Hollywood adores the weeks between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve, when families drawn together by Christmas trees or menorahs celebrate their bonds of love—and then hit the movie theaters in droves. Here’s a guide to the season’s most engaging films, a winter potpourri of hip fairy tales, computer-animated musicals, fantasy action epics, domestic dramedies and coming-of-age portraits set against political strife. So grab a bagful of gingerbread men to go along with that tub of popcorn, and settle in for some year-end holiday entertainment.
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