Classics such as \u201cHow the Grinch Stole Christmas\u201d and \u201cMary Poppins\u201d are dangerous to remake. Millions have seen the originals and are sure to make comparisons. This year\u2019s versions promise either new or more-developed characters to spark some interest.<\/p>\n
Superhero fans certainly know Spider-Man, but the web-slinging hero has multiplied in \u201cInto the Spider-Verse.\u201d (These Spideys aren\u2019t all \u201cmen,\u201d and one isn\u2019t even human.) DC Comics fans may have seen Aquaman cameos in two earlier movies, but this film dives deep into his underwater world.<\/p>\n
And then there\u2019s J.K. Rowling\u2019s new movie. The first \u201cFantastic Beasts\u201d had the wizardry that captivated Harry Potter fans. But its characters were either new or far removed from that saga at Hogwarts. The second film promises the return of Dumbledore. That fact alone makes \u201cThe Crimes of Grindelwald\u201d a welcome gift for Potterheads.<\/p>\n
The Dr. Seuss classic gets an animated freshening up with Benedict Cumberbatch as the voice of the fuzzy green villain. The Mean One is still gearing up to de-Christmas Whoville \u2013 a town where holiday decorating is nearly a competitive sport. Seuss\u2019 tale didn\u2019t give much backstory on the Grinch, but this time, we get a peek into why his heart is two sizes too small. We also discover that Cindy Lou Who, the girl who spies the Grinch dressed as Santy Claus, isn\u2019t dreaming about floofloovers or tartookas in her stocking. It turns out that Christmas, to her, means a little bit more. (Playing at Stadium 9, rated PG)<\/p>\n
Magizoologist Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) returns in this \u201cFantastic Beasts\u201d sequel that moves closer to the world of Harry Potter. The wicked Grindelwald (Johnny Depp) escapes from jail and plans to unite pure-blood wizards to dominate Muggles and all non-magical creatures. A young Dumbledore (Jude Law) needs Newt \u2013 a former student of his at Hogwarts \u2013 to help stop Grindelwald. Potter fans will cheer to see the school of magic reappear in this movie. (Playing at Stadium 9, rated PG-13)<\/p>\n
New York teen Miles Morales was bitten by a radioactive spider and thinks he\u2019s the only one with Spider-Man powers. Miles (voiced by Shameik Moore) meets Peter Parker (Jake Johnson), and the now-retired Spidey from another universe agrees to show the young superhero the ropes. But they aren\u2019t the only spider-folks. Gwen Stacy, Peni Parker, Spider-Man Noir and Spider-Ham swoop in from other universes, thanks to the experimenting of supervillain the Kingpin (Liev Schreiber). But the Spidey six will have more than one bad guy to take down. (Opens Dec. 14, not yet rated)<\/p>\n
Jane and Michael Banks, the children in the original \u201cMary Poppins,\u201d are grown, but aren\u2019t too old to need their practically perfect nanny to get them and Michael\u2019s three children through a tough time. Mary (Emily Blunt) calls on her friend Jack (Lin-Manuel Miranda), a lamplighter, for song-and-dance support. Dick Van Dyke, who played the chimney sweep Burt and the smaller role of Mr. Dawes Sr., returns as the miserly bank owner\u2019s son, Mr. Dawes Jr. (Opens Dec. 19, rated PG)<\/p>\n
You may have seen Aquaman in \u201cBatman v Superman\u201d or \u201cJustice League,\u201d but this is the first time the DC Comics character gets the full movie treatment. It\u2019s the story of Arthur Curry (Jason Momoa), who is raised by a human dad but learns that his long-lost mom is queen of Atlantis. Arthur embarks on a journey with Atlantean warrior princess Mera (Amber Heard) to find a lost weapon, a trident, and assume his role as king of that underwater world. He arrives just as powerful Atlanteans fear threats from the outsiders and decide it\u2019s time to do some damage on dry land. (Opens Dec. 21, rated PG-13)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Classics such as \u201cHow the Grinch Stole Christmas\u201d and \u201cMary Poppins\u201d are dangerous to remake. Millions have seen the originals and are sure to make comparisons. This year\u2019s versions promise either new or more-developed characters to spark some interest. Superhero fans certainly know Spider-Man, but the web-slinging hero has multiplied in \u201cInto the Spider-Verse.\u201d (These […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":63805,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[1107],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-63804","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-movies"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63804","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63804"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63804\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63804"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=63804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}