Penarth Pier Pavilion

Anna and the Apocalypse

• 
• 2017
• UK
• 1h 32min

• Directed by: John McPhail
• Cast: Ella Hunt, Malcolm Cumming, Marli Siu, Sarah Swire, Christopher Leveaux, Ben Wiggins
• UK release: 30 November 2018

Motherless teen Anna (Hunt) and her lovesick bestie John (Cumming) are about to graduate from secondary school when they find themselves in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. Polished, self-aware and pleasingly irreverent zombie musical, spattered with blood and sprinkled with glitter, a surefire Christmas crowdpleaser.

The Apartment

• 
• 1960
• US
• 2h 5min
• PG

• Directed by: Billy Wilder
• Written by: Billy Wilder, IAL Diamond
• Cast: Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray, Jack Kruschen
• UK release: 15 June 2012

CC Baxter (Lemmon) sublets his bachelor pad to his philandering boss (MacMurray), only to regret it when Sheldrake gets designs on elfin elevator girl Miss Kubelik (MacLaine). Wilder and Diamond's breezy, sardonic approach to themes of infidelity and adultery ensure that the film shines as brightly as ever.

Arthur Christmas

• 
• 2011
• UK/US
• 1h 37min
• U

• Directed by: Sarah Smith
• Written by: Peter Baynham, Sarah Smith
• Cast: James McAvoy, Hugh Laurie, Bill Nighy, Jim Broadbent, Imelda Staunton, Ashley Jensen, Ramona Marquez
• UK release: 11 November 2011

Arthur Christmas (McAvoy) is the overlooked star of the Santa team, but when it looks like a small girl's present may not get delivered, he enlists the help of his curmudgeonly grandfather (Nighy). With characters boringly reflecting different degrees of niceness, this contrived family feud lacks the wit that made…

Born in Flames

• 1983
• US
• 1h 20min

• Directed by: Lizzie Borden
• Cast: Honey, Adele Burtei, Kathryn Bigelow

Dystopian mock-documentary set in a socialist democratic New York after a peaceful revolution. Two feminist groups seek to challenge and overcome the still latent sexism and racism through the medium of pirate radio and direct action.

A Christmas Story

• 
• 1983
• US
• PG

• Directed by: Bob Clark
• Written by: Jean Shepherd, Leigh Brown, Bob Clark
• Cast: Peter Billingsley, Darren McGavin, Melinda Dillon

Christmas is coming and our young hero desperately wants a certain type of toy gun from Santa. Appealing 1940s-set memoir, with a witty first person narration and a great performance from the bespectacled child star.

Die Hard

• 1988
• US
• 2h 11min
• 18

• Directed by: John McTiernan
• Cast: Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Bonnie Bedelia, Alexander Godunov

Willis plays a cop who attends a tower block Christmas party with his estranged spouse. The building is raided by terrorists, so it's left to Willis to bump off the baddies and save the hostages while the police and FBI languish ineptly on the sidelines. Unbearably tense actioner that gets good mileage out of yawning…

Elf

• 
• 2003
• US
• 1h 36min
• PG

• Directed by: Jon Favreau
• Written by: David Berenbaum
• Cast: Will Ferrell, Bob Newhart, Ed Asner, James Caan, Zooey Deschanel, Mary Steenburgen

Buddy (Ferrell) is a big Elf who, though accepted in his Elvish community at the North Pole, manages to wreak havoc on a daily basis. Fed up and confused by his charge, Papa Elf (Bob Newhart) sends him to the US in search of his true identity. Hilarious and puerile Yuletide comedy.

First Man

• 
• 2018
• US
• 2h 18min
• 12A

• Directed by: Damien Chazelle
• Cast: Ryan Gosling, Corey Stoll, Claire Foy
• UK release: 12 October 2018

Biopic of the first man on the moon, Neil Armstrong (Gosling), with subtle and unshowy performances from Gosling and from Foy as his no-BS wife Jan. An intimate and moving character drama with raw and visceral space-peril thrills and a hero whose fame rests on modesty, curiosity and problem-solving purposefulness.

Gremlins

• 
• 1984
• US
• 1h 46min
• 12A

• Directed by: Joe Dante
• Written by: Chris Columbus
• Cast: Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates, Hoyt Axton, Frances Lee McCain, Corey Feldman

Cute and cuddly little mogwais become malevolent monsters if not properly cared for and wreak havoc in idealised small town America. A tongue-in-cheek Yuletide romp filled with in-jokes.

Home Alone

• 
• 1990
• US
• 1h 43min
• PG

• Directed by: Chris Columbus
• Written by: John Hughes
• Cast: Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, John Heard, Catherine O'Hara

Peter and Kate McCallister (Heard and O'Hara) have an eight-year-old brat and wisely – albeit accidentally – leave him behind in Chicago when they go on holiday to Paris. Left to his own devices young Kevin (Culkin) has to deal with two bungling burglars (Pesci and Stern) who threaten to invade his peaceful haven. Jolly…

It's A Wonderful Life

• 
• 1946
• US
• 2h 9min
• U

• Directed by: Frank Capra
• Cast: James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Henry Travers

Small-town boy Stewart runs into financial difficulties and is on the brink of suicide when an elderly angel descends to earth to show him all the good his life has done for those around him. Archetypal Capra sentimentality with a superbly detailed fantasy framework and one of Stewart's most lovable performances. One to…

Love Actually

• 
• 2003
• UK/US
• 2h 15min
• 15

• Directed by: Richard Curtis
• Written by: Richard Curtis
• Cast: Hugh Grant, Liam Neeson, Colin Firth, Laura Linney, Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, Keira Knightley, Martine McCutcheon, Bill Nighy, Rowan Atkinson
• UK release: 21 November 2003

Curtis aims to prove the anodyne point that love is actually all around us with a huge cast and several different story strands. So we see Nighy, Thompson, Grant, Colin Firth, Martine McCutcheon, Liam Neeson, Alan Rickman, Keira Knightley, Andrew Lincoln and Laura Linney all pop up to play out their roles. Lightweight and…

Meet Me In St Louis

• 
• 1944
• US
• 1h 53min
• U

• Directed by: Vincente Minnelli
• Cast: Judy Garland, Margaret O'Brien, Mary Astor, Lucille Bremer, Tom Drake, Marjorie Main

Released during wartime, this 1903-set musical was an optimistic attempt to emphasise family values, but Minnelli never wallows in nostalgia. Instead he combats it with sparky and sarky family dynamics. The put-upon father wants to move his family from St Louis to New York but faces resistance from his gaggle of girls who…

The Miseducation of Cameron Post

• 
• 2018
• US
• 1h 30min
• 15

• Directed by: Desiree Akhavan
• Cast: Chloë Grace Moretz, Jennifer Ehle, Marin Ireland
• UK release: 31 August 2018

When Cameron (Moretz) is discovered being intimate with another girl in the back of her boyfriend’s car, she’s shipped off a Christian ‘conversion’ camp. The screenplay avoids cliché and treats all the characters with empathy, and Moretz’s subtle strength is balanced by Lane’s resigned sarcasm as a fellow inmate.

The Muppet Christmas Carol

• 
• 1992
• US
• 1h 25min
• U

• Directed by: Brian Henson
• Cast: Michael Caine, Steven Mackintosh, Dave Goelz, Jerry Nelson, Frank Oz, David Rudman, Steve Whitmire
• UK release: 18 December 1992

It's Christmas time, and nasty old miser Scrooge (Caine) needs to be taught a lesson by three seasonal ghosts. Colourful version of Dickens' classic tale that will please the kids and keep the adults smiling with its little irreverent spices.

The Nightmare Before Christmas

• 
• 1993
• US
• 1h 16min
• PG

• Directed by: Henry Selick
• Written by: Tim Burton (story), Michael McDowell (adaptation), Caroline Thompson (screenplay)
• Cast: Danny Elfman, Chris Sarandon, Catherine O'Hara, William Hickey, Glenn Shadix, Ken Page
• UK release: 25 November 1994

Jack Skellington, the skinny trickster king of Halloweentown, is restless with success and needs a new challenge, so he hatches a plot to kidnap Santa and creates a mixed-up Yuletide which isn't quite what the kids expected. Produced and based on a story and characters by Tim Burton.

Once Upon A Time In The West

• 1968
• US
• 2h 45min
• 15

• Directed by: Sergio Leone
• Cast: Henry Fonda, Claudia Cardinale, Jason Robards, Charles Bronson

Probably Leone's best film, this classic western details in operatic fashion the drive of crooked railroad magnate, Fonda, to cheat widow Cardinale out of her land, until lone stranger Bronson comes to town. Brilliant Morricone score, achingly slow pacing, and an enthusiastic use of the wide screen mark this out as an…

Paper Moon

• 1973
• 1h 42min
• PG

• Directed by: Peter Bogdanovich
• Cast: Ryan O'Neal, Tatum O'Neal, Madeline Kahn

Set in the midst of Prohibition, an orphaned girl, Addie Loggins, is left in the care of a mischievous bible salesman, Moses Pray. As they travel together to Addie’s relatives, the salesman, who may or may not be her father, discovers how difficult Addie really is: a manipulative, cussing and smoking adolescent who makes…

Scrooged

• 1988
• US
• 1h 41min
• PG

• Directed by: Richard Donner
• Cast: Bill Murray, Karen Allen, John Forsythe, Bobcat Goldthwait, Carol Kane, Robert Mitchum, Alfre Woodard

Umpteenth screen version of Dickens' Christmas Carol, with Murray as a miserly television exec determined to exploit the yuletide schedules for all they are worth. He learns the error of his ways just in time for a cringe-inducing finale demanding peace on earth and good will to all men. Despite lavish effects and a…

Sunset Boulevard

• 1950
• US
• 1h 50min
• PG

• Directed by: Billy Wilder
• Cast: William Holden, Gloria Swanson, Erich von Stroheim

An unsuccessful screenwriter is drawn into the fantasy world of Norma Desmond, a silent movie star who dreams of making a triumphant return to the screen. Widely accepted as a classic of US cinema, and rightly so.

Trading Places

• 
• 1983
• US
• 1h 56min
• 15

• Directed by: John Landis
• Cast: Dan Aykroyd, Don Ameche, Eddie Murphy

A 'Prince and the Pauper' lifestyle-swapping comedy sparked by the dynamic presence of Murphy.

When Harry Met Sally

• 
• 1989
• US
• 1h 35min
• 15

• Directed by: Rob Reiner
• Written by: Nora Ephron
• Cast: Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan, Carrie Fisher, Bruno Kirby
• UK release: 11 December 2015

Angsty wise guy Harry (Crystal) and neurotic kook Sally (Ryan) become friends, and their friendship lasts for years until one fateful New Year's Eve. A blueprint for the modern romantic comedy, thanks to Ephron's intelligent, savvy script, brilliant performance from the leads and Reiner's relaxed approach.

The Wizard of Oz

• 
• 1939
• US
• 1h 42min
• U

• Directed by: Victor Fleming
• Cast: Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr, Jack Haley

Miserable Dorothy runs away from home but is soon whisked up into a magical land where her adventures teach her that happiness is to be found in her own back yard. Classic stuff indeed, just chockful of great songs, characterisation and memorably garish design. Perhaps marginally less enjoyable for the curmudgeonly…