rise of the guardians

Life of Pi

Director Ang Lee snagged an Oscar for his visually stunning adaptation of the bestselling novel. Following a boat accident, Pi (Suraj Sharma) is left stranded on a life boat in the middle of the ocean. He's not alone — his sole companion is his family's Bengal tiger. The story is well told by flashing between a modern-day Pi and his harrowing teenage experience, but the unforgettable part of the movie is its breathtaking visual aspect. The DVD extras include featurettes.

88%

Hitchcock

Anthony Hopkins portrays the titular filmmaker in this semibiographical movie about Alfred Hitchcock. Set around the time he was filming Psycho, the film follows Hitchcock and his wife, Alma (Helen Mirren), as they work with star Janet Leigh (Scarlett Johansson) on the horror movie. The enlightening film focuses on backstage drama and the tension between the director and his wife. Hopkins makes a wonderful Hitchcock, but the film is a bit too fluffy. The DVD includes several featurettes, director commentary, and a deleted scene.

63%

Check out one more new release after the jump.

Despite a huge drop in ticket sales, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey managed to stay at the top of the box office for the second weekend in a row, taking in $36.7 million. Tom Cruise's Jack Reacher opened in second place with $15.6 million, and This is 40 debuted in third with $12 million. Rise of the Guardians and Lincoln rounded out the top five, with $5.9 million and $5.6 million, respectively.

Looks like Middle-earth has a lot of fans: Peter Jackson's epic adaptation The Hobbit earned $84.8 million in its opening weekend, setting a new record for the best December opening weekend. It also set a record for one-day opening, reaping $34.5 million on Friday and besting the previous record, coincidentally held by 2003's Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. In a steep drop-off, Rise of the Guardians came in second with $7.4 million, followed by Lincoln with $7.2 million. Last week's champ, Skyfall, slipped to fourth with $7 million, followed by Life of Pi with $5.4 million.

Skyfall reclaimed the top spot at the box office this weekend, earning $11 million and bringing the hit's domestic total to $261.6 million. The box office was among of the weakest of the year as Rise of the Guardians took second place with $10.5 million, Breaking Dawn Part 2 followed with $9.2 million, Lincoln took in $9.1 million, and Life of Pi rounded out the top five with $8.3 million. Gerard Butler's soccer-dad comedy Playing For Keeps drew a mere $6 million, while the week's other new opener, Hyde Park on Hudson, earned $83,300 in its limited release of only four theaters nationwide.

Breaking Dawn Part 2 continued its box-office domination this weekend, earning $17.4 million and bringing the film's total domestic haul to $254.6 million. In fact, all of last week's top five remained steadily at their same ranks this weekend. Runner-up Skyfall took in $17 million, Lincoln and Rise of the Guardians each earned $13.5 million, and Life of Pi rounded out the top five with $12 million. The new releases didn't fare so well: horror flick The Collection pulled in $3.4 million, and Killing Them Softly opened with $7 million, making the thriller the lowest opening Brad Pitt film in over a decade.

Last week's big opener, Breaking Dawn Part 2, remained in the No. 1 spot this weekend, taking in $43 million and bringing its total gross to $227 million, adding to what was the biggest Thanksgiving weekend at the box office ever. Skyfall held tight to second place with $36 million, and Lincoln also stayed at No. 3 with $25 million — thanks to an 18 percent increase in ticket sales over last week. New animated release Rise of the Guardians took in $24 million, and fellow new release Life of Pi earned $22 million and the fifth place spot. The week's other new releases, Red Dawn and Hitchcock, took in $14.6 million and $301,000, respectively.