The end-of-year holiday season is, in the minds of many, the best time to be a movie fan. Theaters are flooded with crowd-pleasing blockbusters as well as critically-acclaimed dramas. Several movies based on the writings of Irish-Americans will be released during the 2008 Christmas movie season.

Doubt

First up, with a December 12 release date, is the highly anticipated "Doubt," starring Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman. "Doubt" centers around a nun who suspects a parish priest of abusing a child. The film is based on the smash hit play by John Patrick Shanley, who is also directing the film version. Shanley is the Bronx-born Irish-American whose screenwriting credits include "Moonstruck."

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Another movie with Irish-American authorial roots is "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," based on an F. Scott Fitzgerald story. Brad Pitt stars in this sci-fi film as a man who experiences the aging process in reverse. Directed by David Fincher and also starring Cate Blanchett, "Benjamin Button" is set for a December 25 release.

Marley & Me

Also hitting theaters on Christmas Day is "Marley & Me" starring Owen Wilson, Jennifer Aniston and Alan Arkin. Based on the best-selling book by Irish-American John Grogan (whose next book will be about his Irish Catholic youth), "Marley & Me" explores the strange and funny relationship between Grogan, his wife and their irascible Labrador puppy.

Grogan recently said it was like an "out-of-body" experience watching Owen Wilson play him onscreen. Given that Marley was such a handful as a dog, perhaps it makes sense that it took nearly 30 dogs, as well as special effects, to bring Marley to life on the big screen.

Two actors from Belfast close out this decidedly Irish holiday season with films opening the day after Christmas.

Valkyrie

The latest epic starring Tom Cruise, "Valkyrie," will feature veteran thespian Kenneth Branagh. Also starring Eddie Izzard, Tom Wilkinson and Bill Nighy, "Valkyrie" is about a plot by German officers to assassinate Adolf Hitler during World War II.

Gran Torino

Then there is Geraldine Hughes, who will appear in the latest project from one of the hardest working men in movies - Clint Eastwood.

Eastwood directs and stars alongside Hughes in "Gran Torino," in which the Dirty Harry star (whose last film "Changeling" came out in November) plays an angry war veteran who builds a complex relationship with a kid who tried to steal his car. Geraldine Hughes was last seen in 2006's "Rocky Balboa."