December 2013 Movies

An ex-con bent on avenging the death of his brother as soon as he's released from prison.

Willem Dafoe, Zoe Saldana, Christian Bale, Leonardo DiCaprio, Ridley Scott, Woody Harrelson, Forest Whitaker, Michael Costigan

R Thriller Crime

12% WILL SEE

4 / 5

Released Friday, December 6th

65%

2.7 / 5

(10)

Inside Llewyn Davis

The singer-songwriter navigates New York's folk music scene during the 1960s.

Oscar Isaac, Scott Rudin, Justin Timberlake, Carey Mulligan, John Goodman, Adam Driver, Joel Coen, Ethan Coen

R Drama Music 1 hr, 45 mins

65% WILL SEE

2.7 / 5

73%

3.3 / 5

(4)

Khumba

Story follows a half-striped zebra who's blamed for the lack of rain by the rest of his herd and sets out on a search for a legendary waterhole.

AnnaSophia Robb, Jonathan Roberts, Anthony Silverston, Raffaella Delle Donne, Jake T. Austin, Loretta Devine, Roger Jackson

Adventure Animation 1 hr, 25 mins

73% WILL SEE

3.3 / 5

85%

3.7 / 5

(9)

After his father’s botched espionage mission, North Korean Myung-hoon and his young sister Hye-in are sent to a labor prison camp. In order to save his sister’s life, Myung-hoon volunteers to become a spy and infiltrates the South as a teenage defector. While attending high school in the South, he meets another girl named Hye-in, and rescues her when she comes under attack. South Korean Intelligence soon discover Myung-hoon’s activities and begin tracking him, all the while his own government sends a vicious assassin to eliminate him.

Hong-soo Park

Drama Action 1 hr, 48 mins

85% WILL SEE

3.7 / 5

Buy DVD On Amazon

64%

White Reindeer

After an unexpected tragedy, Suzanne struggles to put her life back together during a sad, strange Christmastime in suburban Virginia.

Zach Clark, Anna Margaret Hollyman, Laura Lemar

Comedy

64% WILL SEE

89%

3.2 / 5

(28)

The Last Days On Mars

As their last day on Mars draws to a close, the astronaut crew is on the verge of a major breakthrough – collected rock specimens reveal microscopic evidence of life. Meanwhile, communication is underway with AURORA, the approaching spacecraft that will relieve the crew of their operations. In their last hours on the planet, two astronauts go back to SITE 9, a cavernous valley on the surface of Mars, to collect further evidence of their discovery. But a routine excavation turns deadly when one of them falls to his death and his body taken host and re-animated by the very life form they sought to discover.

Liev Schreiber, Andrea Cornwell, Elias Koteas, Clive Dawson, Olivia Williams, Romola Garai, Johnny Harris, Ruairi Robinson

R Thriller Sci-Fi

89% WILL SEE

3.2 / 5

22%

3.7 / 5

(6)

Twice Born

Tells the story of a single mother who brings her teenage son to Sarajevo, where his father died in the Bosnian conflict years before.

Penelope Cruz, Emile Hirsch, Saadet Aksoy, Sergio Castellitto, Mira Furlan, Jane Birkin, Branko Djuric

R Drama Adaptation 2 hrs, 4 mins

22% WILL SEE

3.7 / 5

56%

Paradise: Hope

Tells the story of overweight 13-year-old Melanie and her first love. While her mother travels to Kenya (Paradise: Love) and her aunt (Paradise: Faith) does missionary work, Melanie spends her summer vacation at a strict diet camp for overweight teenagers. Between physical education and nutrition counseling, pillow fights and her first cigarette, Melanie falls in love with the camp director, a doctor 40 years her senior. As the doctor struggles with the guilty nature of his desire, Melanie had imagined her paradise differently.

Ulrich Seidl

Drama Comedy

56% WILL SEE

50%

A Journey to Planet Sanity

A reality-based (documentary) comedy debunking aliens, psychics and all things paranormal. The film follows Blake Freeman, who takes a 69-year-old man named LeRoy on a cross-country journey in search of the truth. LeRoy has spent his life savings on trying to protect himself from aliens and paranormal ghosts by buying gimmicks and entrusting psychics. Upon discovering LeRoy’s plight, Blake Freeman, with LeRoy in tow, decides to put these beliefs and so-called "experts" to the test.

Blake Freeman, LeRoy Tessina

Comedy Documentary 1 hr, 30 mins

50% WILL SEE

80%

Crave

A troubled photographer's dangerous visions wreak havoc when his romance with a young woman ends and he is pursued by a world-weary detective.

Josh Lawson, Ron Perlman, Charles de Lauzirika, Robert Green, Emma Lung

Thriller 1 hr, 53 mins

80% WILL SEE

67%

Live at the Foxes Den

After a night of debauchery, a corporate attorney must choose between sticking with his corporate life or pursuing his love of singing.

Jackson Rathbone, Matt Perniciaro, Kevin Mann, Jocelin Donahue, Gillian Jacobs, Michael Kristoff

NR Drama

67% WILL SEE

60%

5 / 5

(3)

Expecting

After years of struggling to conceive with her husband, Lizzie (Radha Mitchell) has given up hope of having a baby on her own. But when her best friend Andie (Michelle Monaghan) finds herself pregnant after a one-night stand, an unexpected solution arises: Andie offers to have the baby and give it to Lizzie. The couple agrees to the plan, on one condition: Andie must move in with them for the duration of the pregnancy. But can the women's friendship survive until birth? Jessie McCormack's debut is a refreshingly candid comedy about planning ahead for life's unexpected detours.

Michelle Monaghan, Jessie McCormack, Jon Dore, Radha Mitchell, Michael Weston, Mimi Kennedy

Drama Comedy 1 hr, 27 mins

60% WILL SEE

5 / 5

70%

3.5 / 5

(4)

Swerve

hen Colin (David Lyons) happens across a fatal car accident and a suitcase full of money, he soon becomes entangled in the dangerous lives of a crooked local cop (Jason Clarke) and his mysterious wife (Emma Booth). His initial good deed leads to a series of deadly events, and Colin struggles in a game of survival set against the backdrop of the South Australian outback.

Jason Clarke, Craig Lahiff, Emma Booth, David Lyons, Vince Colosimo

Thriller

70% WILL SEE

3.5 / 5

Released Wednesday, December 11th

45%

Nuclear Nation

A documentary about the exile of Futaba’s residents, the region housing the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Since the 1960s, Futaba had been promised prosperity with tax breaks and major subsidies to compensate for the presence of the power plant. The town’s people have now lost their homeland. Through their agonies and frustrations, the film questions the real cost of capitalism and nuclear energy.

The day after the magnitude 9.0 earthquake on March 11, 2011, Futaba locals heard the hydrogen explosion at Reactor Number 1 and were showered with nuclear fallout. In response, the Japanese government designated the whole town as an “exclusion zone” and 1,400 of the town’s residents fled to an abandoned high school 250 kilometers away. The entire community, including the Town Hall office, was moved into the four-story building, making the residents nuclear refugees.

The film portrays the evacuees as the nuclear disaster situation changes over time. One of them is Ichiro Nakai, a farmer who lost his wife, his home, and his rice fields in the massive tsunami. Doing his best to cope with the monotony of life at the evacuation center, he struggles to wipe away the haunting memories and start a new life with his son. The two finally get an official permit to enter the exclusion zone to visit their hometown. There, they see that their worst fears have become reality...

Atsushi Funahashi

Documentary

45% WILL SEE

Released Friday, December 13th

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Poster

75%

4.6 / 5

(202)

The Hobbit: The Desolation o...

The story centers on Hobbit Bilbo Baggins and the scary adventure he makes with 13 dwarves.

Andy Serkis, Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Guillermo del Toro, Hugo Weaving, Benedict Cumberbatch, Zane Weiner, Ian McKellen

PG-13 Drama Fantasy

75% WILL SEE

4.6 / 5

41%

3.7 / 5

(44)

Tyler Perry's A Madea Christ...

A Christmas-themed comedy from Tyler Perry.

Tyler Perry, Chad Michael Murray, Larry the Cable Guy, Kathy Najimy, Ozzie Areu, Matt Moore, Tika Sumpter, Lisa Whelchel

PG-13 Comedy Holiday

41% WILL SEE

3.7 / 5

91%

4.3 / 5

(45)

Hours

Set in New Orleans, Hours revolves around Nolan (Walker) as his beloved wife dies during childbirth, leaving him to care for their newborn on his own. As Nolan struggles to come to grips with his loss, Hurricane Katrina simultaneously devastates the coast of Louisiana. After the hospital is evacuated, Nolan alone must fight to keep his daughter alive – amid violent conditions and armed looters. When an electricity shortage threatens to disrupt his child’s incubator, Nolan will have to race against time in order to save his child from the raging storm.

Yohance Myles, Eric Heisserer, Kevin Frakes, Peter Safran, Dan Clifton, Paul Walker, Genesis Rodriguez, Kerry Cahill

PG-13 Drama Thriller 1 hr, 37 mins

91% WILL SEE

4.3 / 5

40%

4.2 / 5

(85)

Saving Mr. Banks

It takes 14 years for Walt Disney to persuade Australian author P.L. Travers to sell him the rights to make a film out of Mary Poppins. Travers is extremely reluctant because the story is highly personal, and reflects hardships in her own life and her relationship with her father, who died when she was seven years old.

Kelly Marcel, Colin Farrell, Tom Hanks, Paul Trijbits, Philip Steuer, Emma Thompson, Ruth Wilson, Bradley Whitford

PG-13 Drama Biography

40% WILL SEE

4.2 / 5

43%

Some Velvet Morning

Some Velvet Morning centers on Fred (Stanley Tucci), who arrives on the doorstep of his beautiful young mistress, Velvet (Alice Eve), after four years apart, claiming to have left his wife. But when she rejects his attempts at rekindling their romance, his persistence evolves into obsession -- and a dark history between the ex-lovers comes into focus.

Neil LaBute, Alice Eve, Stanley Tucci

Drama 1 hr, 22 mins

43% WILL SEE

80%

4.2 / 5

(10)

Trap for Cinderella

"Trap for Cinderella" is the story of a suspicious fire that traps two young women. One dies; the survivor is burned beyond recognition and left with amnesia. Plastic surgery gives her a new face, but suspicions arise that she may not have been a victim.

Dixie Linder, Aneurin Barnard, Robert Jones, Iain Softley, Chris Gerolmo, Tuppence Middleton, Alexandra Roach, Frances de la Tour

Drama

80% WILL SEE

4.2 / 5

31%

3.8 / 5

(91)

American Hustle

The true story of Abscam, the FBI's 1980 undercover sting operation to root out corruption in Congress, which was the brainchild of the world's greatest con man.

Jennifer Lawrence, Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, Jack Huston, David O. Russell, Charles Roven, Eric Singer

R Drama 2 hrs, 9 mins

31% WILL SEE

3.8 / 5

63%

5 / 5

(1)

Here Comes the Devil

Francisco Barreiro and Laura Caro play parents Felix and Sol whose preteen son and daughter inexplicably reappear after being lost overnight on a desolate, cave-riddled mountainside after a casual hike became every parent’s nightmare. The good luck and good fortune of their return soon changes, as the children’s behavior suggests ominous and unspeakable events the night the children were lost that continue even now. As a loving couple – and loving parents – try to care for and protect their children, the ancient and half-whispered legends around the caves and the mountain and those who have gone there before become too strange to believe … and too dangerous, no matter how insane, to ignore.

Laura Caro, Adrian García Bogliano, Francisco Barreiro, Michele Garcia

Thriller Suspense 1 hr, 37 mins

63% WILL SEE

5 / 5

17%

3 / 5

(1)

The Crash Reel

The epic rivalry between half-pipe legends Kevin Pearce and Shaun White is documented in this exhilarating ride into the world of extreme snowboarding. With both practicing more and more breathtaking and dangerous tricks leading up to the Vancouver Winter Olympics, everything suddenly changes for Kevin when a horrific crash leaves him fighting for his life. When he recovers, all he wants to do is get on his snowboard again, even though medics and family fear it could kill him.

Lucy Walker

Documentary 1 hr, 48 mins

17% WILL SEE

3 / 5

13%

2 / 5

(3)

The Last of the Unjust

NYC Only

1975. In Rome, Claude Lanzmann filmed a series of interviews with Benjamin Murmelstein, the last President of the Jewish Council in the Theresienstadt ghetto in Czechoslovakia, the only "Elder of the Jews" not to have been killed during the war. A rabbi in Vienna, following the annexation of Austria by Germany in 1938, Murmelstein fought bitterly with Adolf Eichmann, week after week for seven years, managing to help around 121,000 Jews leave the country, and preventing the liquidation of the ghetto.

2012. Claude Lanzmann, at 87 – without masking anything of the passage of time on men, but showing the incredible permanence of the locations involved –exhumes these interviews shot in Rome, returning to Theresienstadt, the town “given to the Jews by Hitler”, a so-called model ghetto, but a ghetto of deceit chosen by Adolf Eichmann to dupe the world. We discover the extraordinary personality of Benjamin Murmelstein: a man blessed with a dazzling intelligence and a true courage, which, along with an unrivaled memory, makes him a wonderfully wry, sardonic and authentic storyteller.

Through these three periods, from Nisko in Poland to Theresienstadt, and from Vienna to Rome, the film provides an unprecedented insight into the genesis of the Final Solution. It reveals the true face of Eichmann, and exposes without artifice the savage contradictions of the Jewish Councils.

Claude Lanzmann

PG-13 Documentary 3 hrs, 40 mins

13% WILL SEE

2 / 5

Released Wednesday, December 18th

3.5 / 5

(57)

Her

A satire about how world leaders plan all major events, from oil prices to future wars.

Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams, Spike Jonze, Rooney Mara, Portia Doubleday, Sam Jaeger, Megan Ellison, Charlie Kaufman

R Drama Comedy

9% WILL SEE

3.5 / 5

Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues Poster

58%

4 / 5

(65)

Anchorman 2: The Legend Cont...

The continuing adventures of San Diego news anchor Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell) and his reporting team, including Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate), Steve Carell (Brick Tamland) and Brian Fantana (Paul Rudd).

Will Ferrell, Josh Lawson, Steve Carell, Luke Wilson, James Marsden, Nicole Kidman, David Koechner, Kristen Wiig

PG-13 Adventure Comedy

58% WILL SEE

4 / 5

Released Friday, December 20th

40%

4.2 / 5

(85)

Saving Mr. Banks

Kelly Marcel, Colin Farrell, Tom Hanks, Paul Trijbits, Philip Steuer, Emma Thompson, Ruth Wilson, Bradley Whitford

PG-13 Drama Biography

40% WILL SEE

4.2 / 5

38%

3.5 / 5

(47)

Walking with Dinosaurs

Based on the BBC documentary series that explores the world of dinosaurs using both CGI and real-world locations.

Pierre de Lespinois, Neil Nightingale, John Collee

PG Action Family

38% WILL SEE

3.5 / 5

58%

3.1 / 5

(8)

The Past

When Ahmad returns to Paris after four years in Tehran in order to finalize his divorce from his French wife, a secret from the past is revealed.

Tahar Rahim, Berenice Bejo, Asghar Farhadi, Ali Mosaffa

Family

58% WILL SEE

3.1 / 5

52%

3.3 / 5

(10)

Wrong Cops

A group of bad cops look to dispose of a body that one of them accidentally shot.

Steve Little, Marilyn Manson, Arden Myrin, Quentin Dupieux, Mark Burnham, Eric Judor, Grace Zabriskie, Eric Wareheim

Comedy Crime 1 hr, 22 mins

52% WILL SEE

3.3 / 5

50%

3 / 5

(2)

The Selfish Giant

The film tells the story of two schoolmates in a struggling working-class community in Bradford, England: the scrappy, hyperactive Arbor (Conner Chapman) and the reserved, more mature Swifty (Shaun Thomas). To pick up some extra cash, Arbor and Swifty begin collecting scrap metal for Kitten (Sean Gilder), a shady local dealer with a penchant for racing horses. Arbor is eager to please, desiring the wealth that appears to come with Kitten's lifestyle. But it soon becomes evident that Swifty is the favored one, because of his talent with horses. As jealousy sets in, the fragile bond that holds Arbor to his closest mate begins to crumble away.

Lorraine Ashbourne, Clio Barnard, Conner Chapman, Shaun Thomas, Sean Gilder, Ian Burfield

Drama 1 hr, 31 mins

50% WILL SEE

3 / 5

Released Wednesday, December 25th

30%

4.3 / 5

(76)

The Wolf of Wall Street

Jordan Belfort, a Long Island penny stockbroker, served 20 months in prison for refusing to cooperate in a massive 1990s securities fraud case that involved widespread corruption on Wall Street and in the corporate banking world, including mob infiltration.

Matthew McConaughey, Margot Robbie, Martin Scorsese, Jonah Hill, Riza Aziz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kyle Chandler, Jon Bernthal

R Drama Biography

30% WILL SEE

4.3 / 5

39%

4.5 / 5

(263)

The Secret Life of Walter Mi...

A very shy man lives all sorts of adventures via his daydreams.

Ben Stiller, Kristen Wiig, Patton Oswalt, John Goldwyn, Adam Scott, Shirley MacLaine, Sean Penn, Josh Charles

PG Action Comedy 1 hr, 54 mins

39% WILL SEE

4.5 / 5

41%

3.7 / 5

(43)

47 Ronin

Based on the group of swordsmen and their master who are revered in Japan for their revenge attack on Dec. 14, 1702.

Keanu Reeves, Chris Fenton, Tadanobu Asano, Pam Abdy, Hiroyuki Sanada, Togo Igawa, Erwin Stoff, Carl Erik Rinsch

PG-13 Drama Action

41% WILL SEE

3.7 / 5

16%

4.3 / 5

(20)

Grudge Match

Revolves around retired boxers Billy "The Kid" McGuigan and Henry "Razor" Sharp, lifelong bitter rivals who are coaxed out of retirement and into the ring for one final grudge match -- 50 years after their last title fight.

Sylvester Stallone, Robert De Niro, Kevin Hart, Billy Gerber, Mark Steven Johnson, Doug Ellin, Peter Segal, Tim Kelleher

PG-13 Drama Comedy

16% WILL SEE

4.3 / 5

31%

3.8 / 5

(91)

American Hustle

The true story of Abscam, the FBI's 1980 undercover sting operation to root out corruption in Congress, which was the brainchild of the world's greatest con man.

Jennifer Lawrence, Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, Jack Huston, David O. Russell, Charles Roven, Eric Singer

R Drama 2 hrs, 9 mins

31% WILL SEE

3.8 / 5

4 / 5

(31)

Labor Day

Tells the story of a long Labor Day weekend through the eyes of a then 13-year-old boy who along with his reclusive depressed divorced mother are willingly taken “hostage” by an escaped convict in their own home.

Kate Winslet, Josh Brolin, Tobey Maguire, Tom Lipinski, Brighid Fleming, Micah Fowler, Jason Reitman, Lianne Halfon

PG-13 Drama

7% WILL SEE

4 / 5

63%

3.3 / 5

(4)

The Invisible Woman

NYC/LA

Nelly (Felicity Jones), a happily-married mother and schoolteacher, is haunted by her past. Her memories, provoked by remorse and guilt, take us back in time to follow the story of her relationship with Charles Dickens (Ralph Fiennes) with whom she discovered an exciting but fragile complicity.

Tom Hollander, Perdita Weeks, Felicity Jones, Ralph Fiennes, Abi Morgan, Michelle Fairley, Kristin Scott Thomas, Tom Burke

R Drama Adaptation

63% WILL SEE

3.3 / 5

46%

3.4 / 5

(26)

Justin Bieber's Believe

Believe features brand new interviews with Justin Bieber and appearances from manager Scooter Braun, Usher Raymond, Rodney Jerkins, Ludacris, Mike Posner and many more.

Jon M. Chu, Justin Bieber, Scooter Braun

PG Documentary Music

46% WILL SEE

3.4 / 5

Released Friday, December 27th

53%

4.4 / 5

(179)

Lone Survivor

NYC/LA

A Navy Seal leads a team into Afghanistan on a mission to kill a Taliban leader but he is the only one to survive.

Ben Foster, Mark Wahlberg, Eric Bana, Akiva Goldsman, Emile Hirsch, Norton Herrick, Barry Spikings, Taylor Kitsch

R Drama Action

53% WILL SEE

4.4 / 5

25%

4.2 / 5

(17)

August: Osage County

The sprawling family epic, which follows one volatile Oklahoma family in the aftermath of its patriarch's unexplained disappearance.

Julia Roberts, George Clooney, Dermot Mulroney, Meryl Streep, Benedict Cumberbatch, Margo Martindale, Abigail Breslin, John Wells

R Drama Family 2 hrs, 1 min

25% WILL SEE

4.2 / 5