WEEKLY CineBUZZ REPORT - 14 November 2011

HOLLYWOOD'S X-MAS GIFT

With 50+ releases scheduled over the next 10 weeks, Hollywood is definitely not playing the Grinch this holiday season.

The season really starts next week, with Bella's birth of a half-vampire baby in Twilight Breaking Dawn - Part 1 (Summit) and Happy Feet Two (Warner-3D) and the festivities continue with a movie-for-everyone at the local cinemas.   The must-see list includes:

November 23rd - Arthur Christmas (Sony-3D)
                             Hugo (Paramount-3D)
                             The Muppets (Disney)
                        

December 2nd - Answers to Nothing (Roadside)
                           Sleeping Beauty (IFC Films)

December 9th - I Melt With You (Magnolia)
                          The Sitter (Fox)
                          Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (Focus)
                          Young Adult (Paramount)
                          New Year's Eve (Warners/New Line)

December 16th - Alvin & The Chipmunks -ChipWrecked (Fox)
                            Mission Impossible-Ghost Protocol (Paramount)
                            Sherlock Holmes (Warners)

December 21st - The Adventures of TinTin (Paramount-3D)
                            The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (Sony)
                            Albert Nobbs (Roadside)

December 23rd - Who Bought The Zoo (Fox)

December 25th - The Darkest Hour (Summit-3D)
                            War Horse (Disney/Dreamworks)

December 30th - The Iron Lady (Weinstein)

January 6th - The Devil Inside (Paramount)
                       Roadie (Magnolia)
                       Red Tails (Fox)

January 13th - Beauty & The Beast (Disney-3D)
                        Joyful Noise (Warners)

January 20th - Haywire (Relativity)
                        Underworld Awakening (Sony-3D)

January 27th - One For The Money (Lionsgate)
                        The Grey (Open Road)

                       
AND THE WINNER IS!

Feb. 26th is Oscar night. Originally scheduled to host the
gala was Eddie Murphy, who has now been replaced
with Billy Crystal - the go-to guy whenever there seems to be a hosting controversy. It seems Eddie made some off-hand remarks about gays.  Eddie would have made a much better host -funnier with much better ad-libing. Billy will most likely gravitate to his old schtick complete with Jack Benny - "I get it" smile.

Early predictions for the only worth watching awards - best pic, actors, and director - have the odds-on favorite contenders as:

Best Pic
The Artist
The Descendants
War Horse
Hugo
Moneyball

Best Actor
Clooney - The Descendants
Pitt - Moneyball
DiCaprio - J. Edgar
Dujardin - The Artist
Oldman - Tinket, Tailor

Best Actress
Close - Albert Nobbs
Davis - The Help
Streep - The Iron Lady
Theron - Young Adult
Dunst - Melancholia

Best Director
Hazanavicius - The Artist
Payne - The Descendants
Spielberg - War Horse
Allen - Midnight in Paris
Scorsese - Hugo

Best and Happy Movie Going !
Jim Lavorato