‘TIS the season for Christmas re-releases and, sure enough, Skipton’s Plaza will be showing Michael Curtiz’s White Christmas on Sunday. Notable for being the first film to be released in VistaVision, White Christmas borrowed its title song from Mark Sandwell’s Holiday Inn, of 12 years earlier, in 1954 and retained too that film’s star Bing Crosby.

Fred Astaire was offered a part in the film too but declined, leaving Donald O’Connor to step forth. When O’Connor dropped out for illness last minute, the past was re-written for Danny Kaye and the all singing, all dancing classic we know and love was born.

Keighley has The Polar Express lined up for the 22nd and White Christmas for the 23rd; both cinemas will show It’s a Wonderful Life on Christmas Eve. Each one’s a festive treat.

When it comes to new releases this week, the biggest offerings are superhero features again but neither is half bad.

Having been introduced in last year’s Justice League, Jason Momoa’s Arthur Curry finally gets his own solo outing, courtesy of Conjuring franchise director Janes Wan, in Aquaman. First introduced to DC Comics in 1941, Aquaman was born to an era of submarine warfare and birthed a hero who was very much at home alongside it. As with most male supers, Aquaman is tall, strong and incredibly powerful. He is the trident-wielding son of the Queen of Atlantis (here Nicole Kidman) after all.

Taking place a year on from the activities of Justice League, the film concerns the attempt of Aquaman to prevent his half brother Orm (Patrick Wilson) from waging war on humanity in vengeance of our polluting influence on the seven seas.

Well realised and ambitiously staged, Aquaman plays closer to Wonder Woman than Man of Steel in the ranks of recent DC offerings. Certainly, the sheer charisma of Momoa alone should ensure that the film will make a global splash.

Also out this week is a new Spider-Man film - this one animated and existent in isolation from the live-action super-films that presently clutter the box office.

The film sees teenage webslinger Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) learn that he is just one of many Spider-Men scattered across his Universe’s alternate realities. From the pen of Lego Movie writer Phil Lord, Spider-Man: Into the Spider Verse is fabulously original and thoroughly enjoyable.

Toby Symonds