Hope Springs

Cast
Meryl Streep
Tommy Lee Jones
Steve Carell
Screenwriter
Vanessa Taylor
Director
David Frankel
Running Time
100 minutes

Kay and Arnold are a devoted couple, but decades of marriage have left Kay wanting to spice things up and reconnect with her husband. When she hears of a renowned couple's specialist in the small town of Great Hope Springs, she attempts to persuade her skeptical husband, a steadfast man of routine, to get on a plane for a week of marriage therapy. Just convincing the stubborn Arnold to go on the retreat is hard enough – the real challenge for both of them comes as they shed their bedroom hang-ups and try to re-ignite the spark that caused them to fall for each other in the first place. (Columbia Pictures)

Funny and probably truthful but I didn't emotionally connect with the characters which made it hard to care what happened to them.

December Comics

CBR has the new Dark Horse, DC, Image and Marvel solicitations for December.

This is the stuff I'm thinking about in addition to my regular pull list.

BLACK BEETLE: NIGHT SHIFT #0
Francesco Francavilla (W/A/Cover)
On sale Dec 19FC
FC, 32 pages
$2.99
One-shot
When a powerful totem of dark magic shows up at the Colt City Natural History Museum, Hitler sends his fearsome Werwolf Korps to collect the piece. Unfortunately for the führer, Colt City’s protector, the Black Beetle, is on the case!
From the mind of 2012 Eisner Award winner Francesco Francavilla (Batman: The Black Mirror). Collects three Dark Horse Presents stories from issues #11–#13.
• Features a brand-new cover, 24 story pages, and bonus sketch material and art!

He did lots of covers for Mignola books which I liked.

Death was only the beginning!
HELLBOY IN HELL #1
Mike Mignola (W/A/Cover/Variant cover) and Dave Stewart (C)
On sale Dec 5FC
FC, 32 pages
$2.99
Ongoing
After saving the world in The Storm and The Fury, but sacrificing himself and Great Britain, Hellboy is dead, cast into Hell, where he finds many familiar faces, and a throne that awaits him.
Mike Mignola returns to draw Hellboy's ongoing story for the first time since Conqueror Worm. It's a story only Mignola could tell, as more of Hellboy's secrets are at last revealed, in the most bizarre depiction of Hell you've ever seen.
• Mike Mignola writes and draws the next phase of Hellboy’s story.
• Dark Horse horror gets under your skin!

I normally don't do entries for all the Hellboy, BPRD, Lobster Johnson etc. mini series. I get them all but they're all kind of ongoings, some perhaps more so than others, but this seemed to merit special attention.

JSA: THE LIBERTY FILES – THE WHISTLING SKULL #1
Written by B. CLAY MOORE
Art and cover by TONY HARRIS
1:10 Variant cover by TONY HARRIS
On sale DECEMBER 19 • 32 pg, FC, 1 of 6, $2.99 US • RATED T
Retailers: This issue will ship with two covers. See the order form for details.
• A new series from acclaimed creators B. Clay Moore (Hawaiian Dick) and Tony Harris (EX MACHINA, STARMAN)!
• In 1940s Europe, the Nazi war machine is on the move…but crimes are still committed in even the smallest hamlets. Can one heroic duo solve the most bizarre mystery of all?
• From the world of the JSA: THE LIBERTY FILES, witness the birth of a new hero for the ages!

Love Tony Harris' art.

The Sweeney

Cast
Ray Winstone
Ben Drew
Hayley Atwell
Damian Lewis
Paul Anderson
Kara Tointon
Screenwriters
John Hodge
Nick Love
Director
Nick Love
Running Time
112 minutes

While under scrutiny from Internal Affairs for their unorthodox methods, maverick Flying Squad detectives Jack Regan (Winstone) and George Carter (Drew) investigate a combined robbery and homicide. Inquiries turn up a familiar felon, but their suspect has the perfect alibi...[Empire]

Shambles.

Anna Karenina

Cast
Jude Law
Keira Knightley
Aaron Johnson
Matthew MacFadyen
Kelly Macdonald
Olivia Williams
Alicia Vikander
Domhnall Gleeson
Emily Watson
Michelle Dockery
Screenwriter
Tom Stoppard
Director
Joe Wright
Running Time
129 minutes


The story unfolds in its original late-19th-century Russia high-society setting and powerfully explores the capacity for love that surges through the human heart, from the passion between adulterers to the bond between a mother and her children. As Anna questions her happiness, change comes to her family, friends, and community. (Focus Features)

Much too stylised. I hoped I'd get used to it but never did. The director seemed more interested in this artificiality than telling an engrossing story.

Shadow Dancer

Cast
Andrea Riseborough
Clive Owen
Domhnall Gleeson
Aidan Gillen
Brid Brennan
Gillian Anderson
Screenwriter
Tom Bradby
Director
James Marsh
Running Time
101 minutes


Belfast, 1993. Having been caught leaving a bomb on London’s Tube network, Colette (Riseborough) is coerced to spy on her IRA brothers (Gillen, Gleeson) by MI5 agent Mac (Owen). But it’s not long before a deadly net closes around her.[Empire]

Good up until the end where it ended oddly and kind of undid what came before.