Box office preview: Christmas Day movie opening bonanza

I thought I'd go ahead and write about this week's box office preview now, because a lot of movies are opening tomorrow. Christmas Day openings almost always include at least one, or more, Oscar-caliber films, and 2013 is no exception. In fact, just a glance at my local theater's lineup tells me I've got to get on this so I can see everything I want to see.

As far as predictions, I honestly am not sure which films will take the top spots. I know that The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues will continue to do really well, but with all of this new competition, I'm not sure whether either of these movies will stay on top. In a field this strong, finishing in the top five is impressive enough.

Let's do this: The movies opening in wide release on Christmas Day include The Wolf of Wall Street, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, 47 Ronin, Grudge Match and Justin Bieber's Believe.

Of these, the clear choice for me is going to be The Wolf of Wall Street. Reviews are pretty good, I'm crazy about Leonardo DiCaprio and of course, I cannot miss a Martin Scorsese movie in the theater. I've already bought our tickets to see this tomorrow night. I'll certainly review this soon.

As for the other choices, 47 Ronin's reviews are terrible, so I think I'll wait for the DVD on this one. The same goes for Grudge Match, which looks awful. When you consider that these two movies feature the likes of Keanu Reeves, Robert De Niro and Sly Stallone, and that they're apparently crappy, well, that's just depressing. No comment on the Bieber movie. I assume that's not even necessary.

As for The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, I'm just not sure. The trailer was great, the story is fantastic - but I'm not sure I'm sold on this one. With so many other great options (American Hustle, Saving Mr. Banks and Anchorman 2), I suspect I'll skip this one in theaters. If this is a mistake, let me know in the comments, please. If you see Walter Mitty and it's absolutely delightful, I'll make time.

Does anyone else have a Christmas night movie tradition? Even my still semi-sick spouse is itching to get out of the house tomorrow evening...so we're outta here once the gifts are opened and the dinner served.

Photo courtesy of The Guardian