2014 Movie Preview: #1 - Interstellar

Release date: November 7

Plot summary: "Interstellar" chronicles the adventures of a group of explorers who make use of a newly discovered wormhole to surpass the limitations on human space travel and conquer the vast distances involved in an interstellar voyage.

My take: While a Nolan-clone like Transcendence is worthy of being on my list, only the real deal is deserving of the top spot. Having now ended his work on the Batman franchise, Nolan can return to some original ideas here. Of course, he's brought along some familiar faces for his cast including Anne Hathaway and Michael Caine, but he also has plenty of talent like Matthew McConaughey and Jessica Chastain who are new to the Nolan universe. We've still got a long time to go before this comes out, but I'm going to enjoy the anticipation for it each and every day.

Drumming up interest

We go from talking about this year's highly touted space adventure to previewing what could likely be next year's highly touted space adventure. Here's your first look at Christopher Nolan's Interstellar. It doesn't tell us much and yet I am already hooked.

Balls to the Wall

After aiming at families with Hugo, Martin Scorcese returns to more adult fare with his latest, The Wolf of Wall Street, starring Leonardo Dicaprio, Matthew McConaughey, and Jonah Hill. This looks to be in the vein of Goodfellas, as it focuses on the excesses of people in power but you all know that it will inevitably all come crashing down on them. You can check out the first trailer for the film below.

RBR: Bernie

From time to time, a movie comes along that gets undeservedly ignored by the masses and Bernie is one of them. The movie, directed by Richard Linklater, does a interesting documentary/mockumentary hybrid of a true story about a well-liked funeral director from a small town in Texas accused of murdering a mean old woman he befriended. Jack Black plays the funeral director and gives a terrific performance - probably his best since School of Rock, which coincidentally was also directed by Linklater. Shirley Maclaine is great as well playing the mean widow. You also have a fun performance from Matthew McConaughy, who plays the slick district attorney out to prove that Bernie is a fraud and a murderer. One of the best parts of this film is that they got real citizens from Carthage, Texas to do the talking head segments of the film. In doing so, you get a much greater sense of the true affinity these people had for Bernie and the cognitive dissonance they went through after he's accused of the murder. Between the unique nature of this crime story and the engaging performance, the film sucks you in immediately and you become equally invested in the outcome of this story. Please do yourself a favor and seek this one out at Redbox, Netflix, or on demand. I guarantee you won't be disappointed. Rating: ****1/2

Bernie made off

Director Richard Linklater (School of Rock, Dazed and Confused) teams up once again with Jack Black and Matthew McConaughey in Bernie, a dark comedy that's actually based on a true story. Here's your first look at the trailer.