Whether you’re Twittering, Facebooking, Amazoning, DVR’ing, TiVo’ing, Netflixing or Google Chrome-ing, the choices you make often lead to suggestions about other things you might find interesting.
When you walk up to me at the coffee shop, or turn to me at a dinner party, or shoot me a tweet or an email asking, “What movie should I see this weekend?” I want to help – but I don’t really have the access (or the time) to figure out who you’re following and what movies you’ve rented and whether you’re a married mother of three who loves Jason Statham films or a Marine with a soft spot for Nicholas Sparks movies. (Or the other way around, although that would be weird.)
“What movie should I see?” you ask me, and sometimes, half-kiddingly, I’ll say: “I don’t know. Do you have no standards? If so, I’d recommend ‘Transformers 4: It’s Never Going to End.’”
With many Academy Award contenders already in theaters and a dozen more to come, here’s my Holiday Movie Guide, based on many of the questions you ask me, and customized to fit the needs of filmgoers, from casual fans looking to get away from the family for a couple of hours to beleaguered parents to Oscar fanatics.
(A H indicates a movie I’ve already seen. The other recommendations are based on the track records of the participants and preview materials.)
Q: Real life is depressing enough. I just want to go to the movies to get some popcorn, forget about my problems and enjoy some escapist entertainment. What should I see?
“Enough Said” (H), starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus in one of her best performances and the late James Gandolfini in one of his last and one of his best performances, is a lovely, funny, sharp and romantic film about two people who are just about ready to give up on the idea of love – until they meet each other.
“Delivery Man” (H) stars Vince Vaughn as a sperm donor who learns he’s fathered 533 children. Either you still want to see Vaughn in comedy like this or you don’t. My tolerance seems to outweigh that of the general moviegoing public.
“Last Vegas” (H) is corny and predictable, but it’s not often you get to see five Academy Award winners (Morgan Freeman, Robert De Niro, Kevin Kline, Michael Douglas and Mary Steenburgen) having so much fun together onscreen.
“The Best Man Holiday” (H) is rated R for sexual content and language, but it’s actually a spiritually uplifting film featuring the likable and talented cast reunited from the 1999 hit “The Best Man.”
Q: I want to see great acting in films that challenge me, films that leave us guessing about the fates of some of the characters, films that stay with me for days and weeks, sometimes forever.
Christian Bale in “Out of the Furnace” (H), Bruce Dern in “Nebraska” (H), Matthew McConaughey in “Dallas Buyers Club” (H). You can start there.
I’m guessing Spike Jonze’s “Her” and David O. Russell’s “American Hustle” will also fit that definition.
Q: What three films are you most looking forward to?
“The Wolf of Wall Street,” “American Hustle,” “Saving Mr. Banks.”
Q: Do you think “Anchorman 2” will be as funny as the original?
Probably not, but half as funny still would be funnier than 90 percent of the comedies I’ve seen this year.
Q: I’ve got little kids. I don’t care if I take a nap behind my 3-D glasses. Please tell me there’s some family-friendly fare out there.
Disney’s wintry animated adventure “Frozen” is in theaters, and as I said in my review, it’s sure to captivate children and delight adults. I’ve mostly been off the animation grid lately, so I haven’t seen “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2” or “Free Birds,” but the former has a “Fresh” rating of 78 percent among Top Critics on Rotten Tomatoes, while only 15 percent of Top Critics recommended “Free Birds.”
If your daughter hasn’t outgrown Justin Bieber yet – and the good news is, adolescents always outgrow the teen idols of the time – there’s a new doc called “Believe” coming out on Christmas Day, apparently because 2011’s “Justin Bieber: Never Say Never” was actually a threat.
Q: My wife likes movies with Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts and lots of drama and heavy moments and hugging and crying. Is anything like that coming out this year?
Funny you should ask, fictional asking person. “August: Osage County,” the adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Tracy Letts that premiered at Chicago’s Steppenwolf theater, opens Christmas Day. It stars Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts.
It could be great. I’m sure you don’t care. So, stocking stuffer idea: Buy tix for your wife and her sis to see it late afternoon on Christmas – right around the time the Lakers and Heat tip off.
Q: I’m a big fan of films inspired by true-life events – even if they take poetic license with history.
Me, too. Already in theaters and earning four-star reviews from this critic and considerable Oscar buzz, we have “12 Years a Slave” (H) and “Captain Phillips” (H). And there’s a bounty of such films coming out in the next few weeks, including “Saving Mr. Banks,” starring American treasure Tom Hanks as American treasure Walt Disney, who tries to persuade the author of “Mary Poppins” (Emma Thompson) to give him the film rights.
Q: Do I really want to see Robert Redford on a boat by himself in a movie with almost no dialogue? Do you really think he has a shot at winning Best Actor?
Yes. “All Is Lost” (star) is one of the best movies of the year.
And yes.
Q: I’ll never forgive you for that thumbs-down vote on the first “Lord of the Rings” movie. Idiot!
You’ll be happy to know – though I’m sure you already do – “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” opens Dec. 13.
Even though I came to greatly admire the second and third chapters in the “LOTR” trilogy, I’ll acknowledge I’m not exactly brimming with enthusiasm over yet another trip to Tolkien land. It’s just not my thing.
Old hobbits die hard.
Richard Roeper is the film critic for the Chicago Sun-Times.
