PREVIEWS - DECEMBER MOVIES

Last month in the year 2009 and there are some awesome movies that are a must see before you go into 2010. Leave the 2000s watching at least one of these movies.
1. ARMORED
Armored a crime thriller directed by Nimród Antal, starring Matt Dillon, Jean Reno, Laurence Fishburne, Amaury Nolasco (Sucre from Prison Break), Milo Ventimiglia (Peter from Heroes) and Colombus Short.

A crew of officers at an armored transport security firm risk their lives when they embark on the ultimate heist….against their own company. Armed with a seemingly fool-proof plan, the men plan on making off with a fortune with harm to none. But when an unexpected witness interferes, the plan quickly unravels and all bets are off.
Opens: December 4 Runtime: 1hr. 28min. Rated: PG-13


2. BROTHERS
Brothers is a war-drama starring Tobey Maguire, Jake Gyllenhaal and Natalie Portman. Directed by Jim Sheridan, the film is based on Susanne Bier's 2004 Danish film Brødre, as both films take inspiration from Homer's epic poem the Odyssey.

Thirty-something Captain Sam Cahill (Tobey Maguire) and his younger brother Tommy Cahill (Jake Gyllenhaal) are polar opposites. A Marine about to embark on his fourth tour of duty, Sam is a steadfast family man married to his high school sweetheart, the aptly named Grace (Natalie Portman), with whom he has two young daughters. Tommy, his charismatic younger brother, is a drifter just out of jail who's always gotten by on wit and charm. He slides easily into his role as family provocateur on his first night out of prison, at Sam's farewell dinner with their parents, Elsie and Hank Cahill, a retired Marine. Shipped out to Afghanistan, Sam is presumed dead when his Black Hawk helicopter is shot down in the mountains. At home in suburbia, the Cahill family suddenly faces a shocking void, and Tommy tries to fill in for his brother by assuming newfound responsibility for himself, Grace, and the children.
Opens: December 4 Runtime: 1hr. 50min. Rated: R

3. EVERYBODY’S FINE
Everybody's Fine is a comedy-drama and a remake of the Giuseppe Tornatore film “Stanno Tutti Bene” that is written and directed by Kirk Jones and stars Robert De Niro, Drew Barrymore, Sam Rockwell and Kate Beckinsale.

The movie follows a widower (De Niro) embarks on an impromptu road trip to reconnect with each of his grown children only to discover that their lives are far from picture perfect.
Opens: December 4 Runtime: hr. min. Rated: PG-13

4. INVICTUS
Invictus is a feature film based on Nelson Mandela's life during the 1995 Rugby World Cup in South Africa. Directed by Clint Eastwood; the film stars Morgan Freeman as the then South African President Mandela, and Matt Damon as Francois Pienaar, the South African team captain. The story is based on the John Carlin book “Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Changed a Nation”.

The true story of how Nelson Mandela joined forces with the captain of South Africa's rugby team, Francois Pienaar, to help unite their country. Newly elected President Mandela knows his nation remains racially and economically divided in the wake of apartheid. Believing he can bring his people together through the universal language of sport, Mandela rallies South Africa's underdog rugby team as they make an unlikely run to the 1995 World Cup Championship match.
Opens: December 11 Runtime: hr. min. Rated: PG-13

5. DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THE MORGANS?
Did You Hear About the Morgans? is a romantic comedy written and directed by Marc Lawrence, and starring Hugh Grant and Sarah Jessica Parker.

New Yorkers Paul (Hugh Grant) and Meryl (Sarah Jessica Parker) Morgan seem to have it all -- except for the fact that their marriage is crumbling around them. But their romantic woes are small compared to the world of trouble they find themselves in after they witness a murder. To protect them from an assassin, federal agents whisk Paul and Meryl away to small-town Wyoming, where their marriage would either finally crash and burn, or their passion will re-ignite.
Opens: December 18 Runtime: 2hr.19 min. Rated: PG-13

6. AVATAR
Avatar takes us to a spectacular world beyond imagination, where a reluctant hero embarks on an epic adventure, ultimately fighting to save the alien world he has learned to call home. Directed by the Oscar winning director of Titanic and Terminator (the first one), James Cameron; it stars Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez and Giovanni Ribisi.

Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) is a former U.S. Marine who was wounded and paralyzed from the waist down in combat on Earth. Jake is selected to participate in the Avatar program, which will enable him to walk. Jake travels to Pandora, a lush jungle-covered extraterrestrial moon filled with incredible life forms, some beautiful, many terrifying. Pandora is also home to the Na’vi, a sentient humanoid race, who are considered primitive, yet are more physically capable than humans. Standing three meters tall (approximately 10 feet), with tails and sparkling blue skin, the Na’vi live in harmony with their unspoiled world. As humans encroach deeper into Pandora's forests in search of valuable minerals, the Na’vi unleash their formidable warrior abilities to defend their threatened existence.
Jake has unwittingly been recruited to become part of this encroachment. Since humans are unable to breathe the air on Pandora, they have created genetically-bred human-Na’vi hybrids known as Avatars. On Pandora, through his Avatar body, Jake will be able to walk again. Sent deep into Pandora's jungles as a scout for the soldiers that will follow, Jake encounters many of Pandora's beauties and dangers. There he meets a young Na’vi female, Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña).
Over time, Jake integrates himself into the Na'vi clan, and begins to fall in love with Neytiri. As a result, Jake finds himself caught between the military-industrial forces of Earth and the Na’vi, forcing him to choose sides in an epic battle that will decide the fate of Pandora and the Na'vi.
Opens: December 18 Runtime: 2hr.36 min. Rated:
 
7. ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS: THE SQUEAKQUEL
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel is the kid comedy sequel to Alvin and the Chipmunks (2007) starring Jason Lee, David Cross, Cameron Richardson, Zachary Levi and the voices of Justin Long, Matthew Gray Gubler, Jesse McCartney, Anna Faris, Christina Applegate and Amy Poehler.

Now in the care of Dave Seville's nephew (Zachary Levi), Alvin (Justin Long), Simon (Matthew Gray Gubler) and Theodore (Jesse McCartney) take a break from pop-music stardom and return to school. Almost immediately, the tiny tunesmiths are given the giant task of saving their school's music program by winning a battle of the band's contest. Though the boys think winning the contest will be easy, romantic and musical sparks fly when they meet Brittany (Anna Faris), Eleanor (Christina Applegate) and Jeannette (Amy Poehler) -- also known as The Chipettes.
Opens: December 25 Runtime: hr. min. Rated: PG

8. SHERLOCK HOLMES
Sherlock Holmes is an action-adventure film adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle's fictional character of the same name. Directed by Guy Ritchie, Robert Downey, Jr. will portray Holmes and Jude Law will portray John Watson; also starring are Rachel McAdams and Mark Strong.

Set in 1891 and revolves around Holmes (Robert Downey, Jr.) and Watson (Jude Law) stopping a conspiracy to destroy Britain. Sherlock Holmes and his stalwart partner Watson embark on their latest challenge. Revealing fighting skills as lethal as his legendary intellect, Holmes battles as never before to bring down a new nemesis and unravel a deadly plot that could destroy the country.
Opens: December 25 Runtime: 2hr. 19min. Rated: PG-13

9. IT’S COMPLICATED
It's Complicated is a romantic comedy written and directed by Nancy Meyers, starring Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin, Steve Martin and John Krasinski.

Jane (Streep) is the mother of three grown kids, owns a thriving Santa Barbara bakery/restaurant and has—after a decade of divorce—an amicable relationship with her ex-husband, attorney Jake (Baldwin). But when Jane and Jake find themselves out of town for their son’s college graduation, things start to get complicated. An innocent meal together turns into the unimaginable—an affair. With Jake remarried to the much younger Agness (Lake Bell), Jane is now, of all things, the other woman. Caught in the middle of their renewed romance is Adam (Martin), an architect hired to remodel Jane’s kitchen. Healing from a divorce of his own, Adam starts to fall for Jane, but soon realizes he’s become part of a love triangle. Should Jane and Jake move on with their lives, or is love truly lovelier the second time around? It’s…complicated.
Opens: December 25 Runtime: hr. min. Rated: R