We did it!!!! We survived the Mayan Apocalypse!. I don't mean to brag, but I so called it yesterday. The Incan Apocalypse is the one we really need to worry about.

In honor of absolutely nothing happening, we present you with some of our favorite quotes from Apocalyptic movies. Of course, almost every movie these days involves the threat of Earthly destruction. And almost every time, Earth survives!

So check out some quotes about the end of the world, and tell us your own favorites in the comments section below! (side note: How stupid does this 2012 poster look now?)

War of the Worlds quotes:

Robbie Ferrier: What is it? Is it terrorists?
Ray Ferrier: These came from some place else.
Robbie Ferrier: What do you mean, like, Europe?
Ray Ferrier: No, Robbie, not like Europe! | permalink

Ray Ferrier: There's nothing living in that direction! | permalink

Narrator: From the moment the invaders arrived, breathed our air, ate and drank, they were doomed. They were undone, destroyed, after all of man's weapons and devices had failed, by the tiniest creatures that God in his wisdom put upon this earth. By the toll of a billion deaths, man had earned his immunity, his right to survive among this planet's infinite organisms. And that right is ours against all challenges. For neither do men live nor die in vain. | permalink

Watchmen quotes:

Adrian Veidt: It doesn't take a genius to see the world has problems. | permalink

Rorschach: No. Not even in the face of Armageddon. Never compromise. | permalink

Jon Osterman: Why would I save a world I no longer have any stake in?
Laurie Juspeczyk: Do it for me. | permalink

Cloverfield quotes:

Hud: Please tell me she lives on the ground floor.
Rob Hawkins: 39th.
Hud: Shit. | permalink

Marlena Diamond: We cannot go into the middle of the city, we've got to get out of here! | permalink

Rob: Still filming?
Hud: Yeah, people are gonna want to know... how it all went down.
| permalink

I Am Legend quotes:

Neville: Everyone you've ever known or loved is dead! They're all dead! There is no god. | permalink

Neville: I can provide food, I can provide shelter, and I can provide protection. | permalink

Neville: My name is Robert Nevile. I am a survivor living in New York City. I haven't seen another person in three years. If there is anybody out there. Anybody. Please | permalink

Armageddon quotes:

Chick: Harry, the clock on that nine-foot nuclear weapon is ticking. | permalink

Harry Stamper: Come on, God, just a little help. It's all I'm asking.
Max: I think we're close enough, He might have heard ya. | permalink

Rockhound: Wow. Got a great view of the Earth from here. Too bad we'll never set foot on her again. | permalink

Shaun of the Dead quotes:

Shaun: Look, I don't care what the telly says, all right? We *have* to get out of here. If we don't they'll tear us to pieces, and that is really going to exacerbate things for all of us. | permalink

David: I'm not staying here.
Liz: David, don't, that's suicide.
Ed: I think he should go. | permalink

Shaun: Ohh, for God's sake! He's got an arm off! | permalink

Zombieland quotes:

Tallahassee: I haven't cried like that since Titanic! | permalink

Columbus: It's amazing how fast the world can go from bad to total s**t storm. | permalink

Columbus: The fatties were the first to go. | permalink

28 Days Later quotes:

Major Henry West: I promised them women. | permalink

Selena: We have enough food.
Jim: Yeah, but we don't have any cheeseburgers. | permalink

Jim: World's worst place to get a flat, huh?
Frank: Agreed. I think we better do this quick? | permalink

2012 quotes:

President Thomas Wilson: Today we are one family. | permalink

Jackson Curtis: It's not just California... it's the whole world. | permalink

Jackson Curtis: When they tell you not to panic... that's when you run! | permalink

We just celebrated the survival of the Mayan Calendar's doomsday prediction with some apocalyptic movie quotes. Now, some more "end of the world" material has dropped.

The first still for the upcoming movie The World's End has dropped. Take a look:

Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg's "Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy," including Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, comes to an end with this latest film. It follows a group of friends who embark on an epic pub crawl that concludes at the legendary bar "The World's End." Over the course of the night, they begin to realize that there is more at stake than their livers: all of mankind.

Pegg stars, with Nick Frost, Martin Freeman (The Hobbit), Eddie Marsan, and Rosamund Pike.

The End of the World hits theaters October 25, 2013.

The Christmas holiday season is always the busiest and seems to be the most stressful time of the year. It is certainly a busy one at the cinemas this weekend with five new films opening! Tom Cruise hopes to launch a new franchise with Jack Reacher, Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts achieve The Impossible and tell a true Thailand tsunami tale, Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann revisit their Knocked Up characters for a "sort-of" sequel in This Is 40, David Chase leaves The Sopranos behind with his ode to rock music, Not Fade Away, and Kristen Stewart finds herself On the Road.

Jack Reacher: Cruise hopes he's got another series under his belt with the page-to-screen effort that is Jack Reacher. His former military investigator has his hands full when a sniper kills five people in Pittsburgh. The superstar is terrific and we would welcome more stories featuring Reacher, but in the light of recent current events, some of the film's scenes are too difficult to watch... as we state further in our Jack Reacher review. The supporting cast is stellar, including Rosamund Pike, Robert Duvall and Richard Jenkins.

 

Jack Reacher Trailer

This Is 40: Rudd and Mann struck a chord with their portrayal of a married couple with two little girls in Knocked Up. Five years later, the family is back in the latest comedy from writer-director Judd Apatow. We praise the originality of the film that focuses its comedy muscles on turning that evil age that defines mid-life. Our This Is 40review warns that it is a little long for a comedy at over two hours, but that is par for the course for Apatow. Fans of the filmmaker's work will adore his latest.

 

This is 40 Trailer

The Impossible: Watts has been getting a lot of Oscar buzz for her portrayal of Maria, the real-life mother of three who survives the 2004 Thailand tsunami. We think she may win, and one who also deserves notice is her onscreen husband, Ewan McGregor. The film handles tragedy with such grace and never seeks to exploit it in any way. The Movie Fanatic The Impossible review delves deeper into why this film is important and also timely for the holiday season where we get together and reinforce the bonds of family.

 

The Impossible Trailer

On the Road: Jack Kerouac finally has a movie version of his iconic book that chronicled a coming-of-age experience that has resonated for generations. Filmmakers and their cast clearly have a passion for the subject as all involved do their part to make the film a testament to the late author. Kristen Stewart and Garrett Hedlund lead a cast that also includes Amy Adams and Viggo Mortensen. Check out our On the Road review for more.

 

On the Road Movie Trailer

Not Fade Away: Chase graduates from small to big screen with his love letter to 1960s rock 'n' roll. The creator of The Sopranos, as we reported in our Not Fade Away review, loves his New Jersey stories. This Garden State-set film follows a group of guys who form a band in hopes of following in the footsteps of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. For the most part, the film works. But as we said in our Not Fade Away review, it falters in its final act.

 

Not Fade Away Trailer

Already in theaters after opening earlier this week:

The Guilt Trip: Barbra Streisand and Seth Rogen create great comic chemistry in this mother-son road trip movie. Streisand and Rogen each hit the right notes as each could have been over the top and instead pop with heart. For more, check out our The Guilt Trip review.

 

The Guilt Trip Trailer

Zero Dark Thirty: Kathryn Bigelow's latest film chronicles the ten-year long manhunt for Osama bin Laden. It is only opening in a few markets to qualify for the Oscars before opening nationally January 17. If it's in your area, run, don't walk to see it. The Zero Dark Thirty review should only reinforce that call to action!

 

Zero Dark Thirty Trailer

The Avengers was all kinds of successful, earning $1.5 billion (with a b) worldwide this summer. Now, with The Avengers 2 in the works, Andy Park's concept art for the characters from the first film has been released. Check it out (click thumbnails to enlarge):

The concept art was clearly completed after casting Jeremy Renner, Tom Hiddleston, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, and Cobie Smulders. As you can see, the actors were used as inspiration for the drawings, and most of the illustrations are very close to the final character designs (except for Nick Fury's trench coat).

While The Avengers 2 is still a ways away, fans can look forward to Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World and Captain America: The Winter Soldier all in the next two years.

When it comes to getting the word out about a film, there is no better weapon in Hollywood's arsenal than the trailer. That is especially true now with the enormous presence of the internet and movie fans being able to watch their favorite stars in the newest teasers for their upcoming films on demand. From early buzz on The Dark Knight Rises, thanks to its epic teaser, and how the I Dreamed a Dream trailer for Les Miserables made the non-musical fans of the world take notice... it has been a great year to tease.

Here are the Top 10 Trailers of 2012:

10. Iron Man 3
After the mediocre Iron Man 2 and the incredible The Avengers, the hope is high for the third Iron Man film and fans were thrilled when the Iron Man 3 trailer landed. It gave us Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) at his best and even introduced us to the evil that is Ben Kingsley's The Mandarin.

 

Iron Man 3 Trailer

9. PrometheusTrailer
That noise, or is it a musical note, that permeates the final moments of the final Prometheus trailer is as haunting as it comes. Too bad the film didn't add up to the excellence teased in the trailer.

 

Prometheus TV Spot: Invitation

8. The Great Gatsby Second Trailer
Hello, gorgeous! Baz Luhrmann's take on the F. Scott Fitzgerald classic, in 3D no less, is teased as a visual marvel with Leonardo DiCaprio impeccably filling Gatsby's shoes. The 1970's Robert Redford-starring version disappointed and we have to give credit to Luhrmann for pushing the boundaries of what we expect from a Great Gatsby world. The moment the color explodes in the first The Great Gatsby trailer, you know this is not your father's F. Scott Fitzgerald story. Then, the second -- just released -- completely dazzled.

 

The Great Gatsby Movie Trailer

7. Star Trek Into Darkness Teaser
Although the first Star Trek Into Darkness trailer compelled, the power of J.J. Abrams was in full effect with the release of the film's full-length teaser. Questions abounded as to where the director would take the franchise he re-booted with Star Trek. Judging by these initial images, fans and non-fans alike are waiting with eagerness for the film to arrive next summer.

 

Star Trek Into Darkness Teaser

5. Zero Dark Thirty First Trailer
When President Obama took to the airwaves to announce that the U.S. had captured and killed Osama bin Laden, our imaginations ran wild imagining how it happened. We know of the heroics of SEAL Team Six, but in that first Zero Dark Thirty trailer, those images came to life.

 

Zero Dark Thirty Movie Trailer

4. I Dreamed a Dream Teaser from Les Miserables
Even non-musical fans were compelled to check out the big screen version of Les Miserables when Anne Hathaway anchored the film's teaser with her singing of the iconic I Dreamed a Dream, by introducing the movie to mass audiences with her angelic voice for the first Les Miserables trailer.

 

Les Miserables TV Spot

3. The Dark Knight Rises MTV Movie Awards Trailer
When word got out that The Dark Knight Rises would actually be in audiences' hands in 2012, fans eagerly waited as the first The Dark Knight Rises trailer premiered. Sure, it peaked interest and got us Batman crazies quite excited. But, nothing got the pulses racing like The Dark Knight Rises footage from the MTV Movie Awards. It teased minutes of the Christopher Nolan film and raised expectations ever higher.

 

Dark Knight Rises MTV Movie Awards Footage

2. Man of Steel Second Trailer
Many worried that the man who gave us Sucker Punch was not quite the right director to helm the triumphant return of Clark Kent and his alter-ego, Superman. Yet when the first Man of Steel trailer landed, not only were we sold on Zack Snyder being an impeccable choice, but now we had the problem of having to wait months and months to be able to see what appears to be his masterpiece. Then the second trailer landed and major drooling commenced.

 

Man of Steel Movie Trailer

1. Lincoln Presidential Debate Trailer
One does not normally think of a presidential debate as the ideal spot for a studio to release a new movie teaser. The previous versions of a Lincoln trailer were powerful, but not like we saw that evening. The venue for its debut could not have been more perfectly chosen. With integrating images from his movie and history, director Steven Spielberg put his film into context and set in motion the groundswell that has resulted in the film doing so well.

 

Lincoln TV Spot

Honorable mentions:The Watch, Beautiful Creatures, The Hobbit and The Avengers Super Bowl spot.

The first trailer for Tyler Perry's Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor is here! Watch below:

 

Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor Trailer

Jurnee Smollett stars as a marriage counselor who falls in love with one of her patients, played by Robbie Jones. Vanessa Williams (Hannah Montana: The Movie), Brandy Norwood, Lance Gross, Robbie Jones, Ella Joyce, Kim Kardashian, and Jerry Stiller (Zoolander).

Temptation marks the thirteenth film from Tyler Perry. It is based on his stage play of the same name. Perry starred in three films this year, writing and directing two of them, including Madea's Witness Protection.

Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor will premiere March 29, 2013.

There are four key elements to a good Ryan Gosling trailer:

1) It's quiet.

2) Gosling's rippin' down the road in a sweet vehicle.

3) Gosling's snugglin' up shirtless with a fly honey.

4) It's really, really, really quiet.

The first trailer for The Place Beyond the Pines has all four, plus Bradley Cooper. In all honesty, though, it's a great trailer, and a great title. Check it out:

 

The Place Beyond the Pines Trailer

Gosling stars as Luke Glanton, a stunt drive (again?) who turns to a life of crime (again??) in order to support his newborn son. It sounds an awful lot like Drive.

Cooper plays a cop-turned-politician whose life collides with Glanton's. Rose Byrne (Bridesmaids), Eva Mendes, Ray Liotta, Bruce Greenwood (Star Trek Into Darkness), and Dane DeHaan also star.

Blue Valentine director Derek Cianfrance directs the film, which hits theaters March 29, 2013.

Two new films arrived on DVD/Blu-Ray December 21, in time for a few Christmas stockings. Milla Jovovich returns to a world she and her director hubby created a decade ago with Resident Evil: Retribution and Joseph Gordon Levitt, to paraphrase Queen, "Picks up his bike and rides" in Premium Rush.

The two action films share one thing in common, they didn't want to get caught up in the huge release schedule that was the normal  "tune-in Tuesday" home video release day, December 18, as chronicled in our most recent DVD/Blu-Ray Preview. But yet, they still wanted to be out in time for the holidays.

Resident Evil Retribution: Jovovich and her husband Paul W.S. Anderson have crafted a fifth adventure for Alice in the Resident Evil world that is inhabited by zombies seeking to turn you into lunch. This time our heroine finds herself crossing the globe in a chapter of the film series that in many ways feels as much more like the video game that inspired it than any other.

 

Resident Evil: Retribution TV Spot

Movie Fanatic received the Blu-Ray/DVD Combo Pack for review which for the first time includes the 3D home video version as well. Makes one kind of wish they had a 3D TV! The extras that prove fascinating are Maestro of Evil: Directing Resident Evil Retribution that takes audiences inside the meticulous madness of Anderson's epic series. Being a fan of Jovovich's Alice, the Evolving Alice documentary is one to marvel at as it chronicles the cinematic timeline of a beloved character. It expands on the theatrical Resident Evil clip on Alice.

Premium Rush: Joseph Gordon Levitt had quite a 2012. What with his "could he be the next Batman" turn in The Dark Knight Rises and that awesome mind-blowing flick Looper, the former child star is now officially a full-blown movie star. Explored further in our Premium Rush review, the film has some wildly original action sequences as Gordon Levitt's character is a bike messenger in a life or death race to get out the truth.

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The Premium Rush Blu-Ray had only two bonus features and both are equally as compelling: The Starting Line -- Meet the Cast and Behind the Wheels... a featurette on the action, stunts and mind-blowing chases.

As we prepare for the Christmas Day movie releases, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey remains the #1 movie in the box office for the second weekend in a row, despite three major new releases. After an $84.4 million opening weekend, Bilbo, Gandalf, and Gollum earned $36.7 million this weekend to bring its total domestic gross to $149.9 million.

Jack Reacher opened in second place this weekend, taking in $15.6 million in ticket sales. The adaptation of the Lee Child novel One Shot stars Tom Cruise, Rosamund Pike, and Richard Jenkins.

In third place is another new film, Judd Apatow's sort-of-sequel to Knocked Up, This is 40. The dramedy grossed $12 million in its opening weekend.

Following in fourth and fifth place are two films that have been in theaters for over a month. The animated feature Rise of the Guardians earned $5.9 million, while Steven Spielberg's presidential biopic Lincoln earned $5.6 million.

Box office Top 10:

1. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, $36.7 million
2. Jack Reacher, $15.6 million
3. This is 40, $12 million
4. Rise of the Guardians, $5.9 million
5. Lincoln, $5.6 million
6. The Guilt Trip, $5.4 million
7. Monsters, Inc., $5 million
8. Skyfall, $4.7 million
9. Life of Pi, $3.8 million
10. Breaking Dawn Part 2, $2.6 million

Django Unchained is pure Quentin Tarantino, with its whip-smart banter to the bloody path that his heroes leave behind them, and his latest falls firmly among his best.

Yes, Tarantino has done for Westerns what he did for World War II movies. All those Inglourious Basterds quotes added up to a war movie that was relevant to modern times while simultaneously paying tribute to the great films from that genre.

As teased in the Django Unchained trailer, the story follows Django (Jamie Foxx), a man we meet walking through the woods as part of a slave chain gang, led forward by some unsavory fellows. Christoph Waltz is Dr. King Schultz, a German dentist who is now making his living as a bounty hunter.

He is seeking Django and in the course of a classic Tarantino beginning, he and Django close the scene riding their horses away from a bloodbath. Dr. Schultz is seeking a trio of brother slave traders who are in fact wanted for various crimes. They are elusive and few have seen them... except Django. 

In return for helping Schultz in finding these three men, he has agreed to free Django and the two will go their separate ways. The soon-to-be freed slave has plans of his own. He is seeking his wife Broomhilda, who has been taken to the plantation owned by Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio). The scenes between Foxx and Waltz are a cinematic dream. Here is a brilliant example of Tarantino's mastery of the art. It is pure movie magic witnessing two actors at the top of their game delivering such delicious dialogue. 

Revenge permeates Tarantino's work, especially of late. In Django Unchained, slavery is substituted for Inglourious Basterds' Holocaust as the source of strife. The argument could easily be made that they are of comparable hells. Audiences see the evil within the institution that would spawn a Civil War two years later in Tarantino's story. It is on full display. The buying and selling of souls without any remorse permeates throughout, and DiCaprio's Candie is one of the worst.

After Waltz decides to help Django in his effort to reunite with his bride, the duo head into the hornet's nest under the guise of being scouts looking to secure fighters for a slave fighting circuit. They know a man as psychotic (DiCaprio's Candie is one of our Top 10 Villains of 2012) as Candie will not simply sell the woman... because he'll want to know why and he will not like the answer.

So, they hope to secure some slave fighters and then present a "oh, by the way" offer to purchase the house slave Broomhilda. See, Schultz delights in speaking his native German with her -- thus something Candie can appreciate.

But, this is a Tarantino tale and we all know that things will not go anywhere near the set plans.

When the story gets to DiCaprio's Candie's house, it slows a bit. But that is so the tense drama can play itself out. The reunion of Broomhilda and Django is gloriously emotional and the fact that they have to hide that they even know each other until this charade plays out is painful to watch. Yet it is equally a joy to witness the scenes through the brilliant execution of the emotion extolled solely through Foxx and Washington's pained eyes.

Also in DiCaprio's manse we meet Samuel L. Jackson's Stephen. He is the head slave of the plantation and rules with an equally strong fist as his master. Jackson turns in a performance that is a work of art. Few knew that amongst the huger parts in Django Unchained filled by Waltz, Foxx and DiCaprio, that the iconic Jackson would steal the film. He deserves serious consideration for a Best Supporting Actor trophy.

Speaking of Oscars, Django Unchained should earn plenty of nods. The Tarantino dialogue is as good as we've heard all year, deserving of a Best Original Screenplay nomination, and look for Waltz, DiCaprio and Foxx to all earn recognition as well.

Our Django Unchained review revels in the fact that the filmmaker has presented a piece of work that possesses comedy, romance, drama, thrills, guns and gravitas. Django Unchained is the perfect Christmas present from one of the cinema's most talented helmers.

The first poster for After Earth has debuted, featuring a futuristic ship crash-landed on a beautiful terrestrial landscape. Check it out:

M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense) directs the film, which marks the first time he'll direct a film he didn't also write. 1,000 years after humanity flees Earth due to a cataclysmic event, General Cypher Raige and his son Kitai, played by real-life father and son Will Smith (I Am Legend) and Jaden Smith, crash land on the abandoned planet.

Cypher is seriously injured by the crash, and Kitai must traverse the dangerous Earth, evading super-evolved animals and aliens. Isabelle Fuhrman, Kristofer Hivju, Gabriel Caste, and Zoe Kravitz also star.

After Earth premieres June 7, 2013. Watch the After Earth trailer for more.

The trailer for the new natural disaster horror thriller Aftershock has dropped. Take a look:

 

Aftershock Trailer

Eli Roth (The Man with the Iron Fists) co-wrote and stars, as an American visiting Chile with a group of travelers. While in a nightclub, a massive earthquake sets the town into chaos.

Andrea Osvart, Ariel Levy, and Selena Gomez (Hotel Transylvania) also star.

Aftershock premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival this September. It will hit theaters in 2013.

Les Miserables is even more boisterous than the stage version on which it is based. On many fronts it is jaw-dropping what director Tom Hooper (The King's Speech) has done to widen the scope of a story that is already epic. Yet, the transfer to the big screen suffers a few hiccups along the way.

Fans of the musical should be thrilled, particularly those that have seen the work on stage multiple times -- as legions have. It is a story that warrants many viewings, but what we have here onscreen with Les Miserables feels a bit off. First off, Hooper's use of extreme close-ups for most of the emotional singing gets repetitive after an hour. By the better part of three hours, it was simply too much.

Led by Anne Hathaway and Hugh Jackman, the cast is sensational... save for one "just OK." Hathaway makes the most of her time onscreen (which is not much) and belts out a I Dreamed a Dream that meets and tops all previous versions you've heard. As Jennifer Hudson scored an Oscar for singing And I Am Telling You in Dreamgirls, so too will Hathaway for her take on the song that made Susan Boyle an international superstar.

Hathaway does much more than sing in that iconic musical moment. The actress turns in a performance that will steal your heart and haunts the entire film.

Introduced in the Les Miserables trailer, Jackman is Jean Valjean, who serves as our entry into the Les Miserables story. He is a prisoner, who we learn is about to earn his freedom, despite the clear objections of lawman Javert (Russell Crowe). Valjean spent 18 years in jail for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his family and that bitterness may lie inside him, but he takes the second chance at life and makes the most of it. That is, until his path once again crosses with Javert. 

Valjean is now a leader in his community, when Crowe's military man shows up to execute his duty to protect the town. He is familiar with Valjean's face, but cannot pinpoint it. Once he does, hell is unleashed.

Production design dominates and should be rained upon by Oscar love. They capture post-revolutionary France with a devil in the details attitude of getting it right. And it is that fight for freedom that many may truly learn about for the first time. After the initial French Revolution, the monarchy returned to the throne decades later and it took a second revolution to rid them of the royals altogether.

Eddie Redmayne plays Marius, a man of privilege who is part of the resistance to overthrow the government. There is a love story centered around him and Amanda Seyfried's Cosette in Les Miserablesthat anchors the film and is a single ray of light in an otherwise dreary landscape.

As Javier... Crowe is devilish, yet his singing is a bit of a distraction. He is commanding on screen, no doubt, but his vocal tone misses the mark. As that turn may disappoint, a joy is found in Samantha Barks as the lovelorn Eponine. The stage veteran with the voice of an angel shines and that buzz surrounding her right now is more than warranted.

Our Les Miserables review finds the film is longer than it needs to be and in the end, feels a little bloated. A new song was added, most likely to qualify for a Best Song Academy Award, and it does nothing to advance the story. But, epics can be long, and considering the source material, what to cut must have been an enormous question to answer for filmmakers. Although Les Miserables is as faithful of a Broadway musical adaptations we've seen of late on screen, it isn't the heavyweight we expected nor what fans of the most popular musical of all-time deserve.

Simply looking at the Parental Guidance poster and one could tell that Billy Crystal is hoping for a Meet the Parents-type franchise with Parental Guidance. And who could blame him? All the elements are there with two comically gifted leads portraying grandparents (Crystal and Bette Midler) and an onscreen daughter in Marisa Tomei who can play both straight and silly with the material she's given. Then, there are the three young kids who could not be more talented and prove that old adage of "don't work with child actors" not to be the case with this movie.

It's hard to believe that Crystal and Midler have known each other for decades and have never worked together. Witnessing the two of them, it's easy to get a feel that is rarely felt on screen, and that is of classic Vaudeville. The two even do a perfect harmony version of Book of Love to enthrall the kids. It is a scene that permeates with joy all the way to the back of the theater. But, our Parental Guidance review has to state that their chemistry alone does not build a funny film. Thankfully, there is more to this tale.

The story, teased in the Parental Guidance trailer, is pure variation on a theme. Tomei's parents aren't the best with children and she and her husband (Tom Everett Scott) are hesitant to leave their three kids with them in their Atlanta house while they go off to accept a professional award he's won. It's the irresponsible babysitter story, with the sitter replaced by a pair of loving, yet inept grandparents. But you know what... it's warm, loving and never strays into comedic stereotypes. In fact, on many occasions it rebuffs them.

Director Andy Fickman is in his element directing and getting the most out of his kiddie cast. Each child has a storyline that allows for a real emotional arc that in lesser child actors, could be a challenge. Fickman, who first showed that talent in The Game Plan, also does his part to ensure this is not a run-of-the-mill family comedy. 

Crystal's Artie has a lifelong dream of calling baseball games for the San Francisco Giants. He gets as far as their minor league club before being "forced" into retirement. He and Midler see this visit with the grandchildren as an opportunity to not only make right by their grandchildren, but to their daughter who had to grow up going from town to town with dad's dream.

There are sight gags galore, lessons to be learned and for families in search of a perfect holiday film, they could do worse than Parental Guidance. It literally has something for kids, parents and grandparents. Sure, it's not for everyone, but it squarely knows its market.

Christoph Waltz had no problem heading back into the mad world of the mind that gave him the opportunity to win an Academy Award for playing a sadistic Nazi in Inglourious Basterds. With Django Unchained, the German actor gets to portray a good guy for the first time in a few years for American audiences. The first difference between the two Quentin Tarantino shoots, Waltz felt, was the landscape. Their last film was shot in Europe, while Tarantino's latest was filmed across the U.S.

"There was a difference, because over there it was kind of my home turf, and over here it’s his home turf, very much so. Yet, a story asks for a certain setting and it sort of requires different ways of attention," Waltz said. It was nice for the actor to feel at home for his first Tarantino foray, and he was ready to head out into the American topography for round two.

The Oscar winner relished playing a part within a story that explores a dark part of the American story, albeit through the eyes of Tarantino. "It was much more the confrontation with this chapter of American history and I’m not necessarily referring to slavery, just pre-Civil War America and how much all of a sudden it explained itself to me in my limited way. I don’t know whether that’s true or not and I’ve read into it a little bit. And my puzzlement about America today found a lot of explanations in its historical background."

As seen in the Django Unchained trailer, Waltz is a bounty hunter who takes in Jamie Foxx's title character to help him track down a mark.

The origins in violence in America, some have said, lie in the "Wild West" that is a feeling that permeates Django Unchained. "You know I said, 'What’s their obsession with the moment you show a square inch of naked screen [and] if it’s on the wrong spot on the body, everyone’s up in arms?' Yet, we have no problem showing to four-year-olds how people bash each other’s mugs in and splatter blood all over," Waltz admitted. The actor then dives into an argument that is of the hottest topics right now in American current affairs, something he was surprised to take away from the Django Unchained experience.

"They say, 'You know, kids need to be confronted with the reality.' What’s this awkward mixture of Puritanism and ultra-violence? How does it fit together? I never could understand and also the obsession with arms, that it is constitutional. Yes? Maybe? No? We’ve come around to understanding that the constitution is one of the basic and greatest bodies of enlightened thinking, yet from the 18th century, and we’re in the 21st. That's stuff that I didn’t expect to learn about in my work for a 'Spaghetti Western.'"

As evidenced by the glorious Inglourious Basterds quotes and Django Unchained's premise, both movies are revenge films of disenfranchised people. Waltz is still trying to delve into why that storytelling method permeates Tarantino's films. "It seems to be one of the guiding themes in Quentin’s work -- revenge in various degrees and various applications," Waltz said. The actor himself doesn't see its appeal, although he clearly adores playing in that world. "To me personally, revenge is not really that much of an interest. In a story, it always is because you now have to make a moral choice... 'Whose side am I on?' And in Quentin’s stories it’s not so clear. Inglourious Basterds was a good example. In this movie, I’m the good guy and I kill a lot more people than in Inglourious Basterds where I was a bad guy."

Waltz also sought to buck a stereotype about his native land and the people who inhabit it. He played a Nazi in Tarantino's last film, but here, he is a German motivated by what is right. "We decide beforehand who’s good or bad and then we kind of go by that. We need the keyword Nazi. We have no idea what it means but it triggers the right response so we don’t have to think about it anymore. Good or bad. This is a good guy, but bad ass -- sorry I get confused. Can he be a bad guy with a good ass?" he asked and laughed.

Anne Hathaway had to go through much to capture the spirit of the role Fantine in the big screen version of Les Miserables -- not the least of which was cutting off her locks. Then, there was the emotional minefield that was her character and the hell she goes through. In many ways, it is her sacrifice that leads to the upheaval at the heart of the movie. As we state in our Les Miserables review, Hathaway is the highlight of the film and makes the most of what little screen time she has been given. The actress sat down to talk about her latest film and we had to start with the trauma of losing all her hair!

Movie Fanatic: Did you really cut your hair and was it as difficult as some report it to be?

Anne Hathaway: [Laughs] I did cut my hair and I’m only sorry when I get to spend time with Hugh (Jackman) because his hair is so beautiful. I don’t feel sorry. I offered Tom (Hopper, director) the option of cutting my hair. I always knew in the back of my mind, it was something I was willing to do for a character if it was the right thing to do. So, when I got cast and got the script and knew they were keeping the hair cutting in and I’d read the book and it’s such a devastating scene in the book, I thought that doing it for real might raise the stakes a bit for the character. I guess, in the back of my mind, I thought if it was a painful experience watching her hair be cut, then watching her teeth get pulled would be really painful. And, of course, when she becomes a prostitute, I thought the audience is going to be with her feeling that alongside of her and, as an actor, it was great to authentically communicate a physical transformation.

Movie Fanatic: What is the secret to crying while you're singing? How on earth did you manage?

Anne Hathaway: I don’t know that there are any secrets to it. It’s a pulse, a vein that you follow. In my case, there’s no way that I could relate to what my character was going through. I have a very successful life and don’t have any children that I could give up or keep so what I did was tried to get inside the reality of her story as it exists in our world. To do that, I read a lot of articles and watched a lot of documentaries and news clips about sexual slavery. For me, for this particular story, I came to the realization that I was thinking of Fantine as someone who lived in the past but she doesn’t. She’s living in New York City right now. She’s probably less than a block away. This injustice exists in our world so every day that I was her, I thought, ‘This isn’t an invention. This isn’t me acting. This is me honoring that this pain lives in this world." And, I hope that, in all of our lifetimes, like today, we see it end.

Movie Fanatic: One of the most powerful lyrics in the entire musical is “to love another person is to see the face of God.” Did that resonate equally with you?

Anne Hathaway: I think it’s the answer to the question that Jean Valjean asks in the prologue "What spirit comes to move my life?" He spends the rest of the film answering that question. A brief sidebar, I want to make sure that I impress on everyone, I don’t want you to walk out of here charmed by Hugh Jackman [laughs] -- because we all know he’s a miracle. I just want to say that the reason that line resonates with you is that we’ve witnessed it in his performance the entire time. What he does in this film is inspiring. We were all inspired by him. He was absolutely our leader. I don’t want his nice guy thing to distract you from the fact that he is a deep, serious and profoundly gifted actor.

Movie Fanatic: Everyone involved has stated they are huge fans of Les Miserables. Did you all feel any pressure to get it right for those legions of fans? It sure shows, even from the first Les Miserables trailer.

Anne Hathaway: I think it can’t be understated that we are all massive Les Mis geeks. I think we were all slightly worried that this is not really happening, that we were all on some strange mutual trip and were all hallucinating. But we were all such fans of it that I think we all showed up on the first day with enormous gratitude that the responsibility of telling the story was entrusted to us. And, we shared stories like "What was the first time you saw it?" and "Who did you want to be at first?" I think Eddie is still envious of Daniel (Huttlestone) for getting to play Gavroche.

Movie Fanatic: We understand you were moved by a series of documentaries on real-life women like the one you play in Les Miserables? How so?

Anne Hathaway: I was very inspired by some of the work that Emma Thompson has done. I read things that are unimaginable to think that human beings have experienced them. I remember there was a police raid on one of the brothels and a camera crew went along and there was a small crawl space up in the ceiling. Oh my God, 14 girls came out of it and they were all so tiny and crunched up. They weren’t worried about getting arrested. They were gone. They were numb. They were unrecognizable as human beings and my heart broke for them. There was another piece where there was a woman who didn’t want her identity revealed and she sat there and kept repeating, "I come from a good family. We lost everything and I have children so now I do this," and she doesn’t want to do this but it’s the only way the children are going to eat. Then she let out this sob that I’ve never heard before. 

Movie Fanatic: Is it safe to say that informed your performance?

Anne Hathaway: Yes, that was the moment I realized that I wasn’t playing a character. This woman deserves to have her voice heard. I needed to connect to that honesty and recreate that feeling. I’ll never know who she is but she was really the one who made me understand when Fantine says "shame" what it’s like not just to go to a dark place but to have fallen from a place where you didn’t imagine anything bad was going to happen to you and the betrayal and rage you feel at life. You’ve gone into a place that, by the way, I don’t believe this woman would have gone to, that Fantine would not have gone to if she didn’t have children to support. I think she would have let herself die. So, Fantine is so heartbreaking and it all just layered within me.

Despite early reports that Wes Anderson's next project, Grand Budapest Hotel, would star Johnny Depp, Anderson named in an interview with THR some of the actors that have been cast in the new film, and Depp was glaringly absent.

Anderson is known for his use of all-star ensemble casts, and Grand Budapest Hotel will be no different. Ralph Fiennes (Skyfall) and Saiorse Ronan both have large roles, with Tilda Swinton, Jeff Goldblum, Willem Dafoe, F. Murray Abraham, Jude Law (Rise of the Guardians), Adrien Brody, Edward Norton, Harvey Keitel, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, and Mathieu Amalric also starring.

Anderson also said that frequent collaborator Owen Wilson will have a small part. While little is known about the plot, the film will be a European period piece that takes place in a hotel. The film will be the Moonrise Kingdom director's first solo writing credit.

As of now, there is no production or release schedule available.

Going to the movies on Christmas Day is a tradition for many Americans. As such, a well-planned Christmas Day release can score big in the box office.

Enter Les Miserables. The highly-anticipated musical adaptation grossed an estimated $18.2 million yesterday, making it the second largest Christmas Day opening of all time, behind 2009's Sherlock Holmes.

Django Unchained followed closely behind, earning an estimated $15 million to fall comfortably into third place all time for December 25 releases.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Jack Reacher, and Parental Guidance rounded out the top 5 most-seen movies this Christmas, earning an estimated $6.5 million, $5.3 million, and $4.5 million, respectively.

As Movie Fanatic gets ready to welcome 2013, we look back at 2012 and reveal the top 10 moments, movies and people that were pure Hollywood gifts these last 12 months.

10. Satisfying End to Dark Knight Trilogy
Closing out a trilogy is no easy task. Yet, Christopher Nolan did so brilliantly with his Dark Knight series that left fans and audiences as a whole pleased. He and brother Jonathan wrote a script that gave us thrilling The Dark Knight Rises quotes, and also wrapped up their series with a bow as bright as any tied to a present under that Christmas tree.

9. Superman That Looks Good
The first Man of Steel trailer answered any and all questions as to how Zack Snyder would bring to life and reboot the Superman franchise. Summer 2013 cannot get here fast enough!

8. The Emergence of Rebel Wilson
The Australian comic actress shot out of nowhere and stole the movie Pitch Perfect in the process. Her larger-than-life persona, coupled with vats of talent, add up to someone who we will be seeing a lot from in the future. MTV must think so -- they just tapped her to host the MTV Movie Awards.

7. Anne Hathaway
Whether in Les Miserables or as Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises, it was a good year for Anne Hathaway. As we state in our Les Miserables review, the actress deserves an Oscar for her role. And after a false start in the Catwoman world by Halle Berry, Hathaway could not have been more impeccably cast in Nolan's final Batman movie.

6. Matthew McConaughey
Someone who had an even better year than Hathaway was McConaughey. The actor from Texas scored by stretching his comfort level with dramatic turns in Bernie, The Paperboy and Killer Joe (where we named him one of the Top 10 Movie Villains of 2012). Then, he took it all off in Magic Mike and both women and men cheered.

5. Channing Tatum
Sure, those previous two performers had great years. Then, there is Tatum and the year he had. The man started his 2012 by kicking butt and having his butt kicked in Haywire. Then he was a Valentine's Day gift for legions of fans for his heartbreaking turn in The Vow. He followed that up by showing his comic chops wielding those great 21 Jump Street quotes and proved to be up for being part of a comic dream team with Jonah Hill.

The summer found Tatum joining forces with McConaughey in Magic Mike, a film that reunited him with Haywire director Steven Soderbergh. The Tatum-centricMagic Mike stills remain to this day of our most popular! The man wasn't all blockbusters in 2012 as his quiet turn in 10 Years allowed him to stretch his talents and also star opposite his real life wife, Jenna Dewan Tatum.

4. Lincoln
Steven Spielberg's Lincoln is one part ode to the greatest president in U.S. history and another part lesson in how the 13th Amendment came to be. Daniel Day Lewis was a godsend as the titular leader and it is the most un-Spielberg-like movie in decades. The work is the rare historical epic that can be seen again and again and again. Want the best of teases? Check out this Lincoln trailer and try not to be moved!

3. Josh Trank Scores with Chronicle
The new to the scene director took the found footage subgenre and turned it on its head with a superhero origins story that is the most original seen in decades. He announced himself as a filmmaking talent and firmly landed on the list of directors whose work we will see, regardless of the film. As reported in our Chronicle review, this man knows how to wield a camera to maximum effect. Big time producers must agree, as he has just been hired to helm TheFantastic Four reboot.

2. The Avengers
Talk about a challenge. Take some of the most popular heroes in the Marvel superhero universe and bring them to the big screen in a movie that gave each their due. Only director Joss Whedon could have succeeded at such a feat. It's almost super-human what he achieved. We're still marveling at those impressive The Avengers wallpaper, seven months after the film arrived!

1. Johnny Depp’s Cameo in 21 Jump Street movie
When they sought to bring 21 Jump Street to the big screen, many asked whether they would get the man to appear in it who was made a star by the original TV series. Prayers were answered as when Depp had his big reveal at the end of the film, it was the most glorious of gifts to fans of 21 Jump Street and movie fanatics of all kind. Our 21 Jump Street quotes will keep you going until we get that sequel!

With Promised Land, Matt Damon is returning to writing and starring in a movie for only the second time since Good Will Hunting, He partnered with The Office star John Krasinski to write the film that he was actually scheduled to direct. Damon was too busy to helm, so the always stellar Gus Van Sant stepped in to direct the story of the natural gas boom in this country and how harmful or not harmful fracking is to our ecosystem.

Damon first truly charmed us penning those Good Will Hunting quotes and by putting on an acting clinic opposite his co-writer Ben Affleck. Since then, he has built a career that includes both comedies (Stuck on You, Dogma), dramas (The Departed) and action franchises (the Bourne series and the Ocean's franchise).

What's the best Matt Damon movie?