Holiday Movie Guide – What flicks to see this month
This month’s new films are about adventure and movement—through the Deep South, through the tunnels of Paris and even Middle Earth, and through the minds and the poetic souls of seekers. As Oscar season ramps up, here are six films for your consideration.
The Stars: Martin Freeman, Cate Blanchett, Ian McKellen
The Gist: Hairy little men confront a temperamental serpent over stolen treasure.
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The Good: J.R.R. Tolkien’s precursor to The Lord of the Rings is imbued with a warm sense of humor and levity that was sadly lacking in director Peter Jackson’s award-winning trilogy.
The Bad: With practically every Rings actor but Liv Tyler back, plus many, many new faces—there are more than a dozen dwarves, alone—this shire feels overpopulated.
Recommended if you like: The Sword and the Stone, Sherlock, second breakfast.
Likely score: 8 (out of 10)
The Stars: Lizzy Caplan, Alison Brie and Mark Webber
The Gist: After refusing a hasty marriage proposal from her rock ‘n’ roll boyfriend, a crisis-ridden twentysomething watches her sister (and chief rival) prepare for a wedding of her own while desperately trying to make a rebound work.
The Good: Caplan’s eyes are more sarcastic than a Denis Leary special.
The Bad: Is this glorified mumblecore with a spunky Brie playing the +1?
Recommended if you like: Party Down, Girls, The Strokes—their slow ones.
Likely score: 7
The Stars: Garrett Hedlund, Sam Riley, Kristen Stewart and Amy Adams
The Gist: A free-spirited rebel kick-starts the heart of an introverted writer, and the pair explores the back alleys of America and jazz, babe.
The Good: Viggo Mortensen as the William S. Burroughs stand-in “Old Bull Lee.” Somewhere David Cronenberg is smiling.
The Bad: Never has there been a wait like this for a classic novel to hit the screen, and when it finally does, the Twilight girl?
Recommended if you like: The Motorcycle Diaries, Control, the sound of your own voice.
Likely score: 8
The Stars: John Magaro, Bella Heathcote, James Gandolfini
The Gist: Inspired by hearing the Stones, a New Jersey teenager grows his hair, angers his dad and forms a band.
The Good: It’s directed by David Chase, creator of The Sopranos, who knows how to write relationships—especially the strained kind.
The Bad: It’s easier to love 1960s rock ‘n’ roll than it is to recreate it.
Recommended if you like: Almost Famous, That Thing You Do, high, er, Cuban heels.
Likely score: 6.5
The Stars: Jamie Foxx, Leonardo DiCaprio and Christoph Waltz
The Gist: An escaped slave-turned-bounty hunter searches for his wife and seeks vengeance against a heartless plantation owner.
The Good: Director Quentin Tarantino knows revenge, and Foxx and DiCaprio look like they are having fun chewing the scenery and the cigarillos.
The Bad: Can the man who wrote Pulp Fiction and Jackie Brown invent whip-smart “slavesploitation” and survive?
Recommended if you like: The Wild Bunch, Il Grande Silenzio, silent Ds.
Likely score: 9
The Stars: Anne Hathaway, Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe
The Gist: Hunted by police, a convict breaks parole and seeks redemption during the volatile days leading to the Paris Uprising of 1832.
The Good: Everyone in this movie can actually sing. Which works out, because, spoiler alert, it’s a musical.
The Bad: Crowe’s been on autopilot since 2008.
Recommended if you like: Moby-Dick, “Amazing Grace,” silverware.
Likely score: 9
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