November 26, 2009

BY DARLENE DONLOE

CONTRIBUTING WRITER 

The holiday season is upon us and movie studios are pulling out their big guns to get the public in the theaters. This month's movies are scary, funny and disastrous.

      Movie studio executives are hoping for a huge Thanksgiving weekend turnout. Here are some good choices:

      "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" -- The $140 million opening weekend box office says it all about the power of this vampire drama about a romantic relationship between a human, Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart), and vampire Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson). There a lots of dark drama and a couple of laughs. Dakota Fanning makes a welcomed appearance. The movie also stars Taylor Lautner as Jacob Black. "The Twilight Saga: New Moon," rated PG-13, is currently in theaters. It gets an O (OK).

      "2012" -- The premise of "2012" is simple: A Mayan prophecy predicts that the end of the world will happen in the year 2012. Governments around the world prepare for the worst, keeping the impending disaster a secret from the public until "the time is right." When it's time, things go from bad to worse rather quickly with Los Angeles sliding into the Pacific Ocean, major floods, earthquakes, volcanoes, and historic symbols such as the White House and Vatican collapsing. Nearly any catastrophe you can think of is in this movie. John Cusack stars in this high-octane drama with a twinge of comedy. The script is weak and the movie too long, but the special effects are incredible and worth the price of a ticket. Rated PG-13, "2012" gets an O (OK).

      "Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans" -- In this movie, Terence McDonagh (Nicolas Cage) is a dedicated detective in the Big Easy who's also addicted to drugs. Cage is at his best playing this dark, introverted, deeply disturbed character. The movie also stars Alvin "Xzibit" Joiner, Val Kilmer, and Eva Mendes as the prostitute he loves. The film is rated R for drug use and language throughout. It has some violence and sexuality. "Bad Lieutenant: Port Of Call New Orleans" gets an O (OK).

       "Fantastic Mr. Fox" -- George Clooney lights up the screen in this movie. This time it's his voice in this animated comedy about a fox who reverts to his old life of stealing chickens. He jeopardizes his happy home and is on the run and trapped underground without enough food for his family and friends. The film also features the voices of Meryl Streep, Bill Murray and Owen Wilson. The movie is rated PG. "Fantastic Mr. Fox" gets at (E) Excellent.