From Hollywood blockbusters to independent treasures, 2012 has been a spectacular year for movies thus far. Here is the cream of the crop – the top five movies of the year:

Based on the popular novel by Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games takes place in a dystopian post-apocalyptic future where the United States, now called Panem, is divided into 12 districts. Each year, the Capitol holds the Hunger Games, where young boys and girls, called tributes, must fight to the death until there is one remaining winner – who is awarded fame and wealth. When Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) takes her younger sister’s place in the Hunger Games, she and fellow tribute Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) enter a dark, brutal world where they must do everything they can to survive.

A product of the hilarious mind of Family Guy creator Seth McFarlane, this laugh-a-minute comedy tells the story of John Bennett (Mark Wahlberg), a 30-something middle-class Bostonian whose stuffed teddy bear comes to life as after a childhood wish. The foul-mouthed bear, Ted (voiced by MacFarlane), grow up together and become inseparable, but their relationship becomes compromised when John’s love interest, Lori (Mila Kunis), wants Ted to move out and start a life of his own.

Set in 1965 on a picturesque New England island, Moonrise Kingdom tells the story of two young lovers, Sam Shakusky (Jared Gilman) and Suzy Bishop (Kara Hayward), who decide to run away together. When the pair disappears, the small town of New Penzance is turned upside down in more ways than one.

The third and final installment of the Batman trilogy takes places eight years after the demise of The Joker and Harvey Dent. However, the peace in quiet would be short-lived in Gotham City. Supervillain Bane (Tom Hardy) has seized control of Gotham City and plans on destroying it, forcing Batman (Christian Bale) to dust off his bat suit and save the day once again.

Marvel Studios presents “Marvel’s The Avengers”—the Super Hero team up of a lifetime, featuring iconic Marvel Super Heroes Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye and Black Widow. When an unexpected enemy emerges that threatens global safety and security, Nick Fury, Director of the international peacekeeping agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D., finds himself in need of a team to pull the world back from the brink of disaster. Spanning the globe, a daring recruitment effort begins.

If you want to watch these movies, DIRECTV Cinema gets all the new releases up to a month before Netflix and Redbox. Three of them (The Hunger Games, The Avengers and Dark Night Rises) are already available. Check out www.DirectStarTV.com to learn more.