The year 2012 bears the burden of apocalyptic Mayan calendar predictions and a curious onscreen fascination with speculative science fiction dramas but, apparently seeking to top things off, writer Dinesh D’Souza teams up with John Sullivan to speculate about the true intentions of President Barack Obama in 2016: Obama’s America.  

More found footage to creep us out. This time, a true-crime writer (Ethan Hawke) and his family move into a new home with a deep dark history that unspools in the home movies languishing in the attic.  

The independently produced feature film conclusion of this adaptation of Ayn Rand’s opus from television directing veteran John Putch (Cougar Town), who takes over for Paul Johansson, has Samantha Mathis stepping into the role of Dagny Taggart, the heroine who uncovers the answer to the global energy crisis and must do all she can to stave off an apocalyptic event.   

Kevin James and the Happy Madison (Adam Sandler) production team take a humorous and more broadly mainstream stab at Warrior, except they bypass all of the useless drama about brothers battling in the finale.  

In Seven Psychopaths, Colin Farrell plays a struggling screenwriter who stumbles into a criminal plot to earn money by kidnapping dogs for large ransoms. Things go awry when the writer’s bumbling crew (Sam Rockwell and Christopher Walken) faces off against a dangerously deranged mob boss (Woody Harrelson).  

In what should be an iconic image, we see Sixto Diaz Rodriguez, a Folk singer who recorded his first single “I’ll Slip Away” back in 1967, strolling along with his guitar case strapped across his back. His long dark hair billows in halo-like fashion around his head; his eyes hidden behind dark shades.
  

This is not just my response to the first presidential debate, which truth be told wasn’t a debate at all since one of the guys behind the podium was decidedly not in the mood to debate or discuss much of anything that voters might have been concerned about.   

A young adopted girl (Yara Shahidi) in Iowa discovers her destiny when she takes up butter carving and faces off against the local hometown champion (Jennifer Garner). Butter sounds cheesy, but director Jim Field Smith has the talent to carve out a real winner.   

Taken 2 charts the collision course between former CIA operative Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) and Murad Krasniqi (Rade Serbedzjia). Krasniqi wants revenge; Mills killed his son, but to be fair, he did so because Krasniqi’s son had kidnapped Mills’ daughter.  

Tim Burton goes back to an idea from his early days as a filmmaker, exploring the Frankenstein monster from the perspective of childhood. Young Victor, a more modern child, has the perfect pet that dies, so he endeavors to bring him back to life with a little lightning and a lot of love, but there are always consequences.