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January is here, Christmas is a distant memory and everything is looking pretty bleak. Don’t worry, though: there are plenty of great movies hitting the big screen this month, including some of 2016’s biggest Oscar contenders.

Chin up: here’s what’s heading your way in January!

Out Now

The Danish Girl

One of the leading contenders in this year’s awards race, The Danish Girl follows an artist couple, Einar and Gerda, whose relationship is rocked when Einar decides to transition from male to female in one of the world’s first sex reassignment surgeries.

With last year’s Best Actor winner Eddie Redmayne in the lead role and Tom Hooper of The King’s Speech and Les Miserables fame directing, this is almost certain to win a bucketload of Oscars.

Joy

Not so fast, The Danish Girl! The Oscar-winning trio of Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper and David O. Russell (who previously teamed up for Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle) are back to get their mitts on more gold statues with this tale of the inventor of the Miracle Mop, and the trials and tribulations the success of her invention caused.

Again, expect this to feature heavily during the million hour long Oscars broadcast next month.

Friday 8^th

The Hateful Eight

Quentin Tarantino’s 8^th movie is typically Tarantino: shortly after the American Civil War, a bounty hunter and his prisoner take shelter from a blizzard in a cabin…which also happens to house a few more nefarious characters. A single mystery binds them all. Imagine Django mixed with Reservoir Dogs and smothered in an Agatha Christie novel and you’re not far off.

To be honest, it’s a miracle this is even coming out. After a script leak last year, Tarantino pulled the project entirely. Luckily, he changed his mind!

Friday 15^th

Creed

With Sylvester Stallone now at the ripe old age of 69, the chances of a new Rocky film looked slim. But like its main character, the franchise was never going to go down that easily.

And so, we have Creed, which follows Adonis Johnson, the wayward son of legendary heavyweight champion Apollo Creed, as he fights his way to top with the help of none other than Rocky Balboa. Creed has received rave reviews in the States, with a tone and plot more like the down-to-earth original than the ever-more ridiculous (but very entertaining) sequels.

The Revenant

The next time you moan about spending the night in a tent, spare a thought for poor old Hugh Glass. During an expedition through the American wilderness, the main character of The Revenant is mauled by a bear then left for dead by the rest of his team (including buddy John Fitzgerald, played by Tom Hardy). Glass is forced to survive alone.

The Revenant took over 9 months to film in harsh conditions, and DiCaprio has called it the hardest performance of his career. Could this finally be his year?

Room

Room is the dark horse in the Oscar race, lacking the budget and star power of other films but more than making up for it with incredible performances and a unique premise.

It follows a young mother and her son who are trapped in a 10×10 foot room. Despite their predicament, Ma builds a whole universe for her son in the room ”“ but he’s naturally curious about the world beyond. So, they enact a plan to escape and face the terrors of the real world.

Friday 22^nd

The 5^th Wave

Aliens are attacking the Earth again. But this time, they’ve actually done a pretty good job; four waves of attacks have left the Earth in a bit of a state, and humanity isn’t having a great time of it.

Chloe Grace Moretz stars as a young girl desperate to save her younger brother while also preparing for the 5th wave of attacks from the evil extraterrestrials.

The Big Short

Christian Bale, Ryan Gosling, Steve Carrell and Brad Pitt team up for this financially themed dramedy, in which four men predict the financial crisis and decide to stick it to the banks for their lack of foresight.

Don’t let the potentially dry theme put you off. The Big Short is directed by Adam McKay of Anchorman and Step Brothers fame, and he more than manages to make it entertaining.

Our Brand is Crisis

Sandra Bullock, Billy Bob Thornton and Anthony Mackie star in this political drama, which sees a political consultant trying to help the Bolivian president re-elected. It flopped in the US, but it’s actually pretty good!

Ride Along 2

Ice Cube, famous for writing perhaps the most famous anti-police song of all time, returns as…erm, police officer James Payton in this sequel to the surprise 2012 comedy hit.

This time, Cube and his brother in law James (Kevin Hart) team up to bring down a drug dealer, with Ken Jeong of The Hangover joining them for the ride this time around. You can probably guess how well that’ll go already.

Friday 29^th

The 33

In 2010, 33 Chilean miners were trapped underground for 69 days and somehow survived. The miraculous event was like something out of a disaster movie, which meant it was only a matter of time until someone actually made it into one.

And lo and behold, here it is! Antonio Banderas leads the Chilean heroes as they struggle with the collapse of the mine and the difficult struggle to survive.

Capture The Flag

Believe it or not, this isn’t an adaptation of that epic Black Ops game you had back in 2010.

Instead, Capture The Flag follows a young boy who teams up with his retired astronaut grandfather to stop an evil billionaire from flying to the moon, stealing a load of precious resources and destroying the American flag planted by Neil Armstrong and co.

Dirty Grandpa

Everyone knows that grandparents + inappropriate behaviour = comedy gold, which is why Robert De Niro decides to trick his grandson, Zac Efron, into driving him to Florida for a spring break of partying, girls and more partying. Needless to say, shenanigans ensue.

Spotlight

A bit of heavy one to end the month, but tipped for quite a lot of awards, Spotlight is a dramatic retelling of the Boston Globe’s investigation into abuse in the Catholic Church and the global implications their findings had.

Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams and John Slattery are among the star-studded cast.

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