The majority of the movies that should be watched come out the last week of the month. This is Hollywood's way of telling you to watch "Scrooge" if you want to get into the holiday spirit. Starting out the month is Jason Reitman's latest, but the end of the month is where things get interesting. James Cameron is directing his first non-documentary since "Titanic" with "Avatar." Not to mention the hip-hop chipmunks are back and Robert Downey Jr. is blowing things up as "Sherlock Holmes." Get your shopping done early this month and then run the theaters to avoid the relatives that won't just go away.

December 4

Up in the Air

A corporate "downsizing expert" has his life on the road (or rather up in the air) threatened upon meeting the woman of his dreams and reaching 10,000,000 frequent flier miles. If it weren't for the powerhouse of talent behind this flick, I'd say the premise is enough to avoid it entirely. George Clooney is in the lead, with Jason Reitman ("Juno") behind the camera. Rounding out the supporting cast is Danny McBride, Jason Bateman, and J.K. Simmons.

Serious Moonlight

Timothy Hutton takes a break from supervising criminals in "Leverage" to being taped to a toilet in this movie. You see, his wife wants to stay together so she tapes him to the toilet in order to convince him to stay. While that may sound like "Misery" the movie is a comedy written by Adrienne Shelly ("Waitress") and directed by Cheryl Hines.

December 11

The Lovely Bones

Peter Jackson has been talking about this movie during the press for "Lord of the Rings." In it, a teenage girl is murdered, but continues to live in the "in between." The purgatory scenes from the trailer looks a whole lot like Robin Williams' "What Dreams May Come," let's hope the movie is better than that one.

Invictus

Here's why to watch this movie: Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela. The movie chronicles Mandela's quest to provide inspiration to the world by winning the World Cup in rugby. Matt Damon co-stars.

December 18

Avatar

Not to be confused with "Avatar: The Last Airbender" this is the one with the blue people indigenous to the planet Pandora. When the military is tasked with clearing out the planet for access to a rare and expensive mineral, they develop an "avatar" technology to go into another body. The avatar is then sent in to infiltrate the blue people. The only thing missing from "art imitating life" aspect is an AIDS conspiracy or maybe smallpox wrapped in a nice blanket.

December 25

Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakuel

The first movie wasn't as bad as adults make it out to be. Yes, we expected more from Jason Lee, but it's a movie with singing chipmunks. If you have a negative review of something called "The Squeakuel" you probably should let someone else pick your next movie for you.

Sherlock Holmes

Like your detectives with a little more ass-kicking? If so, Robert Downey Jr. is your man. The mythos of Holmes is flipped on its side, by focusing on the action of being the world's greatest detective. Jude Law co-stars as Watson.

The Boys are Back

A sports writer (Clive Owen) gets thrown into the life of a single parent after tragedy strikes his family. Harry Potter fans might be interested in seeing Ron Weasley himself, Rupert Grint, playing a role that doesn't involve vomiting slugs.