The 30 coolest winter movies to see this season

Will Luke train Rey as a Jedi? Will Chewie get over Han's death? Will Kylo Ren succeed in his quest to have the galaxy's most luxurious hair? All of these questions—and more—will be answered as the Star Wars saga continues with Episode VIII. Dec 15

When Paul Thomas Anderson makes a new movie, you go. And when PTA decides to reteam with his There Will Be Blood star, Daniel Day-Lewis (here playing a controlling London fashion designer in what’s rumored to be his final performance), the stakes couldn’t be higher. Dec 25

With Get Out, Split and The Purge behind it, low-budget horror studio Blumhouse can do no wrong at the moment. Its supernatural horror franchise Insidious is back with a fourth instalment and will probably make a zillion dollars. Jan 5

Liam Neeson is retiring from tough-guy roles, which means this train-bound conspiracy thriller is your last chance to see Hollywood’s gruffest action star beating up bad guys. Cherish each precious punch and scowl. Jan 12

Female African-American action heroes have been few and far between lately. Hidden Figures’ Taraji P. Henson fills the void as an assassin who meets a young boy and discovers that life isn’t just about neutralizing targets. Jan 12

A hard-bitten group of robbers target the Federal Reserve Bank in an L.A. heist thriller that features Gerard Butler and O’Shea Jackson, Jr. 50 Cent is their co-star rather than the amount of money they get away with. Jan 19

Happy Death Day’s Jessica Rothe swaps horror for an indie romance in which she plays the jilted bride of a country superstar. The pair reconnect when he returns to his hometown, but will forgiveness follow? Spoiler: probably. Jan 19

J.J. Abrams’ ever-mysterious franchise rolls on, with a new director, new cast and, presumably, at least one new monster. What do we know? It’s set on a space station. If you know much more than that, you probably wrote the script. Feb 2

Australia’s Spierig brothers follow up their Saw spinoff Jigsaw with a horror movie of an eerier stripe: Based on the true story of California’s Winchester House, it stars Helen Mirren as a cursed heiress battling a legion of spectres. Feb 2

Terrorists attack a train as Clint Eastwood’s follows up Sully with another true story of defiance in the face of looming disaster. Here he even casts real people—the three Americans who actually faced down the wannabe killers—in his gritty re-creation. Feb 9

Bruce Willis takes the famous Charles Bronson role as a man seeking revenge in this remake of the ’70s exploitation thriller. The setting switches from New York to Chicago. With Hostel’s Eli Roth behind the camera, expect plenty of blood. Mar 2

Jennifer Lawrence reunites with Hunger Games director Francis Lawrence in an action thriller for fans of Marvel’s Black Widow. Lawrence plays a Russian prima ballerina-turned-spy whose allegiances are swayed by a CIA agent (Joel Edgerton). Mar 2

Billed as an action-comedy, Gringo sees Selma’s David Oyelowo as a pharma exec who gets stranded in Mexico and is seduced by the life of crime. That’s right, Martin Luther King, Jr. is breaking bad. Mar 9