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Thanksgiving officially launches the holiday film season - the weeks when Hollywood unleashes the best movies of the year, in hopes of luring viewers away from that new PlayStation 3 or plasma TV and into the multiplex, or catching the attention of Oscar voters, whose statuettes will presumably lure viewers away from that new PlayStation 3 or plasma TV and into the multiplex.
Either way, it is audiences who end up winning, as long as the movies deliver. At least on paper, a lot of them sound good. Here is a list of the movies scheduled for release between now and the year's end. Dates are subject to change.
DEC. 1
"The Nativity Story" - Actress from New Zealand Keisha Castle-Hughes, who snagged an Oscar nomination for her 2004 debut "Whale Rider," is Mary, and Miami native Oscar Isaac is Joseph in this retelling of the birth of Jesus Christ from director Catherine Hardwicke ("Thirteen," "Lords of Dogtown").
DEC. 8
"Apocalypto" - Curiosity is high around this subtitled, action-heavy historical drama about the ancient Mayan civilization, and not just because of the fracas surrounding director Mel Gibson's recent drunk-driving arrest.
"The Holiday" - Two women - one American, Cameron Diaz, the other British, Kate Winslet - discover dating is hard no matter which side of the Atlantic you are on. Jude Law and Jack Black are the guys wreaking havoc on the girls' love lives.
DEC. 15
"Eragon" - A boy, Edward Speleers, finds an odd stone in the forest and decides to keep it, not realizing it's really a dragon egg, in this adaptation of Christopher Paolini's bestselling fantasy-adventure novel. John Malkovich, Djimon Hounsou and Jeremy Irons co-star for former visual-effects wizard-turned-director Stefen Fangmeier.
"The History Boys" - Nicholas Hytner ("The Crucible") directs this adaptation of Alan Bennett's highly acclaimed stage play, using many of the original British cast, about the clash between a group of adolescent boys and their teachers in a boarding school in the 1980s.
"Night at the Museum" - Ben Stiller is a security guard at the American Museum of Natural History who accidentally unleashes a curse that brings all the exhibits to life. Robin Williams and Dick Van Dyke co-star, which means there's someone to tickle everyone's funny bone
"The Pursuit of Happyness" - No, it's not a typo. The spelling of the title will presumably be explained during this story of a single dad, Will Smith, trying to restart his career while raising his 5-year-old son, Jaden Smith.
DEC. 22
"The Good German" - At the end of World War II, a U.S. war correspondent, George Clooney, goes to Berlin to track down a former flame, Cate Blanchett, and gets snared in a murder mystery. Tobey Maguire co-stars for director Steven Soderbergh, who shot the movie as if it had been filmed in 1946, using black and white film, special lenses and old-fashioned editing and camera techniques.
"The Good Shepherd" - A Yale student, Matt Damon, is recruited to join the OSS, the precursor to the CIA, during World War II. Angelina Jolie, John Turturro and Robert De Niro co-star. De Niro also directed, for the first time since 1993's "A Bronx Tale."
"Rocky Balboa" - Sylvester Stallone revives the iconic character that made his career 30 years ago, who comes out of retirement to take on the reigning world champion. What else did you expect him to do, cure cancer?
"We Are Marshall" - Matthew McConaughey, Matthew Fox, Ian McShane and Kate Mara co-star in this fact-based drama about the 1970 plane crash that killed most of the players, coaches and supporters of Marshall University's football team and the efforts by a new coach and team to band together and help the school begin to heal from the accident.
"Dreamgirls" - Jamie Foxx, Beyonce Knowles, Eddie Murphy, Anika Noni Rose and "American Idol"'s Jennifer Hudson are part of the formidable cast of writer-director Bill Condon's ("Gods and Monsters," "Kinsey") adaptation of the smash Broadway musical, loosely based on the story of Diana Ross and the Supremes, about the rise of an all-girl singing trio in the 1960s. Expected to be a major contender at next year's Oscars.
DEC. 29
"Pan's Labyrinth" - A masterpiece of dark fantasy from director Guillermo Del Toro ("Hellboy," "The Devil's Backbone"), about a little girl, Ivana Baquero, who stumbles into a frightening world of fairies and monsters during the Spanish Civil War.
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