The above image is not an accurate representation of the wartime family drama Brothers—starring Tobey Maguire, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Natalie Portman—but I wish it was. Alison calls it "an impressive ensemble piece."

Another war-related flick is The Messenger, a film that's been getting a lot of acclaim but which Marjorie sums up as a "trinity of muddled anti-climaxes."

Then there's Collapse, a documentary about a dude PROPHESYING OUR DOOM. I thought it was "fascinating," but then, I'm a sucker for crazy old men who rant about Mad Max-type shit.

Alison compares Robert De Niro's character in the melodrama Everybody's Fine to "an old dog with bad hips struggling to stand, almost making it up, then collapsing to the floor and pissing himself." The movie still sounds better than Righteous Kill.

Courtney loves The House of the Devil and says it's a "perfect love note to the suspenseful, old-school horror flicks of the '70s and '80s."

Jane says that paying to see commercials at the 2009 British Television Advertising Awards is "as backward as waiting in line behind your own children for the privilege of pissing in your toilet," but she still kinda recommends doing so anyway.

Alison (christ, how many movies did she review this week?) says The Maid is "a character study of the best kind."

Meanwhile, Zac recommends some select Christmas horror movies, and requests that you "Please have your sleigh/slay puns ready."

The Northwest Film Center also has their Japanese Currents series going this weekend, Cort and Fatboy are showing The Nightmare Before Christmas at the Bagdad tonight, and the always-excellent Found Footage Festival hits the Laurelhurst tonight and tomorrow night. More, as ever, in our Film Shorts, and all the listings you could ever need are in our Movie Times.