December Movie Preview
Chris Rock's Top Five leads the season of holiday films.
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Selma and Top Five: December's Hottest Flicks - The last month of the year is always big for films. The deadline for award season and cashing in on family-friendly films. December 2014 is no exception. Top Five and Selma are all the must see movies of the holiday season. Here's a peek at the best multiplex gifts playing at a movie theater near you. (Photos: Paramount Pictures)
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Dying of the Light: December 5 - Nicolas Cage is back in another action thriller. This time out, he plays a veteran CIA agent ordered to retire, but when his nemesis resurfaces he goes rogue to eliminate his longtime enemy. If not a critics darling, count this one as yet another crowd pleaser. (Photo: Lionsgate)
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Life Partners: December 5 - Gabourey Sidibe stars in this comedy about gal pals who's longest relationship have been with each other. But when one of them gets involved with a nerdy newcomer it shifts the dynamic of their girlpower connection. Judging from the lack of color in the movie's poster, let's hope Sidibe will have lots to do in her black BFF role! (Photo: Haven Entertainment)
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Poker Night: December 5 - This twisted thriller features a young detective caught in a sadistic game of cat-and-mouse. The PI is kidnapped and tormented by a masked serial killer and must survive using his poker night wisdom. Giancarlo Esposito, who's made appearing as villian an artform lately on the small screen, also stars in the film. (Photo: Wingman Productions)
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Top Five: December 12 - Written and directed by Chris Rock, he stars in this hip-hop inspired, political, racial, romantic all-star comedy romp. Rock plays a comedian-turned-film star whose encounter with a journalist (Rosario Dawson) forces him to re-examine the importance and responsibility of being famous today. Top Five's A-list star studded cast includes Whoopi Goldberg, Kevin Hart, Sherri Shepherd, JB Smoove and many more. (Photo: Paramount Pictures)
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Exodus: Gods and Kings: December 12 - After the failure that was Noah, Hollywood is still digging in the treasure trove of Biblical stories for cinematic inspiration. Here, Ridley Scott directs and takes on the story of Moses (Christian Bale) rising up against the Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses on the eve of the deadly plagues. The film also stars John Turturro, Sigourney Weaver and Ben Kingsley.(Photo: Twentieth Century Fox)
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Inherent Vice: December 12 - Paul Thomas Anderson helms this dark, dramatic tale which stars real-life wife Maya Rudolph, Benicio Del Toro, Josh Brolin, and Michael K. Williams. The story: a PI's ex wife comes to him for help when she uncovers her billionaire boyfriend's wife is attempting to throw the rich mogul into a looney bin. Should he help? Set in the 60s, this trippy ride, part noir and part psychedlic romp is 100% pure groovy as audiences uncover the answer. (Photo: Warner Bros Pictures)
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The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies: December 17 - The third in a trilogy of films based on the popular masterpiece The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, this movie is the epic conclusion of the adventures of Bilbo, Thorin, and the Company of Dwarves. Here, Bilbo and co. are in a war to prevent a kingdom of treasure from destroying Middle-Earth. Consider this flick a guarantee hit amongst fanboys and fangirls alike. (Photo: MGM/Warner Bros Pictures)
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Annie: December 19 - For the first time in the nearly 90-year old franchise, Annie is finally in living, bold and African-American color. In this multicultural reboot, produced by Will Smith, Jada Pinkett Smith and Jay-Z, Annie (Quvenzhané Wallis) is a happy foster kid circa 2014 looking for her birth family. But with the help of mayoral candidate Will Stacks (Jamie Foxx) [replacing the original story's Daddy Warbucks], she soon learns how to form a self-made clan of her own. Annie also stars Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje and Cameron Diaz. (Photo: Sony Pictures Entertainment)
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The Gambler: December 19 - In the third remake of the 1974 classic, Mark Wahlberg is banking that this is the role that will make him an Oscar contender, again. In it, Wahlberg portrays an English professor and high-stakes gambler who borrows from a gangster (Michael K. Williams) and offers his life as collateral. Things get even dicier when he must navigate a dysfuntional relationship with his weathly mother (Jessica Lange) and budding romance with a student. (Photo: Paramount Pictures)
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