AP – “Hidden Empire” (Tom Doherty Associates Book, 335 pages, $24.99), by Orson Scott Card: A favorite among sci-fi readers and video gamers, the prolific Orson Scott Card has taken on a topic closer to real life than usual — and with more of a Christian tone.

AP – The Clark Sisters, “The Clark Sisters’ Family Christmas” (Karew Records/EMI Gospel)

AP – As theater critics compile their best-of-the-year lists (a practice beloved by press agents everywhere), let us go a step further and name just one candidate in a new category: strangest musical of the last half-century. OK, make that nearly 60 years.

Reuters – Before “Sherlock Holmes” was a movie opening on Christmas Day, it was a comic.

AP – Take it from a lifelong fan of Arthur Conan Doyle: Robert Downey Jr. is so NOT Sherlock Holmes.

Reuters – Serbia’s entry in this year’s Oscar competition is an ambitious World War I epic, “St. George Shoots the Dragon,” that boasts striking visual effects, a skillful cast and a story that sometimes gets in the way of the impressive production.

AP – “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel” offers exactly two big laughs for its kiddo target audience — one involves passing gas, the other a shot to the crotch.

AP – Terry Gilliam’s “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” is more than a peculiar coda for Heath Ledger. It’s not just a trivia answer — though that may well be its fate.

AP – Capsule reviews of films opening this week:

AP – Let’s raise a cup of Christmas cheer to the return of “Ernest in Love,” nearly 50 years after this delightful little musical first graced an off-Broadway stage.

AP – “It’s Complicated” is lying from the moment the title appears.