close

Holiday film preview for 2014

By Lou Gaul for The 8 min read

For movie fans, it’s a time for thinking about a “White Christmas” and Technicolor dreams as the colorful — and often critically acclaimed — end-of-the-year titles hit theaters now through Dec. 25.

The special offerings include a musical reboot (“Annie”), a contemporary drama (“Black and White”), a religious epic (“Exodus: Gods and Kings”), a bizarre event (“Foxcatcher”), an adventuresome continuation (“The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 1”), a franchise favorite (“The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies”), a musical adaptation (“Into the Woods”), a family favorite (“Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb”), an Alzheimer’s drama (“Still Alice”), an ensemble comedy (“Top Five”), a biographical tale (“Unbroken”), and an outdoor challenge (“Wild”).

Here’s an alphabetical list of the holiday films coming to a theater near you (with all dates subject to change). They are:

All Relative,” with Connie Nielsen, Jonathan Sadowski and Sara Paxton in a romance about a couple whose relationship is being undermined by the guy’s mother. J.C. Khoury (“The Pill”) directed. (Rated: Pending; now in theaters)

American Sniper,” with Bradley Cooper as a Navy SEAL who has more than 150 confirmed kills. Sienna Miller costars. Clint Eastwood directed. (Rated: R; Limited release Dec. 25)

Annie,” with Quvenzhane Wallis, Jamie Foxx, Rose Byrne and — as Hannigan — Cameron Diaz in an awaited reboot of the musical favorite about an orphaned girl who finds a home. Will Gluck (“Friends With Benefits”) directed. (Rated: PG; Dec.19)

Big Eyes,” with Amy Adams, Christoph Waltz, Jason Schwartzman, Krysten Ritter, Terence Stamp and Jon Polito in the true story of 1950s’ painter Margaret Keane whose husband attempted to steal credit for her distinctive work. Tim Burton (“Ed Wood”) directed. (Rated: PG-13; Dec.25)

Black and White,” with Kevin Costner, Octavia Spencer and Anthony Mackie in a drama about a widower who wages a battle for custody of his granddaughter, whom he helped to raise. Mike Binder (“The Upside of Anger”) directed. (Rated: PG-13; Nov. 26)

Demonic,” with Norristown native Maria Bello in a chiller about people who died while summoning ghosts. Will Canon (“Brotherhood”) directed. (Rated: R; Dec. 12)

Exodus: Gods and Kings,” with Christian Bale and Joel Edgerton as Moses and Ramses, respectively, in a religious epic with a computer-generated parting of the Red Sea. Other cast members include Sigourney Weaver and Aaron Paul. Ridley Scott (“Alien”) directed. (Rated: PG-13; Dec. 12)

Foxcatcher,” with Steve Carell, Channing Tatum, Sienna Miller and Mark Ruffalo in a fact-based drama around the bizarre 1996 shooting of an Olympic wrestler by his wealthy benefactor John du Pont. Bennett Miller (“Moneyball”) directed. (Rated: R; now in theaters)

The Gambler,” with Mark Wahlberg, Jessica Lange, Brie Larson and John Goodman in a story of an educator addicted to gambling and dealing with mobsters from whom he borrowed money that he can’t repay. Rupert Wyatt (“Rise of the Planet of the Apes”) directed. (Rated: R; Dec. 19)

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies,” with Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Orlando Bloom, Evangeline Lilly, Hugo Weaving, Cate Blanchett, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Christopher Lee in an epic based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s work that has the brave hobbits fighting to stop the fire-breathing dragon Smaug from burning down Middle-Earth. Peter Jackson, who has directed all of the Tolkien installments, directed. (Rated: PG-13; Dec. 17)

Horrible Bosses 2,” with Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, Jason Sudeikis, Chris Pine, Kevin Spacey, Jamie Foxx and Jennifer Aniston in a sequel that has the guys from the original starting their own business and being tricked by a double-dealing investor. Sean Anders (“We’re the Millers”) directed. (Rated: R; Nov. 26)

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 1,” with Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth in a franchise title that has Lawrence’s Katniss Everdeen character becoming a popular symbol of a revolution. Francis Lawrence (“The Hunger Games: Catching Fire”) directed. (Rated: PG-13; now in theaters)

The Imitation Game,” with Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley in a war-time drama about real-life “cryptanalyst” Alan Turing who along with some other British military operatives is assigned to break the Nazi’s Enigma Code, an action that could end World War II. Morten Tyldum (“Headhunters”) directed. (Rated: PG-13; now in theaters)

Inherent Vice,” with Reese Witherspoon, Jena Malone and Joaquin Phoenix in a set-in-the-’70s’ crime farce about a drug-consuming Los Angeles detective who must locate his missing former girlfriend. Paul Thomas Anderson (“Boogie Nights”) directed and adapted Thomas Pynchon’s novel for the big screen. (Rated: R; Limited release Dec. 12)

The Interview,” with Seth Rogan and James Franco in a controversial comedy in which two tabloid reporters are invited to interview the dictator of North Korea and asked by the CIA to assassinate him. North Korea has already condemned the film. Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogan co-directed. (Rated: Pending; Dec.25)

Into the Woods,” with Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, Anna Kendrick, Chris Pine and Johnny Depp in an adaptation of Stephen Sondheim’s brilliant musical that is populated by fairy tales and arriving on theater screens for the first time. Rob Marshall (“Chicago”) directed. (Rated: PG; Dec. 25)

Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb,” with Ben Stiller, Robin Williams, Rebel Wilson, Ben Kingsley, Steve Coogan, Dick Van Dyke, Owen Wilson, Ricky Gervais and Mickey Rooney in the hit franchise that has the museum characters battling to save magic. Shawn Levy, who helmed the two previous installments, again directed. (Rated: PG; Dec. 19)

Penguins of Madagascar,” with the voices of Tom McGrath, Chris Miller, Benedict Cumberbatch, Ken Jeong and John Malkovich in a computer-animated title with the title characters dabbling in a global espionage adventure. Eric Darnell and Simon J. Smith co-directed. (Rated: PG; Nov. 26)

Reach Me,” with Kyra Sedgwick, Sylvester Stallone, Tom Sizemore, Thomas Jane, Kelsey Grammer, Terry Crews, Cary Elwes and Nelly in an ensemble picture about characters desperately trying to improve their lives. John Herzfeld (“2 Days in the Valley”) directed. (Rated: PG-13; now in theaters)

Selma,” with Giovanni Ribisi, Tim Roth, Oprah Winfrey, Carmen Ejogo, Tom Wilknson, David Oyelowo, the one-named Common, Cuba Gooding Jr. in a historical drama about how Dr. Martin Luther King and President Lyndon Baines Johnson fought for civil rights. Ava DuVernay (“This Is the Life”) directed. (Rated: Pending; Limited release date Dec. 25)

Still Alice,” with Julianne Moore, Kristen Stewart, Kate Bosworth and Alec Baldwin in a drama, adapted from Lisa Genova’s novel (2007), about a linguistics professor diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland co-directed. (Rated: PG-13; now in theaters)

Top Five,” with Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, Rosario Dawson, Kevin Hart, Gabrielle Union, Whoopi Goldberg, Tracy Morgan, Cedric the Entertainer and Jerry Seinfeld in a romantic comedy about an intense actor who agrees to allow his fiancé to air their wedding on her reality show. Rock also directed. (Rated: Pending; Dec. 5)

Two Days, One Night,” with Marion Cotillard and Fabrizio Rongione in a PG-13 drama about a young woman who’s in danger of losing her job if her workmates refuse to support her desire to stay. Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne co-directed the French import. (Rated: PG-13; Dec. 24)

Unbroken,” with Jack O’Connell and Domhnall Gleeson in a biographical drama about Louis Zamperini, an athlete who competed in the Olympics, survived an airplane crash at sea and suffered two years in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp. Angelina Jolie (“In the Land of Blood and Honey”) directed. (Rated: PG-13; Dec. 25)

Wild,” with Reese Witherspoon and Laura Dern in an outdoor drama about a young woman who commits herself to hiking the Pacific Crest Trail after her mother’s unexpected death. Jean-Marc Vallee (“Dallas Buyers Club”) directed. (Rated: R; Dec. 5)

Sources include Entertainment Weekly, the Internet Movie Database, the Hollywood Reporter, Google, and USA Today.

Lou Gaul is the retired film critic for Calkins Media.

CUSTOMER LOGIN

If you have an account and are registered for online access, sign in with your email address and password below.

NEW CUSTOMERS/UNREGISTERED ACCOUNTS

Never been a subscriber and want to subscribe, click the Subscribe button below.

Starting at $4.79/week.

Subscribe Today