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Holiday movie guide: Here's something for everyone

By ROBERT W. BUTLER McClatchy Newspapers

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.

The starless "Ninja Assassin" (Nov. 25) sounds like a dozen kung fu-ers we've already seen - but we're mildly intrigued that James McTeigue ("V for Vendetta") is at the helm.

An armored car robbery goes seriously wrong in "Armored" (Dec. 4), directed by Nimrod Antal (of the horror motel entry "Vacancy") and starring Columbus Short, Laurence Fishburne and Matt Dillon.

-For hopeless romantics

Ain't love grand?

Except that in most of these films, love conquers only after some rough patches.

Fans are in a frenzy over the Nov. 20 opening of "The Twilight Saga: New Moon," the second installment in Stephenie Meyer's vampire phenomenon. This time Bella(Kristen Stewart) is torn between the vampire Edward (Robert Pattinson) and her American Indian pal Jacob (Taylor Lautner) who, it turns out, is a werewolf. How lucky can a girl get?

Of course, some of us found the original "Twilight" a letdown. Perhaps new director Chris Weitz ("About a Boy," "American Pie," "The Golden Compass") will provide an edge.

In "Did You Hear About the Morgans?" (Dec. 18) an estranged NYC couple (Hugh Grant, Sarah Jessica Parker) are forced into an uncomfortable cohabitation when a witness protection program ships them to the Wyoming boonies. Marc Lawrence (who hit box office gold with the comedies "Miss Congeniality" and Grant's "Music and Lyrics") directs from his own screenplay.

And who says there's no romance once you're past a certain age? "It's Complicated" (Christmas Day) lives up to its title with a plot about a woman (Meryl Streep, always on a streak) who's being courted both by her ex (Alec Baldwin), who now has a young trophy wife, and long-time friend Steve Martin.

It's the brainchild of writer/director Nancy Meyers ("The Parent Trap," "Something's Gotta Give"), who corrals the female audience. But what about the guys?

And just so straights won't have all the fun, there's "A Single Man" (no opening date yet), an adaptation of Christopher Isherwood's novel about a day in the life of an English professor (Colin Firth) who's trying to carry on after the car crash death of his lover (Matthew Goode).