5) Big Fish (December 10th)

It's been almost ten years since director Tim Burton has made a really great movie. His follow-ups to Ed Wood, namely Mars Attacks!, Sleepy Hollow, and Planet of the Apes, have been disappointments to some extent. Big Fish looks like perhaps Burton has once again hit the mark. Based on the novel by Daniel Wallace, it tells the story of a man trying to learn more about his dying father by recounting the fantastical deeds of his father's past. The premise seems to bring together Burton trademarks of epic scope and oddball sensibility and also brings together a cast of some of our favorite actors, including Ewan McGregor, Billy Crudup, and Helena Bonham-Carter (not to mention Albert Finney, Steve Buscemi, Jessica Lange, and Alison Lohman.) The trailer gives further confirmation that Burton has had a welcome return to form. Besides, if all that wasn't enough to get us excited about this movie, a movie that promises a giant fish right there in its title is something not to be missed.

4) The Last Samurai (December 5th)

Tom Cruise’s character in The Last Samurai spends an entire film learning what Sonny Chiba has already taught the rest of us: that samurais are uber-cool. He plays a Civil War veteran-turned Winchester gun spokesman who journeys to Japan to train the emperor’s troops in new methods that break from the traditional samurai ways. This instruction is particularly important to the emperor’s victory since his ultimate goal is to decimate the remaining samurai warriors. Cruise’s character is injured in battle and captured by the samurai, but after he heals their leader teaches the American about the Samurai Code rather than harming him further. In the end, the captain must make a decision as to which side he really wants to support.

With its white hot trailer and A-list star, The Last Samurai is positioned to be one of the best epics to hit the screen since Braveheart. We can’t to see the epic swordplay and the lush scenery, and have strong hopes that Cruise’s journey of redemption is as special as it feels.

3) Love Actually (November 7th)

Take the screenwriter of Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill and Bridget Jones' Diary, pair him with arguably one of the best romantic comedy actors working in films today, back them up with a stellar cast of British and American thespians, and what do you have?

Love Actually.

Richard Curtis, making his directorial debut with a script he wrote, teams once again with Hugh Grant for a film that will follow no fewer than ten separate love stories set during the holiday season in London. The stories will somehow eventually intertwine, and all climax on Christmas Eve.

The main story will focus on Grant, who plays the new British Prime Minister (with possibly a nod to the current PM, Tony Blair). Grant's PM is a single gentleman who falls in love with the girl who brings him tea on his first day in office. Emma Thompson and Alan Rickman will portray Grant's sister and brother-in-law, Liam Neeson will play a stepfather dealing with the first love of his very young stepson, and Colin Firth appears as a man who flees London for Paris after discovering his girlfriend is having an affair, where he falls in love with a French girl. Other notables appearing include Rowan Atkinson as a jeweler, Keira Knightley as a young bride, and Laura Linney secretly in love with a man she works with who believes no one is aware of her passion, especially the object of it.

Whew.

A lot of threads to keep track of, and a lot of different versions of love in all its glory. Were this anyone without the impressive track record of Curtis, there would be great cause for concern over whether the film would be able to pull off following all these diverse tales without confusing the hell out of the audience. But judging from the trailers, Curtis has once again managed to create characters we care about and want to see succeed in their relationships, and the sheer number of interwoven plots doesn't seem to have presented a problem. Universal is also lending a hand with this, going the platform-release route and including sneak previews in a number of major markets. For a film like this, positive reviews and word-of-mouth will be essential in helping it find an audience, and building slowly to the wide release can only help in this endeavor.

Explaining why Love Actually is one of the films we look forward to most this holiday season is almost as difficult as giving a good idea of the film from a two- or three-minute trailer. Certainly it seems like the audience is going to be asked to do a fair bit of work in watching the film. However, audiences have consistently demonstrated that they are willing to work if a project is worthwhile, and Love Actually seems to have all the right elements to not only reward the effort, but provide a lovely holiday film that is not too saccharine, not too sentimental, yet not too cynical. In short, Love Actually is a sweet-natured film aimed at adults, and celebrates all the ups and downs and faults and foibles that go with finding someone with whom you can spend the rest of your life.

2) The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (December 17th)

In shockingly controversial results, Return of the King only comes in second place on our list. Why is this shocking? Simply because Return of the King is the final episode to one of the most highly acclaimed and financially successful trilogies of all time. The only reason King can’t be called the most anticipated film of all time is because it hasn’t had enough time to build up momentum. But do not kid yourself; Return of the King is the event film of the holiday season even if it doesn’t rank at our number one spot. Return of the King garnered 13 first place votes versus the number one film’s four first place votes. Unfortunately for Return of the King, and all you Wizard’s apprentices out there, the number one film had a stronger showing in overall balloting as well as top three voting. Nevertheless, Return of the King promises to be epic, grand, emotional and very, very long and we absolutely cannot wait.

1) The Matrix Revolutions (November 5th)

Despite the fact that The Matrix Reloaded was equal parts sizzle and fizzle, The Matrix Revolutions comes in strong at our number one spot. Much like Return of the King, Revolutions is the final chapter in one of the most critically and commercially successful trilogies of all time. At the center of the anticipation is the promise, and fanboy hope, that The Matrix Revolutions will be more like The Matrix Revelations as it ventures to answer many of the questions proposed by Reloaded. If the film does clarify a lot of what Reloaded proposed, this elucidation could combine with lowered expectations to present one of the most fulfilling payoffs in movie history.