Oscar season is now in full swing as November sees two of the major contenders finally get their release in the UK. Both W and Changeling may end up competing in several categories including the most prestigious Best Film, Actor/Actress and Director.
If you are not for all the laa-di-daa of the Oscars then November also bring two high paced thrillers as DiCaprio takes on Crowe in Body of Lies and Mark Wahlberg is Max Payne in the big screen adaptation of the popular computer game.
So to guide you through what you should be watching over the coming weeks FemaleFirst take a look at some of the best that November has to offer.
Easy Virtue
Ben Barnes puts down his sword and Shield as Prince Caspian in the Narnia franchise to step into a more period movie in Easy Virtue , alongside Jessica Biel and Colin Firth.
Barnes plays John Whittaker, a young Englishman, falls madly in love with Larita, a sexy and glamorous American woman, and they marry impetuously.
However when the couple returns to the family home, his mother Mrs Whittaker has an instant allergic reaction to her new daughter-in-law.
Larita tries her best to fit in but fails to tiptoe through the minefield laid by her mother-in-law. Larita quickly realizes Mrs Whittaker’s game and sees that she must fight back if she’s not going to lose John.
A battle of wits ensues and sparks soon fly. Mrs Whittaker manipulates every situation to undermine her, while Larita remains frustratingly calm and engineers sassy counter attacks.
Before long, Mrs Whittaker’s manipulation starts to work on John and Larita feels their love is in danger of slipping away.
Easy Virtue is released 7th November
W
W is the first of this month's potential Oscar candidates come award season at the beginning of next year.
It's just one of a string of political themed movies that will be gracing the screen over coming weeks and is directed by Oliver Stone.
Starring Josh Brolin, part of Oscar winning No Country For Old Men cast, W follows the life of US President George W. Bush.
W is released 7th November
Max Payne
Moved back a few weeks Mark Wahlberg tackles the role of Max Payne in a genre of movie, i.e. the computer game adaptation, that hasn't really down well critically or commercially.
Based on the legendary, hard-hitting interactive video game, "Max Payne" tells the story of a maverick cop determined to track down those responsible for the brutal murder of his family and partner.
Hell-bent on revenge, his obsessive investigation takes him on a nightmare journey into a dark underworld.
As the mystery deepens, Max (Wahlberg) is forced to battle enemies beyond the natural world and face an unthinkable betrayal.
Max Payne finally hits cinemas on 14th November
Body of Lies
Two of Hollywood's heavyweights, in the form of Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe, go head to head in one of the highlights of the month Body of Lies, directed by Ron Howard.
Based on Washington Post columnist David Ignatius' 2007 novel about a CIA operative, Roger Ferris (Leonardo DiCaprio), who uncovers a lead on a major terrorist leader suspected to be operating out of Jordan.
When Ferris devises a plan to infiltrate his network, he must first win the backing of cunning CIA veteran Ed Hoffman (Russell Crowe) and the collegial, but perhaps suspect, head of Jordanian intelligence.
Although ostensibly his allies, Ferris questions how far he can really trust these men without putting his entire operation - and his life - on the line.
Body of Lies is released 21st November
Changeling
Changeling is the other Oscar hopeful that has eventually made it to UK screens after lighting up Cannes Film Festival and may prove to be the role that could at last land Angelina Jolie a Best Actress Academy award.
Los Angeles, 1928: On a Saturday morning in a working-class suburb, Christine said goodbye to her son, Walter, and left for work. When she came home, she discovered he had vanished. A fruitless search ensues, and months later, a boy claiming to be the nine-year-old is returned.
Dazed by the swirl of cops, reporters and her conflicted emotions, Christine allows him to stay overnight. But in her heart, she knows he is not Walter.
As she pushes authorities to keep looking, she learns that in Prohibition-era L.A., women don’t challenge the system and live to tell their story.
Slandered as delusional and unfit, Christine finds an ally in activist Reverend Briegleb (Malkovich), who helps her fight the city to look for her missing boy.
Based on the actual incident that rocked California’s legal system, Changeling tells the shocking tale of a mother’s quest to find her son, and those who won’t stop until they silence her.
Changeling is released 28th November
Other releases include Fernando Meirelles' Blindness, which only received a lukewarm response when it opened Cannes Film Festival earlier this summer and Robert De Niro is back with his comedy What Just Happened.
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw