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.
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December 11, 2013 The Seattle Skanner Page 5