December 6th
Ah, December.....between all of the holiday preparations, shopping, and time with family and friends, there may be some time to take a break from it all and head out to the movies, right? Well, we have quite a month and it all starts with Christian Bale v Woody Harrelson in Out of the Furnace. A blue collar guy who is caring for his terminally ill Dad gets even more thrown at him when his brother (Casey Affleck) just returned from active duty gets involved with some unsavory characters and activities in their home town. The Cohen brothers present a story of the 1970's folk music scene in Greenwhich Village with Inside Llewyn Davis. Josh Lawson and Ron Perlman spook you with Crave. Josh plays a crime scene photographer who starts experiencing from very dark thoughts following the end of his relationship. A woman (Rhada Mitchell) and her husband struggle to conceive and almost lose hope until her best friend (Michelle Monoghan) becomes pregnant after a one night stand. The friend agrees to give up the baby to them in exchange for living with them, but things get complicated in Expecting. A sci fi thriller, Last Days on Mars has a team of astronauts accosted by a menacing presence. Liev Schreiber and Elias Koteas star. And finally, Khumba is a half-striped zebra who gets banished by his herd and goes on a great adventure to earn his stripes (yeah, I said it). Laurence Fishburne, Liam Neeson, and Steve Buscemi all contribute voice talents to this animated film. Out of the Furnace looks like a perfect way to kick off the month and we have the trailer for you right here.
December 13th
I am not even sure it is a fair fight in week two from our perspective here at Great Stories. So, before we even state our OBVIOUS choice for our movie dollars, lets run down the elephant in the room's competition. Tyler Perry's A Madea Christmas has yuletide cross-dressing comedy lined up for those non-fantasy fans and he even recruits a dose of Larry the Cable Guy for good measure. In American Hustle, Christian Bale sees his second major release in as many weeks and brings along Bradley Cooper, Jeremy Renner, and the always lovely Amy Adams along for this 70's era tale of political favoritism and corruption, which looks to be a solid film. In Saving Mr. Banks, Tom Hanks...yes, I said Saving Mr. Banks (not Private Ryan)...ahem. Tom Hanks plays Walt Disney in his longstanding bid to convince P.L. Travers to allow him to bring Mary Poppins to the big screen. Emma Thompson plays the creator of the classic icon. Whether it is by accident or calculated design, Paul Walker appears in the film Hours as a man who struggles to save his newborn child from a hospital in New Orleans as Hurricane Katrina bears down on the city. And in Some Velvet Morning, Stanley Tucci plays a man who leaves his wife to be with a younger woman he has not seen in years in a tragically comic and quirky romance. In spite of some interesting films debuting this week, you will find us in line for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug which is destined to be another box office hit. Check out the trailer below and celebrate the return of Legolas!
December 20th
Ron Burgundy and the team return for Anchorman 2. It is out of the 70's and into the 80's (my favorite era) in this comedic outing. Walking with Dinosaurs is an animated tale following the migration of the now extinct beasts (Justin Long and John Leguizamo providing voices). And our pick of the week is the movie Her, which could put Jaoquin Phoenix back on the map as he plays a man who favors the relationship of a female voice born of advanced technology named Samantha following a hurtful collapse of a long and deep companionship. I know the crowds will be flocking to see Will Ferrell, but check out our pick below.
December 25th
And Christmas is finally here. Once you are done opening exchanging gifts and eating fine banquets with loved ones, there is a host of movies appearing at cineplexes everywhere including Scorcese's The Wolf of Wall Street, which is sure to make that joke of a Wall Street 2 movies look ever the awful movie it was. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Matthew McConoughey, and Jonah Hill, it is a strong candidate for our bottom dollr (and it will have been since we'll be thinking of the first credit card bills that arrive on the 26th)! 47 Ronin has Keanu Reaves and 46 comrades battle mythical enemies in the Orient in a very captivating adventure with some potential. Grudge Match pits the stars of two of the most famous boxing films in Hollywood history against each other as De Niro throws down with Sly Stallone in what could be a pretty amusing comedy romp. Labor Day has Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin star in a film about prison escapee who solicits the help of a woman and her son to make a new life. In August: Osage County, an incredible cast featuring Meryl Streep, Chris Cooper, Sam Shepard, Julia Roberts, Ewan MacGregor, Abigail Breslin, and Benedict Cumberbatch tell the story of the powerful and influential women of the Weston family. Ben Stiller and Kristen Wiig star in the strange comedic drama of a man who fantasizes about of heroic acts with a girl who in his office who barely knows he exists in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. And finally, Ralph Fiennes directs and stars in The Invisible Woman, which recounts the real life story of Charles Dickens 13 year affair with his mistress. Kristen Scott Thomas and Felicity Jones co-star. Having our fantasy quoted sated by The Hobbit, we will have to forgo 47 Ronin in favor of Scorcese's latest, though the unbelievably stacked cast of August: Osage County has us very intrigued. Hey, it's Christmas, so why choose? Check out both trailer here!
And that does it for another edition of Fresh Popped Corn. We would love to hear about which films you are excited for this month!
Chris (for the Great Stories team)
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