Within the chambers of a desolate house, a solitary servant tends to his invalid master. Tangibly detailed period design and hauntingly lifelike puppetry unearth the dreamworld of Poe.

When petty criminal Luke Jackson is sentenced to two years in a Florida prison farm, he doesn’t play by the rules of either the sadistic warden or the yard’s resident heavy, Dragline, who ends up admiring the new guy’s unbreakable will. Luke’s bravado, even in the face of repeated stints in the prison’s dreaded solitary confinement cell, “the box,” make him a rebel hero to his fellow convicts and a thorn in the side of the prison officers.

Psychedelic animation and a flying Godzilla highlight the 11th Godzilla film. Spawned from earth’s pollution, Hedorah destroys Japan, spews poison gas and fights Godzilla.

Stopping briefly in a small Texas town, an itinerant race car driver finds that his stock car, on a trailer behind his motor home, has just been quickly and expertly stripped. He chases down the miscreants, who turn out to be six orphan children. He has no recourse to the law, for the corrupt local sheriff takes most of the proceeds of their thievery in exchange for not putting them in an orphanage. They are charming rogues who are in turn charmed by him. Disliking their arrangement with the sheriff, they stow away with him, and he finds himself becoming a reluctant stepfather. Thanks to their enthusiasm and incredible mechanical know-how, he begins to make a name for himself on the racing circuit. But the sheriff doesn’t take kindly to losing his extra income…

Five soap opera divas as they reunite to shoot the final Christmas episode of their long-running sudser. The producer, Alex and director Nell, who happen to be old college friends, do their best to keep things on the rails but as the ladies come together, old rivalries resurface that threaten to tear the production apart.

Page Eight is lovingly turned, with elegant writing, a flawless cast and a heartfelt message from writer/director David Hare about the danger zone where spies and politicians meet. The tension builds gently as we follow the fortunes of Johnny Worricker, a jazz-loving charmer who works high up at MI5 as an intelligence analyst. It’s a part made for Bill Nighy and he purrs out bon mots with a weary panache that women 20 years younger find irresistible. One such is his neighbour, Nancy Pierpan (Rachel Weisz), in a Battersea mansion block. The question for Johnny is whether her interest in him is genuine or hides something darker. As his boss (Michael Gambon) puts it: “Distrust is a terrible habit.” Questions of trust, honour and friendship rumble through the play. The characters exchange oblique repartee as a plot about a damning dossier unwinds. It’s not to be missed.

From London to the far reaches of Scotland, the journey in the form of a quest for a whalebone box, related to its place of origin.

Seeking revenge for her husband’s death, Ann ingratiates herself with the Garretts under the guise of a caring housekeeper. Once she gains their trust, Ann begins to wreak havoc upon the dysfunctional family. Seduction and malice are her weapons as she attempts to emotionally and sexually destroy them.

Waxman is a former Special Forces soldier who is now working as a heavily armed assassin for a top secret government agency. When a covert mission goes terribly wrong, Waxman and fellow assassin Clegg become that agency’s prime targets.

A married couple, on the brink of divorce, must spend a weekend alone to decide the rest of their lives.

A young boy’s father is lynched before his eyes; fifteen years later he returns home for revenge.

“A Christmas Tree Miracle” is a warm-hearted tale that reminds us that in the holiday season, the best gifts in life are the simple ones, and that miracles do happen, if you believe.