Cream of the crop: Holiday films often merit consideration for Oscars Ken Lowery and Bill Fentum, Nov 9, 2009
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Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) listens to the threats of his foe.
As the winter months approach each year, Hollywood studios finally unveil what they consider to be the cream of their crop: the smartest, sharpest and most beautiful works. The timing is no coincidence: Studios hold their most Oscar-worthy films until late in the year so that they are fresh on the minds of Academy voters who make Best Picture nominations in January and February.
Consequently, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day are some of the most popular days of the year at movie theaters. You’ve seen the trailers. Here’s a look at this year’s crop—a motley crew indeed.
Disney enters the fray with two re-imaginings of classic tales, one Christmas-related and the other a daring take on a well-known fairy tale. Dimension Films’ grim post-apocalyptic tale The Road, originally slated for release last December, makes an appearance. And Clint Eastwood, a reliable wintertime filmmaker, brings us his biopic of Nelson Mandela, while James Cameron—whose last release was in 1997—makes his comeback.
Staff writers Bill Fentum and Ken Lowery give a glimpse at what’s coming to the big screen for the holidays.
A Christmas Carol (Walt Disney Pictures, 96 minutes) — Nov. 6 Disney gets an early start on the season, releasing this umpteenth version of the Charles Dickens classic on Nov. 6. What’s new this time? Jim Carrey as Scrooge, filmed by director Robert Zemeckis in the semi-animated “motion capture” process he pioneered in The Polar Express and Beowulf. It’s PG-rated for “scary sequences and images,” so you can bet Marley’s Ghost will be a frightful sight. Mr. Carrey voices the character at each stage of his life, not to mention the Ghosts of Christmas Present, and Yet to Come; versatile actor Gary Oldman brings to life Marley, Bob Cratchit and Tiny Tim. Let’s hope Dickens’ story of redemption survives the trappings of a $175 million budget. If not, we’ll be sticking with the 1951 Alastair Sim version. —BF
Fantastic Mr. Fox (Twentieth Century Fox, 87 minutes) — Nov. 13 Wes Anderson’s (The Royal Tenenbaums) animated film, based on the book by Roald Dahl, features George Clooney, Meryl Streep and a host of others voice-acting as a family of foxes who must do battle with a couple of unruly farmers who’ve had enough of their hijinks. Bill Murray and Jason Scwhartzman, both regulars in Mr. Anderson’s films, round out the cast. The film’s charmingly old-fashioned stop-motion animation seems to be a deliberate response to the endless stream of animated kids’ movies that use only the latest, greatest, computer-generated rendering. Mr. Anderson’s sly wit should also keep parents entertained. —KL
The Blind Side (Warner Bros. Pictures, no running time available) — Nov. 20 There’s always a market for inspirational sports stories, and all the better if those stories happen to be true. The Blind Side, based on a book by the same name, tells the story of Michael Oher, a homeless African-American teenager taken in by a wealthy white couple (played by Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw.) Mr. Oher, played by Quinton Aaron (Be Kind Rewind), doesn’t adjust easily, but the bond he makes with his new family fundamentally changes his life for the better. (You can safely bet that his adoptive family will learn some lessons about truly giving to those in need, too.) Rest assured that Mr. Oher’s story ends well, as Monday Night Football will tell you: He is now an offensive lineman for the Baltimore Ravens. —KL The Road (Dimension Films, 119 minutes) — Nov. 25 In this post-apocalyptic drama, a father (Viggo Mortensen) and his young son (newcomer Kodi Smit-McPhee) struggle to survive after an unspecified disaster has wiped out most life on earth. The man sees little hope for what remains of humanity, perhaps with good reason: Many people around them have resorted to cannibalism. But the boy holds to his faith that morality and a code of ethics still exist somewhere. Based on a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Cormac McCarthy (No Country for Old Men), The Road was set for release in 2008 but was postponed for further editing. Screenings this fall at several film festivals drew mixed reviews, and even critics who love the film say it’s tough to watch. No surprise there! —BF
Invictus (Warner Brothers, no running time available) — Dec. 11 Clint Eastwood directs Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela, in a script based on the 2008 book Playing the Enemy. It’s set one year after the fall of apartheid in South Africa, when the country hosted the 1995 Rugby World Cup. Newly elected President Mandela urged South Africans to rally behind their national team, a way to begin healing a nation broken by decades of racial injustice. Matt Damon co-stars as Francois Pienaar, the team’s captain. Invictus (meaning “invincible” in Latin) sounds like it can’t miss at the box office, with a Dec. 11 release poised for the start of Oscar season. Whether the faith of Mr. Mandela and Mr. Pienaar—who famously fell to his knees in prayer after a crucial game—will be included in the PG-rated film, is still uncertain. —BF
The Princess and the Frog (Walt Disney Animation Studios, no running time available) — Dec. 11 Disney hasn’t had a lot of luck making truly classic movies these past few years; their output has been overshadowed by the works of Pixar, now Disney’s partner. The Princess and the Frog, loosely based on E.D. Baker’s The Frog Princess and the Grimm brothers’ The Frog Prince, features the first African-American princess in the studio’s 71 years of feature filmmaking. Set in New Orleans in the 1920s, it is inevitable that the villain will be a voodoo priest, but the movie’s trailer promises a more irreverent tone compared to more sober-minded works like Mulan and The Lion King. Features the voice talents of Oprah Winfrey and John Goodman, among others. —KL
Avatar (Twentieth Century Fox, 166 minutes) — Dec. 18 James Cameron, self-proclaimed “king of the world” after sweeping the Oscars with Titanic in 1997, has been rather quiet since that time. He returns with this year’s Avatar, a science-fiction epic set in space. Most of the press around the movie has been cryptic, but a basic outline has emerged: Paralyzed Marine Jake Sully (Sam Worthington, Terminator Salvation) pilots an “avatar,” a living, breathing body sent to the planet Pandora to explore and catalogue the native species. Perhaps inevitably, Jake falls in love with a native woman and finds himself torn between his beloved and her species and the demands of his superiors. Expect a PG-13 or R rating for intense action violence, but also expect some substance to accompany the fireworks. Mr. Cameron’s films often have something to say about what makes up a soul. —KL
Sherlock Holmes (Warner Bros. Pictures, no running time available) — Dec. 25 It’s said that Sherlock Holmes is the most-filmed character in movie history (second only perhaps to Dracula), and the quintessential master detective gets another revamp, courtesy of director Guy Ritchie (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels). The all-new story pits Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) and Watson (Jude Law) against cult leader Lord Blackwood (Mark Strong, Body of Lies), whose apprehension and execution apparently only catalyzes his plans. The trailers are funny, bloody and action-packed—in short, everything you’d come to expect from one of Mr. Ritchie’s films, though not necessarily a Sherlock Holmes one. The combination may just be crazy enough to work. —KL
The Lovely Bones (Paramount Pictures, 139 minutes) — Jan. 15 Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson returns after a four-year hiatus with an adaptation of Alice Sebold’s 2002 novel. Saoirse Ronan (Atonement) plays Susie Salmon, a teenage girl raped and murdered by a neighbor in 1973. For several years, her spirit watches as family members deal with their grief and her killer (Stanley Tucci) remains on the loose. The afterlife depicted here is called “the in-between,” a place Mr. Jackson described in a USA Today interview as “between earth and heaven, . . . beautiful and mysterious . . . [but] kind of a prison.” Susie, he said, “comes to understand that in order to move on, she must reclaim her life from the man who took it.” Look for a great supporting cast, with Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Weisz and Susan Sarandon as the girl’s parents and grandmother. The Lovely Bones, not yet rated, will open Dec. 11 in limited release and go to more theaters in January. —BF
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Fantastic Mr. Fox (Twentieth Century Fox, 87 minutes) — Nov. 13 
Sherlock Holmes (Warner Bros. Pictures, no running time available) — Dec. 25 
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