HOLIDAY MOVIES PART 1

I love movies. I love going to the theater. I think this is something that I have inherited from my mother. Some of my favorite memories involve going to the theater with my mother every weekend, something we continued to do up until about twelve years ago when I moved out of Chicago.

Here is a list of movies that I'm more than anxious to see during the holiday season:

1. Ocean's Twelve: George Clooney, Brad Pitt, and everyone else return for another heist. Seeking to escape the heat trailing them after their enormous Las Vegas heist, the 11 thieves (plus one) high-tail it to Europe. When a continental crook sets them up for a fall, they have to pull off three crimes in three different countries. Three Good Reasons:
• All of the original guys are back, as fun-loving and well-dressed as ever.
• The ladies, Julia Roberts and new recruit Catherine Zeta-Jones, get in on the action this time.
• With any luck, it'll be as fun watching the movie as they all had making it.

2. Finding Neverland: It's the true story of Scottish playwright J.M. Barrie, a boyish, misunderstood eccentric. His friendship with a widowed mother and her boys proved to be the inspiration he needed to pen the tale of the most famous boy who never wanted to grow up, Peter Pan. Three Good Reasons:
• Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet always deliver.
• This is a great chance to learn about the inspiriations for Peter Pan, Wendy, and The Lost Boys.
• It's a feel-good movie for a feel-good time of the year.

3. National Treasuer: The Declaration of Independence holds clues to an ancient mystery. A treasure hunter named Benjamin Franklin Gates (Nicolas Cage) has only one chance of finding America's greatest treasure - he has to steal the Declaration of Independence and decipher its cryptic clues to a 2,000-year-old mystery. Three Good Reasons:
• Enough with the dramatic roles; it's good to see Nicolas Cage in another action movie.
• The beautiful Diane Kruger plays the National Archive's sexiest conservator.
• Sean Bean makes a great bad guy.

4. 'Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events': The Baudelaire orphans, Violet, Klaus, and Sunny, are taken in by the cunning and dastardly Count Olaf, who hopes to snatch their inheritance from them. Three Good Reasons:
• The darkly funny books are extremely popular with the kids.
• Jim Carrey sinks his teeth into another madcap character with many wild guises.
• An incredible supporting cast, including Meryl Streep, Billy Connolly, and Jude Law as the narrator Lemony Snicket.