Black Christmas

Director: Glen Morgan

Starring: Michelle Trachtenberg, Lacey Chabert, Andrea Martin

A remake of the 1974 horror movie. A young boy named Billy is locked in the attic of his home by his mother and her lover. One day Billy breaks out of his musty attic and murders them. He runs away, but comes home years later for the holiday season. Through the night, Billy's sisters at the home find themselves being harassed by a stranger with threatening phone calls and start to go missing, one by one on Christmas break.

Children of Men

Director: Alfonso Cuarn

Starring: Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Charlie Hunnam

Based on a novel by British mystery writer PD James, the film tells a world one generation from now that has fallen into chaos because of an infertility defect in the population. The world's youngest citizen has just died at 18, and mankind is facing the likelihood of its own extinction.

Code Name: The Cleaner

Director: Les Mayfield

Starring: Cedric The Entertainer, Lucy Liu, Nicollette Sheridan, Elizabeth Hurley

In this action comedy Jake, a mild-mannered janitor with amnesia gets himself comically entangled in a government conspiracy. Jake gets in over his head when he is duped into believing that he is an undercover agent who subconsciously holds a key piece of information that could expose an arms conspiracy involving the CIA and FBI.

Freedom Writers

Director: Richard LaGravenese

Starring: Hilary Swank, Imelda Staunton, Patrick Dempsey, Scott Glenn

Inspired by a true story and the diaries of real Long Beach teenagers after the LA disturbance, during the worst outbreak of interracial gang warfare. Two-time Academy Award winner Swank stars as Erin Gruwell, whose passion to become a teacher is soon challenged by a group of Black, Latino, and Asian gangsters who hate her even more than they hate each other.

(China Daily 01/04/2007 page6)