The Thanksgiving weekend marks the start of the holiday movie season, for better or worse. It’s the time of year when the studios start throwing out their Oscar hopefuls alongside the family-oriented holiday fare, creating an interesting, if sometimes noxious, mix for filmgoers. Here are a few of the films coming out across the country this weekend.
“The Triplets of Belleville” looks to be the year’s best animated film for adults. Having received plenty of film festival praise, it now makes its way to the art house circuit and, as some critics speculate, an Oscar nomination. The film tells the story of a song-and-dance trio from days gone by who go on the search for a kidnapped child. With its unique animated style, this could be an antidote to all of Disney’s “Brother Bear” schmaltz.
Speaking of Disney, their latest live-action offering, “The Haunted Mansion,” is due out this weekend. Starring Eddie Murphy, the film is based on a theme park ride, and is another good indication that Western civilization is on its continuing downward spiral. The belief that this will recreate the magic of “Pirates of the Caribbean” is sorely misguided, as it is missing both the competent direction of Gore Verbinski and the pure force of nature that was Johnny Depp’s performance.
On the topic of harbingers of the apocalypse, director Ron Howard, perpetrator of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” among other travesties of nature, brings us “The Missing.” Starring Cate Blanchett and Tommy Lee Jones as a daughter and father who go looking for her kidnapped child (is this some sort of pattern, perhaps?) across New Mexico in the 1800s. Despite Howard’s spotty filmography, this might be one to catch, for no other reason than the always great Jones.
One of the few holiday-themed films coming out this season will be “Bad Santa,” starring Billy Bob Thornton and Bernie Mac as a shopping mall Santa and elf team who rip off their customers. This might sound like another cookie-cutter script coming out of the Hollywood machine, but with “Ghost World” director Terry Zwigoff at the helm, it’s difficult to tell what to expect.
The fact that Michael Crichton novels are increasingly becoming more like film outlines should finally start to pay off with the release of “Timeline,” starring a bunch of nobodies in a time travel story. Whoop de do.
“The Cooler,” about a man who is cursed with perpetual bad luck, has been getting big press for William H. Macy’s lead performance. The role is supposed to be one of his saddest and twitchiest ever, which is saying a lot.
“In America” opens this weekend, thus begging the question “why?” The film tells the story of an Irish actor who moves his family to New York City. That seems to be about it. When the previews can’t make it interesting, than what does that say for the rest of the movie?
With a few stand-outs among a plethora of pathetic half-assed attempts, this holiday film season actually looks to rise above most. At least there’s no “Harry Potter” film out this fall. And for that, perhaps all filmgoers can be grateful.