It’s already in the air. The Christmas stuff is already cluttering the garden center at Wal-Mart. Some of the smarter families are already starting their shopping. There is already a Christmas tree in the Arkadelphia Cracker Barrel, and that can only mean one thing: the holiday season is on the way. And while most people think of football and big meals and family during the Thanksgiving and Christmas season, you can bet there will at least be a few people standing in line in front of their local theater, waiting to see some of the biggest movies of the season.
It all begins on Nov. 9 with the holiday comedy “Fred Claus,” starring Vince Vaughn (“Dodgeball,” “Wedding Crashers”) as the title character, and Paul Giamatti (“Lady in the Water,” “The Illusionist”) as the disgruntled Santa Claus, who has to put up with his brother Fred when he is forced to move in with the jolly old man.
The movies continue on Nov. 16 with Paramount’s “Beowulf,” a digitally animated feature based on the old English epic poem. The movie comes out with an all-star cast, including Ray Winstone (“The Departed,” “The Chronicles of Narnia”) as the title character, Academy Award-winning actress Angelina Jolie (“A Mighty Heart,” “The Good Shepherd”) as Grendel’s mother and Crispin Glover (“Willard,” “Charlie’s Angels”) as the villainous Grendel. The animation actually surpasses “The Polar Express” in simple terms of how realistic it looks, with characters so life-like you’d swear you were looking at actual people.
The week of Nov. 21 holds a bit of a battle, as four highly anticipated movies hit the screen. The first, a film adaptation of the popular Eidos video game “Hitman.” The movie stars Timothy Olyphant (“Live Free or Die Hard,” “Catch and Release”) as the title character Agent 47, who finds himself embroiled in a political conspiracy, and must fight his way out using the skills afforded him as an assassin.
Going up against “Hitman” on Nov. 21 is the latest Stephen King adaptation “The Mist.” The movie stars Thomas Jane, who starred in the Stephen King adaptation “Dreamcatcher” as Dr. Henry. Jane and the rest of the cast, which includes Alexa Davalos (“The Chronicles of Riddick”) and Marcia Gay Hardin (“Into the Wild”) find themselves holed up in a supermarket, trying to survive as bloodthirsty creatures invade their small town.
The third movie coming out on Nov. 21 is Disney’s “Enchanted.” The movie stars Amy Adams (“Underdog,” “Talladega Nights”) as the fairy tale princess Giselle, who is trapped and banished to present day New York City by the evil Queen Narissa, played by Susan Sarandon (“Mr. Woodcock,” “Shall We Dance?”). Probably a definite must see family flick.
Nov. 21 also holds the release of “I’m Not There,” the biopic of Bob Dylan starring Christian Bale (“Batman Begins,” “3:10 To Yuma”) and Richard Gere (“Shall We Dance,” “Chicago”) as two of the seven characters meant to symbolize the different aspects of the musician’s life.
In the month of December, the movies always start coming out at a breakneck pace, and this year will be no different. The festivities begin Dec. 14 with the release of “I Am Legend,” a Warner Brothers picture starring Will Smith (“I, Robot,” “The Pursuit of Happyness”) as the last man on earth after an epidemic of a man-made virus sweeps the planet, changing everyone into mutants. In a race to find a cure using his own blood, which is somehow immune to the virus, he must try to survive in a post-apocalyptic world.
Christmas week will be full of new premieres. It starts Dec. 21 with the release of “Sweeny Todd,” a movie based on the Broadway musical starring Johnny Depp (“Pirates of the Caribbean,” “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”). The week continues full speed ahead on Christmas Day with “Alien vs. Predator: Requiem,” the sequel to the 2004 film, and then with “There Will Be Blood,” starring Daniel Day-Lewis (“Gangs of New York,” “The Crucible”) and Paul Dano (“Little Miss Sunshine,” “Fast Food Nation”) in a film about the stories surrounding a turn of the century Texas prospector.
The holiday season has always been second to the summer in terms of blockbusters, and this holiday season will certainly be no different.
