Arthur Christmas is the type of flick that leans towards answering the ever-so-famous questions kids all over the world ask. How does Santa roam the globe in one night and deliver gifts? Does he really climb down a chimney? Does he really read letters? The film provides kids a view of the mission-like, high-tech operation being run by the Claus family and how magical Santa's team makes it happen.

The Claus family includes Santa (Jim Broadbent), Mrs. Claus (Imelda Staunton), their children Arthur (James McAvoy) and Steve (Hugh Laurie), and GrandSanta (Bill Nighy).

"Arthur Christmas" is a ...

What would the Woodstock Music & Art Fair have been like without the music? Most likely: Three days of 500 thousand wet, drug induced concert goers rolling around in the mud. Well, at least the final act of Ang Lee's "Taking Woodstock" gets that part right. The festival is very much in full force but, strangely, the actual music is no where to be found. Really, were the music rights really that expensive? What "Taking Woodstock" does do is show a microcosm of the entire late 1960's counter-culture movement through the eyes of sleepy upstate New York town of Bethel over a month long period, ...

They don't get top billing. You know the face but can't quite place the name. Though they toil in the shadows of more famous leads, to imply that character actors merely 'support' is to vastly underrate the contributions of many remarkable entertainers: Often, it is the performance of lesser-knowns that leaps from screens large and small into the hearts of an audience, leaving them with both a lasting impression and a question that begs to be answered: 'Who the heck is that?'

As a misunderstood 19th-century rent-collector called Pancks, British actor Eddie Marsan sputters and guffaws his...

Burt Reynolds is hoping to revive his film career by playing a Hollywood star hoping to revive his career in a new British film. The veteran will play a washed-up star who signs up to play Shakespeare's King Lear in A Bunch of Amateurs.

Reynolds' character thinks the role is part of a Royal Shakespeare Company production only to find he's the star of an amateur show in a rural English village.

Ironically, the other amateurs in the film are revered British thespians Derek Jacobi, Imelda Staunton and Samantha Bond.

farkItButton("Washed up actor to play a washed up actor in new ...

Happy Birthday to Spanish PGA golfer Sergio Garcia (1980), Backstreet Boy A.J. McLean (1978), South African born singer/bandleader Dave Matthews (1967), Smash Mouth singer Steve Harwell (1967), Nip/Tuck actress Joely Richardson (1965), "Vera Drake" star Imelda Staunton (1956), American country singer Crystal Gayle (1951), New York Doll David Johansen (1950), Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page (1944), British actress Susannah York (1942), singer/activist Joan Baez (1941), "Gilligan's Island" actor Bob Denver (1935; d. 2005), Green Bay Packers legendary quarterback Bart Starr (1934), "The Good...

Harry Potter giant Robbie Coltrane and Vera Drake star Imelda Staunton will both receive honors from British monarch Queen Elizabeth II. Staunton, who won a BAFTA for her 2004 portrayal of a backstreet abortionist in director Mike Leigh's 1950s drama, will also receive an Order of the British Empire (OBE) from the Queen at London's Buckingham Palace.

Coltrane, who plays Potter's over-sized friend Hagrid in the boy wizard series, is being honored with an OBE for his substantial services to drama.

Jazz star John Dankworth, aged 78, will be knighted at the same ceremony.

(This ...

Happy Birthday to Spanish PGA golfer Sergio Garcia (1980), Backstreet Boy A.J. McLean (1978), South African born singer/bandleader Dave Matthews (1967), Smash Mouth singer Steve Harwell (1967), Nip/Tuck actress Joely Richardson (1965), "Vera Drake" star Imelda Staunton (1956), American country singer Crystal Gayle (1951), New York Doll David Johansen (1950), Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page (1944), British actress Susannah York (1942), singer/activist Joan Baez (1941), "Gilligan's Island" actor Bob Denver (1935; d. 2005), Green Bay Packers legendary quarterback Bart Starr (1934), "The Good...