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Growing up absurd

Adapting "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" from his own best-selling young-adult novel, sophomore director Stephen Chbosky aims to expose the agony and ecstasy of growing up, when a shy high schooler is taken in hand by a couple of "sophisticated" seniors. Seems like teen rites of passage have to be just a little easier if you look like Emma Watson ("Harry Potter"), Logan Lerman ("The Three Musketeers") and Ezra Miller ("We Need to Talk about Kevin") -- or am I being "looks-ist"?

In "Ten Years," their high school reunion gives Channing Tatum and his friends an excuse to regress. Looks like the gang never really grew out of their teenaged bad habits, crushes and hang-ups. Far from fresh, this dramedy's clearly getting a belated release to cash in on Tatum's 2012 success.

Somebody really ought to alert these movie folk to the pitfalls of going back to school again. In "Liberal Arts," a dead-ended 30-something (Josh Radnor) revisiting his alma mater taps into college life's sense of discovery and direction, particularly in the super-seductive person of a passionate young sophomore (Elizabeth Olsen). Flitting about like a perpetually stoned Peter Pan, Zac Efron dispenses hippie wisdom about life and love.

Bing: More about Channing Tatum | More on Zac Efron

Two sort of serious comedies -- "Nobody Walks" and "The Oranges" -- focus on volatile visitors whose disturbing presence forces families to "graduate" to a whole new level of self-awareness and maturity. In "Walks," penned by Lena Dunham ("Girls"), paterfamilias John Krasinski falls for house guest Olivia Thirlby, while prodigal daughter Leighton Meester takes an unfortunate shine to Hugh Laurie, her parents' best friend. Nubile young things ... better than shrinks for family therapy!

Another Sundance fave, "Hello, I Must Be Going" is a romantic comedy about a 35-year-old divorcee (played by New Zealand's Melanie Lynskey) who moves back in with her parents, only to find herself deeply smitten by a good-looking actor 15 years her junior (Christopher Abbott of "Girls"). Will Amy find happiness by robbing the cradle, or will these unlikely lovers find their way into adulthood together?

A mashup of funny and serious, "Bringing Up Bobby" gives Milla Jovovich something to do besides kick ass. A con artist extraordinaire, charming Olive moves into an Oklahoma small town with her 10-year-old son, whom she dreams of raising on the square -- until Mom's history of bad behavior catches up with them. Bill Pullman's on board, always a plus, and "Bobby"'s debuting director is none other than the "X-Men" Phoenix, Famke Janssen.

The sound of music

Gird your loins, boys and girls! You're about to plunge into the "cutthroat world of college a cappella competition"! In "Pitch Perfect," Anna Kendrick, so chuckle-worthy in "50/50" and "Up in the Air," leads a gang of mismatched college girls (including Rebel Wilson as belter Fat Amy) who warble faves from the past and hits from right now! Do we have "Glee" to thank for this?

Can't imagine that the quirky musicians in helmer Ryan O'Nan's "The Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best" count "Glee" among their influences. Not in such a deadpan, surprisingly funny and dramatically deft indie about an idiosyncratic Brooklyn duo (O'Nan and Michael Weston) whose groove falls somewhere between the Shins and "Sesame Street"! Bonuses include a battle of the bands, plus family tsuris. Buzz has it that both the songs and the players are hot.

Hot Kevin James is not, not even a little bit. But in "Here Comes the Boom" the schlub funnyman reunites with director Frank Coraci ("The Zookeeper") to make sure the music never dies! This far-fetched and probably ultra-lucrative comic romp stars James as a biology teacher running on automatic until he suddenly comes alive as -- what else? -- a mixed martial arts fighter(!) in a bid to win dough to support his school's music program and its much-loved head (Henry Winkler).

Nuptial yuks

Where would Hollywood be without weddings, wellspring of nonstop giggles and raunch? Kirsten Dunst earned major kudos for her role as a deranged bride in Lars von Trier's apocalyptic "Melancholia"; Isla Fisher was LOL funny in "Wedding Crashers"; and Rebel Wilson majorly contributed to "Bridesmaids" bad-girl hijinks, so it was a no-brainer for debuting director-writer Leslye Headland to star them all in "Bachelorette," a down-and-dirty comedy about a night-before-the-wedding debauch.

"The Big Wedding"'s hook makes it a gold mine for ready-made mirth: A long-divorced couple (Robert De Niro and Diane Keaton) must pretend to be happily married during their son's nuptial festivities. You can imagine the hilarious contretemps and revelations that eventuate. Lucky wedding guests include Amanda Seyfried, Katherine Heigl, Susan Sarandon.

The American Dream goes sour

"Arbitrage"'s silver-haired Richard Gere parlays hedge-fund success into a financial empire until all his double-dealing comes home to roost. Sound familiar? Sundancers liked this take on the Madoff horror show. Will mainstream audiences buy tickets to this all-too-real reality program?

Gere's money manager would be right at home in the dark dystopia of "Branded," a futuristic thriller about humanity's last stand against corporate powers conspiring to literally get inside and control what's left of our ad-addled brains. Citizens United, anyone?

Whose side would Ayn Rand be on, we wonder, if she was a citizen of "Branded"? Hard to know for sure, but Part 2 of "Atlas Shrugged" may give us a clue. Rand's steel-souled corporate goddess Dagny Taggart (Samantha Mathis) will stop at nothing to find a new source of energy and save America's collapsing economy.

Moldering on the shelf for a bit, "Butter" introduces us to the unlikely art of butter-carving and the tempest in a teapot (or Tea Party) loosed during a Heartland contest for best butter sculpture. Jennifer Garner, Hugh Jackman, Alicia Silverstone and Ty Burrell go toe-to-toe in what might be seen as a tasty political allegory, or a cutting satire of small-town rivalry and the crazed race to win or, if you prefer, just a wicked funny farce about the little-known American art of butter-carving.

In "The Words," Bradley Cooper's another artist seeking success at any price, so he has no problem publishing -- under his own name -- the brilliant unsigned manuscript he's happened upon. What's the reckoning when the actual author (Jeremy Irons) shows up? Well, for sure lots of recriminations and soul-searching ... and the real writer will likely insist on seeing at least five or six past tax returns.

Bing: See photos of Bradley Cooper | More on Jeremy Irons

Kidstuff

If you loved "Finding Nemo" back in 2003, you'll go bonkers with delight for the chance to see colorful clownfish Marlin searching for his son Nemo off the Great Barrier Reef in glorious 3-D. Best fish heroine ever: Dory, voiced by Ellen DeGeneres.

Tim Burton's long-form version of "Frankenweenie," his brilliant 1984 live-action short, features a darker kind of quest, the resurrection of a beloved pup by Vincent (think Price), a weird waif who shares DNA with Edward Scissorhands and Ed Wood. Anyone with a sweet tooth for Burton's blackly funny visions will savor this twisted reimagining of "Frankenstein."

Vincent and his creepy pet would blend right in with the monstrous clientele -- Frankenstein and his bride, for starters -- of "Hotel Transylvania," Genndy Tartakovsky's (Cartoon Network's "Samurai Jack") first foray into animation. The joint's run by Dracula (Adam Sandler), overprotective dad of a 118-year-old teenage daughter (Selena Gomez). What could possibly go wrong when a cute human doofus (Andy Samberg) drops in?

Sequels, remakes and knockoffs

Speaking of vampires, just how much box-office blood can be sucked out of the spawn of successful horror movies? Time -- or eternity -- will tell, since the season's swollen with sequels: "[REC] 3: Genesis," "Taken 2," "Paranormal Activity 4," "Silent Hill: Revelation" in 3-D, and of course the ever-metastasizing "Resident Evil: Retribution." If you loved it the first time, why wouldn't you crave second and third servings? (Exception to snarky sequel kiss-offs: "Taken 2," elevated by the presence of the great Liam Neeson.)

If the original sucked, remake it and they will come ... and buy tickets! Remember Sly Stallone's dreadful "Judge Dredd"? Forget it. Karl Urban's a brand-new Dredd, dispensing swift and brutal justice in post-apocalyptic America (in 3-D). Gotta say that the presence of Lena Headey ("Game of Thrones") as a whore turned ruthless drug lord, intrigues.

"Stolen" is not a remake in the purest sense of the word, but this actioner about double-crossing cons and a kidnapped daughter has the smell of the Ghost Riding National Treasures Nic Cage turns out every 10 minutes. Set in the Big Easy, Cage's hometown, "Stolen" will almost certainly not resemble 2009's riveting "Bad Lieutenant: New Orleans -- Port of Call," in which Cage revealed he still has major acting chops.

Similarly, "Fun Size" looms as a clone of "The Sitter," last year's underrated coming-of-age comedy. Adventures in baby-sitting, part deux, features Victoria Justice (who's she again?), a pretty but lame stand-in for Jonah Hill, coolest sitter in the 'hood.

It's called cashing in on the newly hot: Elizabeth Olsen managed to walk away from that bloody "Silent House," so surely fellow breakout star Jennifer Lawrence can survive "House at the End of the Street," a twisty thriller about the new girl in town who falls for a dark and dangerous neighbor. Comparisons, probably seriously deluded, have been made to "The Cabin in the Woods."

Killer flicks

If you're saving your shekels for an orgy of autumnal multiplexing, be forewarned that movies can kill! In "Sinister," crime novelist Ethan Hawke finds that out firsthand by viewing, along with his family, a mysterious cache of soul-shattering home movies. If that doesn't make you think twice about screening horror shows, then buy a ticket to "V/H/S." Half a dozen "directors" are credited with shooting the stash of terrifying videotapes a bunch of hapless robbers find in the living room of an isolated house. The old-tech media are stacked within arm's reach of a couch-potato corpse, positioned to eyeball a phalanx of vintage TV sets. Sounds like DC Comics' old Crypt Keeper is back with a vengeance, ready to press play for your viewing pleasure!

Caveat emptor!

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