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 Oscar helped Zero Dark Thirty gain the top spot at the box office over the weekend, as the film scored five nominations and 24 million dollars. A Haunted House scared up 18.8 million for second place, and Gangster Squad was third with 16.7 million. Last week’s winner Texas Chainsaw 3-D fell all the way to ninth.  See the complete top 10 below:

1. "Zero Dark Thirty," $24 million
2. "A Haunted House," $18.8 million
3. "Gangster Squad," $16.7 million
4. "Django Unchained," $11 million
5. "Les Miserables," $10.1 million
6. "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," $9 million
7. "Lincoln," $6.3 million
8. "Parental Guidance," $6.1 million
9. "Texas Chainsaw 3-D," $5.1 million
10. "Silver Linings Playbook," $5 million

A Royal Affair – Magnolia Pictures – Rated R
A Royal Affair is an involving, enveloping true story of Denmark in the 1700’s and is beautifully shot, and lush. The luminous Alicia Vikander captivates and commands every moment she is on the screen and turns in a performance that is intriguing and mesmerizing. While royal shenanigans don’t usually turn out so great, this is a love story that ultimately changed a nation. It deserves its Oscar nomination.
4 ½ Stars Out of 5

Zero Dark Thirty – Columbia – Rated R
I’m not quite feeling the awards attention being given to Zero Dark Thirty. Don’t get me wrong, it is very good. But it feels like the best ever episode of Law and Order, not an Oscar award winner. Jessica Chastain delivers a superb, strong performance, but the film at times seems to want us to step back and examine ourselves and see how awful we are. There were times the movie didn’t ring true, and indeed it has been reported that it takes many liberties with the actual story. I, for the most part, liked it, but heap less than the highest praise on it.
4 stars Out of 5

Gangster Squad – Warner Brothers - Rated R
Gangster Squad seems almost comic at times. That’s not a good thing. Is it a parody, or just bad? I lean toward thinking it’s just gleeful in its excess. There are a lot of things to like…Emma Stone, and Ryan Gosling both give pretty good performances. Sean Penn chews the scenery like never before, and his makeup is so bad it’s distracting. There is plenty of action…so much it turns into a mindless shoot em up. It should have been a great movie. But it’s not. Uneven direction and underwritten plot lines doom it to mediocrity. That’s not to say it isn’t fun. It is far from perfect, but I enjoyed it
3 ½ Stars Out of 5

A Haunted House – Open Road Films – Rated R
Marlon Wayans takes on Paranormal Activity in A Haunted House. Like the films it parodies, it cost about eight dollars to make, and it shows. But Wayans is still Wayans, and this movie pours on the jokes fast and furious. Most work. Some don’t, but for the most part, it’s fun. If you’ve seen the movies it makes fun of, you will like it. It’s plenty stupid, but I did laugh.
3 stars Out of 5

See more movie reviews at bobrichardsmoviereviews.com.