What's the buzzzzz? Bee Movie!

The holiday season begins.

Now that the Great Pumpkin has come and gone, Hollywood is getting serious about crowd pleasing movies. Two potential blockbusters premiere at the Eagle on Friday.

Most of the buzzzzzz is about Bee Movie, the which combines the wit and viewpoint of Jerry Seinfeld in animated form. I'm told the movie is enough Seinfeld to please adults, and enough cartoon to make even smaller children happy. As regular readers know, the key to big box office is not necessarily a great movie, but a movie that appeals to a great number of demographic groups. Bee Movie   should be on the "A" list for the box office.

I hope I don't sound TOO snarky here. I think it's really going to be a fun movie, and I know it is on our must-see list.

The second big movie this week is American Gangster, the Denzel Washington and Russel Crowe crime drama. The film is rated R, and it is getting very powerful reviews. More than 80 percent of the critics like it at www.rottentomatoes.com, and it is being cited as a thoroughly enjoyable modern gangster film.

And another thing...

You are going to get your money's worth in entertainment. The movie is more than 2 1/2 hours long, which means we had to slice out a late show. Make sure you check the schedule below.

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We don't want to court controversy, but we did want to alert you that some religious organizations have criticized "The Golden Compass," a December film starring Nicole Kidman that is aimed at the youth market as a movie in the vein of "Lord of the Rings."

We have been forwarded copies of emails that criticize both the movie and the novel on which it is based. We expect to be showing the film, and we invite you to read what the fuss is about in this balanced article in Fox News. We believe that parents have an absolute right to discern what is good and appropriate for their family to see. As a parent, I appreciate any input, and based upon what I have read, I think my son will enjoy the movie and my daughter--not so much. It DOES make us squeamish to hear talk of pressuring theaters not to show the film, because one person's discernment on behalf of their family is heavy-handed when it attempts to prevent others from seeing for themselves.

And we would end on by noting that most religious organizations have adopted a wait-and-see approach, preferring to actually viewing the film before trashing it. "Harry Potter" and "The DaVinci Code" have been criticized by many of the same groups, and the Republic still stands.

See you at the movies!