With the holiday weekend fast approaching, movie studios are releasing their last batch of this year’s films. Among this week’s releases are Oscar hopefuls “Memoirs of a Geisha” and “The Producers,” the lighthearted comedy “The Ringer,” and the Jim Carrey/Tea Leoni comedy “Fun With Dick and Jane.” All four of these films are excellent holiday additions, but I wouldn’t expect anything more than a good time from any of them. Both “Memoirs” and “Producers” have grabbed a combined six Golden Globe nominations, but not nearly as many as most had anticipated, while “Brokeback Mountain,” which slowly opens wide over the next ten days, secured seven nominations.
Also in wide release (and opening Christmas Day) is the “The Graduate”-themed comedy “Rumor Has It…” and the Aussie horror flick “Wolf Creek.” Both the Steven Spielberg film “Munich” and the Heath Ledger STRAIGHT romance “Casanova” open in limited release, while Terrence Malick’s “The New World” debuts as a special extended cut of the film – the real version won’t be released for another two weeks while the director wraps up editing on the final product.
