LOTR; 'Mona Lisa Smile'; 'Calendar Girls'

NEW YORK – LOTR a hit again, "Mona Lisa bile" and not your traditional "Calendar Girls" in today's Foxlight.

We knew it was going to be big, but was it also going to be good? Third time certainly wasn't a charm for "Godfather 3." But guess what? Critics almost unanimously love "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King." (search) It's gotta be the first film with the word "the" four times in the title.

"Conjures a magical ending to the trilogy," according to The Wall Street Journal. Four stars says USA Today.

So what if Christopher Lee ended up on the editing room floor -- he'll be on the DVD. And yes, it has more than a trilogy of endings. But it has a lot of story to wrap up.

The big question, what do we have to expect next Christmas? Hopefully not a sequel to "Mona Lisa Smile." (search) Once is more than enough, according to most reviews.

"Mona Lisa bile" says the always wicked New York Post. "Wears a crooked smile," was one of the nicer reviews.

Julia Roberts is ridiculous, according to the Post, in what they call a preachy, predictable feminist yarn. Too bad for bright co-stars like Kirsten Dunst and Maggie Gyllenhaal. The Golden Globes snubbed this film the other day -- and they like Julia.

So the feel-good movie of the weekend is about a bunch of older gals who wear something a little bawdier than just a smile. They're the "Calendar Girls." (search) Inspired by the true story of English women who posed nude for a charity calendar, it gets three stars from the Post. Think of it as almost the "Full Monty" with gals instead of dudes.