It's a funny month for film: we may be in prime territory for awards worthy films but as everyone's excited for Christmas and probably spending the majority of the month watching Elf on repeat, frantically doing last minute shopping, and indulging in Netflix binges indoors with a mince pie rather than heading to the cinema, the recently released films are a bit of a mixed bag.
Christmas films are in abundance, from the comedy-horror Krampus, to multi-generational family caper Christmas with the Coopers, to festive lad's night out The Night Before. I haven't seen Krampus - I still refuse to watch horror films - but I can say that although the other two are wholly unremarkable and will be forgotten as soon as the season ends, they're perfect if you've not quite embraced the festive spirit yet and need a nudge towards finding your Christmas jumper, decorating your tree, and singing Christmas songs extremely loudly in the car on your way to work (surely it's not just me that does that?!).
Angelina Jolie makes her bid for a spot in the awards conversation with By The Sea, written, produced and directed by her, filmed on her honeymoon and starring her and her husband Brad Pitt as a troubled couple. Unfortunately it's been met with mixed reviews so far, just like Ron Howard's epic In the Heart of the Sea. It's not all serious dramas though: Lily Tomlin is making waves in Grandma, Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg play warring fathers in Daddy's Home and the unrivalled duo of Tina Fey and Amy Poehler retain their crowns as the Queens of Comedy with Sisters. It's a hysterically funny film, with a scene featuring a misplaced ballerina figurine that made me cry laughing.
Oh, and there's a new Star Wars film out, not that anyone's noticed at this stage...
CHRISTMAS WITH THE COOPERS
Tuesday 1st December 2015
"When four generations of the Cooper clan come together for their annual Christmas Eve celebration, a series of unexpected visitors and unlikely events turn the night upside down, leading them all toward a surprising rediscovery of family bonds and the spirit of the holiday."
VICTOR FRANKENSTEIN
Thursday 3rd December 2015
"Told from Igor's perspective, we see the troubled young assistant's dark origins, his redemptive friendship with the young medical student Viktor Von Frankenstein, and become eyewitnesses to the emergence of how Frankenstein became the man - and the legend - we know today."
KRAMPUS
Friday 4th December 2015
"A boy who has a bad Christmas ends up accidentally summoning a Christmas demon to his family home."
THE NIGHT BEFORE
Friday 4th December 2015
"On Christmas eve, three lifelong friends, two of whom are Jewish, spend the night in New York City looking for the Holy Grail of Christmas parties."
SUNSET SONG
Friday 4th December 2015
"The daughter of a Scottish farmer comes of age in the early 1900s."
BY THE SEA
Friday 11th December 2015
"Set in France during the mid-1970s, Vanessa, a former dancer, and her husband Roland, an American writer, travel the country together. They seem to be growing apart, but when they linger in one quiet, seaside town they begin to draw close to some of its more vibrant inhabitants, such as a local bar/café-keeper and a hotel owner."
THE FORBIDDEN ROOM
Friday 11th December 2015
"A never-before-seen woodsman mysteriously appears aboard a submarine that's been trapped deep under water for months with an unstable cargo. As the terrified crew make their way through the corridors of the doomed vessel, they find themselves on a voyage into the origins of their darkest fears."
GRANDMA
Friday 11th December 2015
"A teenager facing an unplanned pregnancy seeks help from her acerbic grandmother, a woman who is long estranged from her daughter."
SISTERS
Saturday 12th December 2015
"Two sisters decide to throw one last house party before their parents sell their family home."
STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS
Thursday 17th December 2015
"A continuation of the saga created by George Lucas and set thirty years after Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi."
SHERPA
Friday 18th December 2015
"A fight on Everest? It seemed incredible. But in 2013 news channels around the world reported an ugly brawl at 21,000ft as European climbers fled a mob of angry Sherpas."
SNOOPY AND CHARLIE BROWN: THE PEANUTS MOVIE
Monday 21st December 2015
"Snoopy embarks upon his greatest mission as he and his team take to the skies to pursue their arch-nemesis, while his best pal Charlie Brown begins his own epic quest back home."
DADDY'S HOME
Saturday 26th December 2015
"A mild-mannered radio executive strives to become the best stepdad to his wife's two children, but complications ensue when their freewheeling and freeloading real father arrives, forcing him to compete for the affection of the kids."
IN THE HEART OF THE SEA
Saturday 26th December 2015
"Based on the 1820 event, a whaling ship is preyed upon by a giant whale, stranding its crew at sea for 90 days, thousands of miles from home."
What are you excited to see in the last month of 2015? If I'm being perfectly honest I'm only really bothered about Sisters, but I've also seen Christmas with the Coopers and The Night Before in order to shove me forcibly into the festive spirit (and they succeeded in buckets!). I'll be catching By The Sea, In the Heart of the Sea, and Grandma too if I can, and although I'd like to see Star Wars I need to see the others first (yes you read that correctly) and I'll be leaving it till January anyway until it's all calmed down!
What will you be seeing? Is a trip to the cinema on the cards or rewatching a festive favourite at home instead? Do let me know in the comments below!
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