2013 Fall Movie Preview (December)

AMERICAN HUSTLE (December 13)
Plot: A fictional film set in the alluring world of one of the most stunning scandals to rock the States, "American Hustle" tells the story of brilliant con man Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale), who along with his equally cunning and seductive British partner Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams) is forced to work for a wild FBI agent Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper). DiMaso pushes them into a world of Jersey powerbrokers and mafia that�s as dangerous as it is enchanting. Jeremy Renner is Carmine Polito, the passionate, volatile, New Jersey political operator caught between the con-artists and Feds. Irving's unpredictable wife Rosalyn (Jennifer Lawrence) could be the one to pull the thread that brings the entire world crashing down. Like David O. Russell's previous films, "American Hustle" defies genre, hinging on raw emotion, and life and death stakes.

Quick thoughts: Every year there always seems to be one film that I do not identify on my yearly preview that I end up being really excited for when I then do my fall movie preview. This is easily that film this year. Director David O. Russell has basically merged the casts of his past two films, thrown them into the 1970s and let the good times roll. Given how well his past two films have done come awards season, I would expect more of the same for this thriller.


SAVING MR. BANKS (December 13)
Plot: Two-time Academy Award��winner Emma Thompson and fellow double Oscar�-winner Tom Hanks topline Disney's "Saving Mr. Banks," inspired by the extraordinary, untold backstory of how Disney's classic "Mary Poppins" made it to the screen.

Quick thoughts: By the time this film comes out, we will already have a pretty good idea of whether or not we can expect Tom Hanks to be competing with himself for a Best Actor nomination. If I had to guess, I'll bet his work in Captain Phillips is better. That certainly does not diminish my anticipation for this film which looks like it could be the most charming movie of the year. Even if this film does not do much during the awards season, I believe it will still do big business with families during the holiday season.


THE MONUMENTS MEN (December 18)
Plot: Based on the true story of the greatest treasure hunt in history, "The Monuments Men" is an action-thriller focusing on an unlikely World War II platoon, tasked by FDR with going into Germany to rescue artistic masterpieces from Nazi thieves and returning them to their rightful owners. It would be an impossible mission: with the art trapped behind enemy lines, and with the German army under orders to destroy everything as the Reich fell, how could these guys � seven museum directors, curators, and art historians, all more familiar with Michelangelo than the M-1 � possibly hope to succeed?�But as the Monuments Men, as they were called, found themselves in a race against time to avoid the destruction of 1000 years of culture, they would risk their lives to protect and defend mankind's greatest achievements.

Quick thoughts: I marked this in my top 5 most anticipated for 2013 and seeing the trailer for this a few weeks ago has not diminished my expectations for it in the least. The term 'all-star cast' is reserved for movies like that. If it can successfully blend the high stakes of adventure of Ocean's Eleven with the gritty realism that comes with covering World War II, this will be one hell of a movie.


ANCHORMAN 2: THE LEGEND CONTINUES (December 20)
Plot: With the 70's behind him, San Diego's top rated newsman, Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell), returns to the news desk in "Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues." Also back for more are Ron's co-anchor and wife, Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate), weather man Brick Tamland (Steve Carell), man on the street Brian Fantana (Paul Rudd) and sports guy Champ Kind (David Koechner) - All of whom won't make it easy to stay classy, while taking the nation's first 24-hour news channel by storm.

Quick thoughts: This is the movie that I am most nervously anxious for. On one hand, the first Anchorman movie is one of my all time favorite comedies and I would hate to have the franchise tarnished in any way with a disappointing follow-up, but these characters are too great not to have had them make a return. Let's just hope this turns out to be the best Christmas present ever and not the equivalent of milk on a hot day in San Diego.


OTHER POSSIBLE FILMS OF INTEREST
Out of the Furnace (December 6)
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (December 13)
Foxcatcher (December 20)
Jack Ryan (December 25)

Stay for the Poppins

Apparently, getting Mary Poppins to the silver screen was anything but Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. Here's the first trailer for Saving Mr. Banks, the story of Walt Disney (Tom Hanks) and his attempts to convince author PL Travers (Emma Thompson) to turn her book into a movie.

2013 Movie Preview (#30 - 25)

Now that we've survived the end of the world, we can begin looking forward to a new year. And with that comes a whole new slate of big movies to preview. This seems to be a particularly solid year of comedies, dramas, and action films. Without any further ado, here's what you can look forward to in the next 12 months.

#30. Gangster Squad (January 11)

Plot: Los Angeles, 1949. Ruthless, Brooklyn-born mob king Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn) runs the show in this town, reaping the ill-gotten gains from the drugs, the guns, the prostitutes and--if he has his way--every wire bet placed west of Chicago. And he does it all with the protection of not only his own paid goons, but also the police and the politicians who are under his control. It's enough to intimidate even the bravest, street-hardened cop...except, perhaps, for the small, secret crew of LAPD outsiders led by Sgt. John O'Mara (Josh Brolin) and Jerry Wooters (Ryan Gosling), who come together to try to tear Cohen's world apart. "The Gangster Squad" is a colorful retelling of events surrounding the LAPD's efforts to take back their nascent city from one of the most dangerous mafia bosses of all time.

Personal Opinion: You may recall that this film was originally scheduled to come out last year, but after the tragic Colorado movie theater shooting last July reshoots were needed on this film in order to eliminate a similar scene. You may also recall that I had this on my 2012 movie preview and fairly high on the list at that. Its placement here should in no way indicate that I've lost faith in the film. Rather, I just felt that since I've already given it coverage and that it's coming out in just a couple of weeks that we should merely give everyone a reminder here and focus the rest of the list on the fresh films for 2013.


#29. Saving Mr. Banks (December 20)

Plot: Two-time Academy Award winner Emma Thompson and fellow double Oscar-winner Tom Hanks topline Disney's "Saving Mr. Banks," inspired by the extraordinary, untold backstory of how Disney's classic "Mary Poppins" made it to the screen.

Personal Opinion: This is one of two high-profile, awards season-caliber films starring Tom Hanks coming out next year. There are few bigger figures in Hollywood than Walt Disney, so it will be very intersting to see how Hanks depicts him here. From the little I've read about this story, it seems like it was quite the bumpy road getting the film version of Mary Poppins made, so I'm definitely excited to see this film and learn more about it. The only question is that since this is a Disney film, will the depiction of Walt be accurate or simply a puff piece that paints their founder in an entirely favorable light.


#28. We're the Millers (August 9)

Plot: David Burke (Sudeikis) is a small-time pot dealer whose clientele includes chefs and soccer moms, but no kids - after all, he has his scruples. So what could go wrong? Plenty. Preferring to keep a low profile for obvious reasons, he learns the hard way that no good deed goes unpunished when he tries to help out some local teens and winds up getting jumped by a trio of gutter punks. Stealing his stash and his cash, they leave him in major debt to his supplier, Brad (Ed Helms). In order to wipe the slate clean - and maintain a clean bill of health - David must now become a big-time drug smuggler by bringing Brad's latest shipment in from Mexico. Twisting the arms of his neighbors, cynical stripper Rose (Aniston) and wannabe customer Kenny (Will Poulter), and the tatted-and-pierced streetwise teen Casey (Emma Roberts), he devises a foolproof plan. One fake wife, two pretend kids and a huge, shiny RV later, the "Millers" are headed south of the border for a Fourth of July weekend that is sure to end with a bang.

Personal Opinion: I typically do not gravitate toward pot movies, but this one seems to be less about the wacky tabacky and more about the wacky road trip adventure of these characters. And the characters in this film include a large list of my favorite comedic actors. In addition to the cast members listed above, people like Nick Offerman and Kathryn Hahn will also pop up here. If nothing else, the story about Jennifer Aniston working a stripper pole in this movie was enough to convince me to check it out.


#27 Rush (September 20)

Plot: Set against the sexy, glamorous and spectacular golden age of Formula 1 racing, "Rush" portrays the exhilarating true story of two of the greatest rivals the world has ever witnessed - handsome English playboy James Hunt (Hemsworth) and his methodical, brilliant opponent, Niki Lauda (Bruhl). Following their personal lives on and off the track, Rush follows the two drivers as they push themselves to the breaking point of physical and psychological endurance, where there is no shortcut to victory and no margin for error. If you make one mistake, you die.

Personal Opinion: The last time director Ron Howard teamed up with writer Peter Morgan, it was for the fantastic adaptation of Frost/Nixon. With Rush they're giving us a different face off, but one that sounds just as intriguing. Though I don't know much about these racers, the little that I've read sounds like a fascinating story. Given its placement in mid-September I would look for this to kick off the awards season buzz. And even if it's quality isn't up to snuff as it relates to the Oscars, the racing scenes should no doubt thrill audiences.


#26. Side Effects (February 8)

Plot: "Side Effects" is a provocative thriller about Emily and Martin (Rooney Mara and Channing Tatum), a successful New York couple whose world unravels when a new drug prescribed by Emily's psychiatrist (Jude Law) - intended to treat anxiety - has unexpected side effects.

Personal Opinion: Based on the trailer I saw, I have mixed feelings on this one. It could be a very cool thriller on the dark side of experimental drugs or it could be a sad weepy that bores me to tears. Ultimately what wins out is that this is directed by Steven Soderbergh and will be his last film as he claims to be retiring. I typical love Soderbergh work so I'll be checking this out to see what he has in store for a grand finale.


#25. R.I.P.D. (July 19)

Plot: Based on the Dark Horse mini-series, "R.I.P.D." (short for "Rest In Peace Department") is Peter Lenkov's comedic amalgam of the police and zombie genres featuring two dead police officers whose job it is to help the dead "rest in peace."

Personal Opinion: With the recent success of The Walking Dead, you can expect to see a LOT of zombies on the big screen in the next year. Most of them I'll be skipping, but this one has a unique enough premise to even pique my interest. I can't rate it higher though given the mixed bag of a cast. It features Jeff Bridges, which instantly propels the quality of the film. However, Ryan Reynolds appears to be the film's lead and he has yet to prove to me that he's leading man material. His most recent features have all been underwhelming and his performance was often a reason for that. Hopefully Bridges' awesomeness wins out here.