"Nativity" Part of a Round of Christmas Movies in CNN

Claus. Santa Claus. (And other holiday film stars)

POSTED: 11:00 a.m. EST, November 7, 2006

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Hollywood has outdone itself on Christmas spirit.

Studios typically offer two or three holiday-themed flicks toward year's end. This season brings a half-dozen movies with Christmas angles, from romance and horror to family comedy and religious drama. [...]

The birth of Christ is told in dramatic fashion in "The Nativity Story," starring Keisha Castle-Hughes ("Whale Rider") as the Virgin Mary.

"It is kind of a contrast to the usually funny holiday fare and the other more violent movies you get around the holidays. Maybe it'll be an antidote to that. It's not a cynical approach. It's really quite pure in a way," said "Nativity Story" director Catherine Hardwicke, whose credits include the acclaimed teen drama "thirteen."

"It does eventually seem to take you to a spiritual place, a more sacred place by the end of the movie."