> October 16 - Where the Wild Things Are
>
> Anticipation has been high on this one for years. When stories broke out
> about re-editing in the aftermath of a preview screening that had little
> kids scared and crying, fans of the book and of director Spike Jonze were
> paranoid that the studio was dumbing down Jonze's cut. Jonze denied that
> this was the case, but I would not be surprised if the film was never quite
> THAT edgy in the first place. Still, Jonze is crazy, weird, and ingenious,
> and it seems highly unlikely that he would have created the usual sort of
> mainstream children's book adaptation. Although the trailer looks kind of
> unappealing, I suspect that's simply because the movie is too complex and
> nuanced to sell in sound bites. Which is weird, because the book cover does
> the book justice enough.

So, am I the only person on the planet who does NOT remember ever reading this book as a kid? I've heard of it, of course, but I don't think I've ever read it. My sister saw the movie, she said it wasn't that great, almost a waste of money. My nephew (he's four) loved it. But, then again it has monsters in it, what's not to love - if you're four?

> November 20 - Planet 51
>
> An animated movie about an astronaut that lands on Planet 51 and finds little
> green men who are afraid of alien invaders. This doesn't appear to be coming
> from an established animation house, but that would have been weirder ten
> years ago than today. Animation isn't an exclusive club anymore.

I'm actually looking forward to this one. Every time I see the preview I have to laugh. And not for the reasons the writers probably intended. I'm sure I'm reading WAY too much into it, but I can't help feeling like this is a satire disguised as a straight-up comedy. After all this is about an astronaut who finds another inhabited planet - and the "aliens" treat him pretty much the same way WE would treat an alien that crashed on our planet. With one exception - being a kid's movie, I highly doubt that anybody is going to try to dissect him. E.T. in reverse - bring it on!

> November 20 - The Twilight Saga: New Moon
>
> If you'd like this, you don't need me to tell you about it.

Another one I'm looking forward to. Yes, I'm a Twilight fan. But, there's an interesting bit of casting that might make some people want to give this one a rental even if they're not fans of the series. Cute little child star Dakota Fanning all grown up and playing a sadistic little b!tch from Hell of a vampire.

>
> December 25 - The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
>
> Heath Ledger's final performance, incomplete, was salvaged when director Terry
> Gilliam that his story naturally lent itself to that character having
> continually different appearances. That allowed him to cast other actors --
> Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell -- in Ledger's role. It was a
> potentially inspired idea, the kind of thing that, if it works, probably
> should have been the plan all along. The amazing thing is that, for once, a
> great tragedy *didn't* sink another Gilliam production into oblivion.

No idea what this is even about, but now I want to see it just to see how they have a bunch of different actors all playing one character.
>