Thursday, Nov. 05, 2009
"A Christmas Carol"
Jim Carrey in "A Christmas Carol."
Go to www.weeklysurge.com to see trailers for "A Christmas Carol," "The Box" and "The Fourth Kind."
Charles Dickens' beloved 19th century novel gets a 21st century makeover courtesy of Robert Zemeckis, who re-tells the story of Ebenezer Scrooge (played here by Jim Carrey) with the same motion-capture technology he employed in "The Polar Express" and "Beowulf." Gary Oldman, Robin Wright Penn and Bob Hoskins round out the cast, although you won't actually see any of their faces on screen...just their computer avatars. 1 hr. 36 mins.
"The Box"
"Donnie Darko" director Richard Kelly leaves the independent world behind for this studio-backed project about a married couple (Cameron Diaz and James Marsden) who receive a mysterious box that possibly has supernatural powers. Based on a short story by Richard Matheson (the same guy who wrote "I Am Legend"), "The Box" sat on the shelf for almost two years since shooting wrapped. Given that, perhaps we should be afraid to discover what's inside.
1 hr. 30 mins.
"The Fourth Kind"
Miss "The X-Files"? Well, maybe this Alaska-set alien abduction story will tide you over until the next Mulder and Scully big-screen outing. Milla Jovavich plays a psychologist (no, really she does!) who investigates the possibility her patients were kidnapped by little green men from outer space.
1 hr. 38 mins.
Ethan Alter is a New York-based film critic and journalist. He can be reached at nycfilmcriticgmail.com.