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  1. Entertainment
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15 Best Movies Released This December

Features
By Total Film published 29 November 2012

The new films you should be watching in cinemas this month

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - out 13 Dec

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - out 13 Dec

The first instalment of Peter Jackson's second Middle-earth trilogy finally arrives in cinemas - in 3D - on Thursday 13 December.

Read full film review of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Page 1 of 15
Page 1 of 15
Seven Psychopaths - out 5 Dec

Seven Psychopaths - out 5 Dec

This sunbaked shaggy-dog story from In Bruges writer/director Martin McDonagh is like Charlie Kaufman taking down Quentin Tarantino.

Read full Seven Psychopaths film revie w

Page 2 of 15
Page 2 of 15
Celeste And Jesse Forever - out 7 Dec

Celeste And Jesse Forever - out 7 Dec

Rashida Jones and Andy Samberg play a recently divorced couple who are still best friends in this unconventional romcom.

Read full Celeste And Jesse Forever film revie w

Page 3 of 15
Page 3 of 15
Gremlins - out 7 Dec

Gremlins - out 7 Dec

Joe Dante’s anarchic creature feature from 1984 is re-released in cinemas in time for Christmas.

Read full Gremlins film review

Page 4 of 15
Page 4 of 15
I, Anna - out 7 Dec

I, Anna - out 7 Dec

A slice of modern London noir from writer/director Barnaby Southcombe, starring his mother Charlotte Rampling.

Read full I, Anna film review

Page 5 of 15
Page 5 of 15
The Man With The Iron Fists - out 7 Dec

The Man With The Iron Fists - out 7 Dec

Grisly and goofy, this ode to the Shaw Brothers’ ’70s-era kung fu epics serves up 96 minutes of murder and mutilation and not a lot else.

Read full The Man With The Iron Fists film review

Page 6 of 15
Page 6 of 15
The Oranges - out 7 Dec

The Oranges - out 7 Dec

A top-notch cast elevates this amiable, relatively unpredictable domestic farce that flirts with a darkness it never quite dares to embrace.

Read full film review of The Oranges

Page 7 of 15
Page 7 of 15
Chasing Ice - out 14 Dec

Chasing Ice - out 14 Dec

Jeff Orlowski’s eco-doc is full of visually spectacular montages of ice floes receding that will make you gasp and move you to tears.

Read full Chasing Ice film review

Page 8 of 15
Page 8 of 15
Smashed - out 14 Dec

Smashed - out 14 Dec

Like Blue Valentine crossed with an AA meeting, Smashed is really a study of the disintegration of a marriage, perfectly realised by Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Breaking Bad ’s Aaron Paul.

Read full Smashed film review

Page 9 of 15
Page 9 of 15
Life Of Pi - out 20 Dec

Life Of Pi - out 20 Dec

A riot of saturated colour and delirious imagination, Ang Lee’s adaptation of Yann Martel’s Booker Prize winner radiates spirituality.

Read full Life Of Pi film review

Page 10 of 15
Page 10 of 15
Pitch Perfect - out 21 Dec

Pitch Perfect - out 21 Dec

Rebel Wilson is hilarious, Anna Kendrick is terrific and there are as many gross-out gags as there are singing numbers in this raucous musical comedy.

Read full Pitch Perfect film review

Page 11 of 15
Page 11 of 15
West Of Memphis - out 21 Dec

West Of Memphis - out 21 Dec

Documentary-maker Amy Berg's investigation into what became known as the case of the West Memphis Three, a notorious miscarriage of justice.

Read full West Of Memphis film review

Page 12 of 15
Page 12 of 15
Jack Reacher - out 26 Dec

Jack Reacher - out 26 Dec

Tom Cruise plays Reacher, a homicide investigator who’s looking into a case in which a sniper shot five random victims, in this adaptation of Lee Child’s novel One Shot.

Read more about Jack Reacher

Page 13 of 15
Page 13 of 15
Safety Not Guaranteed - out 26 Dec

Safety Not Guaranteed - out 26 Dec

Aubrey Plaza plays a disenfranchised twenty-something investigating a guy who claims to know how to time travel.

Read full Safety Not Guaranteed film review

Page 14 of 15
Page 14 of 15
Midnight's Children - out 26 Dec

Midnight's Children - out 26 Dec

Salman Rushdie adapts his own novel about the coming of age of two children born as India gains independence.

Read full Midnight's Children film review

Page 15 of 15
Page 15 of 15
PRODUCTS
celeste & jesse forever jack reacher life of pi pitch perfect safety not guaranteed seven psychopaths The Hobbit
Total Film

The Total Film team are made up of the finest minds in all of film journalism. They are: Editor Jane Crowther, Deputy Editor Matt Maytum, Reviews Ed Matthew Leyland, News Editor Jordan Farley, and Online Editor Emily Murray. Expect exclusive news, reviews, features, and more from the team behind the smarter movie magazine. 

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