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A Christmas Carol – Opens November 6th

Performance capture is creepy. We've seen Robert Zemeckis use it before in The Polar Express and Beowulf. He's at it again in A Christmas Carol, perhaps one of the most retold, repackaged, rebranded, resold, re-whatever-you-want-to-call-it stories of all time. Perhaps that's why performance capture comes into play, so that we can see A Christmas Carol "like never before" (as the trailer promises).

As for the movie itself, I really don't know what to make of it. All Disney does with you for two-and-a-half minutes is take you on a flight lesson with an animated Jim Carrey. He's flying around town, rocketing up to the room, falling back down the earth – what the hang is going on here? With a story like A Christmas Carol, you can kind of get away with showing off other aspects of the movie because its plotline is so deeply ingrained within our consciousness.

Yet Jim Carrey – or a version of him – literally flies around for the duration of the feature trailer, screaming at unsuspecting ghosts, crashing into hardwood floors. It's probably an effort on Disney's part to show off what you'll get to see in 3-D (and/or in IMAX if you so choose). But either way, it's a bit ridiculous.

Grade: D

The Twilight Saga: New Moon – Opens November 20th

New Moon, the next chapter in Summit Entertainment's hugely successful Twilight Saga series, acts just like your typical Hollywood sequel: it's bigger. Bigger action, bigger playing field, bigger Taylor Lautner biceps. (Seriously, the boy packed on about 30 pounds to keep up with his character's growth spurt in Stephenie Meyer's book). The story, as I remember reading a few summers ago, is also much more cinematic, complete with action sequences, motorcycle rides and a trip to Italy. Its transformation from book to screen should be rather "effortless."

However, it's difficult for me to get excited over New Moon when I detested the book. Detested may be too strong a word. But it's true that it was my least favorite of the four novels that make up the teeny bopper Twilight Saga. Even worse, it lessened my enthusiasm for the series so much so that I nearly vacated the series at book two. Nothing seemed to happen. It was all rather monotonous.

But since this is a column that's expected to judge a movie by its trailer, I must admit it's exciting to see some new blood in the cast. Especially Dakota Fanning, who should make a perfect Jane. You can totally see her torturing people with her mind, right?

I should say, however, that the series would benefit by not taking itself so damn seriously. There's a lot of overacting going on here, and likely more melodrama than we were treated to the first time around. If the Twilight Saga stole even a touch of the campiness that Alan Ball has all but perfected with True Blood, the series would have a greater respect from those not familiar with the books.

In this less than gripping chapter, Bella faces new sexual temptation in beefier Jacob Black after her vampire lover, Edward, abruptly departs Forks. Her loyalties are tested, though, when the old feud between vampires (which Edward is) and werewolves (which Jacob is) reignites.

Grade: C

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