In 1927 Hollywood, a silent-film icon (Jean Dujardin) is about to face a challenge with the arrival of talkies — while a young extra (Berenice Bejo) stands on the verge of stardom. (Recommended)

NPR's Bob Mondello offers a selective preview of Hollywood's brightly wrapped holiday baubles. On tap: two films from Steven Spielberg, Ralph Finnes' directing debut and others.

In 1956, two icons — Marilyn Monroe and Sir Laurence Olivier — got together in London to make a movie, The Prince and the Showgirl. It was a comedy about the lonely Prince Regent of Carpathia, who meets a flirty American showgirl. The film was a royal flop. Now a film, My Week With Marilyn, recounts the miserable time had by all on the set. It's the story of one week during the film shoot, with behind-the-scenes clashes, misaligned acting styles, and the pursuit of personal ambitions. Michelle Williams plays Monroe and Kenneth Branagh plays Olivier.

Martin Scorsese's film, adapted from Brian Selznick's children's book, follows a young orphan (Asa Butterfield) who stumbles on a mystery while living in a Paris train station. Critic David Edelstein says the movie's dazzling effects redeem the 3-D genre.

The filmmakers behind Forgetting Sarah Marshall have teamed up to create a new Muppet movie. "We set out to make a Muppet movie that harkened back to the late-'70s [and] early-'80s Muppets that we grew up with," says Jason Segel.

Across Latin America, movies and soap operas have glamorized the lives of drug lords and their gangs. A new Mexican movie, Miss Bala, takes a realistic look at the fear that grips many Mexicans today.

Hugh Grant's testimony yesterday related to an investigation of phone hacking by journalists spotlighted another step along an interesting path.