The Book of Eli continues Hollywood's obsession with post-apocalyptic tales, and in many ways feels like it belongs in the same world as The Road with its ash-laden wastelands and crazed cannibals roaming about. But the comparisons end there. Where The Road is a thoughtful art film based on a Pulitzer prize-winning novel, Eli is more of a popcorn action flick influenced by the visual style of graphic novels, although it's more thought-provoking and less of an adrenaline rush than the Mad Max movies.

Denzel Washington stars as Eli, a lone traveler wandering America's wastelands presumably devastated by nuclear war 30 years prior. The stark landscape is littered with abandoned cars, crumbling buildings, bombed highways, and the occasional picked-clean body. Water and food are scarce, purchased through trade of whatever you happen to be carrying—wet wipes are humorously and understandably one of the hot commodities.

When a movie feels way, way too long, and it's only 79 minutes, that's definitely not a good sign.

And that, unfortunately, is exactly how it feels when you're watching 9, a fascinating—albeit morose—idea that's lost in a jumble of bad dialogue and thinly developed characters.

Now if graded purely on aesthetics, 9 would certainly earn high marks for its inventive imagery. From the first frame, Tim Burton's distinctive yet creepy stylistic fingerprints are all over the place, even if it's technically not a Tim Burton film (he only served as the movie's producer).

But considering that an animated account of "the end of the world as we know it" was already done so well and winningly in last year's Wall·E, 9 just doesn't add anything new to the perilous conversation. Instead, it's merely a stringing together of disturbing imagery that actually provokes more shifting in your seat than anything resembling actual emotion—probably not the filmmakers' intention, I'm guessing.

Right away, the look is special—and it only gets better. The realistic and beautiful world created by Cameron is a must-see, a definite milestone in movie technology. Perhaps the greatest compliment to give is that the look is so natural and absorbing, you don't think about how it's not real. You think, It'sjust a movie filmed on Pandora. Future filmmakers will look on this movie's advancements a bit like filmmakers now view Star Wars. With 3D scenery that surrounds the viewer, strange creatures visibly breathing, and thrilling fantasy creations like riding dragon-like birds into battle, this is as much an experience as a movie.

This adaptation of a Michael Lewis book (The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game) tells the true story Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron), a gentle hulk of a boy who, through some string-pulling by concerned relatives, gains admission to the same Christian school the Tuohy children attend in Memphis. His IQ of 80 and grade point average of 0.6 present obvious challenges for his teachers and his unwillingness to do any homework is jeopardizing his future at the school.

His one hope, in the eyes of the school, is football—although Oher never has played the game. It's the school's football coach (Ray McKinnon) who, after one look at Oher, makes it his mission to develop Oher into a star athlete.

Oher's other, less self-interested hope is Tuohy, a smartly dressed mother of two who finds Oher, her daughter's classmate at the Christian school, walking the streets in need of a place to stay. She and her husband (Tim McGraw) invite him to sleep in their home, and once there, help to shape him into a well-rounded student with a bright future.

You know the names even if you've never read the story. Ebenezer Scrooge; Tiny Tim; the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come—they've been an integral part of our culture for well over 150 years.

The tale of Ebenezer Scrooge, the miser who is transformed by a ghostly intervention into a good and generous man on Christmas Eve, is one that never seems to grow old.

And this year is a good chance to be introduced to A Christmas Carol, whether for the first time or for the hundredth.

Disney's new "motion capture" adaptation of the film, in the style of Polar Express and others, is in theaters now. And it's a beautifully done version that I'm sure will attract many new fans to the old story. I went to see it with my children this weekend, and was not disappointed.

"Where the Wild Things Are” is based on a beloved picture book by Maurice Sendak. This screen adaptation is directed by Spike Jonze and Dave Eggers. Max (played by Max Records) is a 9 year old boy who definitely feels neglected. Max builds a snow fort and wants his older sister to play with him, but she is too busy on the phone or with her friends. He gets into a snowball fight with his sister and her friends, but his fort is crushed by them. They don’t even realize how they have hurt Max, as he stands there crying, and his sister just leaves.

Overview: Hollywood has spent the last fifteen years taking cartoons and action figures from my youth and turning them into either really great, or really poor action movies. So, when one my oldest boys asked me to join him during the opening weekend of G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, my expectations were for a large crowd, lots of special effects and a very thin, predictable plot-line. Were my expectations met? “Sir, yes sir!”

What's left of the human race continues to rage against the machines in Terminator Salvation (2 out of 4 stars).

But without Arnold front and center, the heavy-metal fracas is just not much fun. Christian Bale stars in this lackluster fourth installment in the Terminator series, but his Batman-Terminator crossover doesn't work. Things do explode well, and loudly. The machines are bigger, shinier and meaner than ever, and the world they inhabit is even more grim and bleak. But the dramatic elements flat-line; any kind of humanity is in short supply.

Liam Neeson stars as a one-man vigilante machine: "If you don't let my daughter go, I will find you and I will kill you." Thus begins a trail of carnage and death across Paris as a father tries to rescue his daughter.

At once raw, heartbreaking, and triumphant, this under...umm...dog movie about the trials and wiles of Jamal—a plucky, good-hearted orphan who survives the harrowing slums of India before scoring big on a TV game show—has captured the hearts of many theatergoers and critics. (It recently nabbed Golden Globes for Best Picture, Director, Screenplay, and Score and is nominated for 10 Oscars as well, including Best Picture.)