Win free movie tickets Editor's note: Comment on today's "Cinema Chat" for a chance to win free movie tickets to the Michigan Theater. Some time between now and 6 a.m. Wednesday, leave a comment on this column, written by the Michigan Theater's Russ Collins. Offer your opinion on a recent movie you've seen, or on anything Russ mentions. We'll randomly select a winner and notify that person via the email address they signed up with. They will get two passes to a movie of their choice.

Coco, goats, Christmas and a "Loud" rock doc will take over at local cinemas this week. The much-anticipated “Coco Before Chanel” opens at the Michigan on Friday. The local cineplexes will open “The Men Who Stare at Goats,” a wacky, fun film about an Army unit that employs paranormal powers — or not (!?), and, although it seems to me to be pushing the season just a bit, Disney opens “A Christmas Carol.” Also, three generations of rock guitarists tell their own stories in “It Might Get Loud” at the Michigan for a limited engagement.

“Coco Before Chanel” stars Audrey Tautou (“Amelie”) as Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel, who began her life as a headstrong orphan and through an extraordinary journey became the legendary couturier who embodied the liberation and style of the 20th century woman. Beautifully shot and wonderfully acted, Kenneth Turan (my favorite critic these days) of National Public Radio and the Los Angeles Times said, “Tautou not only resembles Chanel, she inhabits the role completely, using flashing eyes and a relentless intelligence to convey the unbending strength of a woman determined to make something of her life in a time and place when that was far from the norm.”

“The Men Who Stare at Goats” is a George Clooney project, directed and co-written by Clooney’s producing partner Grant Heslov. Set in Iraq, a reporter, played by Ewan McGregor, interviews Clooney’s character, whose seemingly wild claim is that he is a member of the U.S. Army's First Earth Battalion, a unit that employs paranormal powers in its missions. Two other great actors, Kevin Spacey and Jeff Bridges, are also featured in this film. The show-business journal Variety liked the film, calling it “a serendipitous marriage of talent in which all hearts seem to beat as one.” “A Christmas Carol,” opening with 49 shopping days left before the holiday, is a 3D extravaganza that uses the same live-action-capture animation technique used in “Polar Express,” which to me was technically interesting, but odd looking. This technique allows Jim Carrey to play both Scrooge and Tiny Tim — which is nearly as scary as it sounds. The usually reliable Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter said, “‘A Christmas Carol’ is, in its essence, a product reel, a showy, exuberant demonstration of the glories of motion capture, computer animation and 3D technology. On that level, it's a wow. On any emotional level, it's as cold as Marley's Ghost.”

“It Might Get Loud,” which ace reviewer Owen Gleiberman called “a marvelous rock doc that manages to be wistful, tasty, and jam-kicking at the same time," plays the Michigan Theater on Sunday, Nov. 8; Monday, Nov. 9; and Thursday, Nov. 12. “It Might Get Loud” tells the personal stories of three generations of electric guitar virtuosos — The Edge from U2, Jimmy Page from Led Zeppelin and Detroit’s own Jack White of the White Stripes. Ann Arbor area film and music tastemaker Martin Bandyke of radio station 107one saw this film at the Toronto International Film Festival and loved it, really loved it!

Also opening this week “The Fourth Kind” is about an investigator (Milla Jovovich) who is dispatched to Nome, Alaska to puzzle out a 40-year-long mystery of missing persons. Her videotape evidence seems to indicate alien abduction. The buzz about this film is pretty negative, but, following on the mania over “Paranormal Activity,” it might find an audience. “The Box” would seem the perfect subject matter for director Richard Kelly (“Southland Tales” and “Donnie Darko”). It has dark, supernatural elements and Hitchcockian plot twists. The film swirls around a young couple, played by Cameron Diaz and James Marsden, who accept a gift from a mysterious and ominous character, played by the always brilliant Frank Langella. This gift, a box that promises them a handsome windfall, also produces deadly consequences. However, so far the reviews are split 50/50. The studio delayed the release of “The Box” from March to now — usually an indicator of trouble.

Special showings

“The Good Soldier” will play the Michigan Theater on Veteran’s Day, Wednesday, Nov. 11, as well as Thursday, Nov. 12. It follows the journeys of five combat veterans from different generations of American wars as they sign up, go into battle, and eventually change their minds about what it means to be a good soldier.

Part of the Michigan Theater’s American Musicals Series, “It's Always Fair Weather” stars Hollywood icon Gene Kelly and screens Monday, Nov. 9 at 7 p.m. Mark your calendar: the Ann Arbor Polish Film Festival is coming to town on Saturday, Nov. 14 and Sunday, Nov. 15. For schedule, check out their website. And, if you haven’t seen the Coen Brothers' new film “A Serious Man,” see it! See you at the movies!

Russ Collins is executive director of the Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor. Tune in to the audio version of “Cinema Chat” on WEMU radio (89.1-FM) each Thursday at 7:40 AM and 5:40 PM, or listen to it online at WEMU's web site.