The Oscars are over, and so are the January-February new-release doldrums. Good films are starting to roll out again, including James Franco as the Wizard in "Oz the Great and Powerful." Here's a look at our three top entertainment picks for the week ahead.

TUESDAY: 'American Idol' goes live
The "American Idol" auditions are always crazy, but the show really kicks into gear when the live episodes begin this week. The show's narrowed its talent pool to 20, 10 men and 10 women, and will cut that group in half by Thursday. On Tuesday, the women will show their stuff, and on Wednesday, the guys -- whether or not they all deserve it -- get a chance. (March 5-7, 8 p.m. each night, Fox.)

TUESDAY: 'Wreck-It Ralph' on home video
Parents with fond memories of early video arcades and games can bond with their tech-generation kids this week when "Wreck-It Ralph" comes out on DVD and blu-Ray. In this charming animated film, John C. Reilly voices a video-game bad guy who's tired of being the villain. When he goes "game jumping" and ends up in a candy-themed race game, he bonds with little Vanellope von Schweetz (Sarah Silverman) and learns that his game role isn't what really matters. (On home video March 5.)

FRIDAY: "Oz the Great and Powerful"
The Wizard himself got short shrift in "The Wizard of Oz," which played him off as a kind of dumpy little dude behind a curtain. In this new take on L. Frank Baum's classic, James Franco plays a Kansas magician who takes a hot-air balloon into the magical land, meets its witches and Munchkins, and discovers the people of the troubled land need him to become someone else in order to save them. (Opens March 8.)

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There've been a lot of reports this week about store employees whose Thanksgivings are being cut short so they can work Thanksgiving night. Where's the love for the movie theater employees, though, who will sacrifice turkey-nap time so they can pop the corn, rip the tickets and tell you to "enjoy the show" once more and with feeling? (Except for "John Carter." No one can enjoy that turkey.)

MGM/Sony, 20th Century Fox, Disney

Your Thanksgiving movie menu is varied this year. "Skyfall"? "Life of Pi"? "Wreck-It Ralph"? "Lincoln"?

For some, turkey-trotting over to the cinema on Thanksgiving is an American tradition as great as Grandma's pumpkin pie recipe. But you want to make that theater time count. Here's our movie editor's guide to what to see, and with whom.

TOP PICK
'Skyfall'
For a while, it looks as if super-spy James Bond might have been shaken, stirred and stuck on a shelf. Thanks to MGM's bankruptcy woes, "Skyfall" was trapped in limbo tighter than a Bond girl's cocktail dress. But "Skyfall" finally hit theaters this month, and if you haven't seen it,  you need to. Exotic locations (Turkey, Macau!), thrilling action sequences (includng one on a train!), spy versus spy intrigue, Bond family history, gadgets and more. Former Bond Sir Roger Moore himself told NBC News.com that after he saw the film, he emailed Bond producer Barbara Broccoli and told her she'd saved the franchise for another 50 years.
Review: 'Skyfall' is a spectacular way for Bond to turn 50 

TAKE THE KIDS
Older kids (5 and over): 'Wreck-It Ralph'
Parents whose 1980s memories are sharp enough that they still can mentally move Pac-Man through that maze will love "Wreck-It Ralph," but kids will enjoy it too. Bad-guy Ralph escapes his game in a quest to be a hero. Parents of tiny tots should know there's a foray into a first-person shooter game -- filled with creepy cy-bugs -- which might overwhelm the littlest ones.
REVIEW: Visually dazzling 'Wreck-It Ralph' scores high 

Younger kids: 'Rise of the Guardians'
Sure, Santa, the Easter Bunny, the Sandman and the Tooth Fairy fight evil together. Why not? In this enchanting new 3-D film, they enlist young Jack Frost to help them battle Pitch, a giver of bad dreams. Like "Wreck-It Ralph," this one's also PG, as Pitch and his swirling black nightmare horses might deliver a bad dream themselves. But my preschooler was enchanted more than disturbed.
REVIEW: 'Rise of the Guardians' is a charming holiday tale 

FOR HISTORY BUFFS
If you like modern history: 'Argo'
Those 1970s mustaches! The dial phones! It's the late 1970s all right, and the wonderful "Argo" thrusts you right back there as the Iranian Hostage Crisis grips the nation. But instead of focusing on the 52 hostages who were held for 444 days, the film hones in on a lesser-known event, the rescue of six embassy employees using a fascinating cover story claiming they were Canadians scouting locations for a science-fiction movie. The outstanding cast (Ben Affleck, John Goodman, Bryan Cranston, Alan Arkin) appeals to all generations.
REVIEW: 'Argo' offers tight political thriller with unexpected humor 

If you prefer the older stuff: 'Lincoln'
You should know going in: Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln" is not a battle film. But you never feel it lacks for action, as the president and his men work every conceivable angle to lobby enough congressmen to vote to abolish slavery.  Daniel Day-Lewis gives us perhaps the most accurate portrayal possible of the great man himself, mixing leadership with his own patented blend of homespun storytelling. (Don't miss the anecdote about George Washington's picture in a British bathroom.) You'll see Day-Lewis' name come Oscar time.
REVIEW: 'Lincoln' makes backroom politics fascinating 

FOR BOOK LOVERS:
If you prefer modern fiction: 'Life of Pi'
Book clubbers, you remember reading this. Yann Martel's 2001 bestseller-turned-movie tells the fantastical tale of Pi Patel, an Indian boy who finds himself at sea in a lifeboat with some very hungry zoo animals, including a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. If you're the kind of moviegoer who needs everything to feel realistic and explainable, this is perhaps not the film for you. But if you're willing to suspend belief, director Ang Lee has spun a wonderful 3-D fable that doesn't require you to read the book.
REVIEW: 'Life of Pi' a gorgeous rendering of best-selling novel

If you love romantic classics: 'Anna Karenina'
Maybe you read it in a college literature course, or maybe you just know the title in case it's ever a question on "Jeopardy!." There's a reason Leo Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina" has been made into a movie a dozen times -- its tale of a 19th century Russian wife and the way she stumbles into doom when she has an affair is riveting. In this version, Keira Knightley spellbinds as Anna, and director Joe Wright's imaginative, stylish take gives an old story a new twist.
REVIEW: 'Anna Karenina' is a bold adaptation of classic novel 

FOR RETRO NUTS:
Stuck in the 1980s: 'Red Dawn'
We're not convinced anyone was really begging for a remake of the 1984 Russian invasion drama "Red Dawn," but here it is. This time, the Russians aren't the enemy, it's the North Koreans, who were hastily painted in when filmmakers decided not to risk offending their first choice, the Chinese. But if you're well into the eggnog, grab those pals who knew you back when you wore leg warmers and shoulder pads, and relive those cheesy old lines you screamed back in the day. WOLVERINES! AVENGE ME!
REVIEW: 'Red Dawn' remake makes silly premise even dumber 

Longing for the 1960s: 'Hitchcock'
No, you can't take the carving knife to your pompous Uncle Henry at Thanksgiving dinner. But you can take him, and any film buffs at your table, to watch that knife famously used in the "Psycho" shower scene in the new biopic "Hitchcock." Anthony Hopkins plays the legendary director as he battles to get the 1960 film made, with Helen Mirren as Alma, his wife and muse. You may have to hunt around for this film, as it's more likely to be found in arthouse theaters than megamall cineplexes.
REVIEW: 'Hitchcock' takes absorbing look at famed director 

Gael Fashingbauer Cooper is the movies editor for NBCNews.com and the co-author of "Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the '70s and '80s."

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Disney

Vanellope Von Schweetz in "Wreck-It Ralph."

Warning: Spoilers for "Wreck-It Ralph" follow.

"Wreck-It Ralph" earned nearly $50 million at the box office this weekend, and landed high praise from critics too. But one plot point has puzzled a few observers and sparked discussion about the Disney movie.

Here's your spoiler: At one point late in the film, Vanellope Von Schweetz, the spunky girl racer from the game "Sugar Rush," is revealed to be a princess, suddenly appearing in a poofy gown. The character almost immediately declines that royal title and ends up declaring that she will lead her candyland chums not as a princess, but as president.

Some viewers appreciated princess-crazy Disney acknowledging the princess problem and coming to a crown-free conclusion. Others felt Disney's reveal that Vanellope was a princess in disguise took away from what was otherwise a solid film.

"I did not think there was any need to drag (the princess issue) into (the film), despite the obvious effort to spin it in a smart way," NPR blogger Linda Holmes, a former msnbc.com contributor, wrote on Twitter. She added, "I get that what they were doing came from a loving, pro-kid, pro-girl place. Just think the reveal is a blown call."

Some were quick to point out that princess movies are Disney's stock and trade. "This is a Disney movie. THERE MUST BE A PRINCESS," author Rainbow Rowell tweeted.

Not every critic mentioned the princess plotline in their reviews. Some liked it. Stephen Whitty of the Star-Ledger in New Jersey called it a "sly shot at the company's princess worship."

And some just weren't bothered by Vanellope's royal revelation. Film writer Christopher Campbell tweeted, "Take your daughter to see Wreck-It Ralph. Has my favorite Disney princess in a while."

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LOS ANGELES -- Wreck-It Ralph," Disney's animated film about a video game character who destroys everything in his path, made history on Sunday after grossing $49.1 million in ticket sales to lead the weekend box office, the highest-grossing opening weekend in Disney animation history.

The tally for "Wreck-It-Ralph, which featured the voices of John C. Reilly and Jane Lynch, hammered the Denzel Washington film "Flight," which generated ticket sales of $25 million at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to studio estimates.

The critically acclaimed Iran hostage thriller "Argo," last week's box office leader, was third, generating $10.2 million in sales. Directed by and starring Ben Affleck, "Argo" has totaled $75.9 million in its three weeks in movie theaters.

Walt Disney Co released "Wreck-It Ralph." "Flight" was distributed by Paramount Pictures, a unit of Viacom Inc. Warner Bros., a division of Time Warner Inc, distributed "Argo."

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REVIEW: As the fright season begins to give way to the holidays, Disney looks to capitalize right out of the gate Nov. 2 with 3-D animated comedy "Wreck-It Ralph." An homage to classic video-game culture wrapped in an adventurous road movie, "Ralph" is poised to sweep the family-friendly demo in the first few weeks of the month before any significant challengers emerge.

Guided by executive producer John Lasseter, Walt Disney Animation Studios has clearly devoted significant resources and talent to "Wreck-It Ralph,"  recruiting a top-notch cast and a diverse array of animation, visual effects and lighting artists to contribute to the distinct and varied vid-game styles. With a mix of retro eye-candy for grown-ups and a thrilling, approachable storyline for the tykes, the film casts a wide and beguiling net.

VIDEO: New "Wreck-It Ralph" trailer offers Sonic, Yoshi and more video game stars

Emulating a lo-res '80s video game, "Wreck-It Ralph" envisions the titular character as the short-tempered, sledgehammer-fisted, 600-pound bad guy competing against goody-good nemesis Felix in a game located in Mr. Litwak’s (Ed O’Neill) video arcade that’s known as “Fix-It Felix Jr.” As Ralph (John C. Reilly) tells some fellow evildoers at his first “Bad-Anon” meeting, he’s a reluctant villain, tired of always being the culprit who tears down the apartment building inhabited by the Nicelanders who worship Felix (Jack McBrayer) for his superior repair skills.

After 30 years of taking the blame, Ralph’s ready for a change -- he thinks maybe if he can earn a medal, the Nicelanders might give him some respect and invite them to one of their frequent cocktail parties. Traveling through the arcade’s power cords and surge protectors, Ralph journeys to Game Central Station, the gateway to every game in the store. Hearing that first-person shooter challenge “Hero’s Duty” awards a medal for bravery, Ralph suits up to join no-nonsense Sergeant Calhoun’s (Jane Lynch) platoon to battle the Cy-Bugs, a nasty computer virus in the form of cyber spiders.  

Escaping hi-def “Hero’s Duty” with the coveted service medal, Ralph crash-lands one of Calhoun’s spaceships into “Sugar Rush,” a Candy Land-styled race-car game, after he’s attacked onboard by a massive Cy-Bug. He quickly loses his citation to pint-sized Vanellope von Schweetz (Sarah Silverman), a little girl determined to compete in one of Sugar Rush’s prestigious races. Her bratty attitude and refusal to return the medal, which she can use to stake her spot in an upcoming competition, enrage Ralph, but he’s powerless to force the girl to do his bidding.

VIDEO: "Wreck-It Ralph" teaser trailer: John C. Reilly gets animated

Following an unpleasant encounter with Sugar Rush dictator King Candy (Alan Tudyk), Ralph allies himself with Vanellope in a plan to recover his medal and help the kid win a spot in the race. But first they’ll have to in break into the King’s specialized factory and build a competitive race car --  and it might be a good idea for Vanellope to actually learn to drive it. Meanwhile, Felix has abandoned the Wreck-It Ralph game and the Nicelanders, joining up with Calhoun on a quest to retrieve his friend and protect Sugar Rush from the Cy-Bugs before the game gets flatlined.

Although the script is an original by Phil Johnston and Jennifer Lee, with its tortured toy characters facing obsolescence and searching for freedom and meaning, it bears a distinct Pixar DNA signature. Johnston and Lee don't stray too far from the Disney template, however, and although the characters are digital, their emotions are very recognizably human. Since Ralph and Vanellope are both outcasts, their struggles for acceptance are comfortably similar and familiar.

Making his feature film debut, Emmy-award winning director Rich Moore ("The Simpsons") ably manipulates the action by tantalizingly shifting the characters between game worlds. Effortlessly orchestrating a dizzying variety of visual elements, Moore consistently manages to keep the focus on Ralph and his comrade's multiplying perils. Visually, Pixar’s influence is also evident in the level of detail lavished on the wide range of quirky characters and nearly every setting and background scene. Fortunately the more sugar-coated sentiments are mostly dialed back in favor of genuine character development and rousing, digitally realistic 3-D action.

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The audience’s POV is occasionally represented by a girl who frequents the “real world” of Mr. Litwak’s video arcade, where she interacts with all of the games depicted in the film. Game-play visual elements are used to enhance the impression of actually playing the arcade consoles, which can sometimes get distractingly disorienting as the narrative slips in and out of the video arcade setting.

An enthusiastic cast lends voice to the characters, led by Reilly, capably evincing the role of "Wreck-It Ralph." His sad-sack sentiments, however, are frequently overshadowed by the hyperactive and super-snarky Vanellope. Silverman fully inhabits the character, marvelously calibrating her voice’s volume, insinuating tone and emotional impact to match the character’s antic facial expressions and unpredictable behavior. Tudyk is ridiculously over the top as the punning Mad-Hatter meets Wizard of Oz-like King Candy, while McBrayer and Lynch add surprising dimensionality to the increasingly smitten pair of Felix and Calhoun.

Editor Tim Mertens modulates the sometimes frenetic pace with brief interludes of introspection and camaraderie that help fill in the characters. Henry Jackman's lively score is supplemented by musical selections from R&B star Rihanna, electronica artist Skrillex and classic Kool & the Gang, among others.

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It’s a week of nostalgia in entertainment. “Wreck-It Ralph” is a glorious homage to the golden age of video games, while “All in the Family” reminds us that we could sure learn a lot from an unabashed bigot – if that bigot is Archie Bunker, that is. And in “Flight,” Denzel Washington plays a heroic pilot who is all too human. Here are our three entertainment picks for the week ahead.

TUESDAY: ‘All in the Family’ on DVD
Edith! Stifle yerself! Meathead! Little Goil! If Archie Bunker’s famous lines are familiar to you, you’ll want to know that the entire series of “All in the Family” comes out on DVD this week. That’s 28 discs, 213 episodes, and plenty of pig-headed Archieness. The set includes a 40-page book and plenty of extras. Gee our old La Salle ran great … those were the days. (Out on DVD Oct. 30.)

FRIDAY: ‘Wreck-It Ralph'
Disney looks to have done it again. “Wreck-It Ralph” features the voice of John C. Reilly as a bad guy in a “Donkey Kong”-like video game who longs to be a good guy. He manages to ditch his own role and go wandering through other video games, meeting characters voiced by Sarah Silverman and Jane Lynch along the way. Whether you’re a kid who’s only played Angry Birds or a child of the ‘80s who loves seeing the Pac-Man ghost in Ralph’s bad-guy support group, you’ll want to level up for this one. (Opens Nov. 2.)

FRIDAY: ‘Flight’
In “Flight,” Denzel Washington plays a heroic pilot in the style of Chesley Sullenberger, who lands a damaged airplane and saves the passengers and crew. But when it’s discovered he has alcohol in his system, the way he’s viewed by the world suddenly changes radically. Early reviews are positive, with TIME Magazine’s critic writing that the film boasts a “character sharpness and an openness to ambiguity that are rare in movies from big studios and commercially savvy directors.” (Opens Nov. 2.)