Sticks and stones may break my bones, but neither they nor anything else could keep me from seeing this true-life tale, based on Laura Hillenbrand's refulgent 2002 biography of the great little racehorse Seabiscuit, whose rags-to-riches life is more exhilarating and heartwarming than any fiction could be. It stars Tobey Maguire as the horse's calamity-plagued jockey 'Red' Pollard, Jeff Bridges as Seabiscuit's loving owner Charles Howard and Chris Cooper as his taciturn but gifted trainer Tom Smith. Happily, the advance buzz indicates that this one is as good as even I want it to be. (Jul. 25)

The Shape of Things

Director Neil LaBute has referred to this film, an adaptation of his 2001 play of the same name, as a thematic counterpart to his 1997 "In the Company of Men," which painted a pretty degenerate picture of the male psyche. Paul Rudd plays a museum guard who falls in love with an art student (Rachel Weisz). Consequently, he becomes more appealing to an old unrequited love, who's unfortunately engaged to his best friend. LaBute does tangled love webs with wonderful bite and brutality-witness the 2000 pseudo-noir "Nurse Betty." (May 9)

Masked and Anonymous

The early buzz is awful. Director Larry Charles' most noteworthy accomplishments are writing credits for TV comedies. The plot-a wandering musician named Jack Fate (no joke) busts out of prison to play one last concert in a fictional country besieged by a fictional civil war-is unpromisingly bizarre. But it stars Bob Dylan. Say what you will about his past movie choices (and you could say plenty), but anything that reveals even the merest glimpse into that most agile and magnificent of minds is worth a lot more than my eight bucks. (Jul. 25)

Le Divorce

Corset whore James Ivory, helmer of such fare as "Howards End" and "The Golden Bowl," leaves Empire waists in the dust with this romantic comedy about a film school dropout, Isabel (Kate Hudson), who comes to Paris in aid of her pregnant, jilted sister Roxeanne (Naomi Watts) and finds herself embroiled in an affair with her brother-in-law's 70-year-old uncle. Yeah, you read right. Tell me you're not intrigued! (Jul. 16)

Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde

Reese Witherspoon's Elle Woods heads to Washington, D.C., where she embarks upon a massive animal rights case. Unfortunately, the original film's director is MIA, a sure recipe for trouble with sequels. The good news: the director of the sublime "Kissing Jessica Stein" has taken over. This movie needs to walk a very fine line between amiable irreverence and annoying irrelevance. Let's hope it does. (Jul. 2)