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

Side Effects (R) - Old school thriller with Rooney Mara, Channing Tatum, Jude Law and Catherine Zeta-Jones

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

Beautiful Creatures - Boy meets witch and falls in love.  Cool Southern Gothic

Warm Bodies - Hilarious zombie human romance with a hint of Romeo and Juliet

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

Les Miserables - The musical done up big screen style

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

2 1/2 STARS

Identity Thief  - Melissa McCarthy rises above the ususal mismatched buddy road trip

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

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

2 STARS

Safe Haven - Nicholas Sparks formula romance

 
1 STAR

A Good Day to Die Hard (R) Bruce Willis makes it a trifecta of over the hill action stars trying to recreate what used to work but is out of sync today

Bullet to the Head (R) - Sly Stallone hitman in a movie he might better have made thirty years ago. Hard to accept the gun violence in this one

The Impossible - Family on vacation survives tsumani

ZERO

Movie 43 - Big name stars in a series of low comedy skits.  Several audience members waled out during the screening