Die Hard karaoke this may be, but it delivers — and eclipses at least two of John McClane’s outings in the process. Look forward to future eye-rolling debates as to whether it qualifies as a Christmas movie.

This all feels a long way from Chandor’s glory days of Margin Call and All Is Lost. Save the occasional flourish, Kraven The Hunter is limp, tired, uninvolving superhero fare.

Reassuringly formulaic, this is a straightforwardly inspirational-by-numbers sports movie, made watchable thanks to Jharrel Jerome and Jennifer Lopez.

Anyone looking for a revelatory portrait of an iconic artist might be a smidge disappointed. But as conventional as it is, this is still a strikingly well-made musical drama with pitch-perfect performances. Don’t criticise, as Dylan once sang, what you can’t understand. 

It never scrapes the heights of Jackson’s trilogy — few do — but amid a messy meeting of worlds, there are stirring moments.

Made with love, even in its awkward moments, this modest account of a miraculous achievement is quietly life-affirming.

Sam Crane and Pinny Grylls’ feature co-directorial debut is a riotously funny, unexpectedly poignant ode to gaming, Shakespeare, the indestructible nature of art, and the benefits of befriending bazooka wielding extraterrestrials.

If you like your satire incisive you should perhaps look elsewhere, but the state of the world looks even more laughably absurd through Maddin and the Johnsons’ wickedly warped lens.

Its wackier moments sometimes feel like they have more bark than bite, but as an uncommonly honest and authentic depiction of motherhood, Nightbitch will come as sharp relief to mums everywhere.

Writer/director Payal Kapadia delivers a memorable and compassionate slice-of-life drama, making a clear statement about the constraints faced by working-class women in India.  

A typically formulaic seasonal sugar rush that’s only blandly mediocre, rather than so-bad-it’s-good. But Lindsay Lohan’s romcom-dominance cannot be denied.  

A solid if fairly derivative attempt to steal Disney’s thunder. There’s enough pep and vigour here to keep kids interested, if not quite enough for the grown-ups. 

The most batshit music biopic since Todd Haynes did the Karen Carpenter story with Barbie dolls, Michael Gracey pulls off the biggest cinematic surprise of the year. An absolute blast. 

The stories are all individually charming, but overly familiar animation and underwhelming character-design blunt the effect. 

Despite its familiar story beats, Eggers’ retelling suffocates like a coffin, right up to its chilling final shot. Lily-Rose Depp is full-bloodedly committed, and Bill Skarsgård’s fiend gorges with terrible fury.

Bogiephiles who know their Sahara from their Sirocco may not find much new here, but anyone interested in early-to-mid-20th-century Hollywood history will discover plenty to spark further investigation. 

A touch less fresh than the original, but this is still bursting with energy, emotion, warmth and imagination. It knows the way.  

A feverish, quietly sad exploration of longing and infatuation. Its lack of focus stifles the experience, but Daniel Craig has rarely been as compelling a watch.

A papal thriller that treads on eggshells, Conclave is one of the year’s most deftly balanced films. Pulpy and pensive in equal measure.

This drama works best when it’s not taking its cues directly from its source material. It may not be always totally compelling, but Deadwyler elevates every scene she’s in.

Chu amps up the colour and spectacle to extraordinary, almost overwhelming heights, but the real magic comes from Erivo and Grande as the frenemies at the story’s heart. 

More ‘Lost In Long Island’ than ‘Miracle On Main Street’, this offbeat indie ladles on the melancholy mood while skimping on the holiday highs, and seems destined to become a cult Christmas favourite.

With so-so performances and an immensely dumb conceit, this is snow Christmas classic. Still, it’s less naughty, more ice than we might have expected. 

A deliberate film that uses small moments to examine one of the great questions of our time: how good people let bad things happen, and how we might push back against the dark.  

Working from her own story idea, producer Daisy Ridley shines in Magpie, an adultery thriller that’s a little too cool and calculated to truly ruffle viewers’ psychic feathers. 

What could have been a ponderous, predictable sequel to a much-loved Oscar-winner instead turns out to be a fun romp. However Gladiator II fares this awards season, it’s a hell of a ride.

Piece By Piece’s very existence is baffling, and the Lego of it all is never entirely justified, but as an unconventional documentary of a maverick musician, it works — just about.

There’s a little bit of heart here, in the story of two people who have lost faith in Christmas for very different reasons, but more often this feels engineered in a lab to provide seasonal spectacle.