Gripping Cold War drama, heartwarming family fun, gritty gangster thrills and heart-wrenching period romances – this week's unmissable movies round-up has something for everyone. Here's all the details of what's on.
Bridge of Spies
What's the story? Tom Hanks re-teams with Steven Spielberg for this dramatic, factual Cold War drama.
The year is 1957. The world is caught in the grip of the Cold War. James B. Donovan (Tom Hanks) is a noted American insurance lawyer who finds himself caught up in an international crisis when he's recruited by the CIA to defend incarcerated Soviet spy Rudolf Abel (Mark Rylance).
The situation escalates when Donovan is sent to East Berlin to negotiate the release of American pilot Francis Gary Powers (Austin Stowell), whose spy aircraft was shot down over the Soviet Union, in exchange for Abel. Before long, the fate of the world comes to rest on the shoulders of this unassuming, all-American hero.
The dream team of legendary Saving Private Ryan director Steven Spielberg and Forrest Gump star Tom Hanks promises to make this a gripping and involving look at a fascinating true story, one that plays out against the tense relationship between these two great superpowers.
Click here to book your tickets for Bridge of Spies.
The Good Dinosaur
What's the story? Pixar's latest delightful animation takes place in an incredible world where humans and dinosaurs co-exist.
What if that fateful meteorite had never wiped out our prehistoric predecessors the dinosaurs? What if humans and giant lizards lived in the same world alongside one another?
That's the latest, wonderfully imaginative conceit from Pixar, the genius filmmakers behind this year's emotional mega hit Inside Out. As a young Apatosaurus named Arlo (voiced by Raymond Ochoa) sets off on an epic quest to find his family, he soon befriends human caveboy Spot (Jack Bright) and a deep-seated friendship is formed.
Promising all the breathtaking animation and heartfelt emotion that we expect from the world's pre-eminent animators, this promises to have audiences looking at dinos in a whole new light.
Click here to book your tickets for The Good Dinosaur.
Black Mass
What's the story? Johnny Depp and Benedict Cumberbatch star in an engrossing true-life crime thriller.
As leader of the Winter Hill Gang, ruthless Irish-American mobster James 'Whitey' Bulger (Johnny Depp) controls the streets of early 70s South Boston. But the Angiulo family from the north of the city are looking to muscle in on his territory.
Whitey's childhood friend, FBI agent John Connolly (Joel Edgerton), is under pressure to nail the Angiulos. He covertly offers his brutal underworld chum immunity from prosecution in return for turning informant. With Whitey's powerful state senator brother (Benedict Cumberbatch) turning a blind eye, an extraordinary crimewave is unleashed.
Based on an incredible true story that also partially inspired Scorsese's The Departed, this taut and gripping crime thriller boasts a compelling performance by Johnny Depp as one of America's most notorious gangsters. Crazy Heart director Scott Cooper also gets outstanding, nuanced performances out of Joel Edgerton and Benedict Cumberbatch.
Click here to book your tickets for Black Mass.
Carol
What's the story? Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara deliver outstanding performances in this sumptuous romantic drama.
The year is 1952. Therese (Rooney Mara) is a bored young woman working in a New York department store looking for fulfilment. But when glamorous, upper-class housewife Carol (Cate Blanchett) enters the store one day Therese's life is forever turned upside down.
Attracted to and intrigued by the alluring Carol, who is in the throes of a divorce and child custody battle with her husband Harge (Kyle Chandler), Therese becomes close to her. The two women soon develop a friendship that eventually turns into something much more passionate – and ultimately devastating.
Based on Patricia Highsmith's pseudonymously published novel The Price of Salt, this is a beautifully mounted, impeccably designed story of forbidden love that has drawn widespread acclaim for its lead performances. Behind the camera is director Todd Haynes who made the critically praised pastiche 2002 melodrama Far From Heaven.
Click here to book your tickets for Carol.
Tamasha
(Hindi)
What's the story? A swooningly romantic and imaginative Indian drama about a relationship built on storytelling.
All his life, Ved (Ranbir Kapoor) has been obsessed with stories. As a kid growing up in Simla, he would even steal money to pay an old storyteller to regale him with fables.
Now, on the exotic island of Corsica, he meets and falls for the beautiful Tara (Deepika Padukone). They agree to an unusual romantic arrangement. So as not to break love's spell, they will not tell each other who they are. Instead, they'll lie about themselves and never meet again after they leave the island. But they do meet again. Can the fantasy that they have built survive the reality of Ved's life as an ordinary man trapped in the rat race?
Former real-life couple Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone team up on screen for the third time in Imtiaz Ali's powerful romantic drama. Music is by the great A.R. Rahman.
Click here to book your tickets for Tamasha.
Mukhtiar Chadha (Punjabi)
What's the story? A lovable young Sikh wheeler-dealer tussles with the mafia in this hilarious Punjabi comedy.
Likeable, funny and quick-witted Mukhtiar Chadha (Diljit Dosanjh) is a popular Sikh kid with three close friends who aspire to be a scientist, a theatre artist and a pop singer respectively.
Mukhtiar himself is convinced his lowly station in life is due to his father's early death. Ever since childhood, he's come up with all kinds of money-making schemes. He's particularly eager that his long-suffering mother should close her small statue shop and invest in something else.
At college, Mukhtiar becomes involved in property deals and finds himself inadvertently tussling with the mafia. When the mob destroys his mother's shop, our hero refuses to be intimidated and sets out to fight back!
Hot from the fantasy hit Sardaarji, Punjabi singer, actor and TV presenter Diljit Dosanjh adds to his string of box office smashes with this rib-tickling comedy crowd-pleaser.
Click here to book tickets for Mukhtiar Chadha.
Inji Iduppazhagi (Tamil)
What's the story? Arya and Anushka Shetty star in a Tamil romantic comedy about the obsession with 'size zero'.
Soundara (Anushka Shetty), known as 'Sweety', is a healthy young woman whose mother is keen that she should attract and marry an NRI. But the prospective grooms all consider her to be overweight, so the pressure is on to slim down.
Anushka Shetty reportedly put on 20kg for her role in this thought-provoking Tamil romantic-comedy, which sets out to challenge superficial judgements about appearance and highlight the importance of inner beauty. The film reunites her with her Irandam Ulagam co-star Arya.
It's directed by Prakash Kovelamudi, son of veteran Telugu filmmaker K. Raghavendra Rao, from a script by his wife Kanika. Sonal Chauhan has a supporting role, and rumour has it that there will be a whole host of star cameos, including Jiiva, Hansika, Nagarjuna, Rana Daggubati, Bobby Simhaa, Kajal Aggarwal, Tamannaah, Sri Divya and Revathy.
Click here to book your tickets for Inji Iduppazhagi.
Exhibition On Screen: Goya – Visions of Flesh and Blood
(Tuesday 1st December, 6.45pm)
What's the story? Live in Cineworld: a landmark exhibition of the legendary painter Goya's greatest works.
Spain's most celebrated artist, Francisco Goya is considered the father of modern art. His extraordinary observations of everyday life and Spain's troubled past have captivated people for centuries, establishing his reputation as both a gifted portrait painter and social commentator par excellence.
Now a landmark live exhibition from London's iconic National Gallery takes audiences up close to Goya's masterpieces like never before. Through a great collection of unique works and Goya's letters, we reflect upon the man himself and the world he painted. Goya is an artist whose powerful vision and technical prowess makes him one of the most admired icons of the artistic world.
Click here to book tickets for Goya.
Doctor Zhivago
(Wednesday 2nd December, 6.30pm)
What's the story? A magnificent digital restoration of David Lean's classic, Oscar-winning epic historical romance.
On the eve of the outbreak of WWI, medical student Yuri Zhivago (Omar Sharif) meets and falls for lovely dressmaker's daughter Lara (Julie Christie). But tumultuous events overtaking Europe keep the couple apart.
Framed in flashback and unfolding against a gorgeous scenic backdrop, this sweeping, beautifully filmed, multi-stranded romance is adapted from the lauded novel by Nobel Prize for Literature winner Boris Pasternak.
Director David Lean's follow-up to his masterpiece Lawrence of Arabia went on to win five well-deserved Oscars, including one for Maurice Jarre's memorable score. The extraordinary supporting cast boasts Rod Steiger, Alec Guinness, Rita Tushingham, Ralph Richardson, Tom Courtenay and Geraldine Chaplin.
Although the film had a poor reception from some critics on release, its reputation has grown over the decades and this 50th anniversary digital makeover restores Doctor Zhivago to its rightful position as one of cinema's greatest ever romances.
Click here to book your tickets for Doctor Zhivago.
Blur: New World Towers
(Wednesday 2nd December, 8pm)
What's the story? A fascinating, intimate portrait of the Britpop titans set against the backdrop of two stunning shows.
Charting an emotional journey from Hong Kong to London and back again, this revealing and often raw documentary offers an extraordinary insight into the creativity of one of Britain's most iconic bands.
It begins with an unexpected break in Hong Kong, where the seeds are sown for Blur's first album as a quartet in 16 years. Personal documentary footage and candid interviews explore complex band dynamics, in particular the relationship between singer Damon Albarn and guitarist Graham Coxon. Their enduring friendship ultimately prevails as Blur complete their long-awaited, chart-topping The Magic Whip album. But questions are also raised about the band's future.
The film includes some incredible live footage from two spectacular shows: an impassioned homecoming performance in front of 60,000 fans in Hyde Park this summer and a triumphant return to Hong Kong.
Click here to book tickets for Blur: New World Towers.
ENO 2015: The Mikado
(Thursday 3rd December, 7.30pm)
What's the story? Director Jonathan Miller presents his acclaimed take on Gilbert and Sullivan's classic operetta.
It's the 1930s in a typically English seaside hotel. Nanki-Poo loves Yum-Yum. However, she's betrothed to the new Lord High Executioner, Ko-Ko. And Ko-Ko needs to find someone to execute. Otherwise, he's for the chop. Together, Nanki-Poo and Ko-Ko must come to some sort of arrangement - without anyone losing their head!
The Mikado is one of Gilbert and Sullivan's most enduringly popular classics, and Jonathan Miller's Marx Brothers-inspired take is ideal entertainment for all ages, brimming with wit, memorable melodies and hilarious antics.
Forty-six years after making his ENO debut, distinguished bass Robert Lloyd sings the genial Mikado for the first time whilst the esteemed ENO Mackerras Conducting Fellow Fergus Macleod makes his company debut.
Click here to book your tickets for The Mikado.
Which of these incredible movies and events will you be watching as December draws in? Join the conversation @Cineworld and let us know.
Don't forget to check out next week's unmissable movies round-up!
