Chronicle

Starring: Dane DeHaan, Alex Russell, Michael B Kelly, Michael Kelly

Directed by: Josh Trank

Plot: Three high school friends make a discovery that gives them superpowers that grow increasingly more powerful and dangerous.

Rotten Tomatoes Freshness: 86%

Critic Consensus: “It arrives during a glut of found-footage films, but Chronicle transcends its gimmicks with a smart script, fast-paced direction, and engaging performances from its young, talented cast”

The Woman in Black

Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Ciaran Hinds, Janet McTeer, Shaun Dooley, David Burke, Liz White

Directed by: James Watkins

Plot: A young lawyer in Victorian England travels to a remote village to finalize the sale of one of his client’s house but discovers it’s haunted by a malevolent spirit.

RT Freshness: 66%

Critic Consensus: “Traditional to a fault, The Woman in Black foregoes gore for chills — although it may not provide enough of them for viewers attuned to more modern, high-stakes horror”

Big Miracle

Starring: Drew Barrymore, John Krasinski, Vinessa Shaw, Stephen Root, Ted Danson, Tim Blake Nelson, Dermot Mulroney

Directed by: Ken Kwapis

Plot: An reporter and an animal lover join forces to help free a trio of trapped gray whales who become trapped while migrating by quickly freezing ice.

RT Freshness: 68%

Critic Consensus: “Big Miracle uses real-life events as the basis for a surprisingly satisfying family drama”

Starring: Liam Neeson, Frank Grillo, Dermot Mulroney, Dallas Roberts, Joe Anderson

Directed by: Joe Carnahan

Plot: A group of oil workers on their way home from Alaska are forced into a fight for survival when their plane crashes.  To make matters worse, a pack of vicious wolves is stalking the group.

Rotten Tomatoes Freshness: 76%

Critic Consensus: “The Grey is an exciting tale of survival, populated with fleshed-out characters and a surprising philosophical agenda”

Man on a Ledge

Starring: Sam Worthington, Elizabeth Banks, Ed Harris, Jamie Bell, Edward Burns, Genesis Rodriguez

Directed by: Asger Leth

Plot: A wrongly fully accused ex-cop, Nick Cassidy, becomes a distraction for his accomplices by feigning a suicide attempt while they break in to a nearby building to get proof of Nick’s innocent.

RT Freshness: 20%

Critic Consensus: “Uninspired acting and preposterous plotlines diffuse Man on a Ledge’s mildly intriguing premise”

One for the Money

Starring: Katherine Heigl, Jason O’Mara, Daniel Sunjuta, Nate Mooney, Sherri Shepherd, John Leguizamo

Directed by: Julie Anne Robinson

Plot: Stephanie Plum loses her job at Macy’s and decides to become a bounty hunter at her sleazy cousin’s bail bondsman office.

RT Freshness: N/A

Critic Consensus: N/A

Haywire

Starring: Gina Carano, Michael Douglas, Michael Fassbender, Ewan McGregor, Bill Paxton, Channing Tatum, Antonio Banderas

Directed by: Steven Soderbergh

Plot: Operative Mallory Kane is betrayed by her superiors and left for dead.  She then sets out on a mission of revenge.

Rotten Tomatoes Freshness: 81%

Critic Consensus: “Haywire is a fast and spare thriller, with cleanly staged set pieces that immerse you in the action”

Red Tails

Starring: Terrence Howard, Cuba Gooding Jr., Bryan Cranston, Nate Parker, David Oyelowo, Tristan Wilds

Directed by: Anthony Hemingway

Plot: The all African American fighter squadron, The Tuskegee Airmen, battle the Germans in World War II and try to gain the respect of their white peers.

RT Freshness: 35%

Critic Consensus: “Despite a worthy fact-based story and obvious good intentions, Red Tails suffers from two-dimensional characters, corny dialogue, and heaps of clichés”

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Starring: Thomas Horn, Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock, Viola Davis, Max Von Sydow

Directed by: Stephen Daldry

Plot: After his father is killed during 9/11, annoyingly quirky kid Oskar goes on an adventure throughout New York City to find the lock that fits a mysterious key he finds in his father’s things.

RT Freshness: 51%

Critic Consensus: “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close has a story worth telling, but it deserves better than the treacly and pretentious treatment director Stephen Daldry gives it”

Underworld: Awakening

Starring: Kate Beckinsale, Stephen Rea, Michael Ealy, Theo James, India Eisley

Directed by: Mans Marlind, Bjorn Stein

Plot: Vampire Selene wakes up after being locked in stasis for 12 years to discover that humans have discovered and are hunting down both vampires and lycans.

RT Freshness: N/A

Critic Consensus: N/A

Contraband

Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Kate Beckinsale, Ben Foster, Giovanni Ribisi, Lukas Haas, Caleb Jones

Directed by: Baltasar Kormakur

Plot: An infamous smuggler has to come out of retirement to help settle the debt of his brother in law, who botched a job for a ruthless drug dealer.

Rotten Tomatoes Freshness: 45%

Critic Consensus: “It’s more entertaining than your average January action thriller, but that isn’t enough to excuse Contraband’s lack of originality and unnecessarily convoluted plot”

Beauty and the Beast 3D

Starring: Paige O’Hara, Robbie Benson, Richard White, Jerry Orbach, David Ogden Stiers, Angela Lansbury

Directed by: Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise

Plot: A young woman takes the place of her father at the castle of the monstrous Beast but slowly befriends the castle’s magical furniture servants and sees the softer side of the Beast, which could help finally break the curse of the castle.

RT Freshness: 90%

Critic Consensus: “Enchanting, sweepingly romantic, and featuring plenty of wonderful musical numbers, Beauty and the Beast is one of Disney’s most elegant animated offerings”

Joyful Noise

Starring: Queen Latifah, Dolly Parton, Keke Palmer, Jeremy Jordan, Courtney B. Vance

Directed by: Todd Graff

Plot: A pair of church rivals must come together to help their church’s choir win the huge National Joyful Noise Competition.

RT Freshness: 41%

Critic Consensus: “Joyful Noise’s musical numbers are solidly entertaining, and it benefits from Queen Latifah and Dolly Parton’s sizable chemistry; unfortunately, they aren’t enough to make up for the rest of the film”

The Iron Lady

Starring: Meryl Streep, Jim Broadbent, Harry Lloyd, Anthony Head, Roger Allam

Directed by: Phyllida Lloyd

Plot: The rise to power of Margaret Thatcher, the first and only Prime Minister of Britain.

RT Freshness: 55%

Critic Consensus: “Meryl Streep’s performance as The Iron Lady is reliably perfect, but it’s mired in bland, self-important storytelling”

The Devil Inside

Starring: Fernanda Andrade, Simon Quarterman, Evan Helmuth, Suzan Crowley

Directed by: William Brent Bell & Joaquin Perea

Plot: In 1989, Maria Rossi went insane, murdered three people and was then committed to a mental hospital in Italy.  20 years later, her daughter Isabella travels to Italy and recruits a pair of young priests, who specialize in exorcisms, to determine once and for all if her mother is just crazy or actually possessed by demons.

Rotten Tomatoes Freshness: 8%

Critic Consensus: N/A

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

Starring: Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Paula Patton, Ving Rhames, Vladimir Mashkov

Directed by: Brad Bird

Plot: After a mission goes horribly wrong in Moscow, the entire IMF is disavowed and the remaining members, led by Ethan Hunt, have to hunt down those responsible and clear their names.

Rotten Tomatoes Freshness: 93%

Critic Consensus: “Stylish, fast-paced, and loaded with gripping set pieces, the fourth Mission: Impossible is big-budget popcorn entertainment that really works”

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Starring: Rooney Mara, Daniel Craig, Stellan Skarsgard, Christopher Plummer, Steven Berkoff

Directed by: David Fincher

Plot: An investigative journalist and a computer hacker join forces to solve the murder of a young woman years ago on an island where the only residents are the devious members of one family.

Rotten Tomatoes Freshness: 85%

Critic Consensus: “Brutal yet captivating, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is the result of David Fincher working at his lurid best with total role commitment from star Rooney Mara”

The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn

Starring: Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis, Nick Frost, Simon Pegg, Daniel Craig, Toby Jones

Directed by: Steven Spielberg

Plot: Adventurer/reporter Tintin sets out on a quest to discover the secret of the lost pirate ship, the Unicorn.

RT Freshness: 75%

Critic Consensus: “Drawing deep from the classic Raiders of the Lost Ark playbook, Steven Spielberg has crafted another spirited, thrilling adventure in the form of Tintin”

We Bought a Zoo

Starring: Matt Damon, Scarlett Johansson, Thomas Haden Church, Colin Ford, Maggie Elizabeth Jones

Directed by: Cameron Crowe

Plot: Single dad Ben Mee quits his job and moves his kids to a new house, which happens to have a zoo attached to it.

RT Freshness: 60%

Critic Consensus: “While more transparently cloying than Crowe’s best work, We Bought a Zoo rises on the strength of Damon’s performance, and represents a limited return to form for the director”

In the Land of Blood and Honey

Starring: Vanessa Glodjo, Rade Serbedzija, Boris Ler, Alma Terzic, Jelena Jovanova

Directed by: Angelina Jolie

Plot: During the height of the Bosnian War, a Serbian soldier in charge of a prison camp meets a Bosnian woman he knew before the war and develops a complicated relationship with her.

RT Freshness: 53%

Critic Consensus: N/A

War Horse

Starring: Jeremy Irvine, Emily Watson, Peter Mullan, Niels Arestrup, David Thewlis, Tom Hiddleston

Directed by: Steven Spielberg

Plot: A horse discovered by a young man is taken to be used as part of the British cavalry in World War I and affects numerous lives over the course of the war.

RT Freshness: 75%

Critic Consensus: “Technically superb, proudly sentimental, and unabashedly old-fashioned, War Horse is an emotional drama that tugs the heartstrings with Spielberg’s customary flair”

The Darkest Hour

Starring: Emile Hirsch, Olivia Thirlby, Max Minghella, Rachel Taylor, Joel Kinnaman

Directed by: Chris Gorak

Plot: Five friends on vacation in Moscow become trapped there when a world wide invasion by invisible, energy draining aliens begins.

RT Freshness: N/A

Critic Consensus: N/A

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Jared Harris, Noomi Rapace, Rachel McAdams, Eddie Marsan

Directed by: Guy Ritchie

Plot: Holmes and Watson must stop criminal mastermind Professor James Moriarty, who has set in motion a devious plan by faking the suicide of the Crown Prince of Austria.

Rotten Tomatoes Freshness: 66%

Critic Consensus: “It never duplicates the well-oiled thrills of the first installment, but Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows is eminently watchable thanks to its well-matched leading men”

Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked

Starring: Jason Lee, David Cross, Justin Long, Jesse McCartney, Matthew Gray Gubler, Amy Poehler, Anna Farris, Christina Applegate, Jenny Slate

Directed by: Mike Mitchell

Plot: The Chipmunks and Chipettes are on vacation on a luxury cruise liner when they accidentally fall overboard and get washed up on a seemingly deserted island.

RT Freshness: 10%

Critic Consensus: “Lazy, rote, and grating, Chipwrecked is lowest-common-denominator family entertainment that’s strictly for the very, very, very young at heart”

The Sitter

Starring: Jonah Hill, Sam Rockwell, Ari Graynor, Max Records, Landry Bender, Kevin Hernandez

Directed by: David Gordon Green

Plot: A 20 something slacker takes a job babysitting a trio of crazy kids and ends up getting chased around NYC with the kids by a crazy drug dealer after attempting to get some cocaine for his girlfriend.

Rotten Tomatoes Freshness: 22%

Critic Consensus: “With its recycled plot, misguided gags, and formula performance from Jonah Hill, The Sitter adds up to another disappointing entry from director David Gordon Green”

New Year’s Eve

Starring: Look at the poster above

Directed by: Garry Marshall

Plot: Various New York City residents have, mostly, romantic misadventures on New Year’s Eve.

RT Freshness: 5%

Critic Consensus: “Shallow, sappy, and dull, New Year’s Eve assembles a star-studded cast for no discernible purpose”

The Muppets

Starring: Jason Segel, Amy Adams, Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Chris Cooper, Gonzo, Walter

Directed by: James Bobin

Plot: Three of the world’s biggest Muppet fans; Gary and his Muppet brother Walter and Gary’s girlfriend Mary head to Los Angeles to visit the Muppet Studio, only to find that an evil oilman wants to destroy the theater to get to a well of oil.  The trio decides to try and reunite the Muppets and save the theater.

Rotten Tomatoes Freshness: 97%

Critic Consensus: “Clever, charming, and heartfelt, The Muppets is a welcome big screen return for Jim Henson’s lovable creations that will both win new fans and delight longtime devotees”

Hugo

Starring: Ben Kingsley, Sasha Baron Cohen, Asa Butterfield, Chloe Moretz, Jude Law, Ray Winestone, Emily Mortimer

Directed by: Martin Scorsese

Plot: After his father dies in an accident, young Hugo Cabret lives by himself at a Paris train station, maintaining the massive clocks of the station and trying to solve the mystery of an automaton that his father left him.

RT Freshness: 97%

Critic Consensus: “Hugo is an extravagant, elegant fantasy with an innocence lacking in many modern kids’ movies, and one that emanates an unabashed love for the magic of cinema”

Arthur Christmas

Starring: James McAvoy, Hugh Laurie, Jim Broadbent, Bill Nighy, Imelda Staunton

Directed by: Sarah Smith

Plot: Santa’s son Arthur and his crotchety, old school Grandpa set out in the old sleigh to deliver a present to a little girl that was missed by Santa and older brother Steve’s high tech, super efficient delivery system.

RT Freshness: 92%

Critic Consensus: “Aardman Animations broadens their humor a bit for Arthur Christmas, a clever and earnest holiday film with surprising emotional strength”

Happy Feet Two

Starring: Elijah Wood, Robin Williams, Alecia “Pink” Moore, Hank Azaria, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon

Directed by: George Miller

Plot: Mumble, the tap dancing penguin from Happy Feet, has a son who is afraid to dance but becomes inspired by The Mighty Sven, a penguin who is able to fly.

Rotten Tomatoes Freshness: 42%

Critic Consensus: “The animation is as eye-popping as ever, but Happy Feet Two’s narrative is too noisily incoherent to recapture the Oscar-winning charm of its predecessor”

Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 1

Starring: Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Taylor Lautner, Billy Burke, Peter Facinelli, Elizabeth Reaser

Directed by: Bill Condon

Plot: Edward and Bella are married and honeymoon in South America.  After consumating their relationship, Bella is stricken with a powerful and rapidly growing vampire baby that is killing her from the inside and the werewolves want to kill for some reason.

RT Freshness: 26%

Critic Consensus: “Slow, joyless, and loaded with unintentionally humorous moments, Breaking Dawn Part 1 may satisfy the Twilight faithful, but it’s strictly for fans of the franchise”

Immortals

Starring: Henry Cavill, Mickey Rourke, Freida Pinto, Luke Evans, Stephen Dorff, Kellan Lutz, John Hurt

Directed by: Tarsem Singh

Plot: Evil warlord King Hyperion is attempting to conquer both Heaven and Earth by freeing the Titans from their prison in Mt. Tarturus and Zeus calls upon Theseus, a poor stonemason, to lead the resistance against him.

Rotten Tomatoes Freshness: 38%

Critic Consensus: “The melding of real sets, CG work, and Tarsem’s signature style produces fireworks, though the same can’t be said for Immortals slack, boring storytelling”

J. Edgar

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Naomi Watts, Armie Hammer, Josh Lucas, Judi Dench, Ed Westwick, Jeffrey Donovan

Directed by: Clint Eastwood

Plot: The rise to power of J. Edgar Hoover as he became the head of the FBI and one of the most powerful men in the country.

RT Freshness: 42%

Critic Consensus: “Leonardo DiCaprio gives a predictably powerhouse performance, but J. Edgar stumbles in all other departments with cheesy makeup, poor lighting, confusing narrative, and humdrum storytelling”

Jack and Jill

Starring: Adam Sandler, Katie Holmes, Al Pacino, Elodie Tougne, Rohan Chand, Eugenio Derbez

Directed by: Dennis Dugan

Plot: Successful ad executive Jack Sadelstein must survive the annual visit of his identical twin sister, Jill, during the holidays.

RT Freshness: 3%

Critic Consensus: “Although it features an inexplicably committed performance from Al Pacino, Jack and Jill is impossible to recommend on any level whatsoever”

A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas 3D

Starring: Kal Penn, John Cho, Neil Patrick Harris, Patton Oswalt, Danny Trejo, David Burtka

Directed by: Todd Strauss-Schulson

Plot: Kumar accidentally recieves a package meant for Harold and his attempts to deliver it to him results in Harold’s father-in-law’s prize Christmas tree getting blown up.  The guys then must go on a crazy quest across NYC to find a replacement tree.

Rotten Tomatoes Freshness: 70%

Critic Consensus: “Still raunchy, still irreverent, and still hit-and-miss, this Harold & Kumar outing also has a Christmas miracle: The audience gets to see the sweeter side of the duo”

Tower Heist

Starring: Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy, Alan Alda, Tea Leoni, Casey Affleck, Matthew Broderick, Gabourey Sidibe, Michael Pena

Directed by: Brett Ratner

Plot: The employees of a luxury Central Park apartment complex scheme to rob the building’s richest resident after they learn he was the mastermind of a fraud that stole all their pensions.

RT Freshness: 68%

Critic Consensus: “Tower Heist is a true Brett Ratner joint: little brains to this caper, but it’s fun fluff, exciting to watch, and showcases a welcome return to form for Eddie Murphy”

In Time

Starring: Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried, Cillian Murphy, Vincent Kartheiser, Olivia Wilde

Directed by: Andrew Niccol

Plot: In a world where people only age until 25 and then must work for extra minutes on their life, poor factory worker Will gets 100 years from a stranger and becomes the target of some powerful men when he decides to attempt to overthrow the system.

Rotten Tomatoes Freshness: 37%

Critic Consensus: “In Time’s intriguing premise and appealing cast is easily overpowered by the stilted filmmaking, which takes a blunt, heavy-handed approach to storytelling”

Puss in Boots

Starring: Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Zach Galifinakis, Amy Sedaris, Billy Bob Thorton

Directed by: Chris Miller

Plot: Feline adventurer Puss joins forces with his old friend Humpty Dumpty and feline thief Kitty Softpaws on a quest to uncover an ancient treasure.

RT Freshness: 81%

Critic Consensus: “It isn’t deep or groundbreaking, but what it lacks in profundity, Puss in Boots more than makes up for with an abundance of wit, visual sparkle, and effervescent charm”

The Rum Diary

Starring: Johnny Depp, Amber Heard, Richard Jenkins, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Rispoli

Directed by: Bruce Robinson

Plot: A reporter moves to Puerto Rico to write for the local paper and becomes involved with the fiance of a corrupt businessman who wants to turn the island to a series of luxury resorts.

RT Freshness: 51%

Critic Consensus: “It’s colorful and amiable enough, and Depp’s heart is clearly in the right place, but The Rum Diary fails to add sufficient focus to its rambling source material”

Paranormal Activity 3

Starring: Katie Featherston, ?

Directed by: Henry Joost & Ariel Schulman

Plot: The origin of the demonic force that has terrorized sisters Katie and Kristy is revealed in their home movies from the ’80′s.

Rotten Tomatoes Freshness: 74%

The Thing

Starring: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Joel Edgerton, Ulrich Thomsen, Erik Christian Olsen

Directed by: Matthijs van Heijningen

Plot: A Norwegian science team in Antarctica discovers an alien craft and an alien lifeform in the ice and they bring in an American paleontologist to examine it.  The creature escapes and uses it’s ability to mimic other beings to start killing and replacing the crew.

Rotten Tomatoes Freshness: 34%

Critic Consensus: “It serves the bare serviceable minimum for a horror flick, but The Thing is all boo-scares and a slave to the far superior John Carpenter version”

Footloose

Starring: Kenny Wormald, Julianne Hough, Andie McDowell, Dennis Quaid

Directed by: Craig Brewer

Plot: Boston native Ren MacCormack moves to the small southern town of Bomont, where dancing in public has been banned following a tragic event in the town’s past.

Real Steel

Starring: Hugh Jackman, Anthony Mackie, Evangeline Lily, Dakota Goyo, Kevin Durand

Directed by: Shawn Levy

Plot: In the future, where robot boxing is the sport of choice, low level promoter Charlie Kenton teams up with his estranged son to build a robot that might have a shot at becoming a champion.

Rotten Tomatoes Freshness: 58%

50/50

Starring: Joesph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, Anna Kendrick, Bryce Dallas Howard, Anjelica Huston

Directed by: Jonathan Levine

Plot: Young guy Adam has to deal with his recent cancer diagnosis with help from his best friend Kyle.

Rotten Tomatoes Freshness: 93%

Critic Consensus: “A good-hearted film about a difficult topic, 50/50 maneuvers between jokes and drama with surprising finesse”

What’s Your Number?

Killer Elite

Starring: Jason Statham, Robert De Niro, Clive Owen, Yvonne Strahovski, Dominic Purcell,
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje

Directed by: Gary McKendry

Plot: An ex-special forces agent must rescue his mentor when he his kidnapped by a team of deadly assassins.

Rotten Tomatoes Freshness: 27%

Critic Consensus: “A rote, utterly disposable Jason Statham vehicle that just happens to have Clive Owen and Robert De Niro in it”

Abduction

Starring: Taylor Lautner, Alfred Molina, Sigourney Weaver, Maria Bello, Jason Issacs, Lily Collins

Directed by: John Singleton

Plot: High schooler Nathan discovers his picture on a website that shows what missing children would look like grown up and that his parents are not his actual parents.  Nathan must then go on the run when CIA assassins target him.

RT Freshness: 7%

Critic Consensus: “A soulless and incompetent action/thriller that not even a veteran lead actor could save, let alone Taylor Lautner”

 

Moneyball

Starring: Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Robin Wright, Stephen Bishop, Chris Pratt

Directed by: Bennett Miller

Plot: Billy Beane, general manager of the Oakland A’s, decides to go against the traditional thinking of scouting and recruiting players to compensate for his team’s limited budget.

RT Freshness: 94%

Critic Consensus: “Director Bennett Miller, along with Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill, take a niche subject and turn it into a sharp, funny, and touching portrait worthy of baseball lore”

Dolphin Tale

Starring: Harry Connick Jr, Morgan Freeman, Ashley Judd, Kris Kristofferson, Nathan Gamble

Directed by: Charles Martin Smith

Plot: A group of people band together to do the seemingly impossible task of rebuilding a rescued dolphin’s tail, after it was severely injured in a crab trap.

RT Freshness: 84%

Critic Consensus: “Wisely dialing down the schmaltz, Dolphin Tale is earnest, sweet, and well-told, a rare family film that both kids and parents can enjoy”

 

Starring: Ryan Gossling, Albert Brooks, Cary Mulligan, Bryan Cranston, Christina Hendricks, Ron Perlman

Directed by: Nicolas Winding Refn

Plot: A Hollywood stuntman who doubles as a getaway driver gets involved in protecting his neighbor and her son after a bank heist involving her ex-husband goes horribly wrong.

Rotten Tomatoes Freshness: 93%

Starring: Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Laurence Fishburne, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Marion Cotillard

Directed by: Steven Soderbergh

Plot: A deadly, airborne virus quickly starts to sweep across the globe and scientists struggle to find a cure while ordinary people try to survive.

Rotten Tomatoes Freshness: 81%

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