Holiday Movie Preview
By: Patrick Jarkowsky
Issue date: 12/15/09 Section: Entertainment
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Here is a little guide for the flicks that should be on your definite must-see list
Precious (Nov. 20)
If you're looking for a good cry, check out this gritty tearjerker, starring newcomer Gabourey Sidibe as an overweight, illiterate, pregnant, and sexually abused teen living in the slums of New York. It sounds like an overall downer - but the film has an uplifting message, and heart wrenching performances by Sidibe, Mo'Nique, and Paula Patton.
The Princess and the Frog (Nov. 25)
For your inner-child, check out Disney's new landmark animated movie. Set in 1920s New Orleans, it's a fairytale about a frog prince (voiced by Bruno Campos) who needs a kiss from a beautiful girl, Tiana (voiced by actress Anika Noni Rose), to become human again. Only things don't go exactly to plan when she turns into a frog as well.
A Christmas Carol (Nov. 26)
If you're a lover of the quintessential holiday movie, there is the Robert Zemeckis directed A Christmas Carol, a computer animated retelling of the famous Dickens story. Ebenezer Scrooge is visited by three ghosts who teach him the true meaning of Christmas, and Jim Carrey's s incredible voice-acting in nearly all the roles brings this darker version of the story to life.
Everybody's Fine (Dec. 4)
Interestingly enough, the only other movie out this season that even mentions a winter holiday. In this heartwarming comedy, Robert De Niro plays a widower who goes on a cross-country road trip to reconnect with his children for the holidays.
Invictus (Dec. 11)
The frontrunner for this year's Oscar race, Invictus tells the inspiring true story of Nelson Mandela (played by Morgan Freeman), the former South African president, and how he united a post-apartheid ravaged nation by rallying the country's rugby team during the 1995 World Cup.
The Lovely Bones (Dec. 11)
Director Peter Jackson has left Middle Earth for Heaven in this adaptation of Alice Sebold's novel about a 14 year-old girl who is murdered by a neighbor and, from her own private heaven, looks down on the lives of those she's left behind. Expect stunning visuals and a strong performance from lead actress Saoirse Ronan (Atonement).
Avatar (Dec. 18)
Avatar is director James Cameron's latest stab at box office gold, and it sure does have all the ingredients for success. It's a futuristic love story of epic proportions, starring Sam Worthington as a paraplegic ex-Marine who goes to an exotic planet called Pandora, where the military has declared war on the planet's blue, cat-like humanoid race that are getting in the way of valuable resources. Just as crazy as it sounds, but awesome special effects and action sequences make it worthwhile.
Nine (Dec. 18)
From the makers of Chicago comes a glitzy musical chock-full of Hollywood's A-list. Daniel Day-Lewis is an Italian film director who struggles to juggle the women in both his professional and personal lives. You'll come for the great music and glamorous scenery; you'll stay for stellar performances by Nicole Kidman and Marion Cotillard.
Sherlock Holmes (Dec. 25)
Opening Christmas day, this action-comedy starring Robert Downey Jr. as the title character is full of more thrills than you'll probably remember from the writings of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. If you're expecting a stately fellow with a handlebar moustache and a monocle, look elsewhere - this edge-of-your-seat, Guy Ritchie-directed blockbuster is much naughtier than it is nice.
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