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Here's a look at the new movies I saw this week.

The Nutcracker and the Four Realms
Starring: McKenzie Foy, Keira Knightly, Helen Mirren, and Morgan Freeman
Synopsis: We've officially entered the holiday season. Once Halloween is over, and we move into November, the flood of Christmas-themed releases begin. The first this year is a new take on "The Nutcracker," a $100-million plus Disney epic that they've been marketing since last November. But is it any good? Well, that depends. From the standpoint of visuals and being light holiday entertainment, this film is fine. In fact, the visuals here are often stunning to behold and quite beautiful. And at just 99 minutes, this isn't an overly long commitment. It takes you to a bright, colorful world that is a bit of an escape. The problem here is the story is too thin to match the visuals, and the performances are curious or glossed over for the most part. Freeman is a big name, but he has an awfully small part in the film. Mirren is in a similar position. Knightly has more screen time, but the vocal affect she chose to employ for her character is often grating, at least it was to me. Foy, the central character, is fine. She doesn't have a lot of character depth, which is more a question of writing than performance, but she doesn't pop when she's on screen, either. For the most part we're left with a movie that brings in some Christmas spirit and is beautiful to behold but a bit empty in terms of its craft and message. That's not terrible, and it will likely still be a film that appeals to kids and those who love the Nutcracker story, but it falls short of being a film worthy of its hype or budget.
Rating: PG for some mild peril.
Verdict: Two stars out of four.

 Upcoming Releases:
Friday, November 9: "Dr. Seuss' The Grinch," "The Girl in the Spider's Web," "Overlord"
Friday, November 16: "Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindewald," "Widows," "Instant Family"
Wednesday, November 21: "Ralph Breaks the Internet," "Robin Hood," "Green Book," "Creed II," "The Front-Runner"

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