Will Farrell gives a winning performance in this fun filled family comedy. The look of the movie brims with bright colors and holiday spirit, from the magical North Pole to the Christmas-adorned streets of New York City. Much of the film's humor comes from Buddy's (Farrell) innocence after living as an elf his whole life before journeying to the big apple to find his father. The story is as sweet as syrup (something Buddy loves) and the star studded cast bring humor and warmth to the mix. It's not groundbreaking filmmaking, but Elf allows Farrell to work some comedic magic and will certainly become a family favorite for the holidays.

Steven Spielberg. Daniel Day-Lewis. Abraham Lincoln. These names are brought together to create a pretty good movie. The film tells the story of Lincoln's last few months in office, and does so with some stellar performances and steadfast camerawork. This is a very political, dialogue-heavy piece, and if the viewer can embrace that then it can be a very engrossing, despite the somewhat bloated running time. While the story can be somewhat all-over-the-place and hard to follow in places, the performances give it substantial merit, a few of them (Sally Field, Tommy Lee Jones, & Mr. Day-Lewis, of course) being Oscar worthy. As in his previous film, War Horse, you can truly feel Mr. Spielberg's passion for Lincoln while watching it, giving you a sense how important the story that it's telling is. This is not a perfect film, and it isn't for everyone, but is certainly a good one that shouldn't be overlooked.

Skyfall brings James Bond back with a vengence, and the film couldn't be more thrilling. With every Bond film, there is action and intrigue guaranteed, but this film raises the bar. Daniel Craig challenges everyone's favorite, Sean Connory, as being truly the perfect Bond. Craig plays Bond's cunning, charm, ruthlessness, and vulnerability to such perfection that you feel he really is 007. The supporting cast is truly marvelous, with the great Judi Dench and Javier Bardem being standouts. While the action scenes are more thrilling than any of the past Bond films, it is the sentimental and emotional content of this film that makes it so effective. Sam Mendes knows how to tell a story while making a movie that is gorgeous to look at, which he does impeccably here. Ultimately this Bond film is special because it not only gives the audience everything that a Bond film should, but it goes to a new emotional territory that no Bond film has every really gone before, and leaves quite a wonderful lasting impression.

Featuring the stellar performances of Joan Crawford and Betty Davis, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? is a movie finely crafted to build tension for the audience. The camera is used to highten the viewer's uneasiness, and does this quite well as the narrative unravels. Some of the darkness of the story is first touched upon with the opening sequence, in which Joan Crawford's character is crushed by an unknown driver, destroying her legs. As the film progresses, Betty Davis's horrid treatment of her sister (Joan Crawford) escalates, to the point that the audience in dread of her every action. The intense close up character shots and different framing techiniques capture every emotion that these two women go through as one of them decends into madness and the other grows weaker. This is a brooding, sad, and disturbing film, but is also a worthwhile watch.