The holidays are a great time to catch up with family, friends, and well wishers.

The holidays are also a great time to ignore all those people and go see a movie. Here are some movies that I am looking forward to seeing this holiday season.

“Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows”
This sequel to the 2009 re-envisioning of the classic Sherlock Holmes universe looks to be just as action packed as its predecessor. There are explosions, slow motion, and slow motion explosions. Based on the trailer the movie looks to include the faintly realistic Victorian era fight sequences that helped make the last movie fun to watch. Another factor drawing me to see this movie is the on screen rapport between Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson (played by Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law respectably).

While this latest version of the Sherlock Holmes saga is much different from other incarnations—namely such classics as the 1922 silent film version, the 2010 BBC mini-series “Sherlock”, or my personal favorite “The Great Mouse Detective”—I am excited to see the ongoing portrayal of this literary and film classic.

“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
This film is the first part of an English language reboot of a Swedish film and novel trilogy, Män som hatar kvinnor. I know very little about this trilogy aside from the fact that it was originally a Swedish book by author Stieg Larsson, that it was translated into English, and that it is by all accounts very very good.

From the synopsis that I have read and the trailers that I have seen the plot revolves around the search for a missing girl and a murder investigation conducted by a journalist and a computer hacking, tattoo having, dramatically compelling all around genius.

The investigative journalist is played by Daniel Craig in the English version and Mikael Nyqvist in the Swedish version. Nygvist is starring as the villain in the newly released “Mission: Impossible-Ghost Protocol.” The titular protagonist with the dragon tattoo is played by Rooney Mara in English and Noomi Rapace in Swedish. Mara was most recently featured in “The Social Network,” which was directed by David Fincher, the director of the English “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.” Coincidentally Rapace is starring as the female lead in “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.”

Hahn

“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”
Since this past June I have been looking forward to this one movie more than any other coming out in 2011. As seems to be the trend with the good films this holiday season “Tinker, Tailor, Soilder, Spy” is a recreation of both a novel and a 1979 BBC miniseries starring Alec Guinness.

This latest rendering of the original John le Carré novel features a very well rounded british cast Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, John Hurt, Tom Hardy, Mark Strong, and Benedict Cumberbatch. Coincidentally Cumberbatch stars in the previously mentioned BBC miniseries “Sherlock.” Likewise Oldman and Hardy are both starring in next summer’s excruciatingly anticipated third installment of Christopher Nolan’s Batman saga: The Dark Knight Rises.

This classic cold war high espionage spy story has me most excited out of these three films. I read the novel this summer and ever since then I have been waiting and hoping to see it. It was released in the US on Dec. 9 and I counted down the days till that day. Then I looked online. The movie had a limited release to only four theaters in the states, I was not pleased. Currently there are 50 theaters playing “Tinker, Tailor,” mostly on the east and west coasts. Focus Theaters plans on a wide release Jan. 13. I can’t wait.

Quincy theaters and showings are available here.

Kevin Hahn