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Holiday movie guide: Here's something for everyone

By ROBERT W. BUTLER | McClatchy Newspapers • Published November 09, 2009

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For young to old, funny to serious, our holiday movie guide is stuffed with gifts for all sorts:

-For action/adventure junkies

More than any other film this holiday season, James Cameron's sci-fi opus "Avatar" (Dec. 18) has a huge buzz. For both good and bad reasons.

First, it's a return to the big screen by the man behind the first two "Terminators," "Aliens," "The Abyss" and "Titanic."

Second, "Avatar" will mark the debut of the new 3-D process Cameron has been working on for a decade.

Third, it stars Sam Worthington, maybe the best actor from Down Under since Russell Crowe.

Got you salivating yet?

The downside: Cameron seems to believe his "king of the world" stuff, so the film could take itself way too seriously. And early footage of the computer-generated aliens and battle scenes looks like a high-end video game - fun but not convincing.

The world's most famous detective gets a radical do-over thanks to slam-bam director Guy Ritchie (the former Mr. Madonna) and star Robert Downey Jr. in "Sherlock Holmes" (Christmas Day).

The setting remains late 19th-century London, but add pugilism (boxing) and kinky sex (the trailers show a naked Holmes tied to a brass headboard). Stir in Jude Law as Doctor Watson and Ritchie's proclivity for action and you have the potential for a crowd pleaser.

Roland Emmerich, who has made a career of trying to wipe out the human race ("Independence Day," "Armageddon," "The Day After Tomorrow") is back to his f/x-heavy tricks with "2012." Opening Nov. 13 (a Friday ... too perfect), it's an epic of destruction - Earthquakes! Tidal waves! Storms! - inspired by ancient Mayan doomsday prophecies. The spectacle should be first-rate, and the key players - John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Thandie Newton - are always watchable.

Another sort of spectacle will be provided by the Chinese-made "Red Cliff" (Dec. 11). Directed by Hong Kong action auteur John Woo, this epic tale of civil war and intrigue during the Han dynasty features the proverbial cast of thousands (as well as recognizable faces like Tony Leung). It's a prime example of kill-them-all theater.