• “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel”
• “Astro Boy”
• “Battle for Terra”
• “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs”
• “Disney’s A Christmas Carol”
• “The Dolphin – Story of a Dreamer”
• “Fantastic Mr. Fox”
• “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs”
• “Mary and Max”
• “The Missing Lynx”
• “Monsters vs. Aliens”
• “9”
• “Planet 51”
• “Ponyo”
• “The Princess and the Frog”
• “The Secret of Kells”
• “Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure”
• “A Town Called Panic”
• “Up”

Which of these films do you hope will make the cut?

Source: AwardsDaily

What the Dickens? Disney’s A Christmas Carol marks the 14^th film adaptation (with this name, there has been other not named A Christmas Carol) of the classic Charles Dickens novel. Not bad considering he wrote it in a matter of weeks, reportedly for extra cash as his wife was pregnant with their fifth child. Amongst those 14 films, there has been even more retoolings in television adaptations, and stage versions, all of which I can assume, along the way you’ve encountered a few you really liked and a few you have not.

If anything, Disney’s A Christmas Carol proves that Dickens story is so incredibly powerful, that you could just do about anything with the story, and the story itself will make the adaptation automatically good. Essentially, all Robert Zemeckis does here is add a cosmetic face lift to the story. This isn’t the first time this story has been used in animation. Disney in 1983 made a 24 minute short featuring all of their classic characters in Mickey’s A Christmas Carol, but this time Zemeckis adds 3-D. Does it matter though? The 3-D debate will rage on whether it is the next film making evolutionary step or if it’s just a gimmick, and Disney’s A Christmas Carol doesn’t add to either side of that argument. What I did enjoy about the 3-D for this story, however, was it added a sense of involvement for us, the audience. But again, that’s purely cosmetic. You can’t argue that it doesn’t work, because Zemeckis has a superb knack for allowing the 3-D to naturally engulf us into the world of the story he is telling. For this aspect of the film, it works.

Now, the thing that I initially struggled with, is the casting of Jim Carrey as Scrooge. Even with the motion-capture technique Robert Zemeckis has been playing around with for his last few films, the casting of Carrey is odd. Now, Carrey is a comedic goof, but recently has shown his dramatic chops, and he proves it here, with playing numerous roles, namely the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Christmas Yet to Come. It is his voice that to me, makes me all wrong for Scrooge. I like my Scrooge to be a bitter old bastard, but every time Carrey talks, he mimics the shakiness of an old man, and it’s all wrong. Carrey can only be taking serious when he talks softly and calmly. The times Carrey is good, is when he calmly snarls at someone. In fact, this is going to lead to my problem with the film as a whole. Scrooge isn’t mean enough, and we don’t buy his eventually change into a decent man, as we all know is the thematic foundation of the novel.

Zemeckis undercuts it every time. To be fair, Zemeckis is working with a story so well known, that at the end of the day, all he could add was the cosmetic upgrade of the CG. He never makes his version emotionally charged. Even if you try to tell me he did and I’m wrong, I’ll say it is the fact that Charles Dickens story is so good, even in a lifeless project, the quality of his novel shines through. That’s the biggest letdown here; for all of the 3-D whiz-bang and some stylistic flourishes, it never fully comes alive. The only real emotional chord struck in the film is from Gary Oldman as Bob Cratchit, and that’s because Gary Oldman is the master of being a film chameleon.

Like every version of A Christmas Carol, audiences will have their favorites and least favorites, and I will not discourage you away from making this a holiday treat for you and your family. As an adaptation of the classic story, it’s an average take on the tale. I don’t know why Zemeckis’ other Christmas film, The Polar Express, has become a holiday favorite, because I’ll take this over that one, even if I was a little bah ho-hum.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

The Milla Jovovich starring film “The Fourth Kind” did not put up any sort of big numbers that was expected from a film along the same vein of “Paranormal Activity” as it accumulates $12.5 Million it’s first weekend. Richard Kelly’s newest directed thriller “The Box” barely got enough audience to make $7.8 Million, not entirely impressive especially with the fierce marketing. What became one of the more surprising box office successes of the weekend is “Precious” which, despite it’s under the radar marketing, managed to take in $1.8 Million over it’s opening weekend. The rest of the top ten from this weekend are listed below from Box Office Mojo.:

Weekend Box Office (November 6-8)

1. A Christmas Carol  ($31 M)
2. Michael Jackson’s This Is It  ($14 M)
3. The Men Who Stare at Goats  ($13.3 M)
4. The Fourth Kind  ($12.5 M)
5. Paranormal Activity  ($8.6 M)
6. The Box  ($7.8 M)
7. Couples Retreat  ($6.4 M)
8. Law Abiding Citizen  ($6.1 M)
9. Where the Wild Things Are  ($4.2 M)
10. Astro Boy  ($2.5 M)

What better way to keep each other in the holiday spirit with pure disaster stemming from Roland Emmerich’s new film “2012“. Also opening this weekend in theaters everywhere is the new Richard Curtis comedy “Pirate Radio” and a limited release of the Sebastian Gutierrez dramedy “Women in Trouble”.

Source: InContention

According to Incontention where they were lucky enough to see some footage:  “The first is something of a character initiation for Ebenezer Scrooge (Jim Carrey), in case you’re somehow unaware of his place in literary lore.  It isn’t the best scene for showing off the film’s 3D particulars but it is, however, a great indication of the detail and artistic direction of the film.  The sets are rendered as beautifully as Zemeckis’s “Beowulf,” though there is more of a glimmer of existence in the “lifeless eyes” that many were so loathe to observe in “The Polar Express.”  We also get a look at Bob Cratchit in this scene, one of actor Gary Oldman’s three gigs on the production.”

The second scene is much more technically eye-popping: Scrooge’s first encounter with one of the film’s four specters, former business partner Jacob Marley (Oldman again).  Marley’s ghost looks absolutely gorgeous, accented by a fluorescent blue hue that fortunately doesn’t glaze over the considerable detail on the face.  Marley’s chains make for a delightful opportunity with the 3D, allowing the gimmick and gag aspects of “Beowulf” to give way to a more alarming, visceral experience that is meant to frighten.  More of this, please.

We were also treated to the first trailer for the film, which will debut July 1.  Much of that footage is the same “trailerish” material that follows the train tour exhibition, but it’s more fleshed out, of course, with lots of indication (especially with the Ghost of Christmas Past stuff) that the film will be a thrilling experience and that the 3D will enhance that experience considerably.  But I was quite taken with a subtle piece of character-building tacked onto the end.

The camera follows a drifting snowflake, large in the foreground and illuminated by the 3D, as it settles onto Scrooge’s nose in close-up.  You would expect the flake to melt away with a bit of a “hiss” sound or something, but Scrooge being the cold-hearted man that he is, it merely rests there on the tip of his nose until he blows it away, quipping the expected: “Humbug.”

Source: In Contetion

A Christmas Carol will be yet another 3D motion capture film from Zemeckis utilizing the same technology he perfected in Beowolf.

Source: Variety

Piranha 3-D-Alexandre Aja of The Hills Have Eyes remake fame is currently in preproduction remaking this horror film scheduled for a late 2010 release.

 Alice in Wonderland- Tim Burtons remake of the classic Disney cartoon is getting a 2010 release with Anne Hathaway and Helena Bonham Carter starring.

Toy Story 1 and 2 are being given a re-release in theatres and being converted to 3-D, with both looking for a 2010 release to build hype for the upcoming Toy Story 3 sequel.

Avatar- James Cameron’s anticipated first film since his Oscar winning Titanic back in 1997, is slowly creeping closer and closer to its release date of December 18th of this year.

G-Force- Jerry Bruckheimer’s upcoming children’s film featuring talking Guinea Pigs (don’t worry you read that right) is getting the 3-D treatment, and featuring the voices of Penelope Cruz and Nicolas Cage.

UP- Pixar‘s latest film featuring the voice and startling similarity to Ed Asner is coming to theatres this summer.  UP, marks Pixar‘s first foray into the 3-D arena. 

Battle for Tera- This animated film featuring the voices of Evan Rachel Wood, David Cross, and Justin Long is beginning it’s run on May 1st of this year.

Monsters Vs. Aliens-Dreamworks Co-Owner Jeffrey Katzenberg, has been touting 3-D technology for quite some time now so let’s see if his first foray into 3-D films is worth the trip when Seth Rogen and Reese Witherspoon lend their voice talents this March 27th.

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs- The third and final (?) entry into the animated tale of scrat and the rest of the pre historic creatures make their debut this September 28th 2009.

A Christmas Carol-Robert Zemeckis makes his anticipated return this christmas in yet another 3-D animated tale this time starring Jim Carrey taking 4 roles including the role Ebenezer Scrooge.

Planet 51- The Rock stars with the beautiful Jessica Biel in this upcoming animated film which has the stars lending their voices to tell the tale of an alien planet living in fear of an alien invasion. The invasion starts November 20th 2009.

Rango-Gore Verbinski recently announced this animated tale as an upcoming project featuring the voice of Johnny Depp which will be filmed in 3-D.  No release date has been announced.

Final Destination Death Trip 3d- The fourth installment in the popular horror franchise  will bring viewers to 3d carnage during a Nascar type race on August 14th 2009.  Thanks to killerfilm reader SagiMewtwo  for the heads up.

Films rumoured for a 3-D treatment:

The Lord of the rings have often been touted as being re released in 3-D, along with King Kong as Peter Jackson was said to have been using the technology at the time. 

Battle Angel- James Cameron has been stating that he would be making films in 3-D and that he would love to tackle this film as his next project. Of course he said this before Avatar so who knows when he will work again.

Re-Animator-I struggled to put this one in rumoured, as day by day it seems closer to fruition.  Brian Yuzna who is the films producer, and may direct this film, has stated himself he would like to make the film in 3-D but no approval or confirmation as of yet.

The Avengers-Way too early to tell if this will come.

Crank 3- With the sequel still not released, this is very premature but there have been rumblings.

Thanks to killerfilm reader Will for pointing out that there is also rumours of Star Wars being given the 3D treatment as wel,l cuz as we all know 2 dimensions just isn’t enough. Totally forgot about this one.

Here is the first official image:

Also the blog marketsaw which is dedicated to latest in 3-D entertainment has been handed the frist promotional poster . which you can see below.  Once a new high res poster is available we will show it to you here first!