Up first this week is The Descendants, the latest film from Alexander Payne and starring George Clooney as a Hawaiian land baron who, after his wife suffers a head injury in a boating accident, tries to reconnect with his daughters by taking them on a trip to confront the man his wife was having an affair with before her accident. This has done very well Stateside and it’s said to be the best Clooney has ever been, so this should certainly be worth a look.

Writer-director Joe Carnahan reteams with Liam Neeson for thriller The Grey, in which an oil-drilling team struggle to survive in the Alaskan wilderness after a plane crash strands them in the wild. Hunting the team are a pack of wolves who see them as intruders, which forces the group to fight back. This actually looks pretty badass (Liam Neeson versus Nature – who will win?), but there’s telling that this is Neeson’s best dramatic work in years.

Like Crazy is a romantic drama surrounding the efforts of two young people who meet and fall instantly in love when they meet as students at an L.A. university. However, the girl is British and ends up violating her student visa trying to stay in the US, which sees her deported. While fighting customs and immigration battles, the pair must decide if their relationship is worth the distance and the hardship. This did very well on the indie festival circuit, particularly at Sundance, so this could be a decent surprise for all.

Mercenaries is the second film from writer-director Paris Leonti, where he reassembles the cast from his first feature and adds Billy Zane to make this military actioner. A former British SAS operative-turned-mercenary is sent into the Balkans after a military uprising to rescue a US ambassador and his aide. Really, this is probably one for those who enjoy some trashy genre pictures.

Intruders is a horror thriller from Juan Carlos Fresnadillo and starring Clive Owen. It centres on the origin of the shadowy monsters that are created in childhood fears and are passed on by the family, becoming a genuine menace to everyone. I’m not entirely convinced by Fresnadillo’s full horror capabilities, but this could be the deciding title. Either way, a horror entry for the week helps keep the choice abound.

A Monster in Paris is a 3D animated French fantasy. In a Paris where a monster is terrorising the citizens, a shy movie projectionist and an inventor go on a hunt for the creature. However, a cabaret star, a scientist and the scientist’s pet monkey are out to save the monster from the city’s chief of police. Yeah, that sounds pretty bizarre, but it could be entertaining, too.

Agneepath is a remake of the 1990 crime film wherein a young man, after being taught about the path of fire (or Agneepath) by his father, flees with his pregnant mother after a drug lord murders his father. The young man then befriends a rival drug lord, and begins his long quest for revenge.

French writer-director Bertrand Bonello also brings his latest film, House of Tolerance, which centres on the closed-in world of a group of prostitutes in a Parisian brothel in the early 20th Century, studying the dynamics of the women who live and work with each other all the time.

All’s Well, Ends Well 2011 is the sixth instalment in the Hong Kong comedy series All’s Well, Ends Well. This film follows the romantic shenanigans within a cosmetics company, set off by the hiring of a new make-up artist. This is only a limited release, though, so you’ll need to hunt it down to see it.

Acts of Godfrey is the first directorial effort from Johnny Daukes, who also writes this comedy of errors starring Harry Enfield and Simon Callow, wherein Godfrey (yes, God) attempts to improve the love life of two people with hilarious results… and it’s told entirely in verse.

Finally, Patience (After Sebald) is a documentary about WG Sebald, a writer who travelled from Germany to England and, during his lifetime, was regarded by many as one of the greatest writers alive.

Enjoy your week’s viewing, everyone.