The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (December 13, 2013) PG-13

Starring:

Martin Freeman (Sherlock, The World's End, Hot Fuzz)

Ian McKellen (The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, X-Men)

Richard Armitage (Captain America: The First Avenger)

Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock, Star Trek: Into Darkness)

Orlando Bloom (The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Elizabethtown)

Evangeline Lilly (LOST, Real Steel)

Luke Evans (Fast & Furious 6, The Raven, Immortals)

Come.  Step into the light!

The dragon, Smaug, played by Benedict Cumberbatch)
(Photo taken from funnyjunk.com)

I LOVED this second installment of The Hobbit.  WAAAAAY more action-packed than the first one.

The acting was spot on and the story was brilliant.  I was impressed with how closely they stayed to the book in many parts, and equally impressed with some of the liberties they took--such as including Legolas in the story as well as the made-up character Tauriel played by the beautiful Evangeline Lilly.  Her character really helped bring the elves into the story more, which I'm sure will come to play more in There and Back Again.

The smaller-scale battles, the barrel ride down the river, Laketown, and ultimately the enormous treasure of Erebor were exactly what I'd hoped they'd be.  My imagination was surpased in much of it.  And Legolas' battle with the Orcs in Laketown was his best fight scene yet--and yes I remember him killing an Oliphant.

The real cherry on top was Smaug, portrayed in voice and facial-capturing by the brilliant Benedict Cumberbatch.  The voice was absolutely perfect, the CG was beautiful, and Smaug himself was a mountainous force to be reckoned with.

Benedict Cumberbatch doing voice and facial-capturing for Smaug
(Photo taken from screencrush.com)

And, true to its Lord of the Rings brothers, the movie ends with you going, "Oh, come on!  I gotta wait another year!"

Factoid: Cumberbatch studied iguanas and Komodo Dragons to prepare for the role of Smaug the dragon. He provided the voice as well as facial and motion-capturing for the character, as well as voicing The Necromancer (Sauron).

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (November 22, 2013) PG-13

Starring:

Jennifer Lawrence (The Hunger Games, Winter's Bone, X-Men: First Class)

Woody Harrelson (The Hunger Games, Zombieland, Out of the Furnace)

Elizabeth Banks (W., Invincible, The 40-Year-Old Virgin)

Josh Hutcherson (The Hunger Games, Red Dawn) 

Donald Sutherland (The Hunger Games, Reign Over Me)

Philip Seymour Hoffman (Mission: Impossible III, Twister)

Sam Claflin (Snow White and the Huntsman, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides)

Loved the book, LOVED the movie.  This movie had no notable flaws.  I thought hard about that last sentence; it's staying.

(Left to right) Effie Trinket, Cinna, Katniss, Haymitch,
and Caeser Flickerman
(Photo taken from sciencefiction.com)

The true supporting actor in this movie, if I could only pick one, was Sam Claflin's character Finnick Odair.  He was perfect for the part.  I wanna see Claflin in more movies.  I'm more excited to see Mockingjay Parts 1 & 2 because he's going to be in them.

The story stayed true to the book to a T.  It kept all of the parts I wanted to see, sped thru parts that it could afford to, and even added the background conversations between President Snow and Plutarch that we never read in the book, but must have surely happened for events to unfold the way they did.  Philip Seymour Hoffman is excellent in his new role, in the few scenes he is in.

Finnick and Mags, the tributes of District 4
(Photo taken from dontforgetatowel.com)

I remembered my ONE complaint, and that is at the very end it concludes on this PERFECT note and mood and Jennifer Lawrence basically lets us know that "It's on" for the next two movies... but then after that perfect mood-setter they show this computer-animated Mockingjay pin that Katnis wears and it transforms into the different logos from the books...?  I could understand that being after the credits, but not when the mood had just been perfectly established by Lawrence.  I found the animation off-puting.

Factoid: Catching Fire was the first film with a sole female lead to top the annual box office since The Exorcist in 1973.

Out of the Furnace (December 6, 2013) R

Starring:
Christian Bale (Batman Begins, The Machinist, Newsies)
Casey Affleck (Ocean's Eleven, Gone Baby Gone, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford)
Woody Harrelson (The Hunger Games, Now You See Me, Seven Pounds)
Willem Dafoe (Boondock Saints, Spider-Man, Daybreakers)

From the first moment when Woody Harrelson nearly beat a dude to death, I knew this was definitely not a feel good movie... This movie didn't pull a single punch and was COMPLETELY unpredictable.

Casey Affleck as Rodney Baze, Jr., bare-knuckle fight scene
(Photo taken from craveonline.com)

The acting is incredible, if you can't tell from the cast.  Christian Bale goes without saying, and Casey Affleck already showed me how dark and brooding he can be with Robert Ford, but Woody Harrelson's character was just the worst kinda guy.  Harrelson just played that kinda guy you hope you never have to do business with, or talk to.  Like ever.

This is a dark drama about doing the wrong things for the wrong reasons, and how far some men are willing to go for family.

Woody Harrelson as Harlan DeGroat, GREAT villain
(Photo taken from spinningplaters.com)

Definitely not a date movie, but a perfectly acted artistic piece if that's your thing.

Factoid: In the steel mill scenes in the beginning, Christian Bale is actually operating the furnace.  He had to learn how to do it so that a stunt double didn't have to be used.

Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (December 18, 2013) PG-13

Starring:

Will Farrell (Step Brothers, The Other Guys, Blades of Glory)

Christina Applegate (Anchorman, Mars Attacks, Married With Children)

Steve Carell (The Office, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Despicable Me)

I'm not gonna waste much time on this review.

I wasn't impressed with this movie.  It had an awesome scene here and there, but overall I was checking my watch frequently.

L to R-- Brian Fantana, Ron Burgundy, Champ Kind,
and Brick Tamland
(Photo taken from c-ville.com)

It re-hashed all the same humor as the last Anchorman.

I was really excited for this movie and was disappointed.

Bla bla bla see it don't see it I don't care.

Factoid: Kanye West is in this movie, and he was in an awesome scene, and the scene he was in was so awesome that even Kanye West couldn't ruin it.  Kanye West sucks as a person.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (December 25, 2013) PG

Starring:

Ben Stiller (Zoolander, Meet the Parents, Tropic Thunder)

Kristen Wiig (Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, MacGruber, Extract)

Adam Scott (Step Brothers, Parks and Recreation, 

Sean Penn (The Thin Red Line, I Am Sam, Gangster Squad)

Walter Mitty (Stiller) and Sean O'Connell (Penn)
(Photo taken from blogs.indiewire.com)

While I'm not usually one to go out of my way for a "feel good" movie (who wants that?) I genuinely enjoyed Walter Mitty.  I loved this movie.  I saw it twice.

It's a great date movie, by the way ;)

The acting was excellent and I'd say all in all my only complaint was Adam Scott's beard.  His beard was RIDICULOUS.  You have to see it.

I read the short story of the same title in college and heard years ago they were making a movie, but until I saw the previews I wasn't overly excited for this movie because of the nature of the short story.  The short story sort of spins its wheels just like the main character, Mitty, does.  

I highly recommend taking your wife, girlfriend, or just the girl you like to see this movie.  I think everyone who isn't happy with their life should see it.

Factoid: Greenland and Iceland are heavily featured in this movie, but all scenes for both countries were filmed in Iceland.

The Wolf of Wall Street (December 25, 2013) R

Starring:
Leonardo DiCaprio (The Departed, Shutter Island, Gangs of New York)
Jonah Hill (This is the End, 21 Jump Street, Moneyball)
Margot Robbie (About Time, Vigilante)
Kyle Chandler (Early Edition, Zero Dark Thirty, Super 8)
Jon Bernthal (Snitch, The Walking Dead, Mob City)

One of the best movies of 2013, some of the best acting I've seen, and definitely Jonah Hill's best acting I've seen to date.

Jordan Belfort (DiCaprio) and coworkers midget-tossing in the office
(Photo taken from au.movies.yahoo.com)

This movie was as explicit as it was histerical.  I've been calling it "the Goodfellas of Wall Street movies".  The similarities it shares with Goodfellas are many and describing them would spoil key plot points.

DiCaprio's acting was up to the DiCaprio bar that he's set with excellent movies like Gangs of New York and Shutter Island, but his excellence was frequently overshadowed by Hill's performance.  The scenes between Hill and Bernthal were highlights to me; their chemistry, how much their characters hated each other, it was all perfect.

This movie wasn't made to be a comedy, but I difinitely laughed harder in this than in Anchorman 2.

Donnie Azoff (Hill) having a genius break-through 

with Jordan Belfort (DiCaprio)
(Photo taken from postgradproblems.com)

Factoid: The Wolf of Wall Street has 508 f-words (at 3 hours in length that's 2.8 f-words per minute), the second most of any movie ever released on the big screen.  The #1 spot goes to a documentary about the widely used f-word simply titled "Fuck" starring Drew Carey.

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (January 17, 2014) PG-13

Chris Pine is the new Jack Ryan, filling
the shoes of Harrison Ford and
Ben Affleck before him
(Photo taken from geektyrant.com)

Starring:
Chris Pine (Star Trek, This Means War, Carriers)
Keira Knightley (Atonement, Pride & Prejudice, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl)
Kevin Costner (Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Mr. Brookes, Dances With Wolves)
Kenneth Branagh (Valkyrie, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Wild Wild West)

Despite the unoriginal plot and lack of surprises and twists, I enjoyed watching this spy thriller.  It would have been a "nothing movie" if not for the excellent acting of Chris Pine.

There was good character development in the beginning, but it did more to explain how Jack met his girlfriend rather than explaining how Jack had such incredible spy abilities.

The villian was nothing new, typical Russian who hates America and was going to destroy the United States similarly to how Al Queda did in 9/11.

Thoughts: The fact that Jack Ryan has a sub-title suggests that there will be sequels.  The character Jack Ryan has been in other Tom Clancy movies such as Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger, and Shadow Recruit is a prequel to those movies even though it takes place today in our time.  It is blatantly and deliberate post-9/11, and yet it's prequel to movies from the 90s.

Jack Ryan meets his future mentor, Thomas Harper
(Photo taken from joblo.com)

I think the producers are going to treat the Jack Ryan character like James Bond.  We'll see multiple actors play him, and his stories could go on forever.