The 100 key films of 2013: Nos 31-40

Grace of Monaco: On one level, another in the movie world’s sudden fascination for raking over the past oeuvre of Alfred Hitchcock; on another, a portrait of the ice-maiden who made the leap from Hollywood to proper royalty. Nicole Kidman takes on the role of Grace Kelly (pictured above) as was, in a film that focuses on the early years of Kelly’s marriage to Rainier III. Olivier “Ma Vie en Rose” Dahan directs; presumably in the hope of sprinkling some of that Euro-crossover stardust Photograph: Hulton Archive/Getty Images

The Grandmasters: Yip Man has gone down in legend as Bruce Lee’s teacher, and of course the brash and sharp-eyed Hong Kong film industry has already gone to town on him: most notably a brace of films starring Donnie Yen. Those were fairly straightforward period kung fu films; but Wong Kar-wai, the Ray-Bans toting sophisticate behind such langourous, hothoused creations as In the Mood for Love, 2046 and Fallen Angels, will no doubt be offering something a little different. Wong will be hoping, no doubt, it marks a way back after the general ridicule that greeted his last film, My Blueberry Nights, some six years back Photograph: PR

Gravity: Alfonso Cuarón’s follow-up to Children of Men has been a long time coming. This sci-fi script, co-written with his son Jonás, has been floating about for years; not unlike, perhaps, the two survivors of a disaster-stricken space voyage it portrays. Sandra Bullock and George Clooney (above in The Descendants) were the two actors finally cast, after a number of high profile dropouts; plus there’s more than a hint of a previous Clooney project, the Solaris remake, in the story of astronauts stranded in the depths of space Photograph: Allstar/FOX SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES/Sportsphoto Ltd./Allstar

The Great Gatsby: Gatsby remains one of the Holy Grails of American cinema, despite – or perhaps because of – the underperforming 1974 adaptation starring Robert Redford and Mia Farrow. This time, with Baz Lurhmann aboard and DiCaprio and Carey Mulligan in the signature roles of Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan, it would appear that the heavy guns are being wheeled out again. Lurhmann, of course, worked with DiCaprio way back on Romeo+Juliet; this is shaping up to be another outing for Luhrmann’s preferred weaponry of Dayglo visuals, funky contempo sounds and a sort of MTV-inflected sexiness Photograph: PR

Her: We’ve come to expect the unexpected from Spike Jonze – not the least that he doesn’t rush into things. His $100m adaptation of a 48-page kids book, Where the Wild Things Are, was four years back; now he’s offering up a bizarre little number about a man who falls in love with a computer operating system. We kid you not: the official synopsis tells us: “A lonely writer purchases a newly developed operating system designed to meet the user’s every needs. To Theodore’s surprise, a romantic relationship develops between him and his operating system...” Jonze’s lead is … yes.... Joaquin Phoenix, arguably the only actor on the planet who could make sense of it all Photograph: Armando Gallo/ Armando Gallo/Retna Ltd./Corbis

Hitchcock: Anthony Hopkins dons extra chin and phoney belly to play Hitch, who finds his marriage to Alma Reville (Helen Mirren) perked up when he signs on to direct Psycho in 1950. James D’Arcy is Anthony Perkins, Scarlett Johansson Janet Leigh and Jessica Biel Vera Miles. The director is, slightly strangely, Sacha Gervasi, who made brilliant music documentary Anvil Photograph: Allstar/FOX SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES/Sportsphoto Ltd./Allstar

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug: Peter Jackson’s first instalment in the saga of Tolkein’s hisuite heroes met with slightly muted response. But both critics and fans alike will be keeping their powder dry till they’ve seen two-thirds of the trilogy, which will be around this time next year Photograph: Issei Kato/REUTERS

How I Live Now: Braced by the success of his Bob Marley documentary, Last King of Scotland director Kevin Macdonald returns to fiction with this adaptation of Meg Rossoff’s multi-award-winning dystopian teen novel. Saoirse “Hanna” Ronan, plays the lead: an American 15-year-old stuck in the English countryside when a massive war breaks out. Something of the flavour of The Hunger Games, perhaps; though if it’s a massive hit there are no obvious sequel novels to draw on Photograph: Camilla Morandi / Rex Features/Camilla Morandi / Rex Features

Hyde Park on Hudson: Will Roger Michell’s real-life comedy drama about a visit by stuttery George VI (Samuel West) to the country pile of President Roosevelt (Bill Murray) on the eve of the second world war be this year’s The King’s Speech? Likely not, but there’s little denying both the salebility and sturdy workmanship behind this glossy piece of masterpiece theatre Photograph: PR

I'm So Excited: The trailer premiered on our site promises disco-dancing thrills galore, living up to the Pointer Sisters’ track that gives Pedro Almodovar’s latest its English-language title. (The original Spanish title is the slightly less polyester Los Amantes Pasajeros.) This ”very light comedy”, as Almodovar himself has it, is set aboard a plane bound for Mexico City that is forced to make an emergency landing; something tells me we’re less likely to be quailing under the cosh of an Alive/Fearless type of thing, and more grappling with the heft and substance of the video for Britney Spears’ Toxic Photograph: PR