Cineast Movie Previews: 'Still Alice,' 'Cake,' 'Paddington'

Before heading to the cinema, check in with Cineast to help you decide which movie will be worth your $11.50. This week, Cineast previews Still Alice, Cake and Paddington.

Still Alice

Montauk’s Julianne Moore recently took home a Golden Globe for best actress for her performance in Still Alice, and was subsequently nominated for an Oscar as well. In the film, Moore portrays Alice Howland, a high-achieving intellectual, a professor at Columbia, and the author of books on the subject of language and the brain—a person, in other words, who lives very fully the life of the mind—who is stricken with early-onset Alzheimer’s. Such a fate befalling anyone is a calamity, but it makes for a more tragic story to have it visited upon someone of such accomplishments—especially since each of her bright, accomplished children has a 50% chance of inheriting the genetic mutation that causes early-onset Alzheimer’s. (In the story, it’s presumed that Howland got the gene from her father, who died young before exhibiting the symptoms.) Moore’s fellow East Ender Alec Baldwin plays John, Howland’s husband who, while well-meaning, ultimately finds himself unable to deal with Alice’s rapid incapacitation. Howland’s grown children are played by Kristen Stewart, Kate Bosworth and Hunter Parrish. Featuring a cameo by a can of Montauk Brewing Company’s flagship Driftwood Ale!

Cake

Of all of the talents who got their start on the classic TV show Friends, Jennifer Aniston has had far and away the most varied and successful post-Friends film career. Clearly someone who doesn’t need to worry about money ever again, Aniston, from the start a gifted comedic actress, has taken eccentric parts in small films as frequently as she has signed on to bigger-budget comedies. By doing so, she has avoided being pigeon-holed, and has shrewdly left the door open for the kind of serious roles that are out there once a comedic actress ages out of the cute, chirpy parts. (Sorry, but comedy is mostly a young person’s game.) From all reports, in Cake Aniston has attained a new level of performance, and was rewarded with a Golden Globe nomination. The film that surrounds her performance, on the other hand, may leave something to be desired.

Paddington

Parents, brace yourselves. Don’t get me wrong. Paddington should be a lot of fun for young and old alike, so it’s not going to be a torture session like some kids movies. But the trouble is, it’s hard to figure how you’ll avoid being on the hook for paying full boat for a Paddington teddy for every one of your kids. Amazon.com is currently listing them for around $70 a piece. The thing is, you’ll want to have ordered them by now so you have them on hand before the movie—otherwise it’s off to the local stores, and God only knows what the damage to your wallet might be. And what if they sell out?