Westside’s 12-screen Cineworld Broad Street multiplex has unveiled details of a dozen traditional seasonal movies showing in the run-up to Christmas Day.
Best of all, the 12 festive films will only cost a fiver (£5) each for the privilege of keeping warm and entertained at the same time!
To get you firmly in the mood, here’s our bumper, advance guide to making the most of the run-up with a series of big screen bargains.
Why not combine a family trip to the pictures with a meal at your favourite Westside bar or restaurant? And don’t forget that Ice Skate Birmingham will be open in Centenary Square every day from 10am til 10pm (closed Christmas Day) with the giant indoor ice rink and three major rides at your disposal.
What to watch, where and when:
Elf (PG, 97 mins): Sunday 1 December – Screen 2, 7.30pm
Jon Favreau’s comedy with Will Ferrell as Buddy. Three times bigger than the largest elf, he’s looking for his true place in the world away from the North Pole.
The Polar Express 20th Anniversary (U, 100 mins): Wednesday 4 December – Screen 5, 7.30pm
Director Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future) switches to animation with help from Tom Hanks. Based on the book by Chris Van Allsburg.
Gremlins 40th Anniversary (12A, 106 mins): Friday 6 December – Screen 1, 7pm
Seventeen years before directing Harry Potter’s first two cinema adventures, the then writer Chris Columbus dreamed up this comedy horror directed by Joe Dante and backed by Steven Spielberg.
The Grinch (2000) (PG, 105 mins): Sunday 8 December – Screen 1, 7pm
Ron Howard (Apollo 13) directs Jim Carrey. Anthony Hopkins narrates the Dr Seuss story.
It’s A Wonderful Life (U, 130 mins): Monday, 9 December – Screen 1, 7pm.
James Stewart and Donna Reed star in a restored 4K version of Frank Copra’s timeless 1946 classic.
Love Actually (15, 135 mins): Friday, 13 December – Screen 1, 7pm.
Richard Curtis directs this now 21-year-old comedy (gulp!) of ‘nine intertwined stories of love’. The all-star cast includes Hugh Grant, Rowan Atkinson, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Colin Firth, Martin Freeman, Keira Knightley, Laura Linney, Kris Marshall, Emma Thompson, Liam Neeson, the now ubiquitous Bill Nighy (Joy) and the late Alan Rickman (Die Hard – see below).
Home Alone (PG, 103 mins): Saturday, 14 December – Screen 1, 4.30pm
Eleven years before launching the Harry Potter franchise in 2001, Chris Columbus was practising by directing young Macaulay Culkin alongside John Candy and Joe Pesci.
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (PG, 120 mins): Saturday 14 December – Screen 1, 7pm.
Chris Columbus is back again, this time with an overlong, contrived and laboured sequel as young Kevin finds himself in the Big Apple but facing the same criminals.
The Santa Clause 30th Anniversary (U, 97 mins): Sunday, 15 December – Screen 1, 7pm.
Can Tim Allen’s character Scott Calvin convince people he’s Santa Claus following his apparent death?
The Nightmare Before Christmas (PG, 77 mins): Monday, 16 December – Screen 1, 7pm
An animated, stop-motion gothic fantasy produced by visionary Tim Burton and scored by Danny Elfman (Edward Scissorhands).
The Muppet Christmas Carol (U, 89 mins): Thursday, 19 December – Screen 1, 7pm
After Muppets’ creator Jim Henson had died in 1990, son Brian Henson turned director for the first time in 1992, with Michael Caine as Scrooge. A fun adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic story.
Die Hard (15, 132 mins): Monday, 23 December – Screen 1, 7.45pm
Christmas Eve. Skyscraper. Hostages. Bruce Willis. Vest. A gripping thriller co-starring Alan Rickman and directed by John McTiernan, who’d previously made Predator with Arnold Schwarzenegger.
PLUS
The family favourites will be dotted around a series of big films already out which include Paddington in Peru (PG) for families of all ages, with Dwayne Johnson starring in Red One (12A) a ‘rescue Santa’ thriller aimed at older children.
For musical fans there’s Wicked (12A), and if you want swords and sandals then it has to be Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II (15).
For something different watch Hugh Grant playing against type in Heretic (15), a decidedly mischievous ‘what religion are you?’ horror designed to test the faith, beliefs and mettle of two young female Mormons.
Among the films coming soon, Disney sequel Moana 2 (U) will be out from Friday 29 November with another sequel, Mufasa: The Lion King (U) following on Friday, 20 December.
Sure to interest fans of former Moseley and Edgbaston-based future author JRR Tolkien, will be another new animation, Lord of the Rings: The War of Rohirrim (12A, 134 mins).
Most fascinating of all, perhaps, will be the release of Better Man (15, 135 mins) on Boxing Day Thursday 26 December – a new biopic of Robbie Williams. The Greatest Showman director Michael Gracey has taken the apparent self-image of the former Take That star literally – by casting him as an out-of-place ape in a career rise, fall and resurrection journey. The special effects are by Weta (Avatar / Lord of the Rings trilogy).
There will also be an ‘autism friendly’ (quieter and lighter) screening of Paddington in Peru on Sunday, 8 December – from 11am in the compact-sized Screen 4.
Picture credits: Die Hard, 20th Century Fox; ELF, New Line Cinema; Muppet Christmas Carol; Walt Disney Pictures; Gremlins, Warner Bros.
ENDS
