User blog:Gcheung28/Winter Movie Guide 2012-2013

The holiday season is upon us and, aside from Christmas carols and decorations that bombard us everywhere we go, it is also the time for studios to give us another hoard of movies to go to with families, friends, and significant others. Many believe this year could see record grosses thanks in part to Christmas and New Year's Day falling midweek on Tuesdays. There's a good mix of drama, romance, comedy, and action this year, and with movies like The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey coming out in December, there is going to be a tough fight for the top spot in the box office!

Without further ado, here are 10 films to see this winter.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - December 14
Director: Peter Jackson

Cast: Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Andy Serkis, Benedict Cumberbatch

Explore: The LOTR Wiki

One of the most lauded films of the year, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is the first in a trilogy based on J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy novel The Hobbit. The the final Lord of the Rings, released in December 2003, grossed $1.4 billion globally when adjusted for inflation, and many are expecting this film to open big and probably take the box office gold. Peter Jackson proved that he knew what he was doing with the Lord of the Rings trilogy, so I am sure The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will be just as amazing!

Jack Reacher - December 21
Director: Christopher McQuarrie

Cast: Tom Cruise, Rosamund Pike, Robert Duvall, Werner Herzog, Richard Jenkins

Oh, Tom Cruise. With so many films on his resume, we've got another action-packed movie coming up from the star. The film is based on a pretty popular book series and aims to be an all-audience action thriller! We were pleasantly surprised at how good Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol was; here's to hoping the same happens for Jack Reacher!

This is 40 - December 21
Director: Bill Condon

Cast: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and Taylor Lautner

Explore:' Twilight Wiki

If you're looking to get your funny bone tickled this season, how about checking out This is 40? The movie is a pin-off of the other Judd Apatow movie, Knocked Up. In case you don't remember (or you chose to never watch it), Debbie and Pete are a couple from Knocked Up who seem to have reached a slump in their marriage. The movie is a comedy that shows up what it's like for the two as they continue to fight through their marriage.

Django Unchained - December 25
Director: Quentin Tarantino

Cast: Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo Dicaprio

Explore: Django Unchained Wiki

This movie has gotten a lot of buzz, and, if you've seen the trailer for it, you know that buzz is much deserved! In this film, Django (played by Jamie Foxx) goes looking for his wife Broomhilda who he lost to the slave trade long ago. He hones his skills with Christoph Waltz who plays a German bounty hunter named King Schultz, and the two eventually come face to face with Leonardo Dicaprio as the evil villain, Calvin J. Candle. With a good plot, a great cast, and some of that Quentin Tarantino magic, Django Unchained looks like a movie worth watching!

Les Miserables (2012) - December 25
Director: Tom Hooper

Cast: Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried

Les Miserables is a beautiful musical, and one that I really hope will transition well onto the big screen. For those of you unfamiliar with the plot, the film tells the story of Jean Valjean, a former prisoner who becomes mayor of a town in France. Valjean agrees to take care of Cosette, the illegitimate daughter of Fantine, and has to avoid being captured again by Javert, a police inspector. Javert's pursuit of Valjean consumes both men's lives, and after two decades on the run, Valjean finds himself in the midst of the 1832 June Rebellion in Paris. The music is haunting and the story is bound to make even the manliest of men shed a tear or two!

Struck by Lightning - January 11
Director: Brian Dannelly

Cast: Chris Colfer, Christina Hendricks, Sarah Hyland

If you are a fan of Glee, than you probably know that Chris Colfer (he plays Kurt) has been writing a book that then led to a screenplay for his 2012 coming-of-age comedy called Struck by Lightning! After being struck by lightning and killed, the main character recounts the way he blackmailed his classmates into contributing to his literary magazine. With so many fans of Glee out there, this movie will probably do pretty well. Aside from that, the trailer seems pretty cute and something worth watching with a friend or two!

Zero Dark Thirty - January 11
Director: Kathryn Bigelow

Cast: Jessica Chastain, Jason Clarke, Joel Edgerton, Chris Pratt

The hunt for Osama Bin Laden. Someone was bound to take the story and turn it into a movie, but, boy, are we glad that Kathryn Bigelow took on the challenge! If you are unfamiliar with the name, we'll give you three words: The Hurt Locker. Her last military action thriller won the Academy Award for Best Picture and five other Oscars in 2009. With a movie tagline like "the story of history's greatest manhunt for the world's most dangerous man," what do you have to lose by going to see Zero Dark Thirty in theaters?

The Gangster Squad - January 11
Director: Ruben Fleischer

Cast: Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, Sean Penn, Nick Nolte, Emma Stone

Gangster Squad is a crime film about LAPD Detectives who are attempting to keep Los Angeles free of gangsters during the 1940s and '50s. Unfortunately, the film was originally set to be released September 7, 2012, but it was bumped to a January 11, 2013 release date in the wake of the 2012 Aurora shooting. If you love old school mobster movies and pretty awesome action sequences, be sure to check this movie out. If you're not a huge fan of the drama but you love Ryan Gosling (like most of the world), check it out anyway.

Stand Up Guys - February 1
Director: Fisher Stevens

Cast: Al Pacino, Christopher Walken, Alan Arkin

I'm not expecting Stand Up Guys to win anything this season, but I do hope that this gang gets a good review from critics at least! With the Godfather and the King of NY in starring roles, this crime-comedy film seems like it's got enough going for it to be worth watching.

Beautiful Creatures - February 13
Director: Richard LaGravenese

Cast: Alice Englert, Alden Ehrenreich, Emmy Rossum, Emma Thompson, Jeremy Irons, Thomas Mann, and Viola Davis

Explore:The Caster Chronicles Wiki

Now that the Twilight saga is over, who's going to take the throne as the next reigning tween franchise? For people familiar with the Caster Chronicles, this series could be a contender! Supernatural + young love = box office win? All in all, it seems like a pretty interesting plot with darker elements in it that will keep people interested in more than the angsty teenage love story that we all love so much. If this movie is a success, there are three more novels for the studio to use!

Poll
Which of these ten films are you most excited to see? Django Unchained Beautiful Creatures Zero Dark Thirty The Gangster Squad Les Miserables Struck by Lightning Jack Reacher The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Stand Up Guys This is 40