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When an evil spirit called Pitch becomes bent upon taking over the world by inspiring fear in the hearts of kids everywhere, a group of our greatest heroes — Santa, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, the Sandman and Jack Frost — band together for the first time, determined to stand in Pitch’s way. More than a collection of storybook subjects, “The Guardians” are also a band of superheroes, who possess their own special powers. Now joined in opposition of a common foe, the Guardians heed the call and combine their powers to defeat Pitch and protect the world from his campaign of fear. The film is based on “The Guardians of Childhood,” a series of highly anticipated books by William Joyce.
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An 8-bit video-game character attempts to shed his bad-guy image by escaping into a popular first-person shooter, but inadvertently wreaks havoc in the video-game universe by freeing a digital villain who can only be contained with the help of a most unlikely ally in this colorful animated adventure. Wreck-It Ralph (voice of John C. Reilly) is the arch nemesis of Fix-It Felix (voice of Jack McBrayer), one of the most beloved video-game icons of all time. In a noble bid to prove he is more than the sum of his programming, Ralph sneaks from his cozy retro home into a highly advanced combat game featuring battle-hardened soldier Sergeant Calhoun (voice of Jane Lynch), and strives to prove his bravery by winning a medal. In the process, however, Ralph accidentally frees the greatest threat the video-game world has ever seen. But all hope is not lost, because if Ralph can just convince unpredictable cart racer Vanellope von Schweetz (voice of Sarah Silverman) to help set things right, perhaps he can finally unleash his inner hero and save the arcade from certain destruction. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
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Steven Spielberg helms his long-in-the-making biopic of Abraham Lincoln for DreamWorks and Touchstone Pictures. Daniel Day-Lewis portrays the former head of state in the Tony Kushner-penned adaptation of Doris Kearns Goodwin’s book Team of Rivals, which chronicles the President’s time in office between 1861 and 1865 as he dealt with personal demons and politics during the Civil War. Sally Field leads a co-starring cast that includes Tommy Lee Jones, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Academy Award nominee John Hawkes. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi
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A pilot with a substance-abuse problem has to land a crippled airliner in this Robert Zemeckis-directed drama for Paramount Pictures. Real Steel’s John Gatins provides the script. Denzel Washington heads up a cast that includes The Hurt Locker’s Brian Geraghty, along with John Goodman and Don Cheadle. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi
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007 (Daniel Craig) becomes M’s only ally as MI6 comes under attack, and a mysterious new villain emerges with a diabolical plan. James Bond’s latest mission has gone horribly awry, resulting in the exposure of several undercover agents, and an all-out attack on M16. Meanwhile, as M (Judi Dench) plans to relocate the agency, emerging Chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee Mallory (Ralph Fiennes) raises concerns about her competence while attempting to usurp her position, and Q (Ben Whishaw) becomes a crucial ally. Now the only person who can restore M’s reputation is 007. Operating in the dark with only field agent Eve (Naomie Harris) to guide him, the world’s top secret agent works to root out an enigmatic criminal mastermind named Silva (Javier Bardem) as a major storm brews on the horizon. Albert Finney also stars in the 23rd installment of the long-running spy series. The film was directed by Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Revolutionary Road) and shot by acclaimed cinematographer Roger Deakins (True Grit, The Reader, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford). ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
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Bella (Kristen Stewart) awakes — as a vampire — from her life-threatening labor, and her newborn daughter, Renesmee, proves to be very special indeed. While Bella adjusts to her new state of being, Renesmee experiences accelerated growth. When the Volturi learn of the baby’s existence, they declare her to be an abomination and sentence the Cullens to death. Bella, Edward (Robert Pattinson) and the rest of the clan seek help from allies around the world to protect their family.
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A professional enforcer investigates the brazen robbery of a high-stakes mob poker game in this crime thriller directed by Andrew Dominik (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford) and adapted from a novel by George V. Higgins. Livid over the fact that three low-level thieves have crashed the entire underworld economy, the mob’s top brass hires Jackie Cogan (Brad Pitt) to see that the bandits pay for their crime. The closer Cogan gets to his target, however, the more he finds his mission complicated by an alcoholic hit man who’s well past his prime, incompetent gangsters, and the playboy host of the inauspicious game. James Gandolfini, Ray Liotta, Ben Mendelsohn, Richard Jenkins, and Scoot McNairy co-star. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
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Original: Movies.com Top 10 Box Office
