This is the time of the year when the big passion-projects come out–films that either soar (Lord of the Rings, Million Dollar Baby) or sorely disappoint (All the Pretty Horses, Ali, Alexander). It’s Oscar season, but you wouldn’t know it from the year-end mainstream releases, many of which hope to be THE hit Christmas movie. Don’t believe the hype: Sherlock Holmes will be mostly air, It’s Complicated won’t work out (just stop, Nancy Meyers) and were you actually going to see Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakuel? There won’t be much to see for a while besides Avatar, unless you live in a town with an independent cinema, until some of the indies start to expand.

Here are a half dozen movies I GUARANTEE are worth seeking out:

UP IN THE AIR:  Jason Reitman, it seems, was not destined to be a one-film wonder. Ironically, George Clooney flying around on planes and firing people seems like this year’s perfect Christmas movie.  (http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/upintheair)

PRECIOUS:  Okay, so it’s actually been out for a while in urban areas but I live in the middle of nowhere. We’re always drawn to great performances we didn’t see coming and this delivers two–by Mo’Nique and Mariah Carey. If a film about teen pregnancy can be uplifting (Juno), can a teen incest rape be too?   (http://www.apple.com/trailers/lions_gate/precious)

BROKEN EMBRACES:  Minor Almodovar is still better than 95% of films out there.   (http://www.apple.com/trailers/sony/brokenembraces)

NINE:  Rob Marshall is flashy and mediocre but Daniel-Day Lewis is always worth watching. I suspect they’ll average each other out. With 9 nominations, it topped the Press Academy’s nominations earlier this week.    (http://www.apple.com/trailers/weinstein/nine)

AVATAR:  Let’s say that the naysayers are right and that it doesn’t deliver, that it isn’t the most sensational movie since Titanic, or that it’s not even close. I think this will be interesting to sit through. And if it’s not for the right reasons, go wasted.   (http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox/avatar)

THE WHITE RIBBON:  Haneke’s masterpiece. This is a film people will be watching in film school decades later.    (http://www.apple.com/trailers/sony/thewhiteribbon/)

NOTA BENE: I had the exclusive pleasure of seeing a post-production lab work on Alvin and Chipmunks: The Squeakuel over the summer. This place had at least 150 workers dedicating their time to animating chipmunks in live-action scenes. “It takes a long time because we wanted to simulate the movement of real chipmunks,” the guide told us. No one bothered to tell him that chipmunks don’t hop around on on their hind legs. I signed a form promising not to disseminate details about the story of the film. Needless to say, a bunch of chipmunks scurry around, sing and play dodgeball. Watching the dodgeball scene, where Theodore and Simon battle real human children, I recall remarking: “I noticed some existential elements in the first film, but the squeakuel really takes it to the next level.”