THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG:

Number two in the Hobbit trilogy, based on one very small book, this one gets more to the action than did the first Hobbit movie.  There is considerable dragon action, but it comes well into the film, so even though it’s supposed to be Smaug’s story, he takes his own sweet time to show up.  All the usual suspects appear, and it’s full value for Tolkien fans. Once again Martin Freeman is Bilbo, Ian McKellan Is Gandalf the Grey.
Rated 14A.

AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY

An Oscar-nominated film with an outstanding cast.  Meryl Streep is a hard-bitten, controlling, negative thinking Mom with a life-threatening health problem.  A family crisis causes her adult children to come back home to their small town … and face one another with all the accumulated baggage of many, many years.  Julia Roberts gives a no-makeup-warts-and-all performance that may be her best ever.  Chris Cooper, Margo Martindale, and Dermot Mulroney also star.  Not a lot of fun to watch as these dysfunctional individuals face off over and over … but the acting is incredible! Rated 18A.   

GRUDGE MATCH

After 30 years, Henry “Razor” Sharp (Sylvester Stallone) takes a rematch against archrival Billy “The Kid” McDonnen (Robert DeNiro).  So, it looks like Rocky VS Raging Bull … not quite that strong a movie, but as boxing pictures go, it’s a good one with lots of intrigue and plenty of action … slower action, but action nonetheless.  Rich Little is the ring announcer, and everyone involved knows about the soap opera that led to one of the boxers having a fling, and then a child, with the girlfriend of the other. Rated 18A

THE HEAT:

Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy star in the cop-buddy-flick in which they hate each other initially - and maybe forever.  Bullock is Sarah Ashburn, and is with the FBI.  She is uptight, by the book, and doesn't have a friend in the world.  McCarthy is Shannon Mullins, a hard-boiled Boston uniform street cop.  She is foul-mouthed, rude, and as tough as a junkyard dog.  And she doesn't have a friend in the world.  They are teamed up against their best wishes to take down an east-coast drug lord in an odd-couple bit of casting.  You can see much of what's coming, but there are a lot of surprises too.  McCarty is hilarious, but very R-rated, while Bullock remains the poster-woman for FBI agents everywhere.  Rated 18A.

WRATH OF THE TITANS(2012):

You have to know your Greek gods pretty well to get all the characters straight in this sword-and-sandal thriller that takes place a decade after the words "release the Kraken" were spoken, and Perseus (Sam Worthington) dispatched the beast.  He has gone low-profile, getting married, having a child, and living the life of a fisherman when all Hades breaks loose literally.  The gods, under Perseus' father Zeus (Liam Neeson) have had the rebellious and evil Titans imprisoned in Hades, but things are getting tense.  The gods get their power from the belief that regular people have in them.  People are not quite as devout as they once were, and as the power leaves the gods, it flows to the Titans, and soon they are on the loose.  Lots of special effects, some good monsters as Perseus seeks to rescue his father.  Rated 14A.