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The followup to 2009's surprise hit Nativity! enjoys a straightforward delivery, holding off competition from Silver Linings Playbook, Gambit and End of Watch

The winner

It may not have been a hit with the nation's critics, but Nativity 2: Danger in the Manger! proved comfortably the top new release at the UK weekend box-office, beating bigger-budget offerings starring Hollywood A-listers Cameron Diaz, Bradley Cooper and Jake Gyllenhaal. With an impressive opening of £1.61m, that's more than double the debut of the original Nativity! (£794,000) three years ago. Nativity! went on to accumulate £5.2m during its 2009 run, 6.5 times its opening, thanks to positive word-of-mouth among its target audience of families, and the natural tendency of Christmas-themed movies to sustain and build as the holiday approaches. A similar multiple would deliver a total above £10m for Nativity 2.

Debbie Isitt's original Nativity! flew relatively under the radar – the big festive movie...

Going to the movies at Christmas time is all part of the fun of the festive season. This year there are plenty of new films coming up which are suitable for the whole family. Here’s a selection of three films coming out in December.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

As befits a mega blockbuster film, the UK premiere of the Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will premiere will be a royal one and will take place on 12 December.

Martin Freeman stars as Bilbo Baggins and actors taking up their roles from the Lord of the Rings Trilogy include Sir Ian McKellen as Gandalf the Grey, Elijah Wood as Frodo, Richard Armitage as Thorin Oakenshield and Cate Blanchett as Galadriel. The film also features Hugo Weaving as Elrond and Christopher Lee as Saruman.

If you’re not familiar with the plot of the story written by Jrr Tolkien, the tale follows...

End of Watch | Silver Linings Playbook | The House I Live In | Gambit | Cinema Komunisto | Starbuck | Nativity 2: Danger In The Manger! | First | Lawrence Of Arabia | Ninja Scroll

End of Watch (15)

(David Ayer, 2012, Us) Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Peña, Anna Kendrick. 109 mins.

If there was anything left to do with buddy cop movies then this does it, adding a raw authenticity and almost Tarantino-esque banter to the proceedings. We're on patrol with an Lapd duo whose partnership verges on the homoerotic, and whose sense of duty knows no bounds – a big mistake when they come up against a Mexican cartel. It's exciting, fluent and heavy on the shaky-cam, but ultimately paints a simplistic world of heroic lawmen and caricatured bad guys.

Silver Linings Playbook (15)

(David O Russell, 2012, Us) Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro. 122 mins.

Against-type casting and unbalanced characters do much to disguise the conventional bones of this satisfying romantic drama.

Like I said last week, Twilight : Breaking Dawn Part 2 was bound to have such a massive opening box office weekend that it would soar above Skyfall and finally knock Bond back into second place. Wait, no, don’t go and check back, just trust me, that’s definitely what I said. Honestly.

With £15.85 million taken in its opening three days, the latest Twilight has the highest opening gross of any film in the franchise thus far. Bond experienced his sharpest drop off yet, down 47% on its third week takings, but even with the expected gradual decline in the coming weeks, it still looks set to overtake Avatar’s record box-office haul of £94million given that in just four weeks it has already managed to bank a cool £82million.

Twilight movies don’t tend to have the legs of many other blockbusters as the die-hard fan base flock to see it opening weekend,...

We had a blast speaking to Marc Wootton on the Nativity 2 red carpet, and it was just as fun meeting him for a second time to delve further into the character of Mr Poppy – the frustrating but lovable man-child who has somehow managed to secure the role of teaching assistant in with the class from St Bernadette’s. We asked Marc what it was about his comic creation that infuriated adults so much, but which makes the children both on and off screen view him a hero. Mr Poppy returns to the screens in Nativity 2 this Friday.

If you missed our review of the movie, you can have a read here or click here to see the rest of our interviews with the cast and film-makers.

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There’s a lot of negativity surrounding Nativity 2: Danger in the Manger, the sequel to 2009’s Nativity, and perhaps that’s understandable. The class from St Bernadette’s are back, and so is their classroom assistant Mr Poppy (Marc Wootton) – an overgrown man-child of a character who infuriates audiences with almost every breath. His irresponsibility knows no bounds.

He steals children away without permission to take them on a school trip, he encourages them to bring their baby brothers and sisters along for the journey, he has them perilously abseiling down the side of 200ft cliffs (really!), and just generally seems to put having fun above the health and safety of the children he’s tasked with looking after.

To say his position of responsibility stretches credibility is an understatement, but this isn’t a social-realist portrayal of a primary school classroom, it’s a magical Christmas jaunt,...

Jessica Hynes and Joanna Page were both newcomers to the Nativity franchise, but they were both fans of the first anarchic movie and they fit perfectly in this second installment. Hynes plays a washed up singer who’s presenting the Song For Christmas competition where the film culminates, while Page plays the heavily pregnant wife of David Tennant’s school teacher. We were keen to hear what Joanna thought of Jessica’s Welsh accent in the film, while Hynes told us about her audacious plans for the future of the Nativity franchise. Nativity 2: Danger in the Manger hits cinemas on Friday.

If you missed our review of the movie, you can have a read here or click here to see the rest of our interviews with the cast and filmmakers.

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After spending the previous evening on the Nativity 2: Danger in the Manger red carpet speaking to some of the on-screen talent from the seasonal sequel, we were lucky enough to spend some time speaking with director Debbie Isitt about her new film.

Debbie spoke about what made her want to return to a world packed with children, animals, improvisation and Mr. Poppy for a second time, and why she decided to make things even harder for herself this time around. She also gave us some insight into how she went about replacing Martin Freeman with David Tennant after he became unavailable due to shooting some tiny movie over in New Zealand. Nativity 2 hits cinemas this Friday!

Keep your eyes peeled for our review and more interviews with the cast of the movie tomorrow.

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Amour | The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 | Mental | Up There | Hit So Hard | Jason Becker: Not Dead Yet | Happy Happy | The Pool | Son Of Sardar

Amour (12A)

(Michael Haneke, 2012, Aus/Fra/Ger) Jean-Louis Trintignant, Emmanuelle Riva, 127 mins

Most romantic stories are beginnings; this is the endgame – the "till death us do part", as experienced by a cultured, elderly French couple after the wife's stroke. Call it a last slow dance in Paris. Watching body, mind and possibly love slowly diminish in their claustrophobic apartment, Haneke's gaze is stately and unflinching. However, there's also a slight remove, making this less emotional than you'd expect but rich in deeper themes.

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 (12A)

(Bill Condon, 2012, Us) Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Taylor Lautner. 115 mins

The love/hate teenage supernatural saga comes to a spectacular/preposterous climax, for better or worse. Bella's enjoyment of her newfound vampire skills is dented...

This evening, Joe and Colin headed off to London’s Leicester Square for the World premiere of Nativity 2 (Nativity 2: Danger in the Manger). The first movie starred Martin Freeman who has now moved onto a small movie based on The Hobbit with a chap called Peter Jackson but fear not as David Tennant has filled the a-list shoes and he was on the carpet this evening. Our interview with him unveiled some info as to why he took on the role, what it was like playing two characters and acting opposite himself and as much as he tried, Joe was unable to get any info on the Postman Pat movie from him.

David’s interview is below along with fellow cast-members Jessica Hynes (who reveals she won’t be making a cameo in At World’s End which is a real shame), Marc Wootton, Joanna Page, Jason Watkins,...

The big day for WilSon is almost here, so of course snicks will be conducting a liveblog of all the hot steamy action on Days of Our Lives today and tomorrow. You don't want to miss this!

Have you ever wondered if success has changed Peter Jackson over the years since The Lord of the Rings? According to Sir Ian McKellen, not at all. He still enjoys his hometown, where the locals marvel at his antiques, his studio, his church, and where he keeps his private jet. And he still walks about much like a hobbit, without shoes.

Vulture spoke to a bespoke tailor about how it was possible for James Bond to always have an impeccable suit, yet have the freedom to fight and leap from trains with complete freedom of movement. It turns out it's all possible with the right tailor.

I'm not entirely sure why it makes...

We’ve got a rather fabulous competition to end the day on today as Entertainment One have given us 6 tickets (2 sets of 3) to give away to the the World Premiere of their new movie Nativity 2: Danger In The Manger!

The movie itself is released in UK cinemas Friday 23rd November and the premiere for which you can win tickets below will take place at Empire Leicester Square on Tuesday 13th November. Doors open at 5.30pm and film on screen at 6.30pm. Please note, if you enter this competition you must be free to attend.

To be in with a chance of winning the competition, simply scroll down and answer the question using the form below.

This Christmas, the unforgettable pupils of St. Bernadette’s are heading to Wales to compete in the National choir contest; “A song for Christmas’. New supply teacher Mr Peterson (David Tennant) has the...

The concluding part of our mammoth look at the sequels currently in the works...

Here's the rest of the list, from L through to Z. It's all continued from page one, here.

The Last Exorcism 2

Eli Roth oversaw the original The Last Exorcism, and he's producing the follow-up as well, which should be in cinemas by the end of the year. Ashley Bell returns to headline the film, which is being directed by Ed Glass-Donnelly.

Machete Kills

Danny Trejo is returning to play Machete, with Machete Kills heading into production by April. It’s unclear at the moment whether Robert Rodriguez will be directing this one himself, but at the very least, he’s producing and shepherding the project. Exepct a 2013 release.

Mad Max 4 and 5

This one’s had a troubled path. Mad Max: Fury Road was originally set to go before the cameras last year, and indeed,...