My present to you is a list of films making their debut this holiday season. My most awaited flick is
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (Dec 25th), Heath Ledger's last film. Ledger plays Tony, who passes through a magic mirror and reappears looking like Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell. Not bad, huh?
Second on my list...
Sherlock Holmes (Dec 25th) with Robert Downey Jr., Rachel McAdams and encore, Jude Law! Need I say more?
Of course I have to include the overly promoted animated SciFi flick,
Avatar (Dec 18th), in 3-D, obviously...
I can not miss
Invictus (Dec 11th). Directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon, this is the most serious film in my list: Nelson Mandela, apartheid, and rugby.
Up in the Air and
It's Complicated, (both Dec 25th) get listed here for pure star appeal. Who can miss a chance to watch George (Clooney, that is) jet around the world? Or delight over the antics of real grown-up people (and wonderful actors) Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin, Steve Martin, and Rita Wilson?
Did You Hear About the Morgans? (Dec 18th) with Hugh Grant and Sarah Jessica Parker. Sorry, I just love SJP. Do you remember Parker and Helen Hunt in
Girls Just Want To Have Fun, circa 1985? (Spoiler alert! Guess you can guess what generation I'm from.)
For animated fun, I choose
Disney's Princess and the Frog (Dec 11th), with the voices of Keith David, Oprah Winfrey, and John Goodman.
(Drum roll, please) The finale is of course this years Broadway-play-on-film,
"Nine". Rob Marshall directs Daniel Day-Lewis, Marion Cotillard, Penélope Cruz, Fergie, Nicole Kidman, Judi Dench, Kate Hudson, and Sophia Loren in this play about players on and off the stage.
So everyone, have a wonderful Christmas! and may your New Year be filled with great movies (ok, peace, health, and happiness too).
Love, your Movie Maven
Life's complicated, but It's Complicated is just exhilarating! A "laugh-out-loud", sides hurting, thoroughly entertaining film. See it!
If you are looking for an adventure, Sherlock Holmes is just the thing! I think Robert Downey Jr. was born to play Holmes, the quintessence of the famous sleuth. Of course, I thought the same thing when he played Chaplin. Downey is reborn every time he goes on stage. Jude Law's Dr. Watson is the perfect foil for Downey's antics. Rachel McAdams is stunning as Holmes' love interest. Mark Strong played the villain, Blackwood, as well as Basil Rathbone would have. The 1800's set and costumes were a bonus. I would definitely put this one on your "after-Christmas" events. 
George Clooney is, I believe, the "Cary Grant" of the 90's. He is suave, debonair, charismatic and in Up In the Air emotionally unavailable. I was prepared to see a romantic comedy but this flick, directed by Jason Reitman, is not an uplifting film. Ryan Bingham (Clooney) is an HR administrator who spends his life flying from one downsizing company to another doling out pink slips and platitudes across the country. Something we all fear in this economy. Bingham is rarely in the office or on the ground. His only goal is to reach the elusive 10-million-mile mark. His reward: his name on the side of a plane and a meeting with legendary pilot Maynard Finch (superbly played by Sam Eliot). Along the way he tries to relate to a young HR initiate, Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick). Bingham does make connections along his way with Alex Goran who tells Ryan to "think of me as you, with a vagina" (delightfully played by Vera Farmiga) and a feeble attempt to show interest in his siblings lives by showing up at his sister's wedding. He redeems himself somewhat by calming the groom's cold feet with an awkward pep talk. I really liked this well acted film. A grown-up comedy with realistic grown up problems.
Director James Cameron's expensive and long awaited Avatar was well worth the cold, early Saturday drive to Reading, MA and the $13.00 ticket to see it in an IMAX theatre. I liked the story, the social commentary, the acting (Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver), and the amazing special effects. I was swallowed up by the scenery and bigger than life characters. For two hours and forty minutes I was thoroughly engrossed in the struggle for survival of Pandora's indigenous Na'vi race. Avatar is definitely a Christmas treat worth seeing.
How can you go wrong spending the afternoon watching one of Hollywood's biggest actors. Frank Goode (Robert De Niro) finds that after loosing his wife he has little connection to his four grown children (Drew Barrymore, Kate Beckinsale, and Sam Rockwell). Yes, I said four... however, the whereabouts of his son Jack is just the focal point of all the small lies, omissions, and deceits we all tell to protect those we love. Frank, not in the best of health, is disappointed when all his children cancel a visit to their childhood home so against doctor's orders he sets off on bus and train to reconnect with each of them. Great acting tells this family story with great heart and honesty. This drama is worth the ticket.
I have to admit here that I have not read Stephanie Meyers' books.
