Disney, 'Desolation' and Debauchery

'Saving Mr. Banks' (PG-13) ****
Author P. L. Travers (Emma Thompson) reflects on her difficult childhood while meeting with filmmaker Walt Disney (Tom Hanks) during pre production for the adaptation of her novel, Mary Poppins.  Yet even with the now iconic songs being written, character and set designs being drawn up and the script being looked over Travers still has not signed over the film rights.  Simply put, I loved every single minute of this movie.  Not enough praise can be given to the acting in this movie, with MANY standout performances:  Emma Thompson as the feisty Travers, Hanks as the delightful and shrewd Disney, Colin Farrell as Travers' father in flashbacks, Paul Giamatti as Travers' limo driver, and B.J. Novak and Jason Schwartzman as the song writing Sherman Brothers.  It has a great score that always includes some music from the now iconic songs from 'Mary Poppins'.  It's sad and dramatic when it needs to be but also light and funny when it needs to be.  While watching the movie I had a smile on my face that never seemed to go away during it's 2 hour, 5 minute running time.  It was also very nostalgic watching this movie, bringing back memories of watching 'Mary Poppins' a lot as a child and memories of going to Disneyland four and a half years ago.  This is one of the best movies I've seen this year. 
TRAILERS:
'Muppets Most Wanted' - does not look as good as the previous 'Muppet' movie, but could still be fun.
'Her' - still looks good and still looks...................strange.
'Divergent' - well at least YA adaptations are now ripping off 'Hunger Games' instead of 'Twilight'.  It appears to have an interesting premise, so who knows maybe it could turn out all right.



'The Hobbit:  The Desolation of Smaug' (PG-13) ***1/2
The 12 dwarves, along with Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) and Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellan), continue their quest to reclaim Erebor, their homeland, from Smaug (voice of Benedict Cumberbatch).  I wasn't a big fan of the first 'Hobbit' movie (pacing issues) but I heavily enjoyed this movie and had a lot of fun watching it.  Yes, it's almost three hours long but the plot kept moving forward and never seemed to drag at all.  I still don't think it's necessary to split up 'The Hobbit' into three movies, but oh well.  Extremely abrupt cliffhanger ending aside, this was still a lot of fun and entertaining.  
TRAILERS:
'The Amazing Spider-man 2' - I feel like I've already seen this movie.....
'Captain America:  The Winter Soldier' - looks okay.  I'll need to see another trailer. 
'Interstellar' - Christopher Nolan directed this?  Sold.
'Edge of Tomorrow' - 'Groundhog Day' meets Halo.  Not entirely sure about this one.
'Jupiter Ascending' - The latest from the Wachowski Siblings.  Visually it looks great, but another one that I'm not exactly sure about.  I still haven't gotten all the way through 'Cloud Atlas'.




'The Wolf of Wall Street' (R) ***1/4
Based on the true story of Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio), from his rise to a wealthy stockbroker living the high life to his fall involving crime, corruption and the federal government.  With a cast that also features Jonah Hill, Rob Reiner, Matthew McConaughey, Jean Dujardin, Kyle Chandler, Jon Favreau, and the guy from the Arby's commercials (Bo Dietl).  This movie can be summed up in one word:  Debauchery.  Three hours of sex, drugs, money and constant profanity.  In fact as I was buying my ticket the cashier actually warned me about the content in this movie.  With that aside it is very well acted (particularly DiCaprio, Hill and Reiner), often very funny (in a dark, satirical sort of way) and despite it's almost three hour running time (it's longer than 'Desolation of Smaug') it never feels like it's being dragged out or padded.  I had a good time while watching it, but I will admit that this isn't a movie for most people.  I won't go so far as to warn people about the content of the movie....all I'll say is know what your getting in to IF you decide to go see this.       
TRAILERS: 
'Inside Llewyn Davis' - looks very good.
'Lone Survivor' - doesn't look bad.
'Million Dollar Arm' - it could be okay.
'Paranormal Activity:  The Marked Ones' - I'll only see this because I saw the others....
'Jack Ryan:  Shadow Recruit' - could also be okay
'300:  Rise of an Empire' - havent seen a trailer for this one since 'Man of Steel'.  I thought the first '300' was awesome, and this doesn't look like it'll disappoint.
'Sabotage' - Arnold Schwarzenegger leads a group of DEA agents who steal from a cartel house.  If I do see this it'll probably be a Redbox rental.






Well with these reviews finally done that wraps up reviews for 2013.  New Years Day I'll post my favorites of the year and those movies that I thought were disappointing.