Screen Time

WITH MARISA PATWA

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December cinema offerings include a steamy re-telling of a classic novel, an antidote to cheesy holiday rom-coms and a blockbuster sequel

LADY CHATTERLEY'S LOVER

The Crown’s break-out Princess Diana, Emma Corrin is bouncing from Prince Charles to Harry Styles’ closeted policeman to Jack O’Connell’s mysterious, hardworking and built groundskeeper Oliver Mellors in Lady Chatterley’s Lover. Based on the novel by D.H. Lawrence, this film is set to be a steamy re-telling of the passions found outside of a loveless marriage. When one love fades, another blossoms. But Lady Chatterley must choose between her power in high society - thanks to her marriage to a successful WWI general who has been paralyzed from the waist down and whom she does not love - and a man beneath her station who her fire burns for. “It’s amazing isn’t it? How someone can get so into your blood,” the bride muses wistfully in the trailer. Considering the book instigated an obscenity scandal, this movie is sure to get everyone talking. Netflix 12/2

VIOLENT NIGHT

David Harbour is bouncing from Hawkins’ sheriff to Hell’s Santa in Violent Night, trading in his gun and holster for a velvet hat and a red-nosed Rudolph. The trailer shows Harbour's Bad Santa may be a criminal with the magic touch. He would just rather throw back a few cold ones than a plate of Christmas tree cookies. This black comedy is the antidote to the annual slew of Hallmark holiday romcoms. Candy cane cigarette in tow, the Father of Christmas is tasked with protecting a family living in a mansion against a gang of mercenaries led by John Leguizamo’s head thief. From killing a robber with an electrified tree topper star to using his toy bag filled with 8 balls to knock another out, it's clear Harbour is in the giving spirit this holiday season - when it comes to beating the bad guys up, that is.

In theaters 12/2 AVATAR: THE WAY OF THE WATER

Director James Cameron’s motioncapture blue alien phenomenon that took the world by storm 13 years ago is back on the big screen. Avatar knocked Titanic off the list of highestgrossing movies of all-time with its gorgeous, high quality effects and I've been eagerly awaiting the return to this fantasy. Cameron stretched the limits of cinematic imagination and with this long-awaited sequel taking place underwater as well, I can’t wait to see how things have elevated even more in the time it took to finally produce this one. In the first film, soldier Jake Sully, played by Sam Worthington, falls deeply in love with Zoe Saldaña’s alien Ney’tiri. Now, they are raising a family together in the depths of Pandora. But it's not all blue picket fences. They must now brace for battle once again when an ancient threat under the water resurfaces.

In theaters 12/16