Four Christmases
*** 1/2 ( 3 1/2 Stars)
$16.8
million
$69.4 million
2 1/2 weeks
Rated: PG-13
Running time: 82 minutes
What it's about: After years of leaving the country for Christmas, a couple are forced to spend the holiday with their families.
: Our take: Vince Vaughn, as one-half of the trapped couple, is his usual boarish self, but Reese Witherspoon (above) explores her lighter side to great effect. as the other half.
Twilight
** ( 2 STARS)
$13
million
$138.4 million
3 weeks
Rated: PG-13
Running time: 121 minutes
What it's about: Good-guy vampire Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson, above) and human Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) fall into a love that's not to be consummated - unless Edward decides to drink her blood.
Our take: This flesh-biter of a movie never turns into a nail-biter. The emphasis is on swooning.
Bolt
*** 1/2 ( 3 1/2 STARS)
$9.8
million
$79.4 million
3 weeks
Rated: PG
Running time: 121 minutes
What it's about: A dog who plays a superhero on TV thinks he is one in real life, which presents all sorts of problems when he finds himself in New York.
Our take: It's the first Disney effort in way too long to be more concerned with being a movie than with being a breeding ground for product tie-ins.
Australia
* 1/2 ( 1 1/2 STARS)
$7.1
million
$30.9 million
2 1/2 weeks
Rated: PG-13
Running time: 165 minutes
What it's about: English aristocrat Lady Sarah Ashley (Nicole Kidman, above) and her right-hand man and lover end up running the ranch her murdered husband left her.
Our take: This film is made up of bits of other movies, including The Wizard of Oz. It's just a more-than-you-can-eat buffet of colorful kitsch.
Quantum of Solace
** 1/2 ( 2 1/2 STARS)
$6.8
million
$151.6 million
4 weeks
Rated: PG-13
Running time: 106 minutes
What it's about: 007 avenges the death of his true love while obliterating a crooked international green-industry syndicate.
Our take: Daniel Craig (above) manages the astonishing task of rooting an outlandish yet sober-sided movie in reality and bringing it an air of wicked amusement, too.
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
*** 1/2 ( 3 1/2 STARS)
$5.1
million
$165.7 million
5 weeks
Rated: G
Running time: 89 minutes
What it's about: Alex the dancing lion (Ben Stiller) and his fellow expatriates on the island of Madagascar head back to New York on Air Penguin but crash-land in another part of Africa.
Our take: This uproarious cartoon suggests what would happen if Comedy Central and Animal Planet co-produced Roots III.
Transporter 3
*** ( 3 STARS)
$4.7
million
$25.5 million
2 1/2 weeks
Rated: PG-13
Running time: 100 minutes
What it's about: Frank Martin (Jason Statham, above), who offers super-swift automotive transport of goods or people for the right price, breaks his rules for the sake of his latest package - a Ukrainian beauty.
Our take: If you're addicted to action, the movie itself will put you in adrenaline-freak heaven.
Punisher: War Zone
No stars
$4.3
million
$4.3 million
1 week
Rated: R
Running time: 107 minutes
What it's about: Ray Stevenson (above) stars as Frank Castle, aka the Punisher, a U.S. commando who turns himself into a vigilante killing machine.
Our take: The director, Lexi Anderson, a karate and kickboxing champion, simply uses spiked skulls, speared throats and torsos as exclamation points.