The opening paragraph is typically a space occupied by movie recommendations and, in a way, today is only a minor deviation. I was recently gifted a hardcover edition of Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons' comic series Kingsman: The Secret Service and I enjoyed it enough to not only throw a book recommendation your way but to also say I'm firmly on board for Matthew Vaughn (who earned a co-plotting credit on the comic) and Jane Goldman's movie adaptation due out in February (see the latest Red-Band trailer here). Embedded in Millar's hyper-violent action are noble lessons about the value of public service, remembering where you came from, and the importance of recognizing stereotypes while having enough self-esteem to avoid letting yourself being defined by them. As for the movie, the bits I've seen look to be just as entertaining as the book albeit with more parkour action. After the work Vaughn and Goldman did on X-Men: First Class, I have every confidence that it's going to be worth checking out.

Recommendations aside, this week's Top 5 features interviews for and Matt's review of Exodus: Gods and Kings, an insanely cool new trailer for Mad Max: Fury Road, Matt's review of Inherent Vice to go along with a new trailer for the film, the first full-length trailer for Pixar's Inside Out, and a recap of the 2015 Golden Globe nominations. Keep reading for a brief recap and link to each of the above.

1. EXODUS: GODS AND KINGS Interviews and Review

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Even if you're not all that interested in the biblical story of Moses, you have to respect director Ridley Scott's ambition to tell it in such magnificent scale in Exodus: Gods and Kings. The film is a spectacle to behold even if, as Matt's review offers, the end product is more style than substance. For more on Exodus, check out Steve's video interviews with Ridley Scott & Christian Bale and Joel Edgerton as well as this nifty video that intercuts his interviews with footage from the film.

2. New Trailer for MAD MAX: FURY ROAD Is Absolutely Crazy

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It feels like George Miller's fourth entry in the Mad Max franchise is going to be worth the thirty year wait. Warner Bros. released a new trailer for Mad Max: Fury Road this past week and it looks utterly insane in all of the best ways. Desolate, hopeless, and violent. Those are the three words that best sum up the world in Fury Road. "Batshit crazy" fits in there as well but that's technically two words so it misses the cut.

3. INHERENT VICE Review and New Trailer

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Paul Thomas Anderson's Inherent Vice opens in limited release this weekend (in advance of its January 9th wide release) and to celebrate we've got Matt's review (feel free to compare/contrast with Perri's review from NYFF) and a new trailer that plays up the paranoid time in which the movie takes place. Even if, as our reviews have suggested, its plot borders on convoluted and wacky, I still consider new PTA films a must watch.

4. First Full-Length Trailer for Pixar's INSIDE OUT

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Pixar released the first full-length trailer for Pete Docter's Inside Out this week and, in less than two-and-a-half minutes, I'm reminded how much I love it when the studio focuses on original stories rather than sequels. The way this cut dissects an everyday parenting situation is equal parts smart and funny which is exactly what we've come to expect from the studio. I realize I'm not going out on a limb here, but I have high expectations for this one.

5. 2015 Golden Globe Nominations Announced

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The Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced the nominees for its 2015 Golden Globe awards this week with Alejandro González Iñárritu's Birdman leading the film category with seven nods and FX's Fargo leading the television category with five. Question the integrity of the HFPA all you want, the Globes are still a solid resource for predicting future Academy Award nods and they earn my attention as a result. Also, any ceremony that Tina Fey and Amy Poehler host gets bonus points from me.