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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 11, 2013)
Arts & Entertainment Kam’s Capsules: For Movies Opening Dec. 13 BIG BUDGET FILMS American Hustle (R for sexuality, pervasive profan- ity and brief violence) David O. Russell wrote and directed this crime drama about a couple of con artists (Christian Bale and Amy Adams) forced by an overzealous FBI agent (Bradley Cooper) to infil- trate a New Jersey under- world inhabited by mobsters protected by a crooked, big city mayor (Jeremy Renner). Support cast includes Jennifer Lawrence, Louis C.K. and Michael Pena. The Hobbit: The Desola- tion of Smaug (PG-13 for intense violence and fright- ening images) Second installment of the fantasy trilogy based on the J.R.R. Tolkien classic finds Bilbo (Martin Freeman), Gandalf (Ian McKellen) and compa- ny continuing their epic journey to Lonely Mountain for a showdown with a fear- K AM ’ S C APSULES Movie Reviews by Kam Williams sinners while spreading Christmas cheer. Ensemble includes Tika Sumpter, Larry the Cable Guy, Anna Maria Horsford, Kathy Najimy and Chad Michael Murray. Saving Mr. Banks (PG- 13 for mature themes and unsettling images) Period piece recounting Walt Dis- ney’s (Tom Hanks) bending over backwards to secure the film rights to Mary Pop- pins from P.L. Travers (Emma Thompson), the overprotective author of the beloved children’s book. With Paul Giamatti, Colin Farrell, Rachel Griffiths, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug some dragon (Benedict Cumberbatch). Cast includes Orlando Bloom, Cate Blanchett and Stephen Fry. A Madea Christmas (PG-13 for profanity, crude humor and sexual refer- ences) Tyler Perry’s back in drag in this adaptation of his holiday-themed play, set in a small Southern town, as a moralizing, motor-mouthed granny straightening out Ruth Wilson and Jason Schwartzman. INDEPENDENT & FOREIGN FILMS Brave Miss World (Unrated) Female empow- erment biopic recounting how Miss Israel Linor Abargil first went on to win the Miss World beauty pag- eant just six weeks after being abducted, raped and stabbed. She subsequently spoke out about sexual her. assault over the course of her reign. The Crash Reel (Unrat- ed) Daredevil documentary chronicling the fierce rival- ry between fellow snow- boarders Shaun White and Kevin Pearce culminating in the former’s winning a gold medal at the Olympics the year after the latter suf- fered a near-fatal injury during a training run. Here Comes the Devil (Unrated) Psychological horror flick, set in Mexico, about a couple (Francisco Barreiro and Laura Caro) whose kids (Michele Garcia and Alan Martinez) vanish while on a family vacation in Tijuana only to behave strangely different when found. With Jessica Iris, Dana Dorel and David Arturo Cabezud. (In Span- ish with subtitles) Hours (PG-13 for vio- lence, mature themes and drug use) Recently- deceased Paul Walker stars in this tale of survival, set in New Orleans during Hurri- cane Katrina, as a father who tries to keep his prema- ture baby daughter alive after his wife (Genesis Rodriguez) dies during childbirth. With Nick Gomez, Judd Lormand and Michelle Torres. Tricked (Unrated) Absur- dist farce about a business- man (Peter Blok) whose life starts to spin out of control at a 50th birthday party thrown for him by his wife (Ricky Koole) when his pregnant mistress (Sallie Harmsen) shows up uninvit- ed. With Robert de Hoog, Carolien Spoor and Pieter Tiddens. (In Dutch and Eng- lish with subtitles) A Madea Christma the 2011 Earthquake. The Last of the Unjust (PG-13 for mature themes) Holocaust documentary about Theresienstadt, a model ghetto designed by Hitler henchman Adolf Eichmann to mislead Jews about its true function as the final stop before the gas chambers. (In German, French and English with subtitles) Some Velvet Morning (Unrated) Neil LaBute wrote and directed this midlife crisis drama about a married man (Stanley The Unbelievers (Unrat- ed) Flat Earth documentary featuring peripatetic scien- tists’ Richard Dawkins and Lawrence Krauss’ globe- trotting campaign promot- ing science and reason over Liv & Ingmar (Unrated) Reverential retrospective revisiting the decades-long relationship of Norwegian actress Liv Ullmann and Swedish director Ingmar Bergman. Brave Miss World Nuclear Nation (Unrat- ed) Tsunami documentary chronicling the continuing fallout for Japanese refugees displaced by the meltdown at the Fukushima power plant in the wake of Tucci) who becomes obsessed with his estranged mistress (Alice Eve) after failing to convince her that he’s finally left his wife for religion and superstition. With commentary by Woody Allen, Cameron Diaz and Ricky Gervais. Check Out The Skanner News Turn-the-Pages WebPaper Go to www.theskanner.com home page and click the ‘Turn the Pages’ button to view our complete newspapers, exactly as they are printed, but on-line! Just click to turn the pages and click to zoom. December 11, 2013 The Seattle Skanner Page 5
