January Movie Previews: Gangster Squad; Zero Dark Thirty; Movie 43

Opening Jan. 4

Texas Chainsaw 3-D
As if the true story of Ed Gein (the murderer who inspired the Leatherface franchise) wasn't horrifying enough, moviegoers can now step into John Luessenhop's newest reboot with their trusty 3-D glasses. Travel alongside a new set of unsuspecting teenagers (Trey Songz, Alexandra Daddario) as they road trip to the ominous Sawyer family farmhouse and pick up where the 1974 original film left off.

Opening Jan. 11

Gangster Squad
In the wake of the 2012 Aurora shooting, director Ruben Fleischer (30 Minutes or Less) postponed this 1940s crime drama about the battle between the LAPD and East Coast Mafia due to the gratuitous gun use. The final showdown between infamous mob king Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn) and California detectives (Josh Brolin, Anthony Mackie) is flawlessly chronicled, while the heated love story between Grace Faraday (Emma Stone) and Sgt. Jerry Wooters (Ryan Gosling) blossoms on screen.

Zero Dark Thirty
Director Kathryn Bigelow and writer Mark Boal (The Hurt Locker) reunite to tell the critically acclaimed, yet already controversial story of the CIA agents and Navy SEAL team that successfully assassinated Osama Bin Laden. Instead of focusing on the president and politics, Bigelow emphasizes the willingness of the military operatives to put their lives at risk to complete their mission.

Opening Jan. 18

Mama
The struggles of a young couple (Jessica Chastain, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) trying to give their abandoned nieces a new life are realistically depicted, while questions begin to arise surrounding the disappearance of the girls' birth mother. Whether or not she actually left the daughters is revealed in a shocking culmination to this suspenseful new horror film from Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth).

Opening Jan. 25

Movie 43
Actress-turned-director Elizabeth Banks and at least one Farrelly brother (There's Something About Mary, Dumb and Dumber) are to blame for this outrageous new ensemble comedy that intertwines (and tangles) numerous short stories, acted out by potentially the longest all-star cast list in movie history. Expect to see award-winning actors (Kate Winslet, Richard Gere) either swearing, fighting or fornicating with famous funnymen (Johnny Knoxville, Jason Sudeikis) in order to shock and offend audiences.