BARBER'S BEST BETS: Your movie, theater and musical entertainment, coming up

By JOE BARBER

For the News & Messenger

MOVIES

Opening Dec. 4:

n "Up In The Air," from "Juno" and "Thanks For Smoking" director Jason Reitman, stars George Clooney as a consultant who's hired by businesses conducting mass layoffs to deliver the bad news.

His emotionally distant life is shaken when he meets an attractive woman, and by a grad student who joins his com-pany with a plan to fundamentally change the way they do business.

n "Brothers" is an Iraq war drama where most of the violence is emotional. Tobey Maguire plays a U.S. soldier believed killed in action. His brother (Jake Gyllenhaal, "Brokeback Mountain") comes home to help his widow (Natalie Portman) deal with the grief and the couple's children. Months after an emotional and romantic bond develops between the two, Maguire is reported alive and on his way home.

n "Everybody's Fine" is an Americanized remake of an Italian film. Robert DeNiro stars as a recently retired and widowed construction worker who discovers his three adult children aren't coming home for Christmas. So he decides to visit each of them, unannounced and discovers more than he expected. Drew Barry-more and Sam Rockwell also star.

n "Armored" is a heist drama about a new, young guard assigned to work an armored truck with a veteran crew on a major cash run.

The lead guard (Matt Dillon, Crash) plans to pull off the perfect robbery, new guy or not. (This film will open un-screened for critics.)

In Theaters Now:

Just a quick reminder; the best films of the pre-Christmas crop are "The Blind Side," "The Fan-tastic Mr. Fox" and the very gritty and adult themed, but powerfully acted, "Precious." Also worth seeing are the British films "The Damned United" and "An Education."

On DVD:

The utterly unremarkable "Terminator: Salvation" brought nothing original or worthwhile to the now totally out-of-gas saga. Christian Bale never gets out of low Dark-Knight gear (or voice) as John Connor, and the film's special effects aren't all that special. Perhaps the only thing this film will be remembered for is that it introduced the talented Sam Worthington to audiences. (He plays the hero in Terminator creator James Cam-eron's eagerly awaited "Avatar.") As for this dog, rent it, but only if you feel you must. MPAA Rating: PG-13 for intense action sequences, mild sensuality and profanity. Joe's Rating: One and One-Half (* ½) Stars.

THEATER:

If the bailouts and boondoggles on Wall Street have left you looking for solace, Studio Theatre in Washington has a show for you. Their revival of Howard Teichman and George S. Kaufman's "The Solid Gold Cadil-lac" has just opened. Set in the 1950s, this quick-witted satire casts a clever eye on what happens when a woman with a few shares of stock asks a seemingly harmless question at a shareholder's meeting and all hell breaks loose. The Cadillac shines at Studio through Jan. 18.

Currently on stage and worth seeing: Ford's Theater's always satisfying musical version of "A Christmas Carol;" The Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning "August: Osage County" at the Kennedy Center and the terrifically entertaining "Jersey Boys" at the National Theatre. Hurry on that last one -- it closes Dec. 12.

CLUBS & CONCERTS:

The Birchmere relives the '60's with an appearance by the band Hot Tuna on the 3rd. The singing and songwriting quartet Four Bitchin' Babes performs two nights, Dec. 4 and 5, and the soul group Mint Condition take the stage on the 8th and 9th. The State Theater in Falls Church offers the legendary Johnny Winter on Dec. 5, Dickey Betts and his band, Great Southern, on Sunday, the 6th and Movie Night, with "Cheech & Chong's Up in Smoke" on Dec. 7.

The Patriot Center presents the DC101 Fest, headlined by the band Weezer on Dec. 9.Bluegrass legend Doc Watson does a Show titled Hills of Home at George Mason University's Center for the Arts on Dec. 5. The Barns at Wolf Trap welcomes the band Schooner Fare for two nights, Dec. 3 and 4. The annual Holiday Sing-A- Long hap-pens on the 6th.

Blues Alley in Georgetown welcomes sax player Marion Meadows and her band for a weekend gig, from Dec. 3 to 6. The Blues Alley Youth Jazz Orchestra gives you a taste of the genre's future on the 7th and Eric Fel-ten's Jazz group delivers big band sounds on the 9th. The Warner Theatre presents Chris Brown on Dec. 4.

The Verizon Center in downtown DC gets into the spirit of the season with two shows by the Trans Siberian Orches-tra at 4 and 8 p.m., on Dec. 9.

Strathmore Hall presents a Washington Performing Arts Society concert spotlighting pianist Angela Hewitt on Dec. 3. You can celebrate the season soulfully with the Temptations and the Four Tops on Dec. 9.

The Ram's Head Tavern in Annapolis presents "A Night Before Christmas" with vocalist Holly Cole on the 3rd. The husband and wife vocal duo Tuck and Patti play the Tavern on Dec. 9. The Rams Head Live! in Baltimore presents the band Switchfoot on the 7th.

Joe Barber's entertainment reviews and reports can be heard Fridays through Sundays on the WTOP-FM Radio Network (103, 5, 103.9, 107.7 & Wtop.com.) He can be seen regularly on WETA-TV's Around Town and Fridays on Comcast Sports Net's Washington Post Live!