The best films to see for Christmas 2012

Life of Pi

Yann Martel's Life of Pi was one of the most commercially successful novels ever to win the Booker prize ; now it has been turned into a keenly anticipated movie by Ang Lee. Pi Patel is the son of a zookeeper who decides to transport the family, and their entire menagerie, to Canada by sea. But a shipwreck leaves him and assorted animals on a single lifeboat, fighting for survival. Early film festival sightings have been hugely enthusiastic . 20 December, the Guardian reports.

Boxing Day

An intriguing and cerebral work from Bernard Rose, the maker of Mr Nice. This is the third of his Tolstoy adaptations, following Ivans xtc and The Kreutzer Sonata, all starring Danny (son of John) Huston. The source is the 1895 story Master and Man, and it follows a landowner and a peasant lost in snowy Colorado the day after Christmas. 21 December.

Seven Psychopaths

As a followup to his hit In Bruges , Martin McDonagh has now created a bizarre postmodern LA thriller about a screenwriter (Colin Farrell) who somehow gets involved with the kidnapping of a tough guy's precious shih-tzu dog, and has to confront the unstable individuals of the title, played by Tom Waits, Woody Harrelson and others. 7 December.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Some Hobbit fans are bemused by Peter Jackson 's desire to create a lengthy epic out of what is quite a modestly sized book. But if anyone can do it, Jackson can. Martin Freeman is on the verge of global fame in the role of Bilbo Baggins , who goes off with some dwarfs on a mighty quest to reclaim lost treasure from the dragon Smaug. Benedict Cumberbatch is the necromancer and Elijah Wood is Legolas. 13 December.

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