Christmas at the Cinema

DECEMBER 6

Frozen
The latest animation from Walt Disney tackles Hans Christian Anderson's The Snow Queen. The film features amusing sidekicks: a camp snowman and a long-suffering reindeer. But Frozen is particularly remarkable for the brilliance of its songs. It should be a smash.

DECEMBER 13

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Part one of the trilogy adapting JRR Tolkien's beloved novel divided the critics. Moving at the pace of a drunken Ent, the film took an hour to get its fellowship of mythical beings past the washing-up and on to the road. But the first Hobbit still managed to take more than $1 billion worldwide. We are promised double helpings of Benedict Cumberbatch this time.

DECEMBER 20

The Harry Hill Movie Hooray!
The only people who don't like madcap comic Harry Hill are dead or suffering from a comedy bypass. The large-collared entertainer's first big-screen outing finds him travelling to Blackpool when he discovers that his hamster only has a week to live. Julie Walters, Matt Lucas and Jim Broadbent offer support.

Walking with Dinosaurs: 3D
So what do we think about the notion of anthropomorphosis as regards dinosaurs? They're not around to complain, so it hardly matters. This belated spin-off from the 1999 BBC TV series employs 3D to tell stories concerning interactions between the popular extinct giant lizards. Apparently, John Leguizamo voices an Alexornis and Justin Long gives breath to a Pachyrhinosaurus.

DECEMBER 26

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
This is, somewhat surprisingly, only the second adaptation of James Thurber's short story concerning an ordinary man who imagines himself in extraordinary situations. Ben Stiller stars in a big-budget comedy that also finds roles for Kristen Wiig, Adam Scott and Sean Penn. Stiller directs for the first time since he hit gold with Tropic Thunder.