Look, if you've seen the other four movies and loved them, you're going to love this one, too. If you enjoy hate-watching them (like we usually do), there's plenty for you here as well. If you hated them and somehow think this one is going to be miraculously better, then you've got another thing coming. Or, if you are like the young woman sitting behind us at the screening who had never seen any part of the saga before, you will ask a million questions throughout the movie about the characters, laugh at unfunny things and then think it was a quality movie. Don't be that person.

There are many different ways to approach a man who lived as monumental a life as Abraham Lincoln. You could, for instance, focus entirely on his early years as a lawyer as John Ford did in the 1939 classic, Young Mr. Lincoln. Or you could zero in on the Civil War, with Lincoln's life taking a backseat to the fighting. Or you could even turn him into a vampire hunter, using the supernatural as a metaphor for Lincoln's desire to see every individual freed from the bonds of slavery, be they property of plantation owners or bloodsuckers. In the case of Lincoln, Steven Spielberg's oh-so-prestigious entry in the awards season sweepstakes, the director telescopes his subject's life into roughly a single month: January 1865, when a newly re-elected Lincoln used his ferocious will and political capital to ensure the passage of the 13th Amendment, which officially outlawed slavery in the United States. That's right, in a way this is a live-action, feature-length version of that old Schoolhouse Rock ditty "I'm Just a Bill" (or it's even better Simpsons parody "Amendment to Be") where viewers are invited to watch the long, contentious and often ugly process of how the proverbial political sausage gets made in Washington.

Let's start off by answering the biggest question first: yes, Skyfall really is as great as you've been hearing. The 23rd entry in the venerable James Bond franchise isn't just the best studio blockbuster of the year -- featuring a better story than The Avengers, fewer logic gaps than The Dark Knight Rises and rip-roaring action sequences that easily outclass pretenders like The Hunger Games and Battleship -- it also ranks in the top five (hell, maybe even the top three) Bond adventures that have come along in 007's now 50-year big-screen history. In a fall that's packed with awards-friendly prestige pictures, Skyfall is reminder that a smart, beautifully-crafted and, in general, kick-ass action movie can be as worthy of serious acclaim and respect as any historical biopic or weighty drama. With that out of the way, time to get to some of your other burning queries:

Disney's new videogame themed animated feature Wreck-It Ralph may ostensibly be for kids, but the viewers who will probably enjoy it most are those who were children 30 years ago. At least, that was my experience when I saw the movie with my 5-year-old son; although he mostly enjoyed the misadventures of the title character (voiced to perfection by John C. Reilly), the designated bad guy in an 8-bit Donkey Kong-like arcade game called Fix-It Felix, Jr., it was my inner child -- the one who grew up playing those vintage '80s games -- that was really doing cartwheels. Throughout this delightful cartoon romp, director Rich Moore (making his feature debut after years of working on some of the past animated TV shows around, including The Simpsons and Futurama) pays homage to that formative era of gaming with such affection and wit, it'll make you want to get rid of your Wii and order an old-school, first-generation NES (or, if you're really splurging, a refurbished coin-operated arcade game) off eBay.

According to the trailers, Robert Zemeckis's latest film (and his first live-action effort since Cast Away over a decade ago) Flight is about a daring pilot (Denzel Washington) who manages to land a free-falling plane with a minimal loss of life. Once he's on the ground, though, reports emerge that he may have been drunk as a skunk while flying, which means he might have caused the crash. So what's the truth? Is he a hero or a villain? The ads pose this question in the context of a thriller, playing up the notion that Washington is struggling to clear his name. The actual film, however, is something quite different and discussing it any substantial detail is going to involve discussing some key story points that aren't part of the trailers. So for those who prefer to remain at the boarding gate while I go on a ride with Flight, here's your Spoiler Warning.

The only thing more clichéd than young ladies dressing ultra-sexy for Halloween are jokes about young ladies dressing ultra-sexy for Halloween -- and unfortunately for Fun Size, the latest PG-13 venture directed by The OC/Chuck/Gossip Girl mastermind Josh Schwartz, there's a new joke about how girls sure like wearing tight costumes every other scene. There is also a strange amount of gags about pedophiles, lots of horribly obvious product placement, several instances of 18-year-old girls existing only as sex objects and... Johnny Knoxville getting blown up by fireworks. You're not exactly going to see Seth and Summer 2.0 anytime soon, is what I'm trying to say. (Though there is a character dressed as Spiderman for 90 percent of the film.)

Too many cinematic adaptations of popular novels make the mistake of trying to replicate the book almost word-for-word onscreen, either due to a failure of imagination on behalf of the filmmakers or out of fear that story's fans will reject even the slightest change. (A fear that's not entirely off-base, by the way; for example, a sizeable chunk of Harry Potter fans still haven't forgiven Alfonso Cuarón for the liberties he took in the film version of The Prisoner of Azkaban.) But you can't accuse the formidable filmmaking trio of Tom Tykwer, Andy Wachowski and Lana Wachowski of playing it safe with their adaptation of David Mitchell's gem of a novel, Cloud Atlas. While the movie is recognizably the book that Mitchell wrote, the writer/directors have shaped and molded the text in a way that reflects their own specific interests and sensibilities. Both the film's greatest strength -- as well as, ultimately, one of its weaknesses -- is that it's a true act of interpretation, not simply recitation.

If you were looking to fill the role of a forensic psychologist/homicide detective who is tasked with tracking down a ruthless serial killer, Tyler Perry probably wouldn't be the first name to spring to mind. Heck, he probably wouldn't be the 50th name to spring to mind. Yet there's the writer/director/actor/one-man movie industry on the poster for Alex Cross, the would-be launching pad for a new film franchise based on James Patterson's bestselling crime fiction series about the titular investigator, previously portrayed by Morgan Freeman in a pair of moderately successful movies from over a decade ago. Looking at the somber expression Perry wears both on the one-sheet and throughout the movie, one can't help but wonder what's going through his head. Is it, "Boy, I gotta catch this guy." Or, "Remember, you aren't Madea right now -- no smiling." Or maybe he's just thinking, "What the hell am I doing in this hot mess anyway?"

Another October, another Paranormal Activity sequel. Having already ended the reign of the previous premiere Halloween horror franchise (those infernal Saw movies), Paranormal Activity is now the scary movie season's big kahuna -- the film that other studios go out of their way to avoid competing against. Which is why Paranormal Activity 4 is flooding the multiplex unopposed two weeks before the trick-or-treating and/or costume party debauchery begins. Since, as always, the details of the movie have been kept shrouded in secrecy, here are four things you should know about this fourth chapter before you head off to the theater. See you back here -- same spooky time, same spooky channel -- in October 2013 for Paranormal Activity 5.

Helen Hunt auditions to replace Penelope Cruz in the English-language remake of Woman on Top. Also, quick takes on the French movies Holy Motors and All Together.