Black Christmas (15) *

Interchangeable hotties queue up to have their eyeballs gouged out in an incoherent remake that sees a serial killer with bad memories of Christmas returns to his childhood home. With Michelle Trachtenberg of Buffy .

Borat (15) ****

Whether reporting on his homeland or lampooning the US, Sacha Baron Cohen’s Borat is a hoot.

Cars (PG) ***

Cartoon about amusing and chatty motor vehicles, with the voice of Owen Wilson.

Casino Royale (12A) ***

Daniel Craig is terrific in his James Bond debut, as the super-spy tries to live up to his new 007 status.

Deck the Halls **

Danny DeVito adorns his house with enough lights to be seen from space but uptight neighbour Matthew Broderick fails to look on the bright side in festive comedy.

Déjà Vu (12A) ***

Government agent Denzel Washington hunts down a loony patriot, played by Jim Caviezel, using equipment that folds the universe back on itself, allowing him to see four-and-half days into the past. Mad, yet dementedly entertaining.

The Devil Wears Prada (PG) ***

Amusing but toothless satire as Anne Hathaway learns to love working with fashion diva Meryl Streep.

Eragon (15) **

A farm boy finds a dragon’s egg, leading him on a journey during which he realises he’s the only person who can defend his home against an evil king.

Flushed Away (U) ***

A house rat (Hugh Jackman) flails around London sewers after being flushed down the loo. Pixels instead of Plasticine mean Aardman’s new comedy feels strangely soulless.

Happy Feet (U) **

Fun with dancing penguin Mumble (Elijah Wood) and his unsupportive father (Hugh Jackman) in impressive CGI outing.

The Holiday (12A) *

Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz trade houses in a bid to escape past heartbreak and meet Jack Black and Jude Law. The poster and trailers give away the end, yet it still takes 135 awful minutes to fill in the dull details.

Hoodwinked (U) **

Cheap cartoon rips off the Shrek formula to deconstruct Little Red Riding Hood via CSI. Glenn Close lends her voice.

Jackass: Number Two (18) ****

The ball-busting, gag-inducing antics of Johnny Knoxville and his pals.

Marie Antoinette (12A) ****

A modern view of a woman coming of age in a gilded cage. Kirsten Dunst, and Jason Schwartzman as Louis XVI, are solid, the soundtrack is 1980s pop.

The Nativity Story (PG) **

Christmas card imagery in a version of the immortal story that’s unlikely to offend or inspire. With Keisha Castle-Hughes.

Open Season (PG) **

A grizzly bear named Boog (Martin Lawrence) is alone in the wild, with hilarious consequences. But not for the audience.

Pan’s Labyrinth (15) *****

Guillermo del Toro’s beautiful but harrowing fairy tale, set against the Spanish Civil War, has Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) enter a strange new world.

The Prestige (12A) ****

There’s a stunning array of twists around the story of the rivalry between magicians Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman.

The Rocket Post (12A) *

Set in pre-Second World War Hebrides, this has a German scientist (Ulrich Thomsen) hired to develop a way of moving mail. For tartan-mad folk only.

The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause (U) *

Tim Allen brings you the Christmas gift you never wanted, another go-round for his Santa franchise. This time, Martin Short joins the "fun" as Jack Frost, who has evil plans galore.

Shortbus (18) **

Revolving around a group of neurotic New Yorkers, Shortbus is self-indulgent rubbish. Director John Cameron Mitchell fills the film with non-simulated, non-titillating sex to celebrate how wonderfully liberated we should all be.

Stranger than Fiction (12A) **

Harold Crick (Will Ferrell) is alarmed to find he is the star of a novel being written by Kay (Emma Thompson), who is known for killing off her characters in rom-com by numbers. Dustin Hoffman co-stars.

Tenacious D: The Pick of Destiny (15) **

Ninety minutes of Jack Black repeatedly rhyming the word "cock" with "rock" while raising his eyebrows grows pretty tedious, pretty quickly.