Inside Movies The Place Where Movies and Stars Align

Ah, Thanksgiving: a time when we give thanks and are reunited with friends and family. Only, let's face it, not all families are built like the Waltons. There's a lot of strife and stirred up when everyone is gathered under one roof -- so, in honor of the heaping spoonfuls of dysfunction that the holiday also brings, we offer Peter Hedges' 2003 indie drama 'Pieces of April' as your movie of the day.

Even in supporting roles, Ben Foster has been hard to ignore, cornering the market on crazy-intense parts such as the manic addict in 'Alpha Dog.' He scored some (unrealized) Oscar buzz for his role as Charlie Prince, the dandified but dangerous cowboy in '3:10 to Yuma.'

While his character's snakeskin jacket was memorable, the actor's ability to draw focus from such intimidating leads as Russell Crowe and Christian Bale was the real showstopper. In otherwise forgettable films like 'Hostage,' and '30 Days of Night,' Foster's few scenes seem to come from a different (and far better) movie altogether.

Now the 29-year-old steps into the well-earned spotlight in a much less showy but just as riveting role, that of Staff Sergeant Will Montgomery in the indie drama 'The Messenger.' Will returns home from a devastating tour in Iraq and is assigned the task of notifying next of kin that their loved ones have been killed in the line of duty. He's partnered with a senior officer (Woody Harrelson) who's an old hand at this thankless duty.

While Disney animated movies tend to have homespun charm and timeless appeal -- and are of course kid-friendly -- 'The Princess and the Frog' has a much different significance. With this highly anticipated release, Disney has its first African-American princess in nearly a century of making movies.

Behind the pioneering Princess Tiana is Anika Noni Rose, a Tony Award winner best known on the big screen for her work in 2006's 'Dreamgirls.'

Rose talked with Moviefone about working on a film with such social significance, living her own fairytale and staying in touch with her 'Dreamgirls' co-stars Jennifer Hudson and Beyonce.

Too stuffed with turkey to make it out of the house to a theater? TV time! AOL TV keys you in to the latest television news, finds and rumors.

-- Vampires are such dolls! That's never been truer now that DC Unlimited is set to release a series of nearly 7-inch 'True Blood' replica busts and Tonner is fashioning 'Twilight' dolls for nearly $140 each.

-- No wonder Regis Philbin is taking a break from his morning show. Looks like he has his eye on late night, taking over Jimmy Kimmel's show in a staged bit where Reg pulls some parking lot hilarity while Kimmel is shown bound and gagged backstage.

Male moviegoers who left heel marks in movie lobbies while being dragged into screenings of the chick-flick juggernaut 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon' last weekend will get some relief over the long Thanksgiving holiday weekend with the arrivals of 'Old Dogs' and 'Ninja Assassin.' But be warned: forcing a girlfriend or spouse to see 'Ninja Assassin' would be way more than getting even.

'Old Dogs' is actually an old-fashioned family movie starring John Travolta and Robin Williams as aging bachelors who, on the eve of a life-changing business deal, are placed in charge of a pair of rascally twins -- with predictably cute complications to follow. Critics hate it -- it got a 22 out of 100 on Metacritic -- but the last comedy Travolta did with director Walt Becker was 2007's 'Wild Hogs,' which laughed at critics all the way to the bank. It grossed $168 million.

This week we take a brief journey back in time to revisit 'The Golden Age of Television,' a compilation of eight classic TV dramas from the 1950s; and 'The 2000 Year Old Man: The Complete History,' a boxed set that takes a look at a ground-breaking comedy act featuring two relatively unknown comedians (Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner). Then we fast forward back to the present for 'Gomorrah,' a brutal tale of the modern Italian Mafia.

There are several definitions of the word "snub" in the dictionary and none of them apply to the absence of Michael Moore's 'Capitalism: A Love Story' from the list of 15 Oscar semifinalists for the year's Best Documentary Feature. Given the movie's reviews, even by critics who'd raved about his past films, it seems likely that members of the nominations committee simply believed there were 15 better candidates.

Nonetheless, "snub" appeared in the headlines above so many stories about the announced doc finalists that a conspiracy theorist might have thought Moore wrote them himself. (He didn't, did he?)