10 Movies We Might Actually Pay to See in '09

Julia Roberts and Clive Owen's 'Duplicity,' plus 9 other movies that make us curious enough to not wait for Netflix.

By ELIZABETH BOUGEROL

Updated 3:45 AM EST, Fri, Jan 9, 2009

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ADORATION -- Atom Egoyan, he of Exotica and other Canadian arthouse fare, helms a quiet story (aren't they all) about a student whose homework from French class sparks all sorts of questions about how to live in an increasingly scary world. Rachel Blanchard, Scott Speedman star in this story that won the Ecumenical Jury Prize at Cannes in '08. (May 8)

DUPLICITY -- Espionage this, surveillance that: The real draw here is watching Clive Owen and Julia Roberts as a couple of spies in a movie with plenty of Ocean's Eleven style and sheen. (March 20)

WATCHMEN -- "A complex, multi-layered mystery adventure, the film is set in an alternate 1985 America in which costumed superheroes are part of the fabric of everyday society…" begins the blurb about this movie adaptation of the cult comic book. Whatever - all we know is heir-to-the-Clooney-hotness Jeffrey Dean Morgan stars in it, and, we're not made of wood, people. (March 6)

OBSESSED -- It's not like we sit around going "You know, 'Single Ladies' is a nice song and all, but what I'd really like to see from Beyoncé is a nuanced thriller about infidelity." Still, we're more than a little curious at the strange buzz this movie -- and her performance in it -- are getting. (April 24)

YEAR ONE (no trailer yet) -- Jack Black and Michael Cera play Neanderthals who wander into the Old testament where they meet a host of characters like Cain and Abel, played by David Cross and Paul Rudd. We're giggling already. (June 19)

WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE -- We're wildly curious at how Spike Jonze has captured the magic of this children's bookshelf classic with minimal CGI (the whole thing was shot in Australia) - and to see whether or not he's pulled it off. (Oct. 16)

PUBLIC ENEMIES -- Johnny Depp plays notorious '30s outlaw John Dillinger, Christian Bale plays the fed who's after him, and director Michael Mann (Heat) insisted on shooting in the real locations where it all went down. Can't wait. (July 1)

JULIE & JULIA (no trailer yet) -- Nothing against Amy Adams, whom we're sure is delightful as Julie, the wit's-end secretary who finds herself while cooking Julia Child's oeuvre. But the thought of Meryl Streep becoming Child -- curly wig, plummy tones and all -- is what really whets our appetite. (Aug. 7)

LAST CHANCE HARVEY -- Yeah, this movie about two hapless middle-aged people who find love after they've given up on their dreams (or something) is probably gauzy boomer-romance porn. But super-talented Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson are bound to put some meat on the movie's bones. (Plus: Pretty pictures of London!) (Wide release Jan. 16)

THE INTERNATIONAL -- Clive Owen (again!) and Naomi Watts city-hop in a Bourne-style tale of international intrigue (Berlin! Milan! New York! Istanbul!) which involves banks doing terrible things and not telling anyone. Sound familiar? (Feb. 13)