Talk of the Town: Hollywood's wish list

Hollywood is wishing for a happy holiday with five releases opening on Christmas Day. Family audiences are expected to flock to the Adam Sandler comedy/fantasy "Bedtime Stories." The Disney film stars Sandler as an uncle who entertains his niece and nephew with fantastic stories that start to come true all around him.

The canine hijinks of "Marley & Me," starring Jennifer Aniston, is expected to be close second. Based on the best-selling memoir by John Grogan, the PG-rated movie stars Aniston and Owen Wilson as a married couple who find their hands full with a rambunctious yellow lab.

Adults can pick between star-crossed lovers Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," and the military assassins led by Tom Cruise in "Valkyrie" with its account of a failed conspiracy against Adolf Hitler.

On Friday, Paramount will raise the curtain on its marital drama "Revolutionary Road," starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet.

One last movie note, Warner Bros. "The Dark Knight" won't be hitting the big screen in China. That's after the studio decided not to release the film there because of cultural sensitivities to some the films scenes.