Film Friday (10/10): This Week's New Movies & Trailers

Opening this weekend

Nationwide releases . Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day PG FAMILY/COMEDY Trailer Those adjectives are a bit too strong to describe critics' more middling reactions to this Disney adaptation of Judith Viorst's 32-page children's book of the same name. Steve Carell and Jennifer Garner star for director Miguel Arteta (Cedar Rapids). . The Judge R DRAMA Trailer Robert Downey Jr. and Robert Duvall star in this family/legal drama from director David Dobkin (Wedding Crashers). Critics are disappointed by the film, finding it second-rate and old-fashioned. . Dracula Untold PG-13 HORROR Trailer This latest reimagining of the Dracula tale is an action-filled origin story starring Luke Evans and Dominic Cooper. Critics advise a different name: Dracula Unseen. . Addicted R THRILLER Trailer Boris Kodjoe stars in an erotic thriller (based on Zane's novel) that was not screened in advance for critics. Notable limited releases . Whiplash R DRAMA   A winner of multiple awards at this year's Sundance festival (including the top prize), this intense drama follows the contentious relationship between Miles Teller's Andrew Neiman, an aspiring jazz drummer at a top music conservatory, and J.K. Simmons' Terence Fletcher, the demanding conductor who doesn't hesitate to use face-slapping and chair-throwing to get the best out of his students. . St. Vincent PG-13 COMEDY/DRAMA   A well-cast Bill Murray stars as a cantankerous retiree (with a fondness for booze and gambling) who forms an unlikely bond with the 12-year-old son (Jaeden Lieberher) of his neighbor (Melissa McCarthy) in this crowd-pleasing if a bit formulaic debut feature from longtime commercial director Theodore Melfi. . The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Her R DRAMA   . The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him R DRAMA   Released last month in a trimmed, combined version, this breakup drama now returns to a few theaters in its original format: as two separate films (screened back-to-back) told from the perspectives of the male (James McAvoy) and female (Jessica Chastain) halves of a married couple. . Kill the Messenger R THRILLER   Jeremy Renner stars as Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Gary Webb in this true story of the CIA's targeting of Webb after he published an article about their role in the crack cocaine problem in California, directed by TV veteran Michael Cuesta (Dexter, Homeland). . One Chance PG-13 COMEDY/DRAMA   This British dramedy depicts the true story of a shop assistant and amateur opera singer who became a nationwide phenomenon after winning Britain's Got Talent. Additional limited releases (in alphabetical order) . Autómata R SCI-FI/THRILLER iTunes . Awake: The Life of Yogananda NR DOCUMENTARY   . Botso NR DOCUMENTARY   . The Canal NR HORROR/THRILLER   . Catch Hell NR DRAMA/THRILLER iTunes . Cooties NR HORROR/COMEDY   . Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead R FOREIGN/HORROR/COMEDY/ACTION iTunes . The Devil's Hand PG-13 THRILLER   . Evolution of a Criminal NR DOCUMENTARY   . The Houses October Built NR HORROR   . I Am Ali PG DOCUMENTARY iTunes Amazon . Kite R ACTION/DRAMA iTunes Amazon . Meet the Mormons PG DOCUMENTARY   . The Overnighters PG-13 DOCUMENTARY   . The Pact 2 NR HORROR/THRILLER iTunes Amazon . #Stuck NR ROM-COM iTunes . You're Not You R DRAMA iTunes

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New trailers and updates for upcoming films

Tomorrowland's trailer, today It's your first (short) look at one of next year's most-anticipated films. Brad Bird’s first feature since 2011’s Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol tells the story of a former boy genius played by George Clooney, a curious teenager played by Britt Robertson, and a magical pin that allows them visit a place somewhere else in space and time. Scripted by Lost’s Damon Lindelof and also starring Hugh Laurie, Judy Greer, and Kathryn Hahn, Tomorrowland opens on May 22, 2015.

Will Smith tries to keep his Focus

Written and directed by John Requa and Glenn Ficarra (Crazy, Stupid, Love, I Love You Phillip Morris), Focus stars Will Smith as Nicky, a seasoned con man who becomes romantically involved with Jess, a novice con artist played Margot Robbie (The Wolf of Wall Street). Three years after they’ve ended their relationship, Jess shows up in Buenos Aires in the middle of Nicky’s latest scheme, throwing him off his game. With a cast that also includes Rodrigo Santoro, BD Wong, and Gerald McRaney, Focus comes to theaters on February 27, 2015.

Life partners?

In Life Partners, Leighton Meester and Gillian Jacobs play Sasha and Paige, best friends who use their co-dependent relationship as an excuse to avoid the dating world. But when Jacobs’ Paige meets Adam Brody’s Tim, her friendship with Sasha begins to change. Find out if these two can work it out when director Susanna Fogel’s debut feature comes to iTunes and VOD November 6th and theaters December 5th.

Bad Turn Worse

When it premiered in 2013 in Toronto under the title We Gotta Get Out of This Place, this Texas-set noir about three teens hoping to escape their dead-end cotton-mill town earned solid reviews. A year later, it is finally heading to theaters under a new name, Bad Turn Worse. Starring Mackenzie Davis, Jeremy Allen White, and Logan Huffman, plus Mark Pellegrino as the psycho they get involved with, the directorial debut for Simon and Zeke Hawkins will be in theaters and on iTunes and VOD beginning November 14.

A red-band look at Dear White People

The latest trailer for writer-director Justin Simien’s debut feature focuses on the ill-conceived Halloween party that fans the flames of the already tense race relations on the campus of Winchester University, where biracial student Samantha White (Tessa Thompson) hosts a radio show that gives the film its title: Dear White People. When it premiered at Sundance this year, this satire of modern American race relations collected very good reviews and earned Simien the Special Jury Prize for Breakthrough Talent. Look for it in select theaters next Friday.

Before I Go To Sleep

In this adaptation of S.J. Watson's best-selling novel, Nicole Kidman stars as an amnesiac who wakes every morning with no memory, thanks to a traumatic accident in her past. When terrifying new truths begin to emerge, she begins to question everything she’s told about her life and everyone in it, including her doctor (Mark Strong) and her husband (Colin Firth). Before I Go to Sleep, written and directed by Rowan Jaffe (Brighton Rock), opens in North America on October 31st. Lukewarm reviews greeted the film when it premiered in the UK.

The red-band trailer for Wolves

Lucas Till plays Cayden Richards, a high school student who discovers he is something more than human, in this feature directorial debut from writer David Hayter (X-Men). When he arrives in the town of Lupine Ridge, Cayden finds others like himself, including Angelina (Merritt Patterson), a young woman caught between two wolf clans, and the dangerous Connor (Jason Momoa). See if Cayden can survive the fight of his (admittedly young) life when Wolves comes to select theaters on November 14th.

Short takes

With Big Hero 6's November 7 release date rapidly approaching, Disney showed a new sizzle reel for their first animated movie inspired by a Marvel comic book at this week’s New York Comic-Con.

Already the recipient of great reviews, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtues of Ignorance) comes to select theaters next Friday. Here’s a clip of Michael Keaton, Zach Galifianakis, and Naomi Watts discussing Edward Norton’s character:

Standby is a romantic comedy starring Brian Gleeson and Mad Men’s Jessica Paré as exes who reunite by chance eight years later and spend one night together in Dublin.

News and notes

• A mere 83 films have been submitted for consideration in this year's foreign-language Oscar category. (By "mere," we mean "record-setting.") - Variety
• Lea Seydoux will play the femme fatale opposite Daniel Craig in Bond 24. - The Daily Mail
• Jennifer Jason Leigh will play Daisy Domergue, a female prisoner scheduled to hang, in Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight. - TheWrap
• Director Paul Feig and writer Katie Dippold, the team behind The Heat, will work together again on the female-led Ghostbusters reboot. - Heat Vision
• Casey Affleck will produce and star in Boston Strong, a drama about the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. - Variety
• Gore Verbinski (The Lone Ranger) will direct Steve Carell in a thriller written by Steve Conrad (The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty). - Deadline
• Alexandra Daddario, Tom Welling, Maggie Grace, and Tom Wilkinson have joined leads Benjamin Walker and Teresa Palmer in the Nicholas Sparks adaptation The Choice. - TheWrap
• Oliver Parker (Johnny English Reborn) will direct an adaptation of the BBC sitcom Dad’s Army with Bill Nighy, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Toby Jones, Tom Courtenay, and Michael Gambon attached to star. - Deadline
• Brad Furman (The Lincoln Lawyer) will direct Bryan Cranston as Robert Mazur in The Infiltrator, based on Mazur's autobiography about his undercover role in taking down the banks that supported Pablo Escobar. - Variety
• James DeMonaco will write and direct his third Purge movie. - Deadline