Winter Movie Preview: Spotlight on 18 New Releases

Many exciting feature films are being released at the very end of this year, and will continue to find their way into theaters in the first three months of 2014. From sequels and spin-offs of popular film franchises, to film adaptations of popular plays and novels, and even remakes of film classics, these features promise to make movie history this winter. We here at Hotspots have profiled 18 films you are sure to enjoy this winter.

December

Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues

Plot: Ron Burgundy and his news team are back. Times have changed; It's now the 1980s, and they set their sights on making a name for themselves in the 24-hour news channel game. 24-hour news... remember when that was a novel idea?

Starring: Will Ferrell, Christina Applegate, Steve Carell, David Koechner, Paul Rudd, Kristen Wiig, Meagan Good

Release Date: December 18

August: Osage County

Plot: The strong women of the Weston family are reunited by tragedy after years apart. Having to confront the unorthodox woman who raised them proves to be electric, but eventually cathartic. Based on the play of the same name.

Starring: Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Ewan McGregor, Chris Cooper, Abigail Breslin, Benedict Cumberbatch, Juliette Lewis, Margo Martindale, Dermot Mulroney, Julianne Nicholson, Sam Shepard, Misty Upham

Release Date: December 25 (limited release in opening weekend)

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Plot: A retelling of the James Thurber story, focusing on a man who daydreams to escape his mundane and nondescript day to day life. When his job comes to end, along with the job of his close friend, he decides to go on a worldwide thrill ride he used to only imagine.

Starring: Ben Stiller, Kristen Wiig, Shirley MacLaine, Adam Scott, Kathryn Hahn, Sean Penn

Release Date: December 25

January

Interior. Leather Bar.

Plot: Obsessed with the idea of 40 minutes cut -- and then lost -- from the cult classic "Cruising," two filmmakers come together to reimagine and recreate the sexy lost footage. The filmmakers learn about the fringes of society in the process.

Starring: Val Lauren, Christian Patrick, Brenden Gregory, James Franco

Release Date: January 2 (Los Angeles release only in its opening weekend)

Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones

Plot: A spin-off of the Paranormal Activity franchise. A Latino family investigates the death of a movie_parawoman living below their apartment, leading them to discover black magic and an inhuman bite mark that threatens the life and soul of one of their own.

Starring: Andrew Jacobs, Richard Cabral, Carlos Pratts, Molly Ephraim

Release Date: January 3

Devil's Due

Plot: A couple deals with an unplanned pregnancy and the husband notices scary behavior in his wife. As the months go by, they figure out that the behavior is a result of a devilish spirit that is growing inside of her.

Starring: Zach Gilford, Allison Miller, Colin Walker

Release Date: January 17

Ride Along

Plot: A new cop with the Atlanta police department goes on his first ride-along with the brother of his fianc�e. Desperately wanting to prove his worth to the family he's going to marry into, he finds himself on the craziest ride of his life.

Starring: Ice Cube, Kevin Hart, John Leguizamo, Bruce McGill, Tika Sumpter, Bryan Callen, Laurence Fishburne

Release Date: January 17

Labor Day

Plot: A 13-year-old, forced to be the "man of the house" taking care of his recluse mother, meets a mysterious man; the man convinces them to let him stay in their house. The events that follow, over the next few days, will stay with them forever.

Starring: Kate Winslet, Josh Brolin, Clark Gregg, James Van Der Beek, Tobey Maguire

Release Date: January 31

That Awkward Moment

Plot: Three twentysomething man-children, used to sleeping with women and then ditching them, find themselves in the throes of a dilemma as they are... yes... emotionally maturing! What will they do now that they have to admit that they desire love too?

Starring: Zac Efron, Michael B. Jordan, Miles Teller, Imogen Poots, Mackenzie Davis, Jessica Lucas

Release Date: January 31

February

The Monuments Men

Plot: A very odd World War II platoon, comprised of art aficionados and curators, is tasked by President Roosevelt to go behind enemy lines and rescue precious works of art from being destroyed by the Nazis or by Allied carpet bombs.

Starring: George Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, Cate Blanchett, Jean Dujardin, Bob Balaban, Hugh Bonneville, John Goodman

Release Date: February 7

Endless Love

Plot: A remake of the 1981 classic. Two high-schoolers fall in love, and the story that ensues threatens to rip families apart and brings loss and tragedy to all involved... but love survives throughout.

Starring: Alex Pettyfer, Gabriella Wilde, Robert Patrick, Bruce Greenwood, Rhys Wakefield, Dayo Okeniyi, Emma Rigby, Joely Richardson

Release Date: February 14

Winter's Tale

Plot: Based on the novel by Mark Helprin. In 1916 Manhattan, a thief falls in love with a dying woman after robbing her house, and a mysterious white-winged horse saves the thief from a violent reprisal.

Starring: Colin Farrell, Jessica Brown Findlay, Jennifer Connelly, William Hurt, Eva Marie Saint, Russell Crowe

Release Date: February 14

Pompeii

Plot: Milo, a slave who grew up to be a much-revered gladiator, races against the clock to escape the arena to save his love, Cassia, while Mount Vesuvius erupts and Pompeii is in mortal danger.

Starring: Kit Harington, Carrie-Anne Moss, Emily Browning, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Paz Vega, Jessica Lucas, Jared Harris, Kiefer Sutherland

Release Date: February 21

The Wind Rises

Plot: Hayao Miyazaki returns to the screens with another animated classic. This feature tells the real-life story of Jiro Horikoshi, who could not fly planes, so he learned how to design and build them. The story is set against the backdrop of Japan from the 1920s to the 1940s. In Japanese with English subtitles.

Voices: Hideaki Anno, Miori Takimoto, Hidetoshi Nishijima, Masahiko Nishimura

Release Date: February 21 (limited release in opening weekend)

Non-Stop

Plot: An air marshal tries to stop a murderous situation while he and unwitting hostages are 40,000 feet in the sky. If $150 million isn't transferred to a mystery blackmailer, one passenger on the flight will be killed every 20 minutes.

Starring: Liam Neeson, Julianne Moore, Nate Parker, Michelle Dockery, Scoot McNairy

Release Date: February 28

March

Grace of Monaco

Plot: This real-life story focuses on the life of Princess Grace of Monaco (formerly actress Grace Kelly) and her husband, Prince Rainier III, during their principality's tax dispute with Charles de Gaulle, then the President of France.

Starring: Nicole Kidman, Tim Roth, Frank Langella, Paz Vega, Parker Posey, Milo Ventimiglia, Derek Jacobi

Release Date: March 14

Need for Speed

Plot: Based on the video game franchise and heralded as a return to "the great car-culture films of the 1960s and '70s." Downtrodden mechanic Tobey vows to take down his enemy Dino, who framed him and put him in prison, in the famed De Leon race.

Starring: Aaron Paul, Imogen Poots, Dominic Cooper, Ramon Rodriguez, Rami Malek, Harrison Gilbertson, Scott 'Kid Cudi' Mescudi, Michael Keaton, Dakota Johnson

Release Date: March 14

Veronica Mars

Plot: This crowdfunded film picks up some years after the ending of the cult television series. Veronica, who is now graduating law school, is forced to return to her sleuthing ways in order to clear her ex-boyfriend Logan of a murder charge.

Starring: Kristen Bell, Jason Dohring, Chris Lowell, Ryan Hansen, Krysten Ritter, Percy Daggs III, Tina Majorino, Francis Capra Ken Marino, Enrico Colantoni

Release Date: March 14 (limited release in opening weekend)