Movies coming out this holiday season

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Laurel Bacote, Editor

Christmas time is finally approaching, and it is time to deck the halls. The holiday season is primarily well known for its seasonal foods, music, and cheer, but it is also a popular time for families to go to the theater and see the newly released movies. Regardless of all the different tastes out there, every person should be able to find a film that he or she wants so see.

First off, dystopian fans have been going wild due to the release of “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay-Part One.” After Part Two comes out around this time next year, the series will be over. “Mockingjay” came out on November 21 and still stars Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen, Josh Hutcherson as Peeta Mellark and Liam Hemsworth as Gale Hawthorne. In this film, the Hunger Games are now destroyed and in pieces, so Katniss, along with Gale, Finnick and Beetee, end up in District 13, which, up until now, was supposedly destroyed. Under the leadership of Coin and the advice of her friends, Katniss becomes the “Mockingjay” and the symbol of rebellion for the people.

Then for the J.R.R. Tolkien fans out there, or general fantasy fans, “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies” comes out on December 17th. Peter Jackson directs “The Battle of Five Armies” which is the last installation of the Hobbit trilogy. In this movie, Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) and Company are forced to participate in a war against an array of combatants and keep the terrifying dragon Smaug from acquiring a kingdom of treasure and obliterating all of Middle-Earth. Most of the characters from the previous two films in the trilogy return to the big screen including Ian McKellan as Gandalf, Richard Armitage as Thorin Oakenshield, Lee Pace as Thranduil, Orlando Bloom as Legolas and Benedict Cumberbatch as Smaug/Necromancer.

If one likes remakes of old classics, the new, modernized version of “Annie,” starring Quvenzhané Wallis, the youngest person to be nominated for the Best Actress Academy Award, is the one to see once it comes out on December 19th. As all the original fans know, “Annie” is about a young orphan who wants nothing more than to find her birth parents. But in this movie, Annie is a foster child living a hard-knock life with her foster-mother Miss Hannigan (Cameron Diaz). Another big change is that the Daddy Warbucks’ character is renamed. Daddy Warbucks is now Will Stacks (Jamie Foxx), a billionaire who is running for mayor and decides to take in Annie under recommendation of his advisers. While Stacks believes he is Annie’s guardian angel, Annie may be the one saving him. While some parts of the story have been edited to fit the current time period, the movie’s plot still sticks to the true roots and meaning that we saw in the first film.

Another movie that comedy lovers should consider seeing is “Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb.” “Secret of the Tomb” is the last film in the “Night at the Museum” trilogy and hits theaters on December 19 as well. In the movie, Larry Daley (Ben Stiller), the security guard fans know and love, spans the globe uniting favorite characters from the previous movies and new friends while embarking on an epic quest to save the magic of the museum before it is gone forever. Returning characters include the late Robin Williams as Teddy Roosevelt and Owen Wilson as Jedediah.

Lastly, fairy tale fans and fans of this musical’s original production should see “Into the Woods” following its Christmas Day release. Even though this is a fairy tale, this is a story where most situations get messed up and go wrong. Due to the fact that Disney made this movie, some of the things that were not really child appropriate were taken out, but nonetheless, this movie is based off of a really dark production and still has that overall feel.

Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Broadway hit with the same title, “Into the Woods” tells the story of a childless baker (James Corden) and his wife (Emily Blunt) who want to be able to have child, a girl named Cinderella (Anna Kendrick) who wants to attend the King’s Festival, and a young boy named Jack (Daniel Huttlestone) who wants his cow to provide him and his mother (Tracy Ullman) with some milk. All of these characters end up going into the woods and finding adventures in order to fulfill their wishes, but once they have what they wished for, they realize that maybe they would have been better off if they had not gone on the journey.

The whole film has the theme “Be careful what you wish for.” In addition to the celebrities already mentioned above, this movie features a few other well known actors/actresses including Meryl Streep as The Witch, Chris Pine as Cinderella’s Prince, Christine Baranksi as Cinderella’s Stepmother, Johnny Depp as The Wolf and young Broadway star Lilla Crawford as Little Red Riding Hood.

Whether one is interested in seeing a funny movie or a movie that will touch his or her heart, this season, there is definitely a film out there that’s worth watching.