Movies to be Released on Christmas 2008

The presents have all been opened, but it’s to early to dip into the eggnog.  The floor is littered with wrapping paper and the kids are running around on the verge of breaking their new toys.   What’s a family to do?  Sit around all day and enjoy each others company?  Sure, but after three hours of listening to Aunt Betsy talk about her cat Ralphie’s hairball problems, perhaps you’d rather go out and see a movie.  But what are you going to see?  Here are a few options:

Marley & Me

This cute flick staring Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson is appropriate for the whole family.  A rambunctious dog wrecks on the Grogan family, but many valuable life lessons are learned and Marley is ultimately and indispensable part of their household.  If nothing else, cute shots of Marley as a puppy will elicit “aww’s” from young and old alike.

The Spirit

Frank Miller returns to writing and directing after his Palme d’Or nominated film Sin City.  This time he takes on The Spirit, a newspaper comic strip by Will Eisner, and presents yet another noir styled comic adaptation.  This film is rated PG-13, so perhaps the little ones would be better suited elsewhere.

Valkyrie

In the mood for Nazis this Christmas?  Then this film is for you.  Tom Cruise takes on the role of Claus von Stauffenberg, the German World War II colonel who led a plot to assassinate Hilter.  If you know your basic history, they failed, obviously.  But who doesn’t love Nazis on Christmas?
Bedtime Stories

This Adam Sandler movie Skeeter Bronson, a hotel handyman whose life is changed forever when the bedtime stories he tells his niece and nephew start to mysteriously come true.  This is another great film for the whole family.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

This adaptation of F Scott Fitzgerald’s 1920’s is set in New Orleans starting in 1918 and stars Brad Pitt and Kate Blanchett.  It’s already won the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures award for Best Director, so you know this will be a good one.  The rather esoteric premise revolves around the title character who has the appearance and physical limitations of a man in his 80’s from birth and to age backwards.

Last Chance Harvey (Limited)

Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson star in this romance that proves that you can have a new beginning at any age.  Harvey Shine (Hoffman) finds out his daughter is having her stepfather walk her down the isle, he misses his flight home, and he gets fired from his job all in the same day.  But while drowning his sorrows at the airport bar he meets Kate and, well, you can figure out where it goes from there.