TheLoop21.com

By: Kam Williams (Add to your loop)
Thu, 12/17/2009 - 01:00

Rachel McAdams and Jude Law star in 'Sherlock Holmes' opening Christmas Day.

BIG BUDGET FILMS

Alvin and the Chipmunks, The Squeakquel (PG for mild rude humor) Animated sequel reunites the prepubescent, singing siblings Alvin (Justin Long), Simon (Matthew Gray Gubler) and Theodore (Jesse McCartney) for another round of hijinks during which they find themselves facing the pressures of school, celebrity and competition from a female group called The Chipettes. With voiceover work by Amy Poehler, Anna Faris and Christina Applegate.

It’s Complicated (R for drug use and sexuality) Midlife-crisis sitcom about a divorced restaurateur (Meryl Streep) who embarks on an ill-advised affair with her remarried ex-husband (Alec Baldwin) after sparks start to fly again at their son’s (Hunter Parrish) college graduation. With Steve Martin, Lake Bell, Mary Kay Place, Rita Wilson and Zoe Kazan.

Sherlock Holmes (PG-13 for intense violence, startling images and one suggestive scene) Latest incarnation of the legendary sleuth created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle features Robert Downey, Jr. in the titular role, accompanied by Jude Law as the loyal Dr. Watson. Crime thriller pits the pair in a battle of wits with a diabolical Satanist (Mark Strong) who has risen from the dead to resume a gruesome killing spree.

Up in the Air (R for profanity and sexuality) Jason Reitman directs this screen adaptation of Walter Kirn’s best seller about a peripatetic hatchet man (George Clooney) for a downsizing corporation who suddenly finds himself grounded just when he’s on the brink of accumulating ten million frequent flyer miles and right after he’s also fallen for a like-minded traveler (Vera Farmiga). With Anna Kendrick, Jason Bateman, J.K. Simmons, Sam Elliott, Danny McBride and Zach Galifianakis.

INDEPENDENT & FOREIGN FILMS

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (PG-13 for profanity, violent images, smoking and some sensuality) Christopher Plummer plays the title character in this fairy tale about a traveling theater troupe offering audiences an opportunity to pass through a magical mirror into an enchanting parallel universe. Directed by Terry Gilliam and featuring Johnny Depp, Jude Law, Colin Farrell, Verne “Mini Me” Troyer, Tom Waits and the farewell performance of the late Heath Ledger.

Police, Adjective (Unrated) Deliberately-paced morality play about a conflicted cop’s (Dragos Bucur) crisis in conscience after being ordered to arrest a high school student who offered to share some hashish with a couple of classmates. With Vlad Ivanov, Irina Saulescu and Ion Stoica. (In Romanian with subtitles)

Voted Most Outstanding Journalist of the Decade by the Disilgold Soul Literary Review in 2008, Kam Williams is a syndicated film and book critic who writes for 100+ publications around the U.S. and Canada. He is a member of the New York Film Critics Online, the African-American Film Critics Association, the NAACP Image Awards Nominating Committee, and Rotten Tomatoes. In addition to a B.A. in black studies from Cornell, he has an M.A. in English from Brown, an MBA from The Wharton School, and a J.D. from Boston University. Kam lives in Princeton, N.J., with his wife and son.