Opening This Week: “The Guilt Trip,” “This is 40,” “Jack Reacher,” “Monsters Inc.,”

This is one of the biggest weeks of the year for movies, as families come together to celebrate the holidays and studios release some of their most highly anticipated films.  Get ready for:
“Monsters, Inc. 3D” Preparing us for next year’s prequel, “Monster University,” is this 3D re-release of the Pixar classic about the monsters whose fuel is nightmares but who are afraid of a toddler.

“The Guilt Trip” Barbra Streisand and Seth Rogan play mother and son in this road trip story inspired by the writer’s own experience taking his mother on a business trip.

“Jack Reacher”  Tom Cruise plays the character from the Lee Child series of books about an ex-military investigator and a former-sniper accused of murder who may be innocent.

“Cirque Du Soleil: Worlds Away” James Cameron (“Avatar”) co-produced this 3D film of the worldwide phenomenon of acrobatics, dance, and music.

“This is 40” Writer/director Judd Apatow has made a semi-sequel to “Knocked Up” that is very personal — it stars his wife and daughters along with Paul Rudd, Jason Segal, Albert Brooks, Megan Fox, John Lithgow, and classic rocker Graham Parsons in a story about coping — and not coping — with growing older.

“The Impossible” Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor star in this fact-based story about a family trying to find each other following the devastating tsunami of 2004.

And then more next week:  Christmas day openings include “Les Misérables,” Quentin Tarantino’s “Django Unchained,” and Billy Crystal and Bette Milder’s “Parental Guidance”