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David O. Russell’s Silver Linings Playbook stars Bradley Cooper as Pat, a bipolar man from Philadelphia who has spent the last eight months in a mental hospital. He was ordered there after a violent incident involving his wife and another man. Pat moves in with his father (Robert De Niro), a lifelong Eagles fans who has low-level OCD issues. Pat wants to get back together with his wife, even though there is a restraining order keeping him from contacting her. He soon befriends a depressed young woman who’s mourning the death of her husband by engaging in compulsive sex with almost everyone she meets; she also knows his wife and offers to deliver a letter of his to her if he acts as her partner in a local dance competition. Silver Linings Playbook screened at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
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The King’s Speech’s Tom Hooper directs this adaptation of Cameron Mackintosh’s successful musical version of Victor Hugo’s classic novel. The drama surrounds the obsessive quest of Inspector Javert (Russell Crowe) as he spends years in an effort to capture escaped convict Jean Valjean. Hugh Jackman co-stars in the Universal Pictures production. Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried, and Sacha Baron Cohen also star. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi
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Billy Crystal and Bette Midler star as Artie and Diane — an old-school grandfather and his people-pleasing wife, who babysit for their three decidedly 21st century grandchildren while the kids’ type-A parents (played by Marisa Tomei and Tom Everett Scott) are away for work. Artie’s traditional ideas go toe-to-toe with the kids’ (and their parents’) cutting-edge, multitasking ways, but this modern family comes to learn that love, understanding, and an openness to trying new and old things, will always keep a family together. Andy Fickman directs from a script by Lisa Addario and Joe Syracuse. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi
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A former slave and a German bounty hunter become unlikely allies in the battle against a tyrannical plantation owner in this western from visionary director Quentin Tarantino. Two years before the Civil War pits brother-against-brother, German-born fugitive hunter Dr. King Schultz (Academy Award-winner Christoph Waltz) arrives in America determined to capture the outlaw Brittle brothers dead or alive. In the midst of his search, Dr. Schultz crosses paths with Django (Academy Award-winner Jamie Foxx), a freed slave and skilled tracker who seeks to rescue his beloved wife Broomhilda (Kerry Washington) from ruthless plantation owner Calvin Candie (Academy Award-nominee Leonardo DiCaprio). Once Django has aided Dr. Schultz in coralling the Brittle brothers, the two team up to capture some of the most wanted men in the South. Meanwhile, Django never loses sight of his mission to free Broomhilda from the treacherous slave trade before it’s too late. Upon arriving at Candie’s nefarious plantation, dubbed Candyland, Django and Dr. Schultz discover that slaves are being groomed for gladiator-like competitions by Candie’s malevolent right-hand man Billy Crash (Walton Goggins), and together they skillfully work their way onto the compound for a closer look. But just as Django and his partner locate Broomhilda and plot…
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Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) joins Gandalf (Ian McKellen) and a band of dwarves led by the brave Thorin (Richard Armitage) on a treacherous quest to reclaim their mountain home from the fierce dragon Smaug in this epic fantasy adventure adapted from J.R.R. Tolkien’s beloved novel by the creative forces behind the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Long before Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) made his arduous journey to Mordor, his brave uncle Bilbo embarked on an adventure for the ages. Bilbo’s story gets under way when the great wizard Gandalf appears at his front gate with a most unusual offer. Displaced from their massive fortress in the Lonely Mountain by Smaug – a greedy dragon who coveted their gold – a community of noble dwarves were decimated by a surprise attack by monstrous orcs, whose dreaded leader the Pale Orc slew their king in a gruesome battle. Now, Thorin, the descendent of the king, is determined to reclaim his mountain kingdom for his people. Together with a fearless team of dwarves, Thorin and Gandalf recruit Bilbo to aid them in their quest since Hobbits have the unique ability to go undetected when they wish to. Before Bilbo, Gandalf, and the dwarves can…
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An elite police squad fights to save the city of Los Angeles from a power-hungry East Coast mobster in this gritty police-detective film set in the 1940s, and based on Paul Lieberman’s seven-part Los Angeles Times series “Tales From the Gangster Squad.” Sean Penn, Josh Brolin, and Ryan Gosling star in a film directed by Ruben Fleischer (Zombieland), and featuring Nick Nolte, Michael Peña, Emma Stone, and Robert Patrick. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
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Terror comes ripping right through the silver screen in this sequel that picks up exactly where Tobe Hooper’s shocking 1974 classic left off. For decades, people in Newt, Texas, had been vanishing into thin air. When a horrified young girl escaped from the Sawyer house after seeing her friends butchered like cattle, the townspeople’s worst fears about the reclusive clan were confirmed. Enraged, the locals formed a mob, burned down the blood-soaked abattoir, and methodically killed every member of the family. But in the blazing chaos of that fateful night, one of the Sawyers slipped away into the darkness. For decades it seemed as if the nightmare had ended. But when a young woman named Heather Miller (Alexandra Daddario) receives word that her distant grandmother has passed away, willing her a secluded Victorian mansion in the Texas desert, the discovery of a dark secret hidden deep in the cellar reveals the Sawyer’s legacy of evil lives on. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
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Marlon Wayans and Essence Atkins head up this horror parody about a man who scrambles for some supernatural assistance after a demon stakes its claim on his unsuspecting girlfriend. Malcolm (Wayans) and Kisha (Atkins) are just settling into their new house when Kisha begins to exhibit some seriously disturbing behavior. At first Malcolm suspects that the house is haunted, but it doesn’t take long to realize that Kisha has been possessed. Now, in order to save Kisha’s immortal soul and get her back in the mood for some hanky-panky, Malcolm recruits a virtual army of exorcists and paranormal experts to wage all-out war against the diabolical entity. Cedric the Entertainer, David Koechner, and Nick Swardson co-star. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
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Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal, the Academy Award-winning duo behind The Hurt Locker, reteam for this drama detailing the hunt for Osama bin Laden, which stars Oscar nominee Jessica Chastain as the intelligence expert who dedicated a decade of her life to tracking down the world’s most wanted terrorist. In the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the CIA began interrogating suspected Al Qaeda agents across the globe in a bid to locate the elusive bin Laden. Upon arriving at a CIA black site and witnessing the brutal interrogation tactics firsthand, driven operative Maya (Chastain) aids her unpredictable colleague Dan (Jason Clarke) in gathering the intelligence that will help bring their target to justice. Over the course of the next decade, numerous false leads and dead ends make the search seem more futile than ever. Meanwhile, numerous suicide bombings across the Middle East and Europe hint that Al Qaeda won’t go down without a fight. Then, just when it seems as if the trail of clues has finally dried up, an old piece of evidence leads Maya to a suspect who may work directly for the man charged with planning the worst act of terrorism ever committed on American soil. Joel…
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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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Original: Movies.com Top 10 Box Office
