A list of the new films being released across the UK, from Friday 11 December 2015. Use the Find Any Film website for details of which cinema nearest you will show these films.

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By the Sea

Am I behind the times, but has Angelina Jolie just officially become (on the credits of this film at least) Jolie-Pitt? All lovely and official if so!

Here, she is the co-star, writer, director and producer of this drama about an American writer (Brad Pitt) and his wife, Vanessa (the aforementioned Jolie-Pitt), who arrive in a picturesque seaside resort in 1970s France, their marriage in apparent crisis. As they spend time with fellow travelers, the couple come to terms with unresolved issues in their own lives.

Showing all over the UK, the official website with the trailer and gallery will help whet your appetites.

The Forbidden Room

Wow! What a ride the trailer to this film proved to be! About as fucked up, cray-cray, hallucinagenic 2 minute journey one could hope to experience. Is the whole film any good? Who knows! Who cares!

The plot: A submarine crew, a feared pack of forest bandits, a famous surgeon, and a battalion of child soldiers all get more than they bargained for as they wend their way toward progressive ideas on life and love.

The cast: Geraldine Chaplin, Charlotte Rampling, Mathieu Amalric and Udo Kier. See the official website for more.

Grandma

A seemingly innocuous title for a film, but there is grit to this drama with Lily Tomlin steamrollering ahead as the titular grandmother who is asked by her granddaughter to provide her with the money for an abortion. You wouldn’t think writer/director Paul Weitz could squeeze comedy out of this, but he seems to. The official Sony Pictures webpage will tell you more; this will be showing across a wide selection of UK cinemas so use Find Any Film to locate your nearest movie house.

Grazing the Sky

Director Horacio Alcalá follows eight acrobats from all over the world, intercutting interviews with artfully staged footage of his subjects performing breathtaking feats with poise and grace. Alcalá has been involved with the circus arts for seven years, including Cirque du Soleil. Showing at key cities only, see the official website for screening details.

Hector

Peter Mullan takes the title role in this whimsical drama about a man travelling from Scotland to London for his annual Christmas dinner at a shelter in the capital. Aware it might be his last such journey, he reconnects with his past and people he has left behind. Showing at key cities only, see the official website for more.

Ice and the Sky

Oscar winning director Luc Jacquet (March Of the Penguins, 2005) brings to the screen the story of Claude Lorius who set out to study the icescapes of Antarctica in 1957. He tells of our planet’s history and of our future – a future inextricably linked with mankind’s impact on our planet. Showing at key cities only, use the official Curzon cinemas booking page for where you can catch this.

Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict

From filmmaker Lisa Immordino Vreeland: Peggy Guggenheim was an heiress to her family fortune who became a central figure in the modern art movement. As she moved through the cultural upheaval of the 20th century, she collected not only art, but artists. Her colorful personal history included such figures as Samuel Beckett and Jackson Pollock. While fighting through personal tragedy, she maintained her vision to build one of the most important collections of modern art, now enshrined in her Venetian palazzo. Showing at key cities only, see the official website for UK screening locations.

Swung

British sex drama: When an encounter with the swinging scene has an unexpected impact on David’s impotence, Alice thinks she might have found the solution to all their problems, but the poly-amorous world is a difficult place for a love story to flourish. On a limited release only, use Find Any Film to see where this will be showing.

And from Saturday 12 December…

Sisters

Two disconnected sisters (Tina Fey, Amy Poehler) are summoned home to clean out their childhood bedroom before their parents sell the family house. Looking to recapture their glory days, they throw one final high-school-style party for their classmates, which turns into the cathartic rager that a bunch of ground-down adults really need. Looks like some big, frothy laughs, in the Bridesmaids vein. See the official website for more, this will be showing across the UK.

And from Thursday December 17…

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Oh Lordy! It’s the big one!

THE film of the year and the one that will have our own Claire Durrant tripping over herself to get to the front of the cinema queue. Disney bought out George Lucas sometime ago and hired J.J. Abrahams to reboot the Star Wars franchise after Lucas’ own efforts proved artistically impotent. The big coup here is that the original key stars Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher and Mark Hammill all reappear, though not all of them feature so heavily in the trailers leading to some mystery about what prominence they play in the whole piece.

Interesting stuff. Obviously, you will be able to see this anywhere even remotely resembling a movie theatre. The official website has more detail.