By R. Kurt Osenlund, film critic and correspondent

Behold -- some of the newest trailers for some of the most exciting films in the pipe.

THE READER
From Stephen Daldry and David Hare, the director and writer of 2002's acclaimed film, "The Hours," comes this gripping post-WWII mystery. Based on the 1995 novel of the same name by Bernhard Schlink, the film tells the story a young man who has an affair with an older German woman, then reunites with her when she's on trial for war crimes. One of two December releases to feature the great Kate Winslet (the other is husband Sam Mendes' "Revolutionary Road"), "The Reader" also stars Ralph Fiennes and Bruno Ganz.

SEVEN POUNDS
Superstar Will Smith reunites with his "Pursuit of Happyness" director, Gabrielle Muccino, in this existensial tale in which he plays a man who must seek penance by - apparently - paying it forward, so to speak, to seven strangers. The preview below is rather cryptic about the plot. The supporting cast includes Woody Harrelson, Barry Pepper, Michael Ealy, and the lovely Rosario Dawson.

NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH
In this journalistic thriller, Kate Beckinsale plays a Washington D.C. reporter who refuses to give up her source for a turbulent story at all costs. The film's distributors have intriguingly not released a familiar, all-encompassing trailer, but a series a brief clips. I chose the one in which Beckinsale confronts the fantastic Vera Farmiga, who presumably plays one of the subjects of her story.