Year-End Movies We’re Excited To Watch [VIDEO]

By Ashley Lee

If you’re looking for a way to spend time with family members without actually interacting with them, do as you did on those dates back in high school: go to a movie. There are plenty of feel-good flicks conveniently released for the holiday season; bond with your little brother while watching The Adventures of Tintin or fill out an entire row in front of Matt Damon and ScarJo in We Bought A Zoo. Too many opinions? Tickets to the movie with too many plot lines, please — New Year’s Eve!

Oh, you already saw all those movies? And there are still more estranged relatives to bond with?! Click through our holiday movie theater picks. Warning: they have absolute nothing to do with the holidays, and most of them will probably make you cry.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo: December 21st

It’s the highly anticipated movie based on the best-selling book, and even if you didn’t read it, it’s still a solid mystery/thriller film. Directed by David Fincher (Fight Club, The Social Network), starring Daniel Craig and introducing Rooney Mara, who just earned a Golden Globe nomination for this role.

The Flowers of War: December 21st (limited release)

Directed by Zhang Yomou (Hero, House of Flying Daggars), Christian Bale stars in China’s “non-foreign foreign film” about an American priest who helps save the lives of Chinese citizens during the Nanjing Massacre. And it better be good: The Flowers of War is the most expensive movie ever made in Chinese history.

In The Land Of Blood And Honey: December 23rd

Why the heck hasn’t Angelina Jolie come out with a third Tomb Raider movie yet? She’s been writing and directing (her directorial debut!) In The Land Of Blood And Honey, a romance between a Bosnian Muslim woman and a Serbian army officer during the Bosnian War. Croatian journalist James Braddock accused Jolie of stealing the plot from his book published in 2007, but she denies ever having seen the book. Ever. Even though the premises are incredibly similar.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close: December 25th

The film based on the best-seller by Johnathan Safran Foer stars Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock. Warning: you will cry, since it’s about a boy who begins an amazing and unique search after his father dies in the 9/11 attacks, in the same way you were affected by the other movies that Stephen Daldry has directed (The Reader, The Hours, Billy Elliot).

The Iron Lady: December 30th

Meryl Streep has already collected nominations for her portrayal of Margaret Thatcher, the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Judging from the trailer, it’s an ideal mixture between her roles and Julia Child in Julie & Julia and Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada, with just a hint of Donna’s self-doubt from Mamma Mia!.

What movie are you getting out of the house to watch before the year ends? Which of these five films is worth watching before 2012?

Ashley is a UC San Diego grad who is holding on way too tightly to a potential career in magazines and goes to Vegas all too often. She’s fascinated with celebrities and strawberry beer and doubles as a pathological texter/emailer/blogger. Feed the addiction with tweets @cashleelee. Thanks in advance.