IT’S “Cinema in a Sentence!” again this week with the final big screen drops before Christmas.

Anora is being marketed as a “Pretty Woman for the 2020s”, with a story about a young sex-worker (Mikey Madison) being courted by an equally young wealthy socialite (Mark Eydelshteyn), but the film is actually far wittier, more socially biting and ultimately moving in the hands of director Sean Baker.

Your young ones will doubtless love Sonic the Hedgehog 3, the continuation of the surprisingly massive film series based on the ancient series of Sega video games, in which the superfast Sonic must square off against nemesis Shadow the Hedgehog, voiced by Keanu Reeves – which is enough reason for me to check it out.

Poland seems to have been a recurring film theme for 2024, as evidenced in A Real Pain, a comedy-drama about “Odd Couple” American cousins Benji and David (Kieran Culkin and Jesse Eisenberg) visiting the childhood home of their great grandmother, learning the best kinds of life-lessons in the most awkward ways.

The Room Next Door is an English language drama from Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar, starring Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton as childhood friends who reconnect as one of them is facing the end of their life.

Not to be outdone by Pharrell Williams’ esoteric biopic filmed in Lego, Robbie Williams presents his own true(ish) to life story in Better Man, in which he is portrayed on screen as a talking chimpanzee…no joke.

Finally, for those craving a little more reality amidst this season of magic, The Correspondent is the true story of Australian journalist Peter Greste (played by Richard Roxburgh) who was imprisoned in Egypt in 2013 because of his work with Al Jazeera News Group.

By Lindsay HALL