5. Rampart (February 10)

Coincidentally, Woody Harrelson stars here as a renegade cop the same week Training Day's Denzel Washington returns to moral ambiguity with Safe House. But I'm way more excited for Rampart, Owen Moverman's follow-up to The Messenger, thanks to good buzz, a screenplay co-written by noir king James Ellroy, and a supporting cast including Steve Buscemi, Ice Cube, and Sigourney Weaver. (Together at last.)

6. Footnote (February 24)

The premise sounds like a Woody Allen film: in the world of academia, a father thinks he's received a prize intended for his son.  Israel's entry in the Foreign Language Oscar sweepstakes also seems like an offbeat comedy of morals in the vein of the Coen Brothers' A Serious Man (but without the golem, the tornado or the goy's teeth). That may be enough to get me noshing some brain food at the end of February rather than enjoying a Twinkie like Wanderlust (especially if reviews for the upcoming Paul Rudd/Jennifer Aniston comedy are less than stellar).

7. Casa De Mi Padre (March 16)

Uh, so this is Will Ferrell as some kind of south-of-the-border vigilante rancher in what appears to be a Spanish-language parody of the Robert Rodriguez oeuvre. And Nick Offerman (a.k.a. Parks & Recreation's insanely awesome Ron Swanson) is in it, too. This totally sounds like another fake Grindhouse trailer, but if it really does turn out to be an actual movie, consider me there.

8. Jeff, Who Lives At Home (March 16)

And, mumblecore. If Jay and Mark Duplass (of Cyrus and Baghead fame) are releasing another slacker tale (this time featuring Jason Segel, Ed Helms, and the ever-lovely Judy Greer), it can only mean one thing: the annual indie migration to the SXSW Film Festival in Austin, TX has begun. So even if it's not very good, I'm sure I'll breathe a sigh of relief when Jeff, Who Lives At Home comes out, because (like the first robin of spring) it will surely mean the end of the 2012 winter doldrums is just around the corner.