After you open presents and celebrate the holiday, head to the movie theater for some of the biggest releases of the year.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is adapted from the 1920s story written by F. Scott Fitzgerald and stars Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett. The film is directed by David Fincher. (Fight Club, Zodiac) The film takes place in New Orleans from the end of World War I into the 21st century as Benjamin Button ages backwards. The story opens with Pitt as an 80-year-old man in a nursing home, and then gradually "ages" into a young man. This emotional drama has already been rumored to be one of the best films of the year.

Bedtime Stories is Adam Sandler’s first appearance in a Disney Film in which he plays a hotel handyman who tells his niece and nephew bedtime stories that mysteriously start coming true. Sandler produces the film with his own company, Happy Madison, along with Andrew Gunn of Gunn Films. (Freaky Friday and Sky High)  The film hopes to tap into the inner child in all of us. Who hasn’t wished for gumballs to rain from the sky?

Marley and Me is based on the memoir by John Grogan entitled Marley and Me: Life With the World's Worst Dog. Grogan played by Owen Wilson who is a columnist for Philadelphia Inquirer and moves to Miami with his wife (Jennifer Anniston). They adopt a yellow Labrador retriever who turns out to be a handful and wreaks havoc everywhere he goes. The comedy hopes to win audiences with its light-hearted tale of loving your pet no matter what.

The Spirit is a police-superhero film based on the newspaper comics created by Will Eisner. Frank Miller (300, Sin City) wrote and directed the dark adventure about Gabriel Macht as The Spirit and Samuel Jackson as his nemesis, The Octopus. Scarlett Johansson, Eva Mendes, and Sarah Paulson also star in the film. This film could be as striking as Sin City and 300, which were visually phenominal, or it could fall flat. But we have high hopes for this film.

Valkyrie is a new historical thriller directed by Bryan Singer and stars Tom Cruise. The film depicts the story of German army officers’ plan on July 20, 1944 to assassinate Adolf Hitler. Cruise plays the lead character, Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg. Cruise’s casting angered some German politicians and Stauffenberg’s family due to his religious beliefs in Scientology. Although it has since received some positive press, audiences will decide how it fairs.

--Jessica Delli Santi