‘Tis the season for Oscar-worthy holiday movie openings

Find out which films are must-sees, and which may well be deserving of that old "bah, humbug" assessment.

Over the next three weeks, Hollywood rolls out their big box office guns in an attempt to draw holiday crowds into theaters. Simultaneously, aspiring Oscar-winners are rushing into projection booths to be put on public display before the end of 2009 in order to qualify for the Academy Awards (to be televised on March 7, 2010).

Zac Efron and Claire Danes in Richard Linklater's period comedy Me and Orson Welles

We've seen a number of critical contenders emerge over the last several weeks, including Up in the Air (one of the most positively-reviewed films of the year), Red Cliff (a solid entry in the foreign language film category), The Road (banking in part on Cormac McCarthy's award-winning literary source material), and Fantastic Mr. Fox, considered by many to be the crowd-pleasing breakthrough feature that Wes Anderson mavens have long been hoping for.

Coming up this Friday are three films worthy of particular note, including The Princess and the Frog, Invictus, and a whimsical independent picture about radio days called Me and Orson Welles.

The obvious Oscar-wannabe here is the Clint Eastwood-helmed Nelson Mandela biopic (Invictus), but lurking in the cypress-swamp woodwork is Disney's return to 2D hand-drawn animation (The Princess and the Frog), which sets the classic fairy tale in and around New Orleans for a whole new spin on the story.

Movie trailer for Disney's The Princess and the Frog

After being bombarded with CG 3D offerings, can technology-jaded audiences find anything to appreciated in this old school-style production? Check back on Friday for our review of the film, but make a big ol' note in indelible ink to the effect that Randy Newman composed the score and original songs. His creations draw together elements of jazz, blues, Dixieland, and zydeco in a spicy musical gumbo that is sure to appeal to Academy voters on the lookout for Best Song fodder.

As Alex puts it: "Maybe one for adults, one for kids this week."

A week from Friday (December 18) it's not even going to be a contest in terms of whirling turnstiles: James Cameron's Avatar, looking like a million dollars in trailer mode (while reportedly costing upwards of $300 million to make), will completely eclipse romcom Did You Hear About the Morgans? and costume drama The Young Victoria. But will the story (involving the commercial despoilment of an otherworldly natural realm) give this blockbuster big blue legs? Stay tuned.

Movie trailer for James Cameron's Avatar

Says Alex: "If you can't get excited about the first (fiction) movie from James Cameron in 12 years, then you just don't love movies."

On Christmas Day (December 25), no fewer than seven films of note roll out their North Texas bandwagons.

Crazy Heart, It's Complicated, A Single Man, Broken Embraces, and Nine all have their drawing points (to wit, and in the order presented above: Jeff Bridges as a worn-down singer of sad songs; Meryl Streep -- no more verbiage necessary; Colin Firth as a bereaved gay professor of English; Pedro Almodóvar directing Penélope Cruz (again); and Rob Marshall returning to big production values, all-star cast, broadway-musical-derived song-and-dance).

BUT it's Sherlock Holmes -- starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law, and directed by the fabulously manic Guy Ritchie -- that stands to draw the biggest Christmas holiday crowds. Meanwhile, Peter Jackson's first big film since 2005's King Kong -- The Lovely Bones -- will command a considerable audience following by dint of its director and its literary lineage (ref. Alice Sebold's best-selling novel).

Movie trailer for Sherlock Holmes

Alex's summary: "The popular pick is Sherlock Holmes, but Peter Jackson fans will be drawn in by The Lovely Bones. It's Complicated fills the romantic comedy niche, A Single Man is a fantastic independent film, and Nine is the blow-out musical. It's like they're giving all types of moviegoers (save for maybe kids, who can make do with Princess) something to see that day."

With so many fabulous films in the offing, there'll hardly be enough time to carve the Christmas goose.

Alex Bentley contributed to this story.