The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, PG-13 Director Peter Jackson closes out his second Tolkien trilogy as title Hobbit Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) and the Dwarfs he has been accompanying on a quest to retake the Lonely Mountain have unwittingly loosed the dragon Smaug on the folks who helped them along the way. Meanwhile, armies of Elves, Orcs and Men are drawn thither by the rumor of the mountain's supposedly unguarded treasures, and Bilbo -- and Middle Earth -- must survive a final massive battle before he can return to his home Hobbit hole. With Ian McKellen, Andy Serkis, Benedict Cumberbatch, Lee Pace, Manu Bennett, Luke Evans, Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom, Christopher Lee, Richard Armitage. Opens Wednesday
Annie, PG In this remake of the stage and screen musical, Quvenzhane Wallis plays the title orphan who escapes her horrid orphanage and its keeper, Miss Hannigan (Cameron Diaz), when a wealthy mayoral candidate (Jamie Foxx), in a campaign gimmick, takes her in. Whereupon she turns his life, and that of everybody else around him, upside down. With Bobby Cannavale, Rose Byrne, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje; directed by Will Gluck. Dec. 19
Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, PG Ben Stiller returns, for the third time, as the museum maven who must globetrot in time and space to save the magic before it is gone forever. With Robin Williams, Dan Stevens, Rachael Harris, Ricky Gervais; directed by John Hamburg. Dec. 19
The Gambler, R Mark Wahlberg plays a literature professor who leads a secret life as a high-stakes gambler. Then he bets it all and offers his own life as collateral while fending off the attention of a paternalistic loan shark (John Goodman). With Brie Larson, Michael Kenneth Williams, Jessica Lange, George Kennedy; directed by Rupert Wyatt. Dec. 12
MovieStyle on 12/12/2014