The List!

Happy holidays, everybody! Christmas week is one of the busiest times of the year for the movies, with a lot of families gathering together after opening their presents and a large dinner, to head out and catch a flick. This year offers a much better selection than last X-mas(no Seven Pounds! Yes!!), featuring one of the most anticipated popcorn flicks as well as Rob Marshall's musical return after his lukewarm Memoirs of a Geisha.

If the pairing of grimy street director Guy Ritchie with Arthur Conan Doyle's detective mastermind seems like an odd fit, then you'd be correct. But don't let that stop you from seeing the film, which is a ton of fun whenever the affable Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law are on screen together, although I don't remember Holmes and Watson's relationship being quite this...bromantic? There's some definite man crushing going on here, but nothing to worry yourselves over. It might just be my imagination. And is it me, or is Mark Strong great in absolutely everything he's in? He kicks ass as Lord Blackwood here, and he was quietly terrifying in Young Victoria as well.

Two weeks ago I had A Single Man at the top of my list, only to discover that it wasn't playing here yet. Not to mention an embarassing episode where I went to Shirlington, bought the ticket, only to discover I had paid to see A Serious Man instead. Colin Firth is getting a ton of Oscar buzz in his turn as a 1960s law professor struggling to come to grips with the death of his longtime partner. Based on the novel by Christopher Isherwood, the production design was handled by the same staff that works on Mad Men each week, so you know the look is authentic. Good to see Julianne Moore back on screen as well in something worth checking out.

While I typically balk at the idea of seeing anything Nancy Meyers, the idea of Meryl Streep jumping around between Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin is intriguing. There's something about her that even at her age I still find alluring. This one looks like a by the numbers romantic comedy for the middle aged set, similar to Meyers' Something's Gotta Give from back in 2003. Chances are you already know if you're gonna see this one. I'm cautiously optimistic.

Do I really wanna pay to hear Kate Hudson sing? Not really, but I have been anxiously awaiting Rob Marshall's musical return to the screen, espeically after Daniel Day-Lewis hopped aboard. Javier Bardem(No Country for Old Men) was initially attached to the role of a director experiencing a mid-life crisis. Might be because he's juggling a gaggle of some of the world's finest women, maybe. I liked Marshall's Chicago, although I don't think it deserved an Oscar, and I expect the extremely talented cast to carry this to some impressive heights. Day-Lewis, Penelope Cruz, Marion Cotillard, and Nicole Kkdman I'll put up against any cast we've seen this year. But that Kate Hudson....I just don't know....

If there's time....

Up in the Air expanded to more theaters yesterday, so do yourself a favor and see what I think is one of the 5 best films of the year. It's one of the few movies I can easily recommend to everybody, regardless of their preferences.

Also, Kathryn Bigelow's The Hurt Locker has been re-released in some theatres for a short run during it's Oscar push. It's easily the best war movie in years, so if you're in the area head on over to AMC Shirlington and check it out. Be prepared. It's intense.

No.....a thousand times no...!!

I felt bad for all involved in the production of 2007's Alvin and the Chipmunks movie. They promptly took my pity and ran with it to the tune of $360M worldwide. Truth be told, that film wasn't the worst experience I had in a theatre that year, it was just utterly forgettable and somewhat depressing. I'll be going to see this..."squeakquel" at approximately 30 minutes after never o'clock, and that's being generous.