughn taking the reigns opposite Giamatti. Wait, are you sure there isn't a Wilson brother is this? Does it matter? Not unlike his previous outing with Dobkin (Wedding Crashers), this one will still bring in a sleigh full of cash even if you can't bring the kids.

The Plot: A deceased movie star (Khan) is reincarnated and sets about to solve the mystery of his death and to find the woman (Padukone) he fell in love with just before his passing.

THE BUZZ: Seasoned choreographer Farah Khan follows up the successful Main Hoon Na with her second go-round as writer and director, and she's bringing Bollywood A-List with him for one of the widest releases of an Indian film ever. Happy Diwali!

The Plot: As he is manipulated by an evil force -- one that forces him to confront mortality on a daily basis -- a young man (Vogel) looks to solve the torturous mystery behind his life, and death.

THE BUZZ: Stan Winston Studios created the creatures that torment Mr. Stone in commercial director Dario Piana's debut. Horror fans should remember Mike Vogel from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake, and he'll also be seen in the top-secret J.J. Abrams project come January. We've been stalked by death-loop scenarios time and time again, but this one sounds right for a night in. Go here to read more about this film and the rest of the HorrorFest 2007 lineup.

The Plot: An archeological dig unleashes a vicious creature that has lived below the surface of the Earth for 900 years. A local sheriff bands together with a group of civilians in order to save humankind from complete annihilation.

THE BUZZ: Emmanuelle Vaugier is turning into quite the premiere horror siren with her latest role, one that aligns her with one truly likable cast (Charlie Murphy and M.C. Gainey both have supporting roles). Writer-director Matthew Leutwyler, so you know, is scripting the Creepshow remake that may or may not roll next year. Look for this one to rake it in on DVD after its HorrorFest run. Go here to read more about this film and the rest of the HorrorFest 2007 lineup.

The Plot: Three sisters and a group of their friends take a trip to the home of the recently deceased grandfather -- who died a particularly grisly death -- to learn more about the promise of an inheritance, only to encounter a family of psychos who have taken up residence in the old man's cabin.

THE BUZZ: Wrong Turn meets Funny Games? We could only wish! Director George Bessudo's HorrorFest entry might be one of the better picks, since filmmaker's second project, Farmhouse, sports a name cast and all. Go here to read more about the film and the rest of the event lineup.

The Plot: Twenty years after their childhood friend passed away, six adults reunite for a visit. During their time together, they dig up an old time capsule, wherein they discover a grisly secret from their past.

THE BUZZ: The 11th-hour addition to HorrorFest 2007 might feature the tamest-sounding premise, but it arguably sports the best cast. All those fine B-movie sirens and the super-creepy Frank Whaley, rehashing I Know What You Did Last Summer? We could just die! Go here to read more about this film and the rest of the HorrorFest 2007 lineup.

The Plot: Three children living in a displacement camp in northern Uganda compete in their country's national music and dance festival.

THE BUZZ: This documentary has racked up awards from Sundance to the Hot Docs festival, and we're happy to see it finally got a release date to stick. We have to assert that ThinkFilm has positioned the film as one of their last projects of the year for obvious reasons: they want the Oscar win that eluded them two years ago with Murderball. If their film gains traction and they work the story of husband-and-wife-and-co-directors Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine, new parents who literally risked their lives to shoot a film in a war zone, handing the award to Michael Moore might be just too ... obvious.

The Plot: Edward Magorium (Hoffman), the eccentric, 243-year-old owner of the most fantastic toy shop in the world wills his business to his shy, awkward store manager (Portman). But her leadership is soon challenged by a dark, ominous presence in the shop.

THE BUZZ: The fantastically named Zach Helm goes large for his first film behind the camera. Meanwhile, we're wondering just how fun a meek Natalie Portman character can be. Maybe Fox-Walden is second guessing this one, too; after The Dark Is Rising's woeful performance, the push behind this production got weaker and weaker.

The Plot: Margot (Kidman) and her son Claude (Pais) decide to visit her sister Pauline (Leigh) after she announces that she is getting married to less-than-impressive Malcolm (Black). In short order, the storm the sisters create leaves behind a a mess of thrashed relationships and exposed family secrets.

THE BUZZ: Originally titled Nicole in the Country, it's rumored that Ms. Kidman's top-earning celebrity status forced producers to change the title character's name (to that of our favorite adopted Tenenbaum) in order to avoid unwanted confusion. Not that the lack of marine animals in Baumbach's Squid and the Whale left us particularly perplexed, but, hey, there's power in being Hollywood's newly-crowned highest paid actress. Another perk may be that Margot stands the best chance of being this year's little miss indie darling.

The Plot: A montage of stories about U.S. soldiers fighting in the Iraq conflict, focusing on the modern forms of media covering the war.

THE BUZZ: The judges at this year's Cannes Film Festival were the first to laud Brian De Palma's Iraq war drama by awarding him a Best Director Silver Lion. Maybe those same judges should have leveraged their assets in order to release the film in the U.S., seeing as how De Palma butted heads with distributor Magnolia Pictures after the studio opted to alter a series of photos used in the film's final sequence. Obviously both the filmmaker and the studio execs love this type of attention, and we can imagine they're all pleased with the momentum the film has picked up over the last few weeks. However, will audiences show up to watch a dramatization of an Iraqi girl's rape and the resulting aftermath? Outside of a splashy New York/L.A. release, and maybe a decent second expansion, we think the controversy won't sustain itself. Slant Magazine has a great mini-review, as does Salon.com (Stephanie Zacharek is *dreamy*).

The Plot: A young musical genius (Highmore) is aided by a mysterious stranger (Williams) in his effort to find the parents from whom he was separated at birth.

THE BUZZ: Kirsten Sheridan follows in the footsteps of her father, Jim, with a New York-set story of a family and its bond, though it's interesting to note that Ms. Sheridan, who co-wrote In America, didn't lend her hand to this screenplay by the veteran team of Nick Castle and James Hart. More interesting is the pairing of Keri Russell and Jonathan Rhys Meyers, who engage in a complicated affair that sends them in different directions, and their child to an orphanage; the same audience who bought into Waitress should return for a second helping of Russell in troubled mother mode. Hopefully we'll be able to see the family unit around the giant cowboy hat that Robin "Bono" Williams wears throughout the film.

The Plot: A gun-for-hire known as Agent 47 (Olyphant) is hired by a group known as "The Agency" to kill targets for cash.

THE BUZZ: Shooting its way into theaters fewer than six months after it started filming, Hitman looks ready to rake in a quick profit, Transporter style. Though he's no Jason Statham, "Deadwood"'s Olyphant is making a fine transition into a film star with his appearance in this summer's Live Free or Die Hard and now this actioner, it seems as though he's being groomed as the ... I don't know ... the next Paul Walker? Ew.

Meanwhile, we have to wonder what it's like to be director Xavier Gens right about now. First, the reports that he was sacked while this project was in post-production have been confirmed, and his other recent project. Frontier(s), was booted from AfterDark's HorrorFest after it earned an NC-17 rating (though we hear AD will release it early next year). C'est la vie.

The Plot: A retrospective look at the life of musical icon Bob Dylan told in various stages of his career.

THE BUZZ: Haynes picks up where Scorsese's No Direction Home leaves off, but with a much groovier look and feel. The soundtrack also features an impressive line-up, but if you can't make sense out of this biopic's high-concept casting (six actors playing Dylan? Including a girl?!), then don't think twice (it's alright). Would you expect anything less from a guy who writes about "magic swirlin' ships" and "jingle jangle mornings."

The Plot: At the age of 43, Elle France editor Jean-Dominique Bauby (Amalric) suffers a stroke that paralyzes his entire body, save his left eye. Using that eye to blink out his memoir one letter at a time, Bauby describes the aspects of his interior world, from the psychological torment of being trapped inside his body, to imagined stories from lands he only visits in his mind.

THE BUZZ: Easily one of the most devastating personal stories to make it to the big screen, Diving Bell makes the triumphant return of director Julian Schnabel, the irascible filmmaker/painter who has spent the better part of the last four years trying to get this project off the ground. First announced with Schnabel and Johnny Depp attached, the film was to be a counterpoint to Depp's new-found megastardom, but we're imagining the frantic production schedule of the Pirates sequels lead to the casting of Mathieu Amalric, an actor whose popularity has been rising in native France since he won the Best Actor César for Kings & Queen. Might his star rise in the States when the Oscar nominations are announced? We wonder, but we're betting that screenwriter Ronald Harwood will be among the Best Adapted Screenplay nominees.