Fantastic Mr. Fox, Wes Anderson's love child with the spirit of Roald Dahl, is destined to top quite a few Best Of lists this year.  There's really no other way to start a review of Fantastic Mr. Fox.

Fox (George Clooney) and Felicity (Meryl Streep) are living in a cozy little warren, but Fox dreams of something bigger. After they move into a tree, Fox can't resist the siren's call of returning to his thieving ways. It's very much a Dahl story and a Wes Anderson one, for the betterment of both. Fox and Felicity have a misfit son, Ash (Jason Schwartzman) with the quirky angst of a typical Anderson child of larger-than-life parents. 

The story includes an equal amount of self-awareness and silliness, set to music that will make even a grumpy adult regress to childhood. With the exception of a rat and "Boggis Bunce and Bean, three farmers equally mean," all the characters have an earnestness that lends a disarming charm. The energy is in part because Anderson had his actors re-create some of the scenes when recording their voices. So characters running around under a tree was recreated with actors in a field running around under a tree. That playful sensibility is infused through every scene.

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Just in time for the holidays, John Travolta and Robin Williams team up for the family comedy Old Dogs. The premise of the story is that two longtime friends and business partners find their lives turned upside down when strange circumstances lead to them being placed in the care of 7-year-old twins.

With the encouragement of buddy Charlie (John Travolta), Dan (Robin Williams) gets wild during a night in South Beach which apparently results in more than a 24-hour marriage, hangover and annulment. When Mommy aka South Beach Vicki (Kelly Preston) is ordered by the court to serve two weeks in jail after chaining herself to a tree in protest, Dan offers to take care of the kids. Screwball comedy ensues, Japanese businessmen are both impressed and offended by the antics of the buddy team along with their junior executive, played by Seth Green.

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As we head into Thanksgiving week, Austin-area filmmakers and film fans have a lot to be thankful for. Here are a few reasons:

• The Academy Award shortlist for Best Documentary Feature nominees was released last week. One of the 15 films was SXSW 2009 selection Garbage Dreams. The doc tells the story of the Zaballeen, who live in "garbage villages" made of the city's garbage, and until recently were the only system in place for trash removal. Their livelihood is now being threatened by international outsourcers. 
• Good news for another movie that premiered at SXSW 2009: B-Side Entertainment has picked up now-Austinite filmmaker Alex Karpovsky's latest film: Trust Us, This is All Made Up. Jette caught the movie in March and although it took a few minutes to get going, really enjoyed the long-form, detailed improv performance staged by T.J. Jagodowksi and David Pasquesi.
• One more from SXSW, this time 2008: David and Nathan Zellner's feature film Goliath will be out on DVD on January 12, 2010. You can pre-order it now from Amazon. Jette loved this Austin-made comedy about a guy who just can't live without his cat, which premiered at Sundance in 2008. Slackerwood interviewed the Zellners via email about the film.

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