The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 In this final installment of the cinematic adaptation of the last Hunger Games novel (whew!), Katniss and her friends plot to assassinate President Snow. (SPOILER ALERT: She tries to stab him, only for his belt buckle to deflect the blow.) But is this really the end? Lionsgate has admitted it's already exploring "sequel and prequel opportunities." And I'm not so sure this is really Philip Seymour Hoffman's last film, either – dollars to donuts Ryan Murphy is going to find a way to get a hologram of that sucker into American Horror Story. (PG-13)
The Night Before Can you believe it's been nearly a year since Seth Rogen almost started World War III with that stupid movie of his? Fortunately, his holiday 2015 entry is comparatively innocuous, depicting the last-ever Christmas Eve fling of three friends whose lives are taking them in different directions. On second thought, one of the friends is a Jew and the other is black, which has to offend the yuletide sensibilities of somebody in your Starbucks queue. (Speaking of which, wanna have fun while you're waiting for your Christmas Roast? Do what Uncle Steve does: Tell the barista your name is "Active Shooter" and watch what happens!) (R)
Secret in Their Eyes Thank God we're done with the spate of narrative features based on documentaries your grandma didn't see. Now we can get on with the narrative features based on foreign films your grandma didn't see. The original version of this era-spanning mystery thriller was set against the backdrop of Argentina's Dirty War, but since nobody in America gives a shit about anything like that, our take involves the FBI and Julia Roberts. Ah, yes – the standbys. (PG-13)
Spotlight Michael Keaton leads a Boston Globe newsroom intent on exposing the Catholic Church's coverup of its child-abuse scandals. The Vatican itself has praised the movie for its depiction of intrepid journalism. Hey, isn't that like Blofeld complimenting James Bond on his tenacity? (R)
The Second Mother In Brazil's 2016 Oscar hopeful, a maid's reunion with her daughter exposes the class conflict that's simmering beneath the surface of the older woman's day job. When a U.S. studio remakes this thing in a few years, the maid is gonna be a hooker with a heart of gold, and her kid is gonna be a male, half-black computer geek. Hey, what a great part for Julia Roberts! Both of them! (R)
