November and December found me at the movie theater for
Skyfall, Lincoln, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, and Les Misérables. And I
would recommend any of them. A friend also recommends The Impossible, Silver Linings Playbook and Zero Dark Thirty. Another friend says that Hansel and Gretel isn’t that great, so it might go on the to-rent list.
A few others currently in the theater that you might be
interested in: Django Unchained, Gangster Squad, Quartet, Broken City.
Oh, and The Last Stand. No, wait, forget that one. Arnold did not do well in his return to the
box office. We’ll see how his contemporary Sylvester fares with his new release
this weekend.
From my rental list, here are a couple of recommendations:
Hugo, Brave, and Salmon Fishing in the Yemen.
On to February’s list!
February 1: Look for a zombie comedy romance (yep, all
three) in Warm Bodies (PG-13) starring Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer and John Malkovich. We also have Sylvester Stallone as a
New Orleans hitman in Bullet to the Head ( R) teaming with Sung Kang (as a D.C.
cop) to take down the person who killed their respective partners – it also
stars Jason Momoa and Christian Slater. And in limited release, Stand Up Guys (
R) comes to the big screen with Al Pacino, Alad Arkin and Christopher Walken as
old-school con men out for one last hurrah.
February 8: Identity Thief ( R) stars Jason Bateman and
Melissa McCarthy, but I have to ask myself why these two actors would stoop so
low? McCarthy steals Bateman’s identity, and he tracks her down on his own. A
few laughs, but not one I’ll go see. Side Effects ( R) looks a bit more
promising for my tastes: Jude Law as a psychiatrist who’s patient (Rooney Mara)
starts exhibiting some strange side effects from prescribed medication. It also
stars Channing Tatum and Catherine Zeta-Jones. I do like a psychological
thriller.
February 15: Bruce Willis returns as John
McClane in A Good Day to Die Hard ( R) as the always-in-the-middle-of-things
cop travels to Russia,
assuming he’s going to help his wayward son (Jai Courtney) only to discover
that Junior is CIA. Is this the series hand-off to a younger generation?
This weekend’s busy. Look for Beautiful Creatures (PG-13), a
supernatural thriller (the TV promos look interesting) with an intriguing turn
by Emma Thompson as an evildoer. Also stars Alice Englert, Viola Davis, Alden
Ehrenreich, Jeremy Irons and Emmy Rossum; based on the books by Kami Garcia and
Margaret Stohl. Safe Haven (PG-13) is the latest adaptation of a Nicholas
Sparks’ novel, and it stars Julianne
Hough, Cobie Smulders and Josh Duhamel – tearjerker, I’m sure. Escape From Planet Earth (not yet rated) is sure to pull in the younger crowd; the animated
comedy stars the voices of Brendan Fraser, Rob Corddry, Jane Lynch, Jessica
Alba, Sofia Vergara and William Shatner, among many.
February 22: Only two movies are scheduled to be released
the last weekend of the month. Snitch (PG-13: really?) stars Dwayne Johnson as a father going undercover to save his son
from a set-up drug charge. It also stars Jon Bernthal, Susan Sarandon and Rafi
Gavron. Dark Skies (not yet rated) is another supernatural thriller (I’ll
probably skip this one) about a family faced with a deadly force, starring Keri
Russell, Josh Hamilton, Dakota Goyo and J.K Simmons.
A couple of titles caught my eye for March: Oz the Great and Powerful, The Call, Admission, and The Place Beyond the Pines. The first one is
probably a must for me, being a native Kansan; The Call stars Halle Berry and
the trailers look kind of scary; Admission stars Tina Fey and Paul Rudd and it
looks pretty good, but it might be more drama than comedy; and the last one
looks a mite depressing but it’s getting good buzz. Stay tuned!
Don’t forget the telecast of the 85th Academy Awards at 6
central Sunday, February 24, on ABC. We’ll talk about the Oscars next week.
In the meantime, see ya at the movies!
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