Monthly Movie Preview – December 2009

This is going to be a great month. No matter whether these big and small movies fall flat on their faces or not there’s going to be plenty to choose from – especially for those who want to keep up with important films.

First up is Avatar, one of the biggest gambles of this decade. Will the same kind of crowd that saw The Dark Knight or Transformers multiple times venture to movie theatres to see a 150-minute-long 3-D film that features tall blue creatures? It’s up in the air.

Which reminds me of a few more titles that should be worth checking out, one of them being Jason Reitman’s new film with George Clooney. The drama-comedy about a man who fires people for a living has been getting great buzz from its successful festival runs, with Oscar talk flying around as smoothly as paper airplanes.

But, Up In the Air might have to share some room with Invictus, the latest film from Clint Eastwood, along with Nine, a movie from Rob Marshall adapted from the musical that is spun off from Fellini’s 8 1/2. How will the almighty Daniel Day Lewis, (or as I like to call him, Dizzle Dazzle Lewis), fare with an army of beautiful women, while trying to distance himself from Marcello Mastroianni’s legendary performance?

It will be curious to find out. With so many interesting releases, the month of December will certainly not be as elementary as Sherlock Holmes has it cracked up to be. And keep this in mind, everyone -  there are going to be TEN Best Picture nominees for this year’s Oscars. Perhaps a few of them will be coming out this month?

December 4

Movie of the Week
Brothers

The Stars: Tobey Maguire, Natalie Portman, Jake Gyllennhaal

The Plot: A marine returns home from war only to have anxieties about the loved ones around him.

The Buzz: A group of talented young actors are given the steering wheel in this movie from filmmaker Jim Sheridan, who has both My Left Foot and Get Rich or Die Tryin’ under his belt. It’s worth saying that Brothers has the worst trailer of 2009, so here’s hoping the movie isn’t completely ruined by that.

The Others:
Armored – Columbus Short, Matt Dillon, Laurence Fishburne
Everybody’s Fine – Robert De Niro, Kate Beckinsale, Sam Rockwell, Drew Barrymore
Transylmania – Patrick Cavanaugh, James DeBello, Tony Denman
The Last Station (limited) – Helen Mirren, James McAvoy, Christopher Plummer
Up In The Air (limited) – George Clooney, Vera Famiga, Anna Kendrick
Serious Moonlight – Meg Ryan, Timothy Hutton, Kristen Bell

December 11

Movie of the Week
Invictus

The Stars: Matt Damon, Morgan Freeman

The Plot: The story of how first-term president Nelson Mandela united the divided country of South Africa by throwing his support to the national rugby team to dominate the 1995 World Cup.

The Buzz: Eastwood. Freeman. Damon. Mandela. Oscar?

The Others:
The Princess and the Frog (voices) – Anika Noni Rose, Oprah Winfrey, Keith David
The Lovely Bones - Rachel Weisz, Mark Wahlberg, Saoirse Ronan
A Single Man (limited) - Colin Firth, Julianne Moore, Matthew Goode
The Slammin’ Salmon – Michael Clarke Duncan, Jay Chandrasekhar, Kevin Hefferman

December 18

Movie of the Week
Avatar

The Stars: (voices) Zoe Saldana, Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez

The Plot: A human soldier ventures to an alien planet and fights against earthlings on their behalf.

The Buzz: Facts: This is the first film from Titanic director James Cameron in ten years. It is an original story that spans 150 minutes, and uses 3-D motion capture technology that we have yet to experience. It features tall blue people, and cost at least $300 million to make (some say $500 mil, but that’s just a rumor). Question: Is this going to be “the highest grossing 3-D film ever,” as Spielberg has predicted, or this decade’s Heaven’s Gate?

The Others:
Did You Hear About The Morgans? - Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner
Crazy Heart (limited) – Jeff Bridges, Colin Farrell, Maggie Gyllenhaal
Nine (limited) – Daniel Day Lewis, Marion Cotillard, Penelope Cruz
The Young Victoria (limited) – Emily Blunt, Rupert Friend, Paul Bettany

December 25

Movie of the Week
Sherlock Holmes

The Stars: Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Rachel McAdams

The Plot: Holmes and Watson work together to stop a man who has a plot that puts all English citizens in serious jeopardy.

The Buzz: This is Guy Ritchie’s (Rocknrolla, Snatch.), take on the classic character, a literary figure with the most adaptations to his name (thanks, Trivia Pursuit!) The marketing for this movie is a bit weak, (“Holmes For The Holiday”), but with the talent in front of and behind the camera, this should be a lot of fun.

The Others:
It’s Complicated - Alec Baldwin, Steve Martin, Meryl Streep
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus - Heath Ledger, Christopher Plummer, Jude Law, Johnny Depp
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel (12/23) – Justin Long, Anna Faris, David Cross, Jason Lee