4 STARS

Lincoln - Daniel Day-Lewis fascinates in the final months of the civil war as he pushes to pas the 13th amendment outlawing slavery

Zero Dark Thirty (R) - Based on the hunt for Osama Bin Laden

Argo (R) - Ben Affleck's true life CIA comedy/thriller is solid

3 1/2 STARS 

Quartet - Maggie Smith moves into a home for retired musicians.  Downton Abbey with music

Silver Linings Playbook (R) - Quirky romance with Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence

LIfe of Pi - Beautiful story of survival told as fable/allegory

3 STARS 

Amour - An elderly couple copes with age ( in French subtitles)

Les Miserables - The musical done up big screen style

Rust and Bone (R) - Tough guy and crippled Orca trainer bond. Marion Cotillard. (In French)

Beasts of the Southern Wild - Creative tale of a little girl and the bayou

2 1/2 STARS

Gangster Squad - Gansters in LA in 1949 -- look great, great cast, thin script

Hyde Park on Hudson (R) - Bill Murray as Franklin Roosevelt juggling girlfriends while the King and Queen visit in 1939

The Hobbit - Story before the story of Lord of the Rings

Django Unchained (R) - Jamie Foxx in violent Tarantino extravaganza - "Ouch" factor high after Sandy Hook

2 STARS 

The Last Stand - Druglord tries to outrun Arnold Schwarzenegger in a rocket powered Corvette. 

Broken City - Mark Walhberg puts New York City Major Russell Crowe away
Promised Land - Matt Damon talks farmers into selling their land's mineral rights

Jack Reacher - Tom Cruise action hero - long and violent

1 STAR 

The Impossible - Family on vacation survives tsumani

ZERO

A Haunted House - Marlon Wayans makes fun of paranormal found footage horror movies and fails