Arthur Christmas answers so many questions about the mysteries of Santa’s operation I’m wondering if it’s actually a fly on the wall documentary.

Pretty much exactly how you think it will be. I have a good deal of sympathy with The Grinch - the Whos are pretty annoying. Whoville itself though is a demented piece of town planning and every scene with the Grinch and his ever faithful dog Max is great.

Have to confess I was unaware of this film, even though it's apparently now viewed as a bit of a Christmas classic. Anyway, I found A Christmas Story to be absolutely charming, funny and brilliant in the way it encapsulates so much about what it's like to be a child wanting that one thing at Christmas. It might be set in about 1940, but there's nothing in here I didn't recognise from my own childhood 40 years later.

Now this one I really liked. A good balance of superhero action and general silliness. There are aspects of the plot, particularly some convenient coincidences, that don't bear too close an examination but Iron Man 3 is such huge fun it doesn't even really matter.

SO MUCH PLOT. Crimes of Grindelwald is head-spinningly convoluted. I really enjoyed the first Fantastic Beasts film but this just left me cold. Dan Fogler remains the best thing about the series by far.

I liked it better on a second watch. The first time I saw it, it was the only MCU movie I'd seen; this time I watched the first five in order before it and it did really help. Some of the ideas are a bit underdeveloped as there's a lot to pack into its running time, but overall it's a great piece of superhero blockbuster fun.

Tough Western (tough for the 1950s anyway) starring the eternally watchable Jimmy Stewart. It was the second of five westerns directed by Anthony Mann and starring Stewart.

The film benefits from being shot on location in Oregon rather than in a studio and while very much of its time there's plenty to enjoy as Stewart goes up against double-crossing townsfolk, bandits and the like in an attempt to get supplies to a group of settlers up on Mount Hood before the winter sets in.

Things I love about Mary Poppins:

The way Julie Andrews can convey so much with just a single look
The unspoken back story between Mary and Bert
The fact that every single song's a banger
Mary Poppins' tape measure
The Step in Time scene being one of the greatest dance sequences in any film ever
The way the film makes complete sense in its own world yet absolutely no sense if you stop to think about it.

Practically perfect in every way.

Thoroughly enjoyable pulpy comic book nonsense.

Staggeringly incompetent on every level. The final death is the least satisfying thing ever committed to celluloid. The only reason it doesn't get half a star is because the end credits were written in a moderately amusing French restaurant menu style.

While the climactic fight was a bit underwhelming, on the whole I found Thor an enjoyable enough entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

I'm gonna go against popular opinion and say the first one is better. Paddington 2 felt just a little bit less, erm, Paddingtony. At least, it felt less like Michael Bond's Paddington. It's still a hugely entertaining film though with some hilarious moments and a stellar cast.