PREVIEWS Northwest Arkansas

New this week

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

79 PG-13 Director Peter Jackson closes out his second Tolkien trilogy as title Hobbit Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) and the Dwarfs he has been accompanying on a quest to retake the Lonely Mountain have unwittingly loosed the dragon Smaug on the folks who helped them along the way. Meanwhile, armies of Elves, Orcs and Men are drawn thither by the rumor of the mountain's supposedly unguarded treasures, and Bilbo -- and Middle Earth -- must survive a final massive battle before he can return to his home Hobbit hole. With Ian McKellen, Andy Serkis, Benedict Cumberbatch, Lee Pace, Manu Bennett, Luke Evans, Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom, Christopher Lee, Richard Armitage. (144 minutes) Opened Wednesday

Annie

75 PG In this remake of the stage and screen musical, Quvenzhane Wallis plays the title foster child who escapes her horrid foster mom, Miss Hannigan (Cameron Diaz), when a wealthy mayoral candidate (Jamie Foxx), in a campaign gimmick, takes her in. Whereupon she turns his life, and that of everybody else around him, upside down. With Bobby Cannavale, Rose Byrne, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje; directed by Will Gluck. (118 minutes)

The Babadook

89 Not rated Essie Davis plays a troubled widow who discovers that her son's tale about a monster that entered their home through the pages of a children's book is not just his imagination. With Daniel Henshall, Noah Wiseman, Hayley McElhinney, Barbara West; directed by Jennifer Kent. (93 minutes)

Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb

73 PG Ben Stiller returns, for the third time, as the museum maven who must globe-trot in time and space to save the magic before it is gone forever. With Robin Williams, Dan Stevens, Rachael Harris, Ricky Gervais, Mickey Rooney, Dick Van Dyke; directed by Shawn Levy. (97 minutes)

Top Five

88 R An encounter with a whip-smart, beautiful journalist from the Times (Rosario Dawson) forces a New York comedian-turned-serious-film-actor (Chris Rock) to confront the comedy career -- and the past -- he has left behind. With Kevin Hart, Tracy Morgan, Cedric The Entertainer; directed by Chris Rock. (102 minutes)

MovieStyle on 12/19/2014

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