Some of you may remember Jay Black from the old days of TV Squad, or maybe from the PodClack and Hungry Trolls podcasts he did for us, along with a brilliant post thrown in here and there. Or maybe you just know him as stand-up comedian Jay Black, showing up in a town near you, or even Vegas (baby)! I’ve even caught his act a couple of times, when he’s been in my neck of the woods — he’s damn funny! I love him! He’s gotten funnier every time!

And then there’s Meet My Valentine.

Airing on the ION Network Friday, February 6th — a week before Valentine’s Day — Meet My Valentine stars Scott Wolf (V, Party of Five) as artist Tom Bishop, Courtney Ford (Revenge, True Blood) as his wife, chef Valentine Bishop, and, of course, Jay Black as Tom’s best friend, stand-up comedian Mac Brown.

Now, you’re thinking, “Hey, this title sounds like it’ll be a great date movie; perfect for Valentine’s Day! I’ll cozy on up by the fire with my lady/man/cat friend and have a swell ol’ time. I mean, hey, it was written by — and stars — a comedian! What joy!” I wouldn’t blame you one bit for thinking that. Deb and I sure thought something along those lines, minus the fire part, because we’re lazy and the fireplace has books stacked in front of it.

But we’re all DEAD WRONG!

First of all, remember that good looking dude I mentioned as the main character of the movie? Right, Mac Brown — we’ll get back to him in a bit. But the other dude, Tom Bishop: it turns out he has terminal cancer, with only months to live. Still, it’s gonna be funny a funny movie, right? Because my friend Jay Black wouldn’t steer me wrong, making me think funny Jay Black would put a sad, sad movie in front of me and MY WIFE after years of convincing me he was a funny-as-hell comedian.

Alright, so what’s next? Oh yes, Mr. Bishop has an eight-year-old daughter, Phoebe, who he’d be leaving behind after he’s dead and gone. And the realization hits Tom: Valentine’s hot, and his best friend is essentially Jay Black in the flesh, except this Jay Black is single. So, “shit,” he thinks. “I’d better get a say who shacks up with my soon-to-be-widowed Valentine NOW!”

And that all sounds like it could be funny, right? Because we’ve seen Jay Black, and he’s funny. Well, it doesn’t quite go down like that. As Deb put it, this was a “five tissue-er” of a movie. At first I raised an eyebrow to this term, but then was quickly reminded that tissues were for wiping away tears sometimes.

As you begin to watch Meet My Valentine, you might be thinking this Tom is somewhat of a dick, because he barely has anything to do with his wife as it is, and now he’s muscling in to take further control of her by sneaking some new guy into her life that HE pre-approves of. Then Jay Black hits you across the face with the side effect of this: Tom — in trying to learn more about his wife that he’s since forgotten over the years — starts to pay more attention to her, causing both of them to fall back in love with each other again. Damn you, Jay Black! We were ready to just sorta despise this guy and watch him die, and now we have to care about him? That’s not funny! Crap!

I don’t want to get too much more into the plot of the movie, but you can see it for yourself Friday night (I’m told it’ll also be available on Amazon, GooglePlay, iTunes, VHX.TV, Vimeo and VUDU beginning February 7th). It’s even got part of Jay’s act, so there’s that bit of no-tissues-needed comedy to look forward to, and makes it so it’s only 99.9% of a cry-fest.

There is definitely a demographic that this movie is going to appeal to: those who LOVE a cry-fest and will not be so lazy as to keep those books stacked up in front of the fireplace, and WILL light that fire, and WILL cozy up to it with their cat friend(s). Anyone with a family and kids, though — like Deb and I — might walk away from this one wondering the same damn thing:

Mr. comedian Jay Black, why are you liking to make us cry?

Halloween is approaching and now is the time to pick up some new and classic horror flicks like Juan of the Dead, Cauldron of Blood, Jennifer, and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. If you’re looking for something a little more superhero-y, the week’s big release is X-Men: Days of Future Past, which brought together the X-Men casts of films past and present. One of the most anticipated releases of the week is the Steven Spielberg Collection Blu-ray box set which includes favorites Jaws, E.T the Extra-Terrestrial, Jurassic Park and The Lost World: Jurassic Park and new to Blu titles 1941 (theatrical and extended versions!), Duel, The Sugarland Express and Always. The set includes hours of extras and a 58 page book. There are more interesting titles released on October 14, so have a look at our alphabetical shopper’s guide to see the week’s highlights.

August 6, 2014 marks the 103rd anniversary of the birth of Lucille Ball. Lucy was and still is a comedy legend, and what better day to take a look back at her last successful network comedy series. (She would go on to one more sitcom, Life With Lucy, but it was short-lived and not very well received). On September 23, 1968 the new CBS comedy Here’s Lucy debuted, basically replacing Lucy’s previous hit The Lucy Show which had been on the air for six years. Lucy decided that, even though the show was number 2 in the ratings, there were enough episodes for syndication and she was done with TV unless she could have her real-life children join her.

They did and the concept for Here’s Lucy was born. In the new show, Lucy plays Lucille Carter (all of her character names contained an “ar” in them as a tribute to Desi Arnaz, whom she credited for her career), a secretary at her brother-in-law’s employment agency, and mother of two teenagers, Kim and Craig. The kids were, of course, played by Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz, Jr. and brother-in-law Harry Carter was played by long-time cohort Gale Gordon in a variation of his Mr. Mooney character from The Lucy Show. Lucy’s co-star from the last three seasons of The Lucy Show, Mary Jane Croft, also made regular appearances, and even Vivian Vance dropped by a few times.

Here’s Lucy was groundbreaking at the time because of Lucy’s insistence that the show be filmed with a studio audience (although a laugh track was used to juice things up a bit), it tackled some social issues of the era – civil rights, rock music, gender roles in society, the sexual revolution – and they also took the bold move to actually shoot several episodes on location in the style of making a movie, with one camera instead of the typical three for a studio shoot. The show also incorporated Lucy’s fractured leg from a skiing accident into the fifth season, with her character in a full leg cast. Lucy didn’t want to shut down production because of her injury, so they continued but the slapstick comedy was toned down for her after she was out of the cast but that also allowed her co-stars to shine. This was the first time a Lucy character was allowed to show her age.

Here’s Lucy also incorporated a who’s who of special guest stars – many of them friends of Lucy – including Carol Burnett, Caesar Romero, Eva Gabor, Shelley Winters, Jack Benny, Wayne Newton, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Jackie Gleason, Liberace, Lawrence Welk and two of the biggest movie stars on the planet, Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor (and her famous diamond ring).

MPI Home Video had previously released all six seasons of Here’s Lucy on DVD as individual sets, but they have now repackaged the seasons into one complete box set with a handy slipcase to keep all of the seasons together in one place. Each episode has been digitally remastered and are presented uncut (unlike the versions you’ll see in syndication), and they look and sound better than they have since their original broadcasts. In addition to the pristine episodes, MPI has included a wealth of bonus material in each set (contained on the last disk of each season). Here is a breakdown for each season’s special features:

Season 1
Meet the Carters (14:24) — Lucie and Desi Jr. talk about Lucy’s decision to end The Lucy Show and start a new show with her kids, and their initial reluctance to do the new show.
Let’s Talk to Lucy (11:15) — Radio show from 1964, episode 42 with Gale Gordon, illustrated with video clips, stills and personal photos.
Making the Main Title (2:41) — Silent footage shooting Lucy’s main title intro
Screen Tests (13:26) — Lucie Arnaz and Desi Jr. audition for Yours, Mine and Ours
Slide Show (3:17) — Stills from the show
Treasures from Lucy’s Vault

• I Love Lucy Cast Home Movies (11:10) — Silent, color home movies taken during the 1957-58 filming of The Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show
• Lucy at LAX (6:04) — Unedited footage from the 1968 episode “Lucy & the Great Airport Chase”
• The Chase (4:49) — Lucy and Gary Morton’s playful home movie from a vacation to Monte Carol in 1965, silent
• Lucy the Model (1:35) — Lucy playfully models a fur coat
• Golfing with Gleason (4:59) — Lucy and Gary join Jackie Gleason and a friend for a game of golf

Production Files
17 Years of Lucy (3:11) — On screen text read by Wanda Clark
Here’s Lucy Production Information (1:45) — Production information about the show read by Wanda Clark
Lucille Ball Biography (8:53)
Gale Gordon Biography (3:16)
Lucie Arnaz Biography (2:30)
Desi Arnaz Jr. Biography (2:43)
Here’s Lucy Promo (1:01)
Syndication Promos (14:48) — Promos for various episodes when they played in syndication
More Promos (8:31) — Promos for various MPI releases including The Mothers-in-Law, The Lucille Ball Specials, Lucy and Desi: A Home Movie, The Doris Day Show
DVD Credits

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Joss Whedon seems to be a popular subject these days. I recently reviewed an academic work on his art (Reading Joss Whedon), but I don’t think there’s a need to go through his history again here to explain his appeal. Suffice it to say, this is a creator that has always interacted with his fans and appreciated them. From days in internet forums when Buffy the Vampire Slayer had a cadre of loyal fans to last years Firefly anniversary panel at San Diego Comic-Con where he broke down publicly in tears, nerds love Joss Whedon because he seems like he feels the same way about us. Well, and he creates some awesome stuff too. This new biography, Joss Whedon: The Biography from first time author Amy Pascale, covers everything you could possibly expect from the life of the nerd king. The book comes in over 400 pages and actually covers more years than his life, but that’s explained easily enough.

The biography begins after a heartfelt foreword from Whedon’s friend and collaborator Nathan Fillion, and then begins to explain how Joss became Joss. Apparently his parents both were involved in art in various ways, and his mother involved specifically in feminist activism. It’s easy to see the point the biography is making: this is where he gets it from. There’s a common motif of “strong female characters” throughout the book, which has been something Joss has explicitly talked about many times. There’s a bit here Joss’ childhood, but where it gets legitimately interesting is when he begins to work in Hollywood and experiences his first failures and triumphs. Utilizing interviews with producers, actors, friends, and Joss himself, the biography tells the story of Whedon’s unlikely rise to one of the most successful directors in the industry. From his work on the Toy Story script to Alien: Resurrection, each failure and success is demonstrated to build to the next one. A bit slow at first, but then the reader gets quickly drawn into this unlikely story.

I found this book a very engaging read; although it’s a bit slow to get going, the pace gets quick and the material is jam-packed with all sorts of behind the scenes trivia. Recently a letter from Tom Hiddleston to Joss shown in the biography has gone a bit viral online, but for me it was more interesting to read about how the death of Joss’ mother influenced on his views on art. I would guess that people unfamiliar with specific works of his, like his work on Astonishing X-Men, may find those parts dull or unimportant. But I think the book achieves in its goal, to show how each piece of Whedon’s life led inexorably towards him succeeding beyond anyone’s wildest dreams with the extreme box office of The Avengers, the second (or third, I haven’t yet seen Guardians of the Galaxy as of writing this review) best Marvel movie. If you want to know what Joss really thought about his Wonder Woman script but know that Warner Bros will never let you read the actual script, that’s the sort of balance fan perspective that’s ideal for a reader. I think it’s interesting that a biography was written about an artist with plenty still left to do, but it did mean that many people could be interviewed about it.

Perhaps that means an update will needed after Avengers: Age of Ultron or whatever comes after that. Here, Amy Pascale has written an interesting, well-written take on the life and art of Joss Whedon; any true fan should take a look.

Joss Whedon: The Biography is currently available for sale. This review was based on a promotional copy provided to CliqueClack by the Chicago Review Press for the purposes of review.

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We went soft long ago. A long, long time ago.

I can’t put my finger on where, exactly. It’s not possible to pinpoint any specific moment for the event. The best I can figure, it happened at some time in the 1950s with modern conveniences and blossomed from there. The amenities grew, slowly and methodically, and then the 90s really kicked things into gear and softness took off and began growing exponentially. I’ll chalk up a big chunk of the reason people went soft to the massive leaps and bounds of digital technology. That’s as good a place as any.

Understand, it wasn’t the technology in and of itself that caused people to go soft … but our ever-growing reliance on that technology.

And no one you know is immune to it. Not even me. Let me give you an example:

Before cell phones (yeah, I know … they’re called “mobile” phones … get off me) I used to be a walking encyclopedia of information when it came to names, numbers, address and personal information such as birthdays and anniversaries. That went out the window when I finally got one. (Side Note: I fought a massive battle in an effort to prevent myself from ever getting a cell phone. That confrontation lasted a good year; yes, I eventually lost the battle.) Now? I have but a dearth of the know-it-all-ness I once had. Ask me someone’s phone number and I’ll probably have to look it up. When a birthday comes up in casual conversation, there’s a 1 in 10 chance I’ll know the date. Address? Yeah, right … good luck. Today? Virtually everything is in my phone, conveniently accessible via touch pad and easily forgotten. All that information was once comfortably tucked away in the recesses of my mind. But now? I no longer need to remember it.

So, on that front, I’ve gone soft.

But … I’m proud to admit there are many areas where I’ve drawn a line in the sand where technology is concerned. Utilization of them will ultimately doom me into becoming soft before my time … and I simply won’t stand for it. I’m completely (some will say obstinately) content not only with my old fogey-ness (call it what you will) but with my effortless ability to swing a cane above my head threateningly while shouting at those damned kids to keep off my lawn.

Which brings me to the heart of this post, a theme I touch on often: The Decline Of Western Civilization.

The culprit this time? The Sleep Number bed, an instrument of technology created to lull people into a false sense of calm when what it’s really there to do is extract you from your nest egg.

You see, too many people want instant gratification. In everything. Quick meals, rapid responses, easy access. No one is content to hold tight for anything any more. They’re fooled into thinking there is a need to know or to have — and right now — when there isn’t. No wonder most folks can’t take time to read a book or even sit through a television commercial without getting antsy. MP3 adaptations of novels and DVR recordings of our favorite shows are the norm. People have conditioned themselves into the falsehood their lives are better when they can “get it and just go” or when it’s made easier out of convenience. They don’t take the time to brew their own coffee (Keurig), vacuum their own houses (Roomba) or do anything they know they should do themselves. Someone else can do it. Someone else can do it better. It’s easier to pay someone to do it than do it yourself.

When did this cavalcade of entitled slackers begin parading through the streets? Oh, that’s right. In the 1950s … and during the explosion of the 1990s.

Of late? Gratification is all about sleep. And let me tell you, there’s a bevy of commercials and ads and more about acquiring a better night’s sleep. One of the most annoying of which is the Sleep Number Bed commercials.

Listen: You don’t need a Sleep Number bed. And you certainly don’t need to know what your freakin’ sleep number is.

“He’s a softy. You’re the rock.” Come on. You don’t need a bed to do that for you. Figure it out for yourself. Work some sort of deal that will accommodate you both if you sleep together. Spending $1,900 on a bed isn’t a solution — that’s putting you in hock, not getting you a better night’s slumber. You’re going to sleep eventually anyway (especially if you follow a few simple rules detailed below) whether or not you spend a boatload of moolah. So … why shell out the dough?

You don’t get a good night’s sleep? Here are a few thoughts. And I’ll start off with a novel one, a common sense one:

Go to bed tired. If you’re not tired you’re not going to sleep. Simple as that. What’s the point trying to doze off if you’re not ready for slumber?

Are you exercising before bed? Even if it’s hours before you turn in, you need to stop it. No good comes from exercising at night. Exercise gets the heart pumping and the mind active and the adrenaline flowing. Your mind going a mile a minute? Adrenaline coursing through your veins? Guess what? Neither are conducive to sleep.

Are you worrying about stuff when you go to bed? Stop that, too. Let me ask you something: Worrying about crap — how’s that working out for you at night-night time? Is it solving the problems, worrying yourself into a dither while staring at the ceiling trying to figure stuff out? You making inroads that way? No … I didn’t think so. It’s keeping you up at night, that’s what it’s doing. Stop it already.

There’s a reason you’re not getting a good night’s sleep. You hear a noise or a drip or a scratch? Don’t lie there wondering what it is. Drag your ass out of bed and find out. *yeesh* Stop being so lazy. If you don’t it’s going to roll around in your mind nine ways to Sunday and — yep, you got it — you’re not getting to sleep.

Partner snoring? Poke him/her with a stick. Give him/her a taste of their own medicine. Turnabout is fair play.

What … you’re bored? “I might as well go to bed … I’m bored.” Here’s a solution: Get your carcass up and clean out that box or drawer overflowing with junk. Every house has got one. You might as well go to bed feeling like you accomplished something rather than thinking “You know … I really should clean out that drawer overflowing with junk.”

Pillow bugging you? Get a different pillow. Buy a new pillow. Trust me on this one: Purchasing a new pillow is infinitely less expensive than purchasing a Sleep Number bed for thousands of dollars you don’t have.

Insomnia keeping you up? News Flash: Everyone experiences it on occasion. Some have chronic conditions requiring medical consultation but that’s a whole different ball of wax. The occasional bout of insomnia is nothing more than an annoyance. Yes … it’s an annoyance that can affect your work and attitude and more, but it’s going to happen to you sooner or later. You have insomnia? Get the hell out of bed and stop laying there bemoaning the fact you have insomnia. Want to get rid of it? Sit up straight and listen to music. Hand write a letter? (Remember what that is?) Is your insomnia caused by something you ate? Well … that’s your own damned fault. You should know better. With a little luck, your better judgment will kick in next time you over-indulge or when you eat something you know you shouldn’t. (Probably not. But it’s a nice thought … isn’t it? Old habits, hard to break.)

My point is this: There’s one hundred three different things (probably a few more) you can do to get to sleep. Understand life is often full of road blocks and detours, some of which will prevent you from getting sleep. Things will come up to prevent you from a restful slumber every once in a while. Shelling out your hard-earned cash isn’t a solution, however. Stop fooling yourself into a false mindset of “want” when you simply don’t need.

You’re not that soft. You could just be wimpy. Or your body just requires a good night’s sleep. And if you don’t get the sleep you need you’ll make a rash decision you’ll regret … like purchasing a Sleep Number bed.

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Two genre favorites, Warehouse 13 and Nikita, aired their final seasons and now those series finales can be yours on home video this week. Also making the journey from broadcast to home video are the Brit favourites Call the Midwife, Dalziel & Pascoe, and Waking the Dead. Reality TV buffs can get caught up on the second season of Mountain Men and the first season of Amish Mafia. Classic TV is well represented with a new edition of classic Doctor Who, “The Enemy of the World,” and TV drama L.A. Law gets a second season release. And Happy Days fans can now own the infamous episode that spawned the phrase “Jumped the Shark” with the fifth season DVD. Sitcom reissues include The Jeffersons, The Facts of Life, Good Times and The Dick Van Dyke Show. Cartoon superheroes are also on hand with JLA Adventures: Trapped in Time and Batman: The Brave & The Bold. And you may have missed these when they were released a couple of weeks ago, but check out TV classics I Love Lucy, The Andy Griffith Show and The Honeymooners now on Blu-ray for the first time!

All of these titles and more are available on various home video formats May 20. Have a look at our shopper’s guide to see all of the week’s highlights. Click on a link to get more information about a title or to make a purchase. Any purchase made through our links helps support our efforts here at CliqueClack and for that we thank you!

A large collection of recent theatrical releases make their way to DVD, Blu-ray and Digital Download this week led by George Clooney’s The Monuments Men, which featured an all-star cast of Clooney’s friend but failed to live up to its true potential. Kevin Costner’s renaissance continues with 3 Days To Kill, Game of Thrones‘ Kit Harrington tries to make it big on the big screen with the 3D disaster epic Pompeii, and Hollywood tries to grab the Twilight crowd with Vampire Academy. Making their Digital only debuts are Lone Survivor, Robocop, and Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit. Elijah Wood seems to be making a career of direct-to-video horror thrillers with his follow-up to the Maniac remake, the thriller Grand Piano (both films got European releases but barely got noticed in the US).

Classic film buffs should be pleased with the new Blu-ray release of the Werner Herzog/Klaus Kinski remake of Nosferatu the Vampyre, and collectors can enjoy new Steelbook releases of films such as Evil Dead, Lords of Salem and Django Unchained. These titles and more are available May 20th. You can see all of the week’s highlights in our handy shopper’s guide, and you can click on a link to get more information or to make a purchase.

This offer is closed. Please follow @CliqueClack on Twitter for contest alerts, news and reviews.

CliqueClack has partnered with Relativity Media and Allied Integrated Marketing to offer readers in the Baltimore and DC areas an opportunity to attend an advance screening of the new action thriller 3 Days to Kill starring Kevin Costner as a dangerous international spy determined to give up his high-stakes life to finally build a closer relationship with his estranged wife and daughter, whom he’s previously kept at arm’s length to keep out of danger. But first, he must complete one last mission – even if it means juggling the two toughest assignments yet: hunting down the world’s most ruthless terrorist and looking after his teenage daughter for the first time in 10 years while his wife is out of town. The film also stars Amber Heard, Hailee Steinfeld and Connie Nielsen.

The screenings will take place on Wednesday, February 19, 7:00 PM at the following locations:

• AMC Georgetown, 3111 K St NW, Washington, DC
• AMC White Marsh, 8141 Honeygo Blvd., White Marsh, MD All Baltimore passes have been claimed.

A limited number of passes are available for each location on a first come, first served basis. Simply comment on this post with either DC or BALTIMORE and we will send your pass by email. Please make sure you have entered your email address correctly! As passes are limited, we will accept one comment per person/per email address/per household (this is not a random drawing so if you’re a couple, only one of you need comment!). CliqueClack reserves the right to discard any duplicates or comments that appear to be duplicates. Multiple comments from a single person will result in complete disqualification. Please keep these offers fair for everyone.

This offer will be valid until all passes have been awarded or on the day of the screening, whichever comes first. Have a look at the trailer below and then let us know where you want to see the film. 3 Days to Kill opens in theaters on February 21.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGo9rJEUd24

We took a short break during the holidays, but we’re back to let you know all about the latest titles coming to home video. This week features some Golden Globe nominated and winning titles (and most likely Oscar contenders) with the release of Captain Phillips and Blue Jasmine (for which Cate Blanchett won the Golden Globe). Also this week, the over-the-top sequel Machete Kills, the well-regarded foreign film Instructions Not Included, and some early digital only releases of Escape Plan, Romeo and Juliet and Baggage Claim. Classic films get their due as well with new video upgrades for Robocop, It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, Cat People, Raise the Titanic and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. These titles and more will be released on January 21, so have a look at our handy shopper’s guide to see all of the major titles. Click on a link to make a purchase or to get more information, and remember that any purchase made through a link helps support our efforts here at CliqueClack.

2013 was a pretty good year at the movies. Of the 37 films I saw this year (and I still have to see some biggies like 12 Years a Slave and The Wolf of Wall Street), I’ve only got a handful that go in the “Worst” column … and mostly because they were major titles that ended up being pretty disappointing. Most of the films I saw fall into the “Good” category, so to determine the “Best” films of the year, I chose the ones that I would definitely want to see again.

Topping the list as my favorite movie of the year is David O. Russell’s American Hustle. The 70s period piece that uses a real operation – Abscam – to create a fictional story is perfectly cast with great actors, dressed and coiffed to perfection, with a twisty, turny script that will have you alternately disgusted by and empathetic with the characters. By the end, good guys are villains and villains are (somewhat) redeemed, and through it all Russell keeps his camera moving fluidly through each scene. It’s simply master filmmaking at its best, and many are calling it the best Scorsese film he never made (and there is a major nod to Scorsese late in the film).

The other “usual suspects” (i.e. Oscar bait movies) are on the list as well. Saving Mr. Banks is practically perfect as a movie, even if its storytelling is a bit too Disneyfied. Emma Thompson, however, deserves all the accolades she’s getting for playing the difficult author of the classic Mary Poppins books (and the audio tapes played during the film’s credits demonstrate that her performance is not far off from the real thing). Tom Hanks gives us a too-genial Walt Disney, but it’s still a good performance. Like American Hustle, the period production design is impeccable, the rest of the cast is excellent (I loved the relationship between Thompson’s P.L. Travers and her driver Ralph, played by Paul Giamatti), but the ending is as far from reality as you can get. Despite that, this is Thompson’s movie and is well worth seeing.

August: Osage County is playing in limited release to qualify for Oscar consideration and will open in wide release on January 10. (Our full review will be available on January 10.) This is the kind of movie that you think “these actors took these roles to win an award,” and true or not, it certainly brings out the best in everyone to have this kind of material. Based on the Tony Award winning Broadway play (also Pulitzer Prize winner for Drama), the movie focuses on the Weston family who gather back at the parental home in Osage County following a death. Meryl Streep stars as the pill-addled, chain-smoking mother (who also has mouth cancer) who knows everyone’s dirty little secrets and isn’t shy about revealing them, usually at the dinner table. Julia Roberts is the daughter who was the apple of her daddy’s eye and has the worst relationship with her mother. Fireworks fly as these two forces of nature collide, and their verbal (and physical) sparring is amazing to witness. The rest of the cast has their moments to shine, but they wisely stay out of the way when Streep and Roberts go at it. It’s a movie filled with laughter and tears and should live up to all the awards chatter.

Gravity was a high-concept story executed perfectly by director Alfonso Cuarón with a stellar (no pun intended) performance from Sandra Bullock who has to basically carry the entire film after a disaster in space leaves her alone and stranded with very limited time and resources to try to get home. The film was originally touted for its realist depiction of what it would be like orbiting the earth, but most of those things have turned out to be little more than fantasy (famously debunked by astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson). The film hinges completely on Bullock’s performance and she pulls it off with aplomb (comparisons to Tom Hanks in Cast Away are inevitable). And points to Cuarón for keeping space a silent void, even if someone at Warner Brothers got a little over-zealous with the sound effects in the trailer. It’s a white-knuckle ride from start to finish, and is served extremely well by the IMAX and 3D process.

Disney hits another one out of the park with the animated “princess movie” Frozen. The story seems typical with two princesses and the men who are apparently there to save one, the other, or both of them (and let’s not forget the wacky reindeer and animated snowman sidekicks, thankfully used sparingly and to great comic effect), but the story has a deeper twist as it truly becomes about family and trusting in the love that comes with it even when events transpire to tear that family apart (yes, this is a Disney movie so the parents must die early in the film). The snow-covered landscapes are rendered gorgeously in CG and the film is also served extremely well by 3D. And as a bonus, the film starts with a brand new Mickey Mouse short that looks like a classic cartoon but becomes an eye-popping experience in 3D. Frozen is definitely a film for all ages.

Also on my list of favorite movies of the year that may or may not garner much award consideration includes The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, the much, much better follow-up to the first Hobbit movie. Where that one dragged interminably, this one moves at a crisp pace, interweaving several storylines, and keeping things moving without resorting to “look what we can do” scenes of CGI battles and singing trolls and dwarfs. Martin Freeman again gives a terrific performance as Bilbo Bagging, but this chapter of the story belongs to Richard Armitage as Thorin, who finally steps up as the leader of the group of travelers. Director Peter Jackson indulges himself with a terrifying giant spider attack and a comical escape scene with dwarfs in barrels, but he saves the best for the last act as we finally get to encounter the dragon Smaug. Voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch with a honeyed gravelly growl, he makes it all worth the wait to get to that point. And unlike the first movie, this two-and-three-quarter hours actually flies by, leaving us with a huge cliffhanger that will make you want more.

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