21 AND OVER (R) Two best pals (Footloose’s Miles Teller, who is a hair away from breaking big, and Pitch Perfect’s Skylar Astin) take their pal, Jeff Chang (Justin Chon), out for his 21st birthday the night before his big med school interview. Screenwriters Jon Lucas and Scott Moore (their best is The Hangover; their worst is Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, though the Martin Lawrence vehicle, Rebound, isn’t far behind) make their directorial debut. Apparently, the raunchy comedy required some major changes before China would allow its release.

• AMOUR (PG-13) Be he telling the story of possibly killer German kids, sociopathic young men in tennis whites or a couple terrorized by surveillance videos, Michael Haneke is a wonderfully, terribly transgressive filmmaker. Amour—winner of the Best Foreign Language Oscar, Best Picture nominee and winner of the Palme d’Or—is filled with so much love, so much tenderness and so much sadness. Still deeply in love, Georges (Jean-Louis Trintignant) and Anne (Academy Award nominee Emmanuelle Riva) are enjoying their twilight years until debilitating illness strikes Anne. Their daughter, Eva (Isabelle Huppert), offers criticisms but no assistance, leaving loving Georges to cope with caring for his wife. The intensity of Amour should come with a warning label. Tears will flow; hearts will ache. Viewers will transfer their own love and fears for themselves and their significant other, their parents or their grandparents onto Georges and Anne. Both Trintignant and Riva excel in difficult roles. Riva’s Oscar nomination should not surprise; she spends most of the film portraying a disability. However, Haneke never allows Amour to wax sentimental. The Austrian does not truck with sappy greeting card sentiment. Amour will break your heart, and you’ll be glad it did. (Ciné)

ARGO (R) Ben Affleck’s career revival continues with Argo, earning Best Writing and Best Picture Award from the Academy, as well as a Golden Globe. Revealing the once classified story of how the CIA rescued six American hostages in the midst of the Iranian Revolution, Argo is both an intriguing modern history lesson and a compelling, old-fashioned Hollywood thriller. Affleck has collected one hell of a cast—John Goodman, Academy Award nominee Alan Arkin, Bryan Cranston, Kyle Chandler, Victor Garber, Scoot McNairy, Chris Messina and many more recognizable faces—but its greatness is a sum of all parts—directing, writing (by first-time scripter and newly minted Academy Award winner Chris Terrio) and acting.

BEAUTIFUL CREATURES (PG-13) The latest YA adaptation to battle through the Twilight comparisons, Beautiful Creatures, based off the first book of Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl’s Caster Chronicles probably owes more to HBO’s vampire hit, “True Blood.” Set in the South Carolina hamlet of Gatlin, Beautiful Creatures excels at lurid overwroughtness, from the romantic professions to the accents to the acting, and that is meant as a compliment. High school junior Ethan Wate (the unexpectedly magnetic Alden Ehrenreich) falls in love with new girl, Lena Duchannes (Alice Englert). Unfortunately, Lena’s upcoming sweet 16 brings with it a family curse because she hails from a race of magic users known as Casters. The rest of the small-minded Christian town merely thinks Lena and her uncle (Jeremy Irons) worship the devil; how parochial of them. Irons and Emma Thompson have a veritable feast, overwhelming many of their costars, especially the usually standout Margo Martindale, who might have been more appropriately cast in Thompson’s role. Somehow, Ehrenreich holds his own, despite the self-satisfyingly pithy dialogue from writer-director Richard LaGravenese. Its events start to drag as they draw to a climactic close, but as far as soap operatic fantasies go, Beautiful Creatures is a success.

• DARK SKIES (PG-13) I am far from a fan of director Scott Stewart’s first two movies, the dual Paul Bettany special effects-acles Legion and Priest. Working with a Paranormal Activity and Insidious producer, Stewart crafts a decent haunted house movie that substitutes ETs for ghosts or demons. The Barretts, led by Josh Hamilton (The House of Yes) and Keri Russell (having a nice renaissance on FX’s intriguing, '80s-set, Soviet spies among us drama, “The Americans”), live an idyllic suburban life with their two boys, Jesse (Dakota Goyo) and Sam (Kadan Rockett). Sure, they are struggling financially like everyone else in the Great Recession, but they get by until strange happenings like lost time and freak bird suicides begin plaguing them. An alien expert (J.K. Simmons in an unfairly small role) explains that they have been chosen by the Grays; he prepares them for the worst: abduction. The chills are small but occasionally satisfying in a more old-fashioned, The Haunting sort of way. Most frightening might be the utter hopelessness, so ably conveyed by Russell and Hamilton, as the dangerous reality of their situation settles in. The competition is weak, but Dark Skies is 2013’s best scary movie yet.

DJANGO UNCHAINED (R) Not many auteurs can take an academic cinematic exercise and turn it into one of the year’s most entertaining spectacles like Quentin Tarantino can in this Oscar winner for Best Original Screenplay. Slave Django (Jamie Foxx) is freed by dentist-turned-bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz (Best Supporting Actor Academy Award winner and Golden Globe nominee Christoph Waltz, the single greatest gift QT has given American movie audiences). Together the duo hunts bad guys and seeks Django’s wife, Broomhilda (Kerry Washington), who belongs to plantation owner Calvin Candie (Golden Globe nominee Leonardo DiCaprio). For a critically acclaimed award nominee, Django Unchained is an ultraviolent blast. Every bullet creates an unbelievable explosion of blood, and every actor gives a gleefully energetic performance. DiCaprio and Samuel L. Jackson have a particularly grand chemistry. Modern cinema’s biggest cinephile-cum-director again proves how great a genre film can be. QT continues to bring exploitation flicks from the grindhouse to the multiplex and the award shows. Few modern movies convey their creator’s delight as a QT film does; one knows he is making movies he wants to see, not movies to which he thinks audiences will flock. Sure, detractors will slam Django Unchained for its bloody violence and offensive language, but it’s most notable for a perfectly rare combination of art and entertainment.

ESCAPE FROM PLANET EARTH (PG) One can pretty much expect the small animation houses to release one of these harmless, uninspired kiddie flicks every month. Did your kid love Monster vs Aliens? Then they’re bound to momentarily enjoy Escape from Planet Earth while you catch a quick nap or check out the Oscar nominee playing next door. Nobody expects cartoons like Escape from Planet Earth to compete with Pixar’s animated features for awards; they’re made to replace babysitters and entertain kids for 90 minutes. A space adventurer, Scorch Supernova (v. Brendan Fraser), is captured on Earth by the villainous General Shanker (v. William Shatner, who provides some of the movie’s most entertaining voice work). Shanker is making a fortune off his alien captives’ technological innovations. His latest prisoner is Scorch’s brainy brother, Gary (v. Rob Corddry, an odd vocal choice considering his comic persona is certainly not built around his intelligence). Now the Supernova bros must work together to get back home. The animation is as shiny as the story is recycled. Other cartoons have hurt worse, but anything that wastes the genius of Ricky Gervais should be eyed with a bit of extra skepticism.

THE GENDER CHIP PROJECT (NR) As part of Women’s History Month, the University of Georgia Institute for Women’s Studies presents a screening of The Gender Chip Project. Despite the majority of undergraduates in America being women, only 20 percent are seeking engineering and computer science degrees. The documentary follows five women majoring in the sciences, engineering and math at Ohio State University. The five OSU students meet regularly to discuss their college experiences as women in these male-dominated fields. (UGA MLC, Room 148)

A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD (R) Will audiences find Bruce Willis’ New York Detective John McClane running into trouble for a fifth time, in Russia, with his CIA operative son (Jack Reacher’s Jai Courtney), believable? Will it matter? Maybe. R-rated action is not doing so hot, with Arnold’s The Last Stand and Sly’s Bullet to the Head both underperforming their already low expectations. Respectable but unexciting action director John Moore (Behind Enemy Lines, Flight of the Phoenix, The Omen and Max Payne) should be better than Live and Let Die Hard’s Len Wiseman.

THE GUILT TRIP (PG-13) Certainly not as laughless as its trailers suggest, The Guilt Trip mines some genuine comic chemistry between its leads, Seth Rogen and Barbra Streisand, as Andy Brewster, a son traveling across the country with his mother, Joyce. The many car-bound scenes featuring just the two stars generate the movie’s biggest laughs. Unfortunately, Andy and Joyce make some excruciating pit stops that fall back on the sitcomishly simple gags like a Texan eating contest (which, for what little it’s worth, does involve Barbra as opposed to Rogen). Speaking of Ms. Streisand, she looks terrific for a septuagenarian. That the producers cast Adam Scott and Ari Graynor in such tiny roles is unforgivable. Though not nearly as bad as it could be, sons and daughters would be better off steering their mothers toward one of the several better cinematic products out this holiday season.

HANSEL & GRETEL: WITCH HUNTERS (R) Wondering how Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters made it to theaters is a far more interesting way to spend the action fairy tale’s sub-90-minute runtime. The fabled origin of Hansel and Gretel is well-known. Two kids are left alone in the forest and stumble upon a witch’s candy house; the kids kill the witch. Dead Snow’s Tommy Wirkola imagines what happens next, as Hansel and Gretel (Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton) grow up to be traveling hunters of deadly witches. Apparently, the biggest, baddest witch (Famke Janssen) is hatching a plot that requires Gretel, due to a not-so-surprising mid-film reveal. Renner deserves better starring roles than this, or the ones in The Avengers and The Bourne Legacy. He needs a role to highlight his dry delivery and superheroics. Arterton’s pretty and British, but her Gretel is an interchangeable part that could have been played by many a former Bond girl. Wirkola also seems to have some difficulties with tone, shifting from mean and callous to slapstick in seconds. Perhaps the presence of Will Ferrell and Adam McKay as producers pushed the movie to be funnier than it needed. Hansel & Gretel will be forgotten by March.

A HAUNTED HOUSE (R) In this found footage horror spoof, a young couple, Malcolm and Keisha (Marlon Wayans and Essence Atkins), move into their dream home, only to learn a demon is already in residence. Soon, Keisha is possessed, and Malcolm hires a priest, psychic, ghostbusters, whomever he can find that could help save his sex life. The trailers look as miserably unfunny as one would expect from this creative team. With Alanna Ubach, Nick Swardson, David Koechner and Cedric the Entertainer as Father Doug.

HYDE PARK ON HUDSON (R) The surprisingly versatile Bill Murray looks to make a fine 32nd president. Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s love affair with his cousin, Margaret Stuckley (Laura Linney), becomes the focus of a 1939 weekend visit from the King and Queen of England (Samuel West and Olivia Colman). Director Roger Michell previously helmed Notting Hill, Changing Lanes, Venus and 2010’s Morning Glory; this film looks like it could be better than all of those combined. With Rushmore’s Olivia Williams as Eleanor Roosevelt. (Ciné)

IDENTITY THIEF (R) Unfortunately, stars Melissa McCarthy (an Oscar nominee for Bridesmaids) and Jason Bateman are better than this more-annoying-than-funny odd couple road comedy. With two kids and another on the way, Sandy Patterson (Bateman) is struggling to make ends meet. Having his identity stolen by friendless Diana (McCarthy) only further aggravates his financial distress. In desperation, Sandy travels to Florida to bring his tormentor to justice. Inexplicably and unnecessarily on their heels are a couple of drug enforcers (Genesis Rodriguez and Tip “T.I.” Harris) and a mean ass bounty hunter (a pretty much wasted Robert Patrick). Strangely, the gags work best when Bateman’s straight man and McCarthy’s manic criminal bond rather than fight. Too bad the mean-spirited comic scenarios cooked up by screenwriter Craig Mazin (Scary Movies 3 and 4 and The Hangover: Parts II and III) lack originality. The punch lines lack the subtlety that brings out Bateman’s greatness. Director Seth Gordon (The King of Kong and Horrible Bosses) and his hilarious stars have done and will do comedy better.

JACK THE GIANT SLAYER (PG-13) Bryan Singer’s new film sounds really interesting. The lengthy peace between man and giant is threatened by a young farmer (Nicholas Hoult), who ventures onto giant land in search of a kidnapped princess. And all this occurs in a modern-day world. The cool idea from Wedding Crashers director David Dobkin boasts a screenplay cowritten by Usual Suspects Oscar winner Christopher McQuarrie. With Ewan McGregor, Stanley Tucci, Bill Nighy, Ian McShane, Warwick Davis and Ewen Bremner.

THE LAST EXORCISM: PART II (PG-13) Ummm, I thought the whole point of the more than acceptable first film was that it was the LAST exorcism. Poor Nell Sweetzer (Ashley Bell, from the recommended original) tries to start over after the tragic events of the first movie, but evil forces have other plans for her. Eli Roth, acting as producer, is the biggest name attached to this needless, but hopefully worthwhile, horror sequel. Indie filmmaker Ed Gass-Donnelly (Small Town Murder Songs) got the call to helm this flick, his biggest to date.

MAMA (PG-13) As much of a horror movie fan as yours truly is, the ghostly stories often favored by Spanish filmmakers are not my subgenre of choice. In Mama, produced by Guillermo del Toro and based on a short expanded by writer-director Andrés Muschietti, two young girls are found in a cabin, where they have lived alone for five years. Unfortunately, when Annabel and Lucas (Academy Award nominee Jessica Chastain and Nicolaj Coster-Waldau) get Victoria and Lily home, they discover the two girls were not alone in the woods, and they’ve brought their rather angry “Mama” with them. The buildup is slow and foreboding, but the final act asks far too much of its CGI creature, whose overly digital appearance elicits more giggles than screams. When coupled with Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, Mama sucks a bit more wind out of del Toro’s producing sails; so long as summer’s Pacific Rim doesn’t dim his writing-directing luster, everything should be okay.

OFFICE SPACE (R) 1999. Though this film from Mike Judge, creator of “Beavis and Butthead” and “King of the Hill,” fizzled at the box office, it has subsequently blossomed on DVD and cable. For those who don’t have Comedy Central, the meager plot, merely a setup for trenchant, relevant workplace gags that verge on gallows humor, involves a scheme by three officemates (Ron Livingstone, David Herman, and Ajay Naidu) to embezzle money from their faceless employer, Initech. Before “The Office,” both British and American, Office Space ruled the corporate skewering roost and is still unfairly funny. Plus, Gary Cole appears as the wonderfully middle management Bill Lumbergh. With Stephen Root, Diedrich Bader, John C. McGinley, and Jennifer Aniston, Office Space never fails to bring out my “O” face. (UGA Tate Theatre)

ONE LIFE (NR) 2011. The BBC compiles some of its aww-inspiring and technologically advanced footage of wild animals moving through the stages of their lives to create a cohesive look at the path of all living things. Narrated by Daniel Craig.

OSCAR SHORTS (NR) The Oscar nominated Live Action and Animated Shorts Programs return to Ciné. This year’s Live Action nominees include Oscar winner “Curfew” from the U.S., South Africa’s “Asad,” Afghanistan’s “Buzkashi Boys,” Belgium/France’s “Death of a Shadow” and Canada’s “Henry.” The Animated Short Film nominees are Disney's Oscar winner “Paperman,” “Head Over Heels,” “The Longest Daycare” featuring Maggie Simpson, “Fresh Guacamole” and “Adam and Dog.” (Ciné)

PARENTAL GUIDANCE (PG) Billy Crystal and Bette Midler star as old-school grandparents forced to care for their decidedly 21st-century grandchildren. Director Andy Fickman’s filmography is more weak (The Game Plan, Race to Witch Mountain) than bad (You Again); I did enjoy his Amanda Bynes cross-dressing comedy, She’s the Man. Splash Academy Award nominees Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel are credited with the rewrite. With Marisa Tomei, Bailee Madison (the young Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark star is a boon) and Tom Everett Scott.

PHANTOM (R) Ed Harris and David Duchovny play Russians in a Cold War era Soviet submarine, playing chicken with the ship’s nuclear missile. I liked Crimson Tide and ABC’s “The Last Resort”; I’m not so sure about its pinko commie cousin. Writer-director Todd Robinson has little to recommend him save writing one of Ridley Scott’s least memorable pictures, White Squall. Robinson’s own previous feature, Lonely Hearts, is marked by a top-heavy cast including John Travolta, James Gandolfini and Salma Hayek.

A PLACE AT THE TABLE (PG) This new documentary from the same production company that released Food, Inc. examines the hunger pangs felt by millions of Americans every day. Thankfully, filmmakers Kristi Jacobson and Lori Silverbush also offer solutions. The inimitable Jeff Bridges appears as himself, as do five-time James Beard Foundation Medal winner Tom Colicchio, Ken Cook and Raj Patel. A Place at the Table was nominated for the Sundance Film Festival’s Grand Jury Prize. The music is coolly provided by The Civil Wars and T Bone Burnett.

REINCARNATED (NR) 2012. Hip hip artist Snoop Dogg changes his name to Snoop Lion in this documentary, traveling to Jamaica to release a reggae record of the same name as the film and converting to Rastafarianism. March 5 only. (40 Watt)

RISE OF THE GUARDIANS (PG) Author William Joyce’s very cool idea is brought to the big screen by first-time animated feature director Peter Ramsey and fantastical executive producer Guillermo del Toro. Holiday legends North (aka Santa, who is voiced very Russianly by Alec Baldwin), Bunny (v. Hugh Jackman) and Tooth (v. Isla Fisher) are joined by Jack Frost (v. Chris Pine) as they do battle with the evil Pitch (v. Jude Law). Imagining massive audiences of children falling hard for this potential animated franchise is not hard. The computer-generated animation is engaging (though one must wonder what thought process led to such an unappealingly birdlike appearance for the Tooth Fairy), and the narrative is action-packed. Adults will be intermittently bored by the pedestrian plotting and obvious obstacles placed in front of the legendary heroes. Hopefully, a sequel will take increased advantage of the extraordinary concept rather than relying so much upon tired cartoon storytelling.

SAFE HAVEN (PG-13) One thing I enjoy about reviewing movies is having a readymade excuse for watching sappy romances like Safe Haven. I’ve been curious as to what the big mystery is since the first trailer; plus, Julianne Hough is really attractive. Unfortunately, the latest Nicholas Sparks adaptation, set in another North Carolina paradise, is one solved mystery away from just being one couple’s two hour how we met story. Pretty, young Katie is on the run from a constantly drunk, really sweaty cop (“Revolution” star David Lyons). Lucky for her, a hot widower, Alex (Josh Duhamel), with two cute kids is ready to love again. Wondering how this romance is ultimately different from Sleeping with the Enemy? Then prepare for the laughable, Shyamalan-esque, climactic twist. Still, Safe Haven is competently, if unexcitingly, made by Academy Award nominee Lasse Hallstrom, but The Notebook need not worry. Its legacy as the gold standard for this sort of Sparks-ian cinematic page turner is under no threat.

SIDE EFFECTS (R) Acclaimed filmmaker Steven Soderbergh has intimated that Side Effects is his final film, which is a shame. The Academy Award winning director would be going out at the top of his game, but with a movie that feels more good than great. However, Side Effects, written by Soderbergh’s writing collaborator on The Informant! and Contagion, is hard to talk about without spoiling any of the many entertaining twists. Here’s the most spoiler-free plot synopsis I could devise. Emily Taylor’s (Rooney Mara, Lisbeth Salander in the English-language The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) struggles with depression after her financier husband, Martin (Channing Tatum), is released from prison, which leads her into the care of Dr. Jonathan Banks (Jude Law). However, the drug prescribed by Dr. Banks has deadly side effects for Emily. Soderbergh precisely dissects this medical mystery, in which everyone’s motives are suspect. Law charms but to what end? Is Catherine Zeta-Jones’ fellow shrink everything she seems to be? And what about Emily herself? A lot of the film’s suspenseful fun comes from unraveling the mystery. While not Soderbergh’s best, Side Effects heats up a cold February theater better than this winter’s mostly frozen flick-sticks.

SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK (R) David O. Russell’s dram-rom-com and multiple Academy Award nominee does everything but disappoint. Pat (Academy Award nominee Bradley Cooper) has just been released from a state mental hospital after a violent incident involving his estranged wife and another man. Maybe too soon after coming home, Pat meets Tiffany (Academy Award and Golden Globe winner Jennifer Lawrence), who lost it after the death of her husband. Instead of exacerbating each other’s unhealthy flaws, the relationship between these two cracked souls heals both, much to the surprise of everyone, including Pat’s parents (dual Oscar nominees Robert De Niro and Animal Kingdom’s Jacki Weaver). Besides I Heart Huckabees (which deserves reevaluation) and Russell’s infamous tirade, The Fighter, the filmmaker has one of the strongest filmographies of any of the acclaimed auteurs first discovered in the 1990s. Silver Linings Playbook has an awkward edge—you keep waiting for Pat and Tiffany’s house of cards to collapse—that makes even the smallest successes so much sweeter. Russell’s fiery demeanor and beautiful writing certainly ignites his actors; Cooper and Lawrence give two of the year’s most generous and honest performances. Silver Linings Playbook should not be missed.

SKYFALL (PG-13) The middle third of Daniel Craig’s third outing as James Bond is the best 007 adventure in 20, maybe even 30, years. (Note Adele's Grammy and Oscar for Best Original Song.) Too bad director Sam Mendes (American Beauty) and his team of scripters won’t just let Bond be Bond for the entirety of the film. Skyfall almost completely unravels before the opening credits. The pre-credits chase—involving Bond, a female agent, a train and a baddie—concludes with M (Judi Dench) showing no faith in her best agent, a decision that makes little sense in this, or any, Bond-verse. In three films, Bond has gone from a newly licensed Double 0 to a dinosaur; when can Bond just be Bond again? (At least Quantum of Solace got that very right.) For an hour and in its tantalizing conclusion, Skyfall dresses in the formalwear of traditional Bond: Q, an all-time great villain (a blonde, 100% pure crazy Javier Bardem) and more. Bond has always been about balancing cool deadliness with world-saving silliness. If the right mixture can be found, we could again see a candidate for Best Bond Ever. (UGA Tate Theatre)

SOUND CITY (NR) Dave Grohl directs his first picture with a documentary about analog recording at the famous Sound City Studios in L.A. March 5 only. (40 Watt)

• SNITCH (PG-13) The new actioner from The Rock, né Dwayne Johnson, is a lot more serious than you’d expect a movie from a former stuntman, director Ric Roman Waugh. (Knowing cowriter Justin Haythe wrote Revolutionary Road should mitigate some of the surprise at Snitch’s serious side.) Construction bigwig John Matthews (Johnson) will do anything to lessen his son Jason’s jail time after a drug arrest. Matthews convinces one of his ex-con employees, Daniel (Jon Bernthal, late of “The Walking Dead”), to introduce him to a drug dealer, Malik (Michael K. Williams, aka Omar Little aka Chalky White), in order to cut a deal with federal prosecutor Joanne Keeghan (Susan Sarandon), who could use a big bust to boost her congressional campaign. Refreshingly, Johnson spends most of the movie in desperate dad mode as opposed to real life action figure. Appearances be damned, Snitch is no '80s action rehash; the movie’s got too much gravitas for Ah-nuld, even in his prime. All these kind assessments get smashed by the ridiculous 18-wheeler chase with the drug cartel that concludes the picture. Oh, well. The first hour and a half’s better than expected. 

STOKER (R) Buzz is positive for Chan-wook Park’s English language debut. (The Korean filmmaker made his name off Oldboy, but the rest of his Lady Vengeance trilogy and his vampire pic, Thirst, are worth a watch, too.) A young woman, India (Mia Wasikowska, Alice in Wonderland), becomes infatuated with her mysterious Uncle Charlie (Matthew Goode), who comes to live with her and her mother (Nicole Kidman) after the death of India’s father. With a cast also including Dermot Mulroney, two-time Oscar nominee Jacki Weaver and Harmony Korine, I must admit to being stoked.

TERRAFERMA (NR) 2011. The fifth annual Cinecitta series, sponsored by the Department of Romance Languages, continues with Terraferma. In Respiro filmmaker Emanuele Crialese’s latest movie, a group of immigrants complicate the lives of a Sicilian family. This film was nominated for three Davids, including Best Film, Best Director and Best Actress, and was nominated for the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, where the film also won the Pasinetti Award for Best Film, the Special Jury Prize and the UNICEF Award. (UGA MLC, Room 148)

THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN—PART 2 (PG-13) The Twilight Saga has consistently improved as filmmakers have changed and the series has… um… matured? Bella (Kristen Stewart) is now a vampire; she and her husband, Edward (Robert Pattinson), have a new baby, Renesmee, whose existence threatens the vampire world’s ruling family, the Volturi (led by Michael Sheen). Now the Cullens, the Quileute wolves (including Taylor Lautner’s Jacob) and several blood-sucking pals must make a stand against the invading Italian vamps. Stephenie Meyer’s phenomenon concludes as satisfactorily as one would expect, though Breaking Dawn—Part 1 exceeds its follow-up, mostly thanks to the former’s more horrific plot. Part 2’s concluding battle merely proves Meyer’s non-monsters aren’t really vampires; they are romantic superheroes. The terrible CGI work—the needlessly computer-generated baby Renesmee vies for the worst special effect of 1992—shows the lack of serious craftsmanship with which this material has been handled.

WARM BODIES (PG-13) Having witnessed many a zombie apocalypse, I can say with complete assuredness that Warm Bodies is not your usual end of the world via the flesh-eating living dead flick. This zomrom stars X-Men: First Class’ Nicholas Hoult (poised for a big year with March’s Jack the Giant Slayer) as R, who is not your typical zombie. Blessed (or cursed) with a rather rich inner life, R still munches brains but he’s conflicted about it, especially after meeting Julie (Teresa Palmer, Take Me Tonight). She kickstarts his heart, starting a chain reaction amongst all the corpses (the survivors’ term for zombies), except for the too far gone Boneys. Working from Isaac Marion’s oddly delightful premise, filmmaker Jonathan Levine, who’s on quite a roll (he’s 4-for-4 in my book) after 50/50, whips up a still horrific, mostly romantic early Valentine for adventurous couples and soft-hearted horror fans. Levine retains his spot on the young filmmaker’s to watch list (that maybe only I am keeping). Not wasting Rob Corddry, as R’s BLDF (Best Living Dead Friend), and John Malkovich, as Julie’s overbearing, military father, is another of the film’s boons. Ignore the mawkish CW-meets-Twilight marketing and enjoy some rare bloody romance/heartfelt horror.

WRECK-IT RALPH (PG) 2012 was a good year for animation that included Academy Award winner Brave, Frankenweenie, ParaNorman and now Wreck-It Ralph. In Disney's latest, Wreck-It Ralph (v. John C. Reilly), the bad guy from popular arcade game Fix-It Felix Jr., decides he wants to be a good guy. Leaving the safety of his own regenerating world, Ralph enters a Halo-ish first-person shooter named Hero's Duty in search of a medal. Too bad Ralph is better at wrecking things than fixing them. This cute, inventive cartoon boasts several creative game worlds like the cavity-friendly candyland of Sugar Rush and a treasure trove of Easter eggs for lifelong and newer gamers. Director Rich Moore definitely learned a thing or two from his time working on the inside joke-heavy worlds of Matt Groening, "The Simpsons" and "Futurama." The voicework by Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Jack McBrayer, Jane Lynch, Alan Tudyk, Mindy Kaling and more is top-notch, but one expects that level of competence from a high-profile animated feature. It's the plentiful heart and laughter Wreck-It Ralph offers viewers of all ages, gamer or not, that sets it apart.

ZERO DARK THIRTY (R) 2012 Academy Award winner Kathryn Bigelow (recently snubbed for a second Best Director nomination) and her Oscar winning collaborator, screenwriter Mark Boal (he did receive his second nomination this year) follow up The Hurt Locker with this controversial, excellently crafted military thriller documenting the decade-long search for Osama bin Laden. Despite everyone (I hope) in the audience knowing how the story ends, Bigelow and Boal ratchet up the tension, as near misses and further attacks make the search, conducted by the ferociously single-minded screen proxy Maya (Best Actress nominee Jessica Chastain), that much more desperate. The controversial torture scenes, mostly contained in the first act, are tough to watch but factually necessary. The film ends with its well-earned climax, Seal Team Six’s daring nighttime raid, a rare action sequence that thrills and also chills with verisimilitude. Zero Dark Thirty is an intriguing, darkly patriotic counterpoint to the year’s other major American historical drama about a president willing to push the office’s constitutional limits for the sake of protecting the nation.