Our update today features Santa-themed animated film Arthur Christmas, Jodie Foster’s new Mel Gibson film The Beaver and horror flick Bereavement. Meanwhile, for new posters we have the second for The Mechanic and the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh posters for The Chronicles of Narnia 3.

ARTHUR CHRISTMAS

	Plot Summary: The high tech world of Santa Clause finds his son knee deep in his own troubles in this animated adventure. Release Date: November 23, 2011
	Trailer	Poster
	Rating: B- Commentary: It’s a bit dumb at times, but at least they are trying to convey a bit of humor with their teaser.	Rating: None Commentary: None available.
	Trailer Link: Yahoo Movies Trailers Oscar Chances: Animated Feature must always be considered, but so far this doesn’t look like much of a competitor.

THE BEAVER

	Plot Summary: A toy company executive finds himself in a deep depression over the collapse of his family life, but finds comfort and redemption in a beaver hand puppet. Release Date: Coming Soon
	Trailer	Poster
	Rating: C Commentary: The trailer itself is fairly generic and no matter how you try to spin it, this is a movie about a man who talks to himself through a beaver hand puppet. I’m not ridiculing the psychological dissonance at work in such a mental break, but it’s just a ludicrous idea.	Rating: D+ Commentary: This poster lacks style, presence and engagement. It’s just a bland, uninspiring design.
	Trailer Link: Apple Trailers Oscar Chances: Before Mel Gibson went on his family-attacking real life alcoholic rage, he might have been considered for a comeback Oscar nomination, but at this point, the film can’t even seem to find a distributor or a release schedule, so it’s probably not going to do much.

BEREAVEMENT

	Plot Summary: A psychotic man kidnaps a small boy and attempts to teach him to be a homicidal killer. Release Date: February 18, 2011
	Trailer	Poster
	Rating: C- Commentary: Generic horror tropes fill this trailer with nothing inspirational or inventive.	Rating: None Commentary: I don’t review placeholders.
	Trailer Link: Yahoo Movies Trailers Oscar Chances: None.

THE MECHANIC, poster #2

	Plot Summary: An elite assassin, living by a code, throws the code aside to avenge the murder of his mentor. Release Date: January 28, 2011
	Trailer	Poster
	Previous Preview: The Mechanic	Rating: B- Commentary: More interesting than the first poster, but still not a stellar composition. The color selection helps mellow the rest of the poster.
	Trailer Link: See Previous Preview Oscar Chances: See Previous Preview

THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER, posters #4, #5, #6 & #7

Plot Summary: The third film in The Chronicles of Narnia series finds the kids returning to Narnia to help save the kingdom once more, this time upon the royal ship The Dawn Treader. Release Date: December 10, 2010
Trailer	Poster
Previous Preview: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader	Rating: B- (All) Commentary: The three characters on display for these posters suggest that we may be getting more character posters in the near future, since none of the child cast is depicted. As for the fourth poster, it embodies much of what I liked about the other three posters and the first Dawn Treader poster that featured the ship alone.
Trailer Link: See Previous Preview Oscar Chances: See Previous Preview