The Holiday Movie Preview for 2009 can still be found under the Articles tab on the main page. Will the top 12 films be a smash or crash?
As for "A Christmas Carol" the film, it was an entertaining translation of the picture. Both the vocal and animated performances of Jim Carrey and co-star Gary Oldman were engrossing. The "dead eye" quality in the animated characters seems to be almost solved, with Scrooge especially having a life-like quality to his facial expressions. Some of the liberties taken with the Charles Dickens' story are intriguing while others are simply excuses to show off the technology. The film as a whole had a much darker quality than expected, even scary at times. The bit with the Ghost of Christmas Future was almost completely wasted but the scenes with Past and Present almost make up for this stumble.
Overall, older children will enjoy the experience with their parents and parents will be entertained as they watch the picture with their kids. Seeing the movie as it truly should be seen, in 3D (and IMAX) if possible, will greatly enhance your movie-going experience. It is not too late to catch this picture while still in theaters this holiday season; by mid-December it will likely make way for the release of the next technological behemoth, "Avatar." One caveat, the tickets to the matinee show at Saco Cinemagic were $14 each and the theater was difficult to locate with my GPS device. Instead of looking for the theater, choose "FunTown" as your destination; Saco Cinemagic is practically across the street.
