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USA TODAY - L awrence J ournal -W orld FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2015
MOVIES
Compiled from reviews by USA TODAY film critics
Rating; the good and the bad
Bridge of Spies
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2 hours, 21 minutes
Love the Coopers
Rating: PG-13 Upside: Rylance is a revelation to mainstream audiences. Downside: Spielberg’s latest isn’t phenomenal, though it hits the spot.
Plot: Interwoven tales of a dysfunctional Pittsburgh clan lead to the annual family get-together on Christmas Eve at the parents’ (Diane Keaton, John Goodman) place. Director: Jessie Nelson
1 hour, 58 minutes
The Martian
Rating: R Upside: Parris shines in a meaty breakthrough role. Downside: Lee’s anti-gun message is heavy-handed at times.
Plot: An astronaut (Matt Damon) stranded on Mars has to use his knowledge as a skilled botanist to stay alive until NASA can mount a rescue mission. Director: Ridley Scott
2 hours, 12 minutes
The Night Before
Rating: PG-13 Upside: Jordan and Stallone take the franchise to its greatest heights in years. Downside: It borrows from the ‘Rocky’ template a bit too much.
Plot: Three best friends (Seth Rogen, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Anthony Mackie) have one last night of Christmas Eve debauchery before they face adult responsibilities. Director: Jonathan Levine
1 hour, 40 minutes
The Peanuts Movie
Rating: PG Upside: The two main pals are cute and their journey includes amazing visuals. Downside: Some scenes could be too intense for little moviegoers.
Plot: Charlie Brown has to get past his own crippling lack of self-confidence to win the heart of his beloved Little Red-Haired Girl. Director: Steve Martino
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 eegE
2 hours, 16 minutes
Spectre
Plot: Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) leads one last revolt against the oppressive Capitol of Panem. Director: Francis Lawrence
Rating: PG-13 Upside: The franchise closer offers several excellent action set pieces. Downside: The climax suffers from a weak script and poor editing.
Plot: Rogue missions and beautiful women are on tap for James Bond (Daniel Craig) while on a collision course with an evil organization and its shadowy leader (Christoph Waltz). Director: Sam Mendes
2 hours, 2 minutes
Victor Frankenstein
Rating: PG-13 Upside: The whale-attack scenes are violent, immersive and gorgeous. Downside: Most of the sailors are indistinguishable from one another.
Plot: Mary Shelley’s monster story gets a swashbuckling spin in this action-adventure starring James McAvoy as the titular mad scientist and Daniel Radcliffe as his clever lab assistant, Igor. Director: Paul McGuigan
Plot: At the height of the Cold War, an insurance lawyer (Tom Hanks) is tasked with defending an accused Soviet spy (Mark Rylance). Director: Steven Spielberg
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Plot: The girlfriend (Teyonah Parris) of a Chicago gang leader (Nick Cannon) organizes a sex strike to stop the wanton violence in their neighborhood. Director: Spike Lee
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Plot: The son (Michael B. Jordan) of Apollo Creed asks his late father’s rival Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) to train him as a pro boxer. Director: Ryan Coogler
The Good Dinosaur Plot: To get home to his family, a young Apatosaur (voice of Raymond Ochoa) makes friends with a feral caveboy (Jack Bright). Director: Peter Sohn
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Rating: PG-13 Upside: Damon’s nearly one-man show is humorous and compelling. Downside: No space botanist is this good at his job.
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Plot: The crew of the whaling ship Essex (Chris Hemsworth, Benjamin Walker) braves treacherous conditions and runs afoul of a gigantic whale. Director: Ron Howard
BLUE SKY STUDIOS
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Is it Dec. 18 yet? It’s Star Wars Month at USA TODAY, and we’re counting down to the release of ‘Star Wars: The LUCASFILM Force Awakens’ by spending all of December celebrating the beloved film series. Visit us online for exclusive interviews with the cast and creators of ‘The Force Awakens,’ videos, quizzes and so much more. And as always, may the Force be with you.
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USA SNAPSHOTS©
LIFELINE
Rating: PG-13 Upside: Mendes and Craig continue to make magic as 007’s dynamic duo. Downside: The story recycles too much past material without adding anything to the decades-old lore.
MIKE MARSLAND, WIREIMAGE
GOOD DAY MATT DAMON Nine years after filming ‘Good Will Hunting,’ which was set at MIT, the actor will head to the school to give the 2016 commencement address, the first by an entertainer in 17 years. Damon and Ben Affleck won the 1998 Academy Award for the film’s screenplay.
36%
of Millennials say their family mirrors the Parkers in A Christmas Story, accepting one another’s flaws.
Note Gen X’ers relate more to the bumbling Griswolds in “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation;” Boomers, to the cherished Baileys in “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Source SC Johnson’s October online survey of 1,000 U.S. adults TERRY BYRNE AND JANET LOEHRKE, USA TODAY
CHINAFOTOPRESS/ GETTY IMAGES
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1 hour, 50 minutes Rating: PG-13 Upside: McAvoy and Radcliffe rise above the material with earnest performances and charming chemistry. Downside: Shoddy CGI and by-the-numbers storytelling make it an awfully generic creature feature.
TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX FILM
AWARDS SEASON
HOW WAS YOUR DAY?
Holiday movies: We can relate
2 hours, 28 minutes
STEPHEN VAUGHAN
JONATHAN PRIME
COUNTDOWN TO ‘STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS’
1 hour, 33 minutes Rating: G Upside: Lovable beagle Snoopy steals every scene he’s in. Downside: Story isn’t as clever or nuanced as its characters.
LIONSGATE
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1 hour, 41 minutes Rating: R Upside: Some laugh-out-loud gags and amusing guest stars (Michael Shannon, who walks away with the movie as a prophetic pot dealer). Downside: As saccharinesweet as a sugarplum in its attempts at emotional moments.
PIXAR
In the Heart of the Sea
2 hours, 21 minutes
COLUMBIA PICTURES
WARNER BROS./MGM/NEWLINE
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Rating: PG-13 Upside: Olivia Wilde and Jake Lacy have great chemistry as a pretend couple. Downside: The plot is a trite, predictable and unfunny mess.
20TH CENTURY FOX FILM
PARRISH LEWIS
Creed
1 hour, 45 minutes
CBS FILMS/LIONSGATE
DREAMWORKS
Chi-Raq
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STYLE STAR Count on Miranda Kerr to look demure while still showing off just enough skin. Kerr glows in a retro A-line Vatanika midi dress at the opening of handbag designer Samantha Vega’s boutique Thursday in Hong Kong. Compiled by Mary Cadden
Five takeaways from the Golden Globes nominations What do all these Golden Globes nominations mean? Ahead of the awards show’s broadcast Jan. 10, USA TODAY’s Andrea Mandell reads the Oscar tea leaves now that the dust has settled (and the champagne has been consumed).
1And it doesn’t look great for Black THE OSCAR RACE IS SHAPING UP.
Mass, with nary a best-drama nomination nor an actor nod for Johnny Depp. That’s quizzical, indeed. “He’s a darling of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association,” says Tom O’Neil, founder of awards website GoldDerby.com. But hello, The Big Short! Adam McKay’s Wall Street satire received four nominations, as did The Revenant and Steve Jobs. Carol led total nominations with five. “Today’s nominations reaffirm what a wide-open race we have,” says Fandango.com’s Dave Karger.
2
MATT DAMON’S ‘THE MARTIAN’ WAS APPARENTLY A COMEDY.
Yep, Damon stranded with a dwindling potato supply was a gas. No matter the category, things look good for the space tale. “Given that Ridley Scott got a best-director nomination (the category combines comedies and dramas, which makes it a tougher race), I would guess it would have gotten the same exact nominations in drama,” Karger says.
LEFT, EPA; ABOVE, GETTY IMAGES FOR GQ
It’s a category of besties: Jennifer Lawrence vs. Amy Schumer. SEE THE LIST LIFE.USATODAY.COM
Who else was nominated for Golden Globe Awards?
3 After missing out on SAG nomiSYLVESTER STALLONE SWUNG INTO THE RACE!
nations a day earlier, Creed was acknowledged with a supportingactor nomination for Stallone. “He’s a real heavyweight contender at the Globes,” O’Neil says. “If he wins there, he can score a knockout at the Oscars next.” But voting in general was erratic. Spotlight, a presumed best-picture Oscar contender, was nominated for drama, director and screenplay but was shut out in acting. The same fate befell Room, nominated for drama, screenplay and actress (Brie Larson) but not director.
4
J.LAW FACES OFF WITH HER NEW BFF, AMY SCHUMER.
Snubbed by the SAGs, Jennifer Lawrence scored a comedy-actress nomination for Joy and is set to face Hollywood bestie (and writing partner) Amy Schumer, a nominee for Trainwreck. “Joy benefited from being in the lesscrowded comedy category,” Karger says. Yet after being shut out for screenplay and director, “it’s not one of the top contenders.”
5
ALICIA VIKANDER, MARK RUFFALO LAND SURPRISE NOMINATIONS.
Vikander earned an expected actress nomination for The Danish Girl. But Vikander also was nominated for her supporting work in the artificial-intelligence drama Ex Machina. And instead of a nomination for Spotlight, Ruffalo was recognized for the little-seen Infinitely Polar Bear, in which he plays a charming bipolar father.