Movies could attract record attendance today

Knee deep in crumpled wrapping paper and coming down off a nasty hot-cocoa high this morning?

More and more locals suggest a couple of quality hours with Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise or Jennifer Aniston can take the edge off a hectic holiday.

Movie theaters throughout Sonoma County are expected to be full today as people increasingly turn to Hollywood to supply a two-hour respite on -- or from -- Christmas Day.

"When we would go up there, we would think there won't be anybody in the theater, but oh God, full," Windsor's Roz Morris said of the beginning of her 30-year Christmas Day movie habit. "It would blow you away to see how many people are in the theater."

David Corkill owns four theaters in Sonoma County and expects today to be his busiest Christmas ever.

"We are expecting a lot of business, probably the busiest in history, because there are so many good films and the weather is bad," he said.

Six major films open today, including dueling flicks from ex-spouses Pitt and Aniston, as well as "Valkyrie" with Cruise, and "Doubt" starring Academy Award winners Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Hollywood has long recognized Dec. 25 as a big day at the box office, said Alex Billington, executive director of Firstshowing.net, a film industry Web site based in Los Angeles.

"Obviously, given the number of films that studios put out on Christmas, it shows that they are confident in it as a launching ground," Billington said.

Family fare tends to dominate the box office today and Billington expects the comedy/tear-jerker "Marley & Me" to be the biggest hit in one-day counts.

Industry officials are looking for heavy weekend attendance to help buoy sagging annual numbers. With one week left in 2008, movie attendance is down more than 3 percent compared with last year, according to the box office research firm Media by Numbers.

Sixteen-year-old Max Friedauer of Sonoma first hit the theaters on Christmas Day last year and says he's hooked.

"Christmas is fine and all, and I don't mind the Christmas spirit at all, it's just kind of a hassle," he said. "What else do people do on Christmas besides basically the same thing, like watching TV."

A trip to the movies can allow families to be together without being so, well, together, said Mary Ann Wade, general manager of Rialto Cinemas Lakeside in Santa Rosa.

"Families want to be together, but they have already spent a lot of time communicating and want something a little less communicative -- where they aren't talking about politics or finances," she said.

For the Roby family of Santa Rosa, going to the movies on Christmas Day isn't about escaping all things holiday, but maintaining a family-centric tradition that was born three decades ago.

"It started when we were little kids, around 'Star Wars' time," said Shelly Roby, now 35 and heading to the theater today with her mom and sister.

"Going to the movies on Christmas reminds me of going with my cousins," she said. "We would go with our relatives, because they love to go, too."

Staff Writer Kerry Benefield writes an education blog at extracredit.pressdemocrat.com. She can be reached at 526-8671 or kerry.benefield@ pressdemocrat.com.OPENING TODAY

Looking for big stars? Oscar contenders? Popcorn flicks? Eight new movies hit theaters today. See Friday's Ticket section for all the reviews.