By Spencer. In this edition of The Futurist we look at some upcoming movies I’m hugely excited about — including Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar — and another one I will be trying my best to ignore. Even if it does have Jennifer Lawrence in it.

Gone Girl (Oct. 3): If you haven’t read Gillian Flynn’s bestseller, you might think this is just another garden-variety thriller. If you have read the book, you know better. (Just don’t spoil it for anyone). It’s a book that many thought was unfilmable, but if anyone can do it justice, it’s David Fincher. We already know he can turn pulp fiction like The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo into bleak, twisted magic, and The Social Network was way more interesting than it had a right to be. Ben Affleck may have no business playing Batman, but he’s the perfect choice for Nick Dunne, a middle-aged bartender who becomes the prime murder suspect when his wife goes missing. Rosamund Pike, Neil Patrick Harris, Tyler Perry, and Patrick Fugit fill out the cast. And Fincher has once again retained the services of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross to compose the score, so expect greatness there as well. The degree of difficulty makes this movie a risk — but if it does work, it’s going to be unforgettable.

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Interstellar (Nov. 7): There’s no movie I’m more excited about than this next effort from writer-director Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight, Inception, Memento). Starring Matthew McConaughey, fresh off his hot streak of Dallas Buyer’s Club and True Detective, Nolan is going full-on sci-fi with this attempt at a realistic take on mankind’s first attempt to travel to another star. McConaughey and Nolan are the obvious selling points, but the rest of the cast is just ridiculous — Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Casey Affleck, Topher Grace, Michael Caine, Wes Bentley, John Lithgow, Ellen Burstyn — and the trailer looks like a visual triumph pumped full of genuine emotion. For sheer ambition, it may just outdo last year’s Gravity, which will be saying something.

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Dumb And Dumber To (Nov. 14): Finally, a proper sequel to Dumb And Dumber — you know, one that actually has Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels in it. The Farrelly Brothers are also back on board, and to me, the only question is whether this movie is a few years too late? Will they be riding on nostalgia alone, or will they bring the laughs? It’s tough to say from the trailer; the gags there look weak, but there’s always the chance that they’re playing it smart and saving their best material for the movie. Right? Right?

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The Hunger Games – Mockingjay, Part 1 (Nov. 21): I’ve never seen a Hunger Games movie and I don’t plan to start now. Go ahead and bitch about it in the comments section. I dare you.

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The Imitation Game (Nov. 21): For those looking for a grown-up alternative to Mockingjay on November 21, this might be your pick. Sherlock‘s Benedict Cumberbatch stars as Alan Turing, the English mathematician who helped the Allies break the German Engima code during World War II. It’s an all-star cast of top-notch British talent that features Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode, Mark Strong, Allen Leech (of Downton Abbey fame), and — most intriguingly — Charles Dance from Game Of Thrones. This one might fly under the radar, but I for one don’t plan to overlook it.