86th Annual Academy Awards: PREDICTIONS

Seeing how we are only a few days away from the 86^th Annual Academy Awards, which will be held on March 2^nd and hosted by Ellen DeGeneres, it’s that time again to do some predictions over who might be going home with an Oscar this upcoming Sunday. Now, I won’t be covering all 24 of the Oscar categories and that will mostly be for one of two reasons; A.) I may not be that familiar with the topic, such as sound mixing, sound editing, and makeup or B.) I haven’t seen most of the films in that category. In the case of the latter, I’m mainly referring to the Short Films (both live-action and animated), documentaries (feature and short-subject), and the foreign films. Also, in some categories, I’ll be listing some snubs that I feel occurred when these nominations were announced because there were a few noteworthy ones this year (as is technically every year). With that said, let’s get started…

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

*GRAVITY

*THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG

*IRON MAN 3

*THE LONE RANGER

*STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS

Possible Snubs: I’m kind of surprised that ‘The Lone Ranger’ got a nomination in this category (it also got one for Best Makeup) seeing how, you know, most people hated it. I didn’t, but for all of the reasons why I did like it, none of them were really for the effects. In its place, I would’ve given the nomination to a film like ‘Oz the Great and Powerful’, ‘Man of Steel’, or ‘Pacific Rim’. But even if one of these films did get that nomination, it’s kind of unlikely that they would win because…

My Pick: GRAVITY

Yeah, it’s obvious, isn’t it? It’s almost certain that ‘Gravity’ is going to win this award because its effects were one of the most praised elements of the film. There’s really no competition here. I mean, out of these other four, the only other one that I feel could come away with an upset is ‘The Hobbit’ because of the excellent effects for the dragon Smaug. But at the end of the day, this one’s pretty much in the bag.

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

*AMERICAN HUSTLE

*GRAVITY

*THE GREAT GATSBY

*HER

*12 YEARS A SLAVE

My Pick: THE GREAT GATSBY

A bit of a wild card pick here, because I know that not everyone was as big of a fan of this film as I was (if you recall, this was my fifth favorite film of 2013). But if ‘The Great Gatsby’ were to win one of these awards, I have a feeling it would be in either one of the two categories it’s nominated in; this or Best Costume Design (maybe both) because both the Costume and Production Designs for the film were truly great. I have a feeling ‘American Hustle’ might take this one (and for the record, the film did have an excellent production design) but for this category, I give my vote to the one and only… Gatsby!

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

*HAPPY (‘DESPICABLE ME 2’)

*LET IT GO (‘FROZEN’)

*THE MOON SONG (‘HER’)

*ORDINARY LOVE (‘MANDELA: LONG WALK TO FREEDOM’)

Possible Snub: While this is not exactly a snub, I do kind of have to talk about what was previously the fifth song in this category, ‘Alone Yet Not Alone’ from the film of the same name. Never heard of it? Don’t worry because when this nomination was first announced, I didn’t know about it either. However, a few weeks ago, the nomination was revoked because one of the writers of the song, Bruce Broughton, had contacted members of the Academy for some support; Broughton being a former governor of the Academy and currently a committee member of the Academy’s music branch. The song itself was actually pretty good (it had a really sweet melody), but there’s nothing that can be done now; it’s no longer nominated. With that said though, why then is the Academy just going to stay with only four songs in this category? Why not just give the open spot to another song, like Lana Del Rey’s ‘Young and Beautiful’ from ‘The Great Gatsby’ or ‘Oblivion’ from M83 and the film of the same name. Heck, I would be fine if they gave it to ‘A Little Party Never Killed Nobody’, also from ‘Gatsby’. Anyway…

My Pick: LET IT GO (‘FROZEN’)

‘Ordinary Love’ won this year’s Golden Globe for Best Song, but I’ll admit that I’m not that big of a fan of it. I mean, I get the whole thing about U2 and their connection with Nelson Mandela but at the same time I don’t think it’s the ‘Best Song’ of the year (from a film perspective, of course). That honor, I feel, should go to Robert and Kristen Anderson-Lopez for the standout single from Disney’s ‘Frozen’, ‘Let it Go’. It truly is one of the best songs from any Disney film in recent years; in fact I’d say it’s the best since the last Disney film song to earn an Oscar, ‘You’ll Be in My Heart’ from ‘Tarzan’. As for the other nominated songs, my runner-up pick would be ‘Happy’ from ‘Despicable Me 2’. I have not seen the film, but boy does that song have a catchy beat.

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

*THE BOOK THIEF

*GRAVITY

*HER

*PHILOMENA

*SAVING MR. BANKS

Possible Snubs: Um, where Hans Zimmer for ‘12 Years a Slave’? Now that was one of the best scores of the year. It was a simple score, but one that had so much powerful emotions in it at the same time. Also, while I haven’t seen the film, how about Alex Ebert for ‘All is Lost’? You know, the score that won this exact same award at the Golden Globes. Ah well…

My Pick: GRAVITY

This was actually a rather hard category to predict because I was torn between not two, but three of the scores that were nominated (the only three whose films I actually had seen). There’s Thomas Newman’s score for ‘Saving Mr. Banks’, which had some really beautiful melodies in it that, to quote my friend Matt, will make you want to watch ‘Mary Poppins’ again. There’s also the score from ‘Her’ by Arcade Fire which was really poignant and moving. But in the end, my vote will go to Steven Price’s score for ‘Gravity’, a score that goes along quite well with the intensity of the situations that occur within the film. I especially love the final selection from the score, which shares the name of the film, primarily for the epic choral performance at the end of it. For the record, I would be fine if any of the three scores I just mentioned win this award but if I had to pick just one, this would be that one.

BEST ANIMATED FILM

*THE CROODS

*DESPICABLE ME 2

*ERNEST AND CELESTINE

*FROZEN

*THE WIND RISES

Possible Snubs: No nominations for a Pixar film this year? I say that especially when considering that ‘Monsters University’ was a really good film. Sure, it wasn’t Pixar’s best film, or even the Best Animated Film of the year for that matter, but it was far better than the previous Pixar film, ‘Brave’, which for the record wasn’t bad but at the same time I wasn’t a fan of it winning this award last year because it wasn’t the best Animated Film of 2012.

My Pick: FROZEN

I’ve heard many reports that predicted that the Academy is likely going to give this award to ‘The Wind Rises’, seeing how it’s to be Hayao Miyazaki’s last film (I think; it hasn’t really been clarified if this is true yet). Now, I’m sure that ‘The Wind Rises’ is an excellent movie, as is the rest of Miyazaki’s work. However… I haven’t seen it. So, in its place, I’ll go with my pick for the Best Animated Film of 2013, ‘Frozen’. This one has really grown on me in the weeks since I first saw it in theaters. It truly is one of the best Disney films to come out in recent years and I feel that it will stand toe to toe with some of the most revered films in the Disney lineup. I’m really happy to see that it’s become the biggest hit for Disney Animation since ‘The Lion King’, as it has grossed over $980 million at the time I’m writing this and I have a feeling it will join that fabled billion dollar club in the next few days. But to all of you ‘Frozen’ fans out there, I ask that you please be prepared in case ‘The Wind Rises’ wins this award because there is a chance that it might win it. Don’t worry though, as these two films are the definite front-runners, so we’ll just have to wait and see who takes it on March 2^nd.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

*BEFORE MIDNIGHT

*CAPTAIN PHILLIPS

*PHILOMENA

*12 YEARS A SLAVE

*THE WOLF OF WALL STREET

My Pick: TIE (12 Years/Wolf)

I couldn’t pick just one in this category. I would be fine if it went to either John Ridley for ‘Twelve Years a Slave’ or Terrence Winter for ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’. Both featured excellent screenplays for their own unique reasons. With Ridley, it was for not skimping on any of the horrors and struggles that slaves faced during that time. With Winter, it was for writing a screenplay full of witty and hilarious dialogue. Both of these films earn my vote.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

*AMERICAN HUSTLE

*BLUE JASMINE

*DALLAS BUYERS CLUB

*HER

*NEBRASKA

My Pick: HER

Spike Jonze had a lot to work with in regards to ‘Her’. I mean after all, this is a story about a man who falls in love with the female voice of his computer’s operating system. Even with that strange premise, Jonze managed to make the characters feel real and yes that even includes the A.I. Samantha. He won this award at the Golden Globes, so I’m rooting for him to win it at the Oscars this year.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

*SALLY HAWKINS (‘BLUE JASMINE’)

*JENNIFER LAWRENCE (‘AMERICAN HUSTLE’)

*LUPITA NYONG’O (‘12 YEARS A SLAVE’)

*JULIA ROBERTS (‘AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY’)

*JUNE SQUIBB (‘NEBRASKA’)

Possible Snubs: I haven’t seen ‘August: Osage County’ and I’m sure that Julia Roberts was excellent in it, but in her place I would have given the nomination to Margot Robbie for ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’, as she made quite an impression for what was most definitely her breakout role.

My Pick: LUPITA NYONG’O

One thing about this year’s acting nominees is that there are pretty much direct front-runners in every single category (both lead and supporting). In the case of Supporting Actress, the front-runner seems to be Jennifer Lawrence for ‘Hustle’. Now, I love Jennifer Lawrence; she’s a great actress, she’s one of the most likable actresses working today, and she was great in ‘American Hustle’. But for this year, my vote goes to Lupita Nyong’o for her role in ‘12 Years a Slave’. She makes one hell of an impression in what was only her film debut with a very powerful and emotional performance. I’m fine if J-Law wins for ‘Hustle’, but I feel that this award should go to Nyong’o instead.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

*BARKHAD ABDI (‘CAPTAIN PHILLIPS’)

*BRADLEY COOPER (‘AMERICAN HUSTLE’)

*MICHAEL FASSBENDER (‘12 YEARS A SLAVE’)

*JONAH HILL (‘THE WOLF OF WALL STREET’)

*JARED LETO (‘DALLAS BUYERS CLUB’)

My Pick: MICHAEL FASSBENDER

Thankfully, Fassbender was not robbed of an Oscar nom like Leonardo DiCaprio was for ‘Django Unchained’ last year, both of whom portraying vicious slave owners in their respective films. Jared Leto is being tapped as the frontrunner for this award, but I haven’t seen ‘Dallas Buyers Club’ so I have to base this on the films I have seen and of the other four nominees in this category, my vote is for Fassbender. He really got into this role and even if he doesn’t win here, I have a feeling that this will not be the last time Fassbender gets a nomination.

BEST ACTRESS

*AMY ADAMS (‘AMERICAN HUSTLE’)

*CATE BLANCHETT (‘BLUE JASMINE’)

*SANDRA BULLOCK (‘GRAVITY’)

*JUDI DENCH (‘PHILOMENA’)

*MERYL STREEP (‘AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY’)

DEFINITE Snub: This category has the biggest snub of this year’s Oscars in my opinion; Emma Thompson for ‘Saving Mr. Banks’. Her performance carries the whole film and was easily the highlight of the film. Who would I switch out to have Thompson put in this category? Meryl Streep; it’s nothing against her (like with Roberts, I can’t say anything about her performance because I haven’t seen the film) but this is her EIGHTEENTH (!!) Oscar nomination. It’s kind of getting old seeing her get nominated almost EVERY year. She won this award for ‘The Iron Lady’ two years ago, beating out more deserving nominees like Michelle Williams for ‘My Week with Marilyn’ and Rooney Mara for ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’. But as for this year’s nominees…

My Pick: AMY ADAMS

I’ve given ‘American Hustle’ quite a bit of flak, calling it one of the most overrated films of 2013. I still stand by that even though I’ve warmed up to the movie a bit more after a second viewing. But out of all of the members of Hustle’s cast who are nominated for an Oscar, Adams is the most deserving. It was her who stood out the most in the entire movie, more so than Jennifer Lawrence, Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, and Jeremy Renner (by the way, you have to feel bad for Renner because he’s the only one of these five who hasn’t gotten a single nomination for his own work in the film (not counting the ‘best ensemble awards’). The front runner in this category is Cate Blanchett for ‘Blue Jasmine’ but like with Jared Leto (and his lead co-star; more on that in a second) for ‘Dallas Buyers Club’, I haven’t seen ‘Blue Jasmine’ so based on the films I have seen, Adams earns my vote. For the record, I’ll be fine if any of the cast members from ‘Hustle’ win an Oscar, but I feel that she is the most deserving out of all of them.

BEST ACTOR

*CHRISTIAN BALE (‘AMERICAN HUSTLE’)

*BRUCE DERN (‘NEBRASKA’)

*LEONARDO DICAPRIO (‘THE WOLF OF WALL STREET’)

*CHIWETEL EJIOFOR (‘12 YEARS A SLAVE’)

*MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY (‘DALLAS BUYERS CLUB’)

My Pick: CHIWETEL EJIOFOR

This category’s front-runner seems to be McConaughey for ‘Dallas Buyers Club’. While I haven’t seen the film, I won’t be complaining if he wins because it will help signify the successful career resurrection that he has had. So… based off of the performances I have seen, my vote is for Ejiofor. Like his co-star Lupita Nyong’o, his performance was very powerful and emotional and he got all of this across saying very little in the entire film. My runner-up pick would be DiCaprio; not only because he brought his usual A-game to the role of Jordan Belfort, but the poor guy has been long overdue for an Oscar.

BEST DIRECTOR

*DAVID O. RUSSELL (‘AMERICAN HUSTLE’)

*ALFONSO CUARON (‘GRAVITY’)

*ALEXANDER PAYNE (‘NEBRASKA’)

*STEVE MCQUEEN (‘12 YEARS A SLAVE’)

*MARTIN SCORCESE (‘THE WOLF OF WALL STREET’)

My Pick: ALFONSO CUARON

I’m just going to come out and say this; Gravity is not my pick for Best Picture but at the same time, I’m more than happy to give my vote for Cuaron in regards to the Best Director Oscar. It was a project that he spent four years on and considering how it turned out, he is very well-deserving of this award. Besides, not every film will win Best Picture and Best Director at the same event (just look at last year’s Oscars; Ang Lee won the Directing Oscar, but ‘Argo’ took home Best Picture). Even if I don’t think ‘Gravity’ is the best film of 2013, Cuaron definitely was the standout when it came to directing.

BEST PICTURE

*AMERICAN HUSTLE

*CAPTAIN PHILLIPS

*DALLAS BUYERS CLUB

*GRAVITY

*HER

*NEBRASKA

*PHILOMENA

*12 YEARS A SLAVE

*THE WOLF OF WALL STREET

My Pick: 12 YEARS A SLAVE

Quite simply, it would be a travesty if this didn’t win Best Picture. It truly was the best film of 2013; a hard film to watch, but that’s what you’d expect for a film like this; one that doesn’t skimp on any of the horrifying aspects of its subject matter. My runner-up pick is ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’, but I’m rooting for this film to win it because it’s the most deserving.

American Hustle: 2nd Opinion

David O. Russell’s ‘American Hustle’ has been one of the best-reviewed films of 2013. On Rotten Tomatoes, it currently maintains a 93% overall score with an average rating of 8.2/10 amongst critics. It has received numerous awards from pretty much every major award ceremony this year from the Golden Globes to the BAFTAS and it is tied with ‘Gravity’ for the most nominations at this year’s Academy Awards. So it seems like this is one of the best films of the year, right? Well, from what I can tell, audiences aren’t exactly agreeing with critics when it comes to this movie… and I’m right there with them. I first saw this movie as a double feature with ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ (a film that ultimately landed the number 3 spot of my Best Films of the Year list) and I originally gave the film a rating of 3.5/5 compared to the perfect 5/5 rating I gave to ‘Wolf’. With ‘Hustle’, I found the film to be very overrated for a few reasons but after a while I was willing to give it another chance, which I recently did. With this second viewing, I've warmed up to this movie a bit more… but at the same time I still think it’s quite overrated.

But first, let me start by saying that the best thing about this movie are the performances from its cast. At the end of the day, this is an ‘actor’s movie’ and everyone does a great job, especially the five leads. The main standout of this film actually isn’t Jennifer Lawrence as many critics are saying, although I will say that Lawrence does a great job making the most out of a pretty minor role and is an absolute scene-stealer. Instead, it’s Amy Adams who steals the show as Sydney Prosser, the seductive mistress of Christian Bale’s character, Irving Rosenfeld. One of the biggest reasons why she outshines everyone else in the cast is that while she may not be the ‘main character’ (more on that in a bit), she does the best job at portraying her character’s inner turmoil, being in a situation where she’s in way over her head ultimately resulting with her being unable to deal with the stress and the pressure. All in all, this film just has an excellent ensemble cast from top to bottom (Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, Jeremy Renner, Louis C.K., an excellent uncredited cameo from Robert De Niro, etc.).

However, while this is certainly an ‘actor’s movie’, that unfortunately comes at the expense of the writing, which is a bit of a mess. From what I hear, a lot of the dialogue was improvised by the actors during filming, which for the record can be fine seeing how it allows the actors to find a greater understanding of their characters. But it’s clear that in regards to this movie, the characters and their dialogue are focused on more than the actual story itself. The movie tries to deal with all of these characters and as a result, it sometimes becomes more complicated than it needs to be. As I mentioned earlier, because the film has so many characters that are being focused on, sometimes at the same time, there isn’t really a definitive main character. It seems like Irving would be the main character, but then sometimes it shifts to Sydney and then it shifts to Richie (Cooper). It also drags at certain points, which I find ironic seeing how I saw this after seeing the 3-hour ‘Wolf of Wall Street’, a film that had a longer runtime but never dragged at any point.

I also want to talk about something that has been bugging me ever since the first time I saw this film. According to the general consensus on Rotten Tomatoes, critics found the film to be ‘riotously funny’. With that in mind, I have to ask… what the heck am I missing here? I did not find this film ‘riotously funny’. Aside from a few funny lines here and there, what’s so funny about this film? Is it because they are all in that sort of ridiculous-looking 70’s attire? I just don’t get it. In fact, I’m pretty sure this isn’t even classified as a ‘comedy’; it’s a crime period drama. This is sort of a similar situation that happened with O. Russell’s previous film, ‘Silver Linings Playbook’, I view that film more as a drama than I do as a comedy (though for the record, I think it does have more comedy than ‘Hustle’). On the other side of the spectrum, a film like ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ is a black comedy and as such, the term ‘riotously funny’ is more fitting for that film.

(Don’t believe me? Watch this scene: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vr3151RdQWE)

For the record, I don’t think that ‘American Hustle’ is a bad movie… it really isn’t. It’s just that this is easily one of the most overrated films of 2013 and I really hate to say that because this was a film that I was really looking forward to after seeing ‘Silver Linings Playbook’. But in the end, ‘American Hustle’ is a film that favors its cast over its story. The story’s a mess and because there are so many ‘main’ characters, it’s hard to find a single/solitary main character. Also, I seriously don’t get how this movie is supposed to be ‘riotously funny’ because it’s not really supposed to be a comedy in the first place whereas a film like ‘Wolf of Wall Street’ is. Still, this film benefits from a terrific ensemble cast, an excellent production design, and one of the best movie soundtracks of 2013 (I have a feeling that O. Russell was influenced by Martin Scorcese in regards to that). Unfortunately though, even after a second viewing, I still don’t think it’s one of the best films of the year. It wouldn’t even make it into my Honorable Mentions.

'Wolf of Wall Street'/'American Hustle' (2013): Short Review Double Feature

Last year, I did a double feature of ‘Les Miserables’ and ‘Django Unchained’ with my good friend, fellow movie fanatic, and co-panelist on ‘The Feature Presentation’, Matthew Goudreau. This year, the two of us did another double feature and like last year, because I’m currently busy working on my ‘Top 12 Best films of the year’ list, I’m just going to do a pair of short reviews.

THE WOLF OF WALL STREET

What do you get when you take Martin Scorcese, one of the best directors of all time, Leonardo DiCaprio, one of the best actors working today, and a script, which itself is based off of a true story, written by Terrence Winter, creator of the hit HBO show ‘Boardwalk Empire’? One of the best damn films of the year, bar none; this is one incredible movie. Basically, to sum it up in a nutshell, this movie can get absolutely crazy at times, but even though it’s about 3 hours long, it never gets boring. It’s also ‘riotously funny’ (I say that in quotes because I’ll be referencing it for my review of the second film); one scene in particular that I don’t want to spoil, but I will say that it involves DiCaprio and a car, was probably the most I’ve ever laughed in any movie. DiCaprio of course is excellent as usual in the lead role, as is the rest of the talented cast, including Jonah Hill and Matthew McConaughey. The latter is only in the film briefly at the beginning but was an absolute scene-stealer. In the case of DiCaprio’s character, the movie does not glorify him (which is apparently what some are thinking from seeing the trailer). His character is actually quite the scumbag… and yet DiCaprio’s charm is still somewhat present. This is easily one of the best films of the year; what else would you expect from the talent that is involved both behind and in front of the camera.

Rating: 5/5!

AMERICAN HUSTLE

The second film of this doubleheader is ‘American Hustle’, the newest film from ‘Silver Linings Playbook’ director David O. Russell and starring a pair of leads from both of his last two films; In this case, Christian Bale and Amy Adams from ‘The Fighter’ and Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence from ‘Playbook’. This film has been getting quite the reviews from critics, currently standing at a 95% on Rotten Tomatoes… but to be honest I think it’s a little overrated in that regard. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think this is a bad movie. It’s just that it gets a little slow at times and I’m perplexed as to why some critics are viewing it as a ‘comedy’ because it really isn’t. The ‘general consensus’ on RT is that it is ‘riotously funny’. That fits ‘Wolf of Wall Street’ much better and in fact, I think that film deserves a better RT score (at the moment, it only stands at 77%). Heck, ‘American Hustle’ isn’t even classified as a comedy. It’s a crime drama, so what I am missing here? But despite that, the film does have really good things in it, like a great period piece design (being that it’s set in the 70’s), a really great soundtrack, and of course a great cast. As for the standouts, I’d give the honors to the two ladies in the film, Amy Adams and Jennifer Lawrence. Adams’ character is probably one of the most developed out of the leads and while Lawrence is not in the movie that much she is a scene-stealer. Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, and Jeremy Renner are all great as well. Still, I don’t think this movie’s as good to garner a 95% rating on Rotten Tomatoes… and I don’t think it will make my Top 12. Perhaps an ‘Honorable Mention’ but I’m not entirely sure.

Rating: 3.5/5

2013 Preview: December

It’s been quite a year for movies, from the summer blockbusters to the Oscar contenders, and now we have finally reached the last month of 2013. Welcome back to Rhode Island Movie Corner’s year-long preview of the films set to come out during 2013. This is the final part of this 12-part preview of the year and today we’ll be looking at the films that are set to come out during the month of Christmas, December.

DECEMBER 6- One major release this weekend.

*After debuting in New York and LA markets on December 4^th, the first major release of the month, ‘Out of the Furnace’ will get a nationwide release two days later. Directed by Scott Cooper (2009’s ‘Crazy Heart’), the film stars Christian Bale as a man who suddenly finds himself in prison as his brother (Casey Affleck) gets involved with a dangerous crime ring. The film also stars Zoe Saldana, Woody Harrelson, Forest Whitaker, and Willem Dafoe.

DECEMBER 13- It’s a rather interesting competition this weekend at the movies. On one side, we have the next Hobbit film and on the other, a Tyler Perry movie.

*Last December, the first entry in ‘The Hobbit’ trilogy, ‘An Unexpected Journey’, hit theaters, eventually ending up with over $1 Billion at the box office. Its sequel, ‘The Desolation of Smaug’, will continue the adventures of Bilbo Baggins, Gandalf the Grey, and Thorin Oakenshield’s company of dwarves. In this film, the group begins their attempt to take back the dwarves’ homeland of Erebor from the dragon Smaug (portrayed through motion capture by Benedict Cumberbatch). The returning cast from the first film is joined in this one by Orlando Bloom (reprising the role of Legolas from the ‘LOTR’ trilogy), Evangeline Lilly (who’s portraying an original character, Tauriel), and Luke Evans.

*On the other side of the spectrum is the next film in Tyler Perry’s ‘Madea’ franchise, which stars Perry as the titular elderly Madea, ‘A Madea Christmas’. As the title suggests, this one is set during Christmas.

DECEMBER 20- It’s a pretty stacked weekend with five new movies coming out, two of them immediately being released nationwide while the other three expand from earlier releases.

(Note: The following film will hit theaters two days earlier on December 18^th)

*Great Odin’s Raven! 9 years after 2004’s hit comedy ‘Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy’ hit theaters, everyone’s favorite news team returns for ‘Anchorman: The Legend Continues’. In this film, confident but egotistical news reporter Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell) and the Channel 4 News team (Paul Rudd, Steve Carell, and David Koechner) reunite after disbanding after the 70’s when they are recruited to join a 24-hour news channel. Christina Applegate, Fred Willard, and others from the previous film return and are joined in this one by Kristen Wiig, Greg Kinnear, and a whole bunch of cameos (Harrison Ford, Jim Carrey, Nicole Kidman, Sacha Baron Cohen, the list goes on and on).

*In 1999, BBC aired a six-part series ‘Walking with Dinosaurs’, recreating what it was like on Earth during the Mesozoic Era. This month, a film adaptation of the series will be released in 3-D. It will focus on a group of Pachyrhinosauruses as they migrate.

*The first ‘expanding’ release of the week is ‘Inside Llewyn Davis’, the latest film from the Coen brothers. Although Joel Coen has stated that the film has ‘no plot’, it will be following the titular Llewyn Davis (Oscar Issac), a singer-songwriter who navigates the folk music scene of New York in the 60’s. The film also stars Carey Mulligan, John Goodman, and Justin Timberlake.

*Disney’s ‘Saving Mr. Banks’ is the first Disney film to star the company’s creator, Walt Disney. The story, however, is more about the production of Disney’s 1964 classic, ‘Mary Poppins’, and Walt’s (Tom Hanks) efforts to work with the author of the novel, ‘P.L.’ Travers (Emma Thompson). The film also stars Jason Schwartzman and B.J. Novak as the Sherman Brothers along with Paul Giamatti and Colin Farrell.

*A year after ‘Silver Linings Playbook’ was both a critical and commercial success, director David O. Russell’s next film, ‘American Hustle’, will hit theaters after opening in limited release earlier this month. The film is based off of the ABSCAM operation that took place during the 70’s and 80’s. Christian Bale stars as a con man that, along with his partner/mistress (Amy Adams), is recruited by an FBI agent (Bradley Cooper) to work for him. The film also stars Jeremy Renner as the corrupt mayor of New Jersey and Jennifer Lawrence as the unpredictable wife of Bale’s character (will also be opening on Wednesday, December 18^th).

DECEMBER 25- In what is probably the most packed weekend of the year (ironic seeing how it is the last weekend of 2013 for new releases), there are five new releases along with 1 nationwide expansion as the year ends with a total of 6 films coming out nationwide in a single weekend.

*Keanu Reeves headlines ’47 Ronin’, a fantasy samurai movie based on the titular fictional group of the same name. Reeves stars as an outcast who joins a group of ronin who are looking to get their revenge against the evil Lord Kira (Tadanobu Asano) after he killed their master.

*After his 2011 concert film ‘Never Say Never’, Justin Bieber’s new concert film, ‘Believe’ will hit theaters.

*Sylvester Stallone’s most famous role is that of boxer Rocky Balboa in the franchise of the same name and one of Robert De Niro’s most famous roles is that of boxer Jake LaMotta in Martin Scorcese’s ‘Raging Bull’ . The two headline ‘Grudge Match’, albeit while playing different characters. They star as a pair of retired boxers who decide to step back into the ring in order to settle the score after their title match 30 years ago was canceled when Stallone’s character retired from boxing. The film, directed by Peter Segal (‘50 First Dates’, ‘Get Smart’), also stars Alan Arkin, Kevin Hart, and Kim Basinger.

*‘The Secret Life of Walter Mitty’ is a remake of the 1947 film of the same name, which itself was based on the 1939 short story, also of the same name, by James Thurber. Ben Stiller (who also directs the film), stars as the titular Walter Mitty, a worker at Life Magazine who usually retreats into his fantasy worlds but then sets off on a journey to find a picture that is needed for the magazine when his and his co-worker/love interest’s (Kristen Wiig) jobs are on the line.

*Martin Scorcese reunites with Leonardo DiCaprio for their fifth film together since 2002’s ‘Gangs of New York’ with ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’, a film that was originally supposed to be released on November 15^th, but was pushed back a month so that Scorcese could finish the movie in time (thankfully the film wasn’t pushed back even further to next year). Based off of the memoir of the same name by former New York stockbroker Jordan Belfort, the film stars DiCaprio as Belfort, who refuses to be involved in a security fraud case revolving around corruption on Wall Street. The film’s large ensemble cast also includes Jonah Hill, Matthew McConaughey, Jean Dujardin, and Kyle Chandler among others.

*Finally, we have ‘Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom’, a biographical film about former South Africa President Nelson Mandela (portrayed by Idris Elba), which details the 27 years he spent in prison before he became president of South Africa.

With that, 2013 will officially come to an end. Thanks for reading these posts and I’m expecting to start this up again next year. Stay tuned…