Ten Movies to Watch in 2013

9. Elysium
opens August 9
Writer-director Neill Blomkamp proved to be a master of metaphor with his debut, District 9 (2009), a biting sci-fi allegory about apartheid. Hopes are high for the Occupy-inflected Elysium, set in 2159 and pitting the cosseted rich who live on the space station of the title against the 99 percent, barely surviving on a destroyed Earth.

10. Runner, Runner
opens September 27
In his last outing, The Lincoln Lawyer (2011), director Brad Furman showed a knack for jazzing up a legal thriller, one that ushered in the Second Coming of Matthew McConaughey. Working with a blue-chip cast--Ben Affleck, Justin Timberlake, and the always-welcome Anthony Mackie--Furman should be able to deliver another satisfying genre picture with this tale of offshore online gaming.

--Melissa Anderson

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