Putting a pretty face on robots in Surrogates.

3) Surrogates (Buena Vista, Sept. 25)
Industrial Light & Magic, The Moving Picture Co., The Layersmith Digital, Lidar Services, Sandbox F/X and Synthespian Studios are all involved in this sci-fi offering, starring Bruce Willis. The film is set in a future where humans live in isolation while robotic surrogates roam the world in their place. Lots of impressive digital humans and robot work in this thriller. Graphic novels always serve as wonderful source material for some amazing vfx work.

In 2012, the world comes to an end.

2) 2012 (Columbia, Oct. 13)
Sony Pictures Imageworks, Double Negative, Digital Domain, Gradient Effects, Hydraulx, Scanline VFX, Evil Eye, Pixomondo and many more help Roland Emmerich destroy the world. Based on the conspiracy theory that the end of the world will come when the Mayan calendar ends in 2012, this thriller brings floods, earthquakes, volcanoes, you name the natural disaster and this one's got it. When it comes to the fall flick with the most visual effects, this one has all the rest beat, for sure.

Spike Jonze captures the wild side of children in Where the Wild Things Are.

1) Where the Wild Things Are (Warner Bros., Oct. 16)
But the visual effects that are usually the most beloved each year are the ones that move us. Framestore, Digital Rain, Iloura and Quantum Creation FX are all part of bringing Spike Jonze's version of Maurice Sendak's classic children's tale to the big screen. Judging from the trailer, the combination of digital faces and detailed costumes for Wild Things make this one of the most effective uses of visual effects this year. Did you get chills when you first saw them? Did they make you want to go see the movie? If your answer is yes, like us, then the visual effects are engaging an audience already.

Rick DeMott is the director of content for Animation World Network, VFXWorld and AWNtv. Additionally, he's the creator of the movie review site, Rick's Flicks Picks. He has written for TV series, such as Discovery Kids' Growing Up Creepie and Cartoon Network's Pet Alien, the animation history book Animation Art, and the humor, absurdist and surrealist website Unloosen. Previously, he held various production and management positions in the entertainment industry.