2008 Winter Movie Guide

The Pitch
Two energy-drink salesmen who oversample their wares crash their truck and get arrested. Go directly to jail -- or mentor a couple of hapless kids. Bad idea, your honor.

The Scoop
A hookup made in heaven -- or hell, depending on your tastes -- yokes actor-writer Rudd from ApatowWorld, actor-writer-director Wain of "Wet Hot American Summer" fame and "American Pie" veteran Scott. Gear up for mucho man-boy charm and sophomoric hijinks. Could be wrong, but doubt it'll rank high as a chick-flick fave.

The Pitch
In this panoramic view of streetlife and love and among "slumdogs" in Mumbai, India, Danny Boyle ("The Beach," "28 Days Later," "Sunshine") takes novelistic aim at all of the social, economic, political and emotional realities that shape the fates of two orphaned brothers and their fearless girl-pal. Things get really hot when one of the slumdogs begins to win big on the TV show "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?"

The Scoop
Boyle's directorial record is uneven, to say the least: His imagination often seems to exceed his talent and control. "Slumdog" has interesting parallels to "Millions," his 2004 film about a couple of Brit kids and unexpected loot, with an equally unknown cast. Boyle's latest was a major fave at the Toronto International Film Festival: Audiences and critics alike praised its bravura plunge into the "sights and sounds and sensations" of India.

The Pitch
After the leader (John Legend) of an old R&B band kicks the bucket, two feuding backup singers (Mac and Jackson) who haven't spoken for 20 years are forced to put aside their differences long enough to boogie on over to Harlem's Apollo Theater for a tribute concert.

The Scoop
The film's comic squabbling is likely to be laced with unavoidable sadness in the wake of Mac's passing (the late Isaac Hayes also makes a cameo appearance). But, as the battling odd couple, Jackson will likely bob while Mac weaves, shaking thangs up like true soul men. Spike Lee's cousin directs.

The Pitch
British comic Danny Wallace once conducted an experiment to see what would happen if he said yes to every suggestion for the next several months. The results inspired the book "Yes Man," which became in turn the basis for this Jim Carrey vehicle.

The Scoop
Jim Carrey made a mint by refusing to fib in his 1997 hit "Liar Liar," so why shouldn't he get lucky by compulsively saying OK to everything? And Mr. Rubber Face surely needs to get lucky, hit-wise, since his efforts ("The Number 23," for example) at serious acting have fallen way off box-office radar. Peyton Reed, director of "Bring It On" and "The Break-Up," helms this comedic parable about the blessings of openness, taken, of course, to Carreyesque extremes.