Wonka

Paddington 2 has been hailed as one of the all-time great family films. Now its director, Paul King, and his co-writer, Simon Farnaby, have turned their attention to another much-loved British children’s book character, Willy Wonka from Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. In this musical prequel, the top-hatted Wonka (Timothée Chalamet) opens his first sweet shop, with the help of an Oompa-Loompa played by Hugh Grant.

Released from 6 December internationally

The Boy and the Heron

Hayao Miyazaki is the director of such landmark works as My Neighbour Totoro and Howl’s Moving Castle. Now aged 82, he has said that his latest film, The Boy and the Heron, will be his last. Beginning with the bombing of Tokyo during World War Two, the story moves first to the countryside and then to a magical realm reminiscent of Spirited Away.

Released on 8 December in the US and Canada, and 26 December in the UK and Ireland

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom

Momoa is back as Arthur Curry, the king of Atlantis, alongside Patrick Wilson as his half-brother, Amber Heard as his girlfriend, Nicole Kidman as his mother, and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as his arch-enemy, Manta. The film’s director, James Wan told Clark Collis at Entertainment Weekly, “The beauty of this movie, this Aquaman world, is that ... we are our own separate universe.”

Released from 20 December internationally

Leave the World Behind

A family is having a quiet holiday in a rented house when some uninvited visitors announce that the world is coming to an end. That was the premise of Leave the World Behind, another apocalyptic thriller adapted from a novel. It features Julia Roberts and Ethan Hawke as the holidaying couple, and Mahershala Ali as the mystery man who turns up with his daughter, Myha’la Herrold. Can either family trust the other one? The film is “one of the year’s best and no doubt will spark massive amounts of conversation”, says Kristen Lopez in The Wrap.

Released on 8 December on Netflix internationally

Great Movies You Should Watch at Any Cost

Almost Famous（2000）

122 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama

A high-school boy is given the chance to write a story for Rolling stone Magainze about an up-and-coming rock band as he accompanies them on their concert tour．

Director: Cameron Crowe | Stars; Billy Crudup, Patrick Fugit, Kate Hudson, Frances McDormand Likes: 250,715 | Prices; $32.53

A Beautiful Mind（2001）

135 min | Biography, Drama

After John Nash, a brilliant mathematician, accepts secret work in cryptography（密码学）, his life takes a turn for the worse．

Director: Ron Howard | Stars: Russell Crowe, Ed Harris, Jennifer Connelly, Christopher Phummer

Likes: 840,090 | Prices: $17.74

Into the Wild（2007）

148 min | Biography, Adventure, Drama

After graduating from university, Christopher McCandless is always lost in his life．To search for his real self, he gives his entire $24,000 saving account to charity and goes to Alaska to live in the wilderness．Along the way, Christopher meets a series of characters that shape his life．

Director: Sean Penn | Stars: Emile Hirsch, Vince Vaughn, Catherine Keener, Marcia Gay Harden

Likes: 567,337 | Prices:%18.35

Frankenweenie（2012）

87 min |Animation（动画）, Comedy, Family

When a boy’s beloved dog passes away suddenly, he attempts to bring the animal back to life through a powerful science experiment．

Director: Tim Burton | Stars: Winona Ryder, Catherine O’Hara, Martin Short, Martin Landau

Likes: 97,636 | Prices: $35.29 $18 for children

Which boy hasn’t dreamed of being a cool secret agent (特工)? The wonderful fighting abilities and the world-saving adventures are much more colourful than most people’s everyday lives. Well, Cody Banks is just like any other boy，except that he is not just dreaming. He has a big secret his friends never know about. He was trained to be a spy (间谍）by a special CIA programme，which was made to look like a summer camp. He learned high-speed driving，hand-to-hand fighting and the use of high-tech tools.

After proving he could become a young hero by saving a baby from a runaway car，Banks gets his first real task. He must make friends with a popular girl at school，Natalie Connors. Then，he must spy on her father，a scientist who has developed a dangerous technology .Banks must stop a group of bad people from forcing Natalie’s father into using the technology to endanger the world.

The CIA may have taught him first-class self-defence moves，but they didn’t show him how to talk to girls. Banks has zero ability when it comes to dealing with girls. How can he get around his problem and get an invitation to the girl’s upcoming birthday party? Will he finally become Natalie’s boyfriend and find out whatever he can about her father’s work?

Agent Cody Banks has everything that young people are interested in: big explosions, breath-taking performances and funny girl-dating experiences. It was listed No.2 in the American box office last week.

“This story is interesting and fun for the whole family to enjoy，and especially cool for young boys，” said Paul Perkins, a film reviewer in the US.