Thanksgiving marked the official start of the holiday season, which means we won’t be short on cheer or great movies and television shows to watch this month. Much like the chicken and the egg, we don’t know which came first, but quality entertainment and holiday spirit certainly have always had a long, happy and interdependent relationship. So, as with our spiral hams, let’s dig right in and unravel this month’s books on screen.

December starts strong on the silver screen, with the Coen brothers’ latest, Inside Llewyn Davis, which is now in theaters. Oscar Isaac plays the titular musician and rambling man, along with a strong supporting cast. And if you’re not drawn by the Coen brothers’ impeccable storytelling, come for the music, which was produced by frequent Coen collaborator T Bone Burnett and Mumford & Sons frontman Marcus Mumford.

If the only music you’re interested in hearing is melancholy and sung by dwarves, then you’re in luck! The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Peter Jackson’s follow-up to last year’s first installment of the beloved Tolkien classic, hits theaters on December 13th. Bilbo, Gandalf and a pack of dwarves journey across Middle Earth to restore surly leader Thorin Oakenshield to his throne. Fan-favorite (or just my own personal favorite) Orlando Bloom Legolas joins the group this time to help fight an epic battle in this Lord of the Rings prequel.

And if you didn’t get your fix of Jennifer Lawrence with November’s Catching Fire, be sure to check out Silver Linings Playbook director David O’Russell’s highly anticipated American Hustle. Christian Bale plays Irving Rosenfeld, a brilliant con man forced to play nice with the FBI (and handled by Bradley Cooper, rocking a serious perm). J. Law is his loose cannon wife, whose jealousy could topple the whole operation.

There’s plenty more to see in theaters this month --- including Martin Scorsese and his go-to leading man Leonardo DiCaprio’s fifth collaboration, The Wolf of Wall Street --- but if you’re saving up for all your holiday gifts, stay home, throw on a pair of wool socks and tune in to books on TV. TNT’s six-part miniseries, “Mob City,” takes a note from the noir classic L.A. Confidential, and explores post-war Los Angeles, where the mob competes with Hollywood movie stars and a corrupt police force for top billing. Things are also heating up mid-season for TV vampires of all varieties, including the teen kind and the Transylvanian-posing-as-American kind. Evil twins, love triangles and menacing foes abound --- all the things that simply cannot be avoided when you’re centuries old. And in case you missed it in theaters (read: everyone), Disney's fancy flop The Lone Ranger is finally out on DVD.

Check out our extensive list below for all of this month’s books on screen. Because everyone knows snow time means show time!
 

--- Written and compiled by Emily Hoenig

In Theaters:

Inside Llewyn Davis
Cast: Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, John Goodman, Garrett Hedlund, Justin Timberlake, F. Murray Abraham, Stark Sands, Adam Driver
Directors: Joel Coen and Coen
Distributor: CBS Films
MPAA Rating: R
Release Date: December 6th (limited)
Based On: THE MAYOR OF MACDOUGAL STREET: A Memoir by Dave Van Ronk

Inside Llewyn Davis follows a week in the life of a young folk singer as he navigates the Greenwich Village folk scene of 1961.

Llewyn Davis is at a crossroads. Guitar in tow, huddled against the unforgiving New York winter, he is struggling to make it as a musician against seemingly insurmountable obstacles --- some of them of his own making. Living at the mercy of both friends and strangers, scaring up what work he can find, Llewyn’s misadventures take him from the basket houses of the Village to an empty Chicago club --- on an odyssey to audition for a music mogul --- and back again.

Twice Born
Cast: Penélope Cruz, Emile Hirsch
Director: Sergio Castellitto
Distributor: Entertainment One Films
MPAA Rating: R
Release Date: December 6th (limited)
Based On: TWICE BORN by Margaret Mazzantini

Italian professor Gemma heads off on a summer vacation to the battle-scarred city of Sarajevo with her discontented teenaged son Pietro. She longs to show him the country where she fell passionately in love with his father, Diego --- but she is about to discover a long-hidden secret, one that will reveal far more to their knotted past than even her haunted memories can disclose.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Cast: Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Benedict Cumberbatch, Orlando Bloom, Evangeline Lilly, Lee Pace, Luke Evans, Stephen Fry
Director: Peter Jackson
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Release Date: December 13th (wide)
Based On: THE HOBBIT by J.R.R. Tolkien

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug continues the adventure of the title character Bilbo Baggins as he journeys with the Wizard Gandalf and 13 Dwarves, led by Thorin Oakenshield, on an epic quest to reclaim the Lonely Mountain and the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor.

Having survived the beginning of their unexpected journey, the Company continues East, encountering along the way the skin-changer Beorn and a swarm of giant Spiders in the treacherous forest of Mirkwood. After escaping capture by the dangerous Wood-elves, the Dwarves journey to Lake-town, and finally to the Lonely Mountain itself, where they must face the greatest danger of all --- a creature more terrifying than any other; one which will test not only the depth of their courage but the limits of their friendship and the wisdom of the journey itself --- the Dragon Smaug.

American Hustle
Cast: Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Jeremy Renner
Director: David O’Russell
Distributor: Sony Pictures
MPAA Rating: R
Release Date: December 13th (limited), December 20th (wide)
Based On: THE STING MAN: Inside Abscam by Robert W. Greene

A fictional film set in the alluring world of one of the most stunning scandals to rock our nation, American Hustle tells the story of brilliant con man Irving Rosenfeld, who along with his equally cunning and seductive British partner Sydney Prosser is forced to work for wild FBI agent Richie DiMaso. DiMaso pushes them into a world of Jersey powerbrokers and mafia that's as dangerous as it is enchanting. Jeremy Renner is Carmine Polito, the passionate, volatile, New Jersey political operator caught between the con artists and Feds. Irving's unpredictable wife Rosalyn could be the one to pull the thread that brings the entire world crashing down.

Saving Mr. Banks
Cast: Emma Thompson, Tom Hanks, Colin Farrell, Paul Giamatti
Director: John Lee Hancock
Distributor: Buena Vista
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Release Date: December 13th (limited), December 20th (wide)
Based On: MARY POPPINS, SHE WROTE: The Life of P. L. Travers by Valerie Lawson

Two-time Academy Award–winner Emma Thompson and fellow double Oscar-winner Tom Hanks topline Disney’s Saving Mr. Banks, inspired by the extraordinary, untold back-story of how Disney’s classic Mary Poppins made it to the screen. When Walt Disney’s daughters begged him to make a movie of their favorite book, P.L. Travers’ MARY POPPINS, he made them a promise --- one that he didn’t realize would take 20 years to keep. In his quest to obtain the rights, Walt comes up against a curmudgeonly, uncompromising writer who has absolutely no intention of letting her beloved magical nanny get mauled by the Hollywood machine.

But, as the books stop selling and money grows short, Travers reluctantly agrees to go to Los Angeles to hear Disney’s plans for the adaptation. For those two short weeks in 1961, Walt Disney pulls out all the stops. Armed with imaginative storyboards and chirpy songs from the talented Sherman brothers, Walt launches an all-out onslaught on P.L. Travers, but the prickly author doesn’t budge. He soon begins to watch helplessly as Travers becomes increasingly immovable and the rights begin to move further away from his grasp. It is only when he reaches into his own childhood that Walt discovers the truth about the ghosts that haunt her, and together they set Mary Poppins free to ultimately make one of the most endearing films in cinematic history.

The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet
Cast: Kyle Catlett, Helena Bonham Carter, Judy Davis, Callum Keith Rennie, Niamh Wilson, Jakob Davies
Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Distributor: The Weinstein Company
MPAA Rating: Not rated
Release Date: December 19th (wide)
Based On: THE SELECTED WORKS OF T.S. SPIVET by Reif Larsen

T.S. Spivet lives on a ranch in Montana with his mother who is obsessed with the morphology of beetles, his father (a cowboy born a hundred years too late) and his 14-year-old sister, who dreams of becoming Miss America. T.S. is a 12-year-old prodigy with a passion for cartography and scientific inventions. There is also Layton, the younger brother who died in an accident involving a firearm in the family's barn, which no one ever speaks of. T.S. was with him, measuring the scale of the gunshots for an experiment, and he doesn't understand what happened. One day, T.S. receives an unexpected call from the Smithsonian museum telling him that he is the winner of the very prestigious Baird prize for his discovery of the perpetual motion machine and that he is invited to a reception in his honor, where he is expected to give a speech. Without telling anyone, he sets out on a freight train across the U.S. to reach Washington DC.

The Invisible Woman
Cast: Ralph Fiennes, Felicity Jones, Kristin Scott Thomas
Director: Ralph Fiennes
Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics
MPAA Rating: R
Release Date: December 25th (limited)
Based On: THE INVISIBLE WOMAN: The Story of Charles Dickens and Nelly Ternan by Claire Tomalin

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
Cast: Ben Stiller, Kristin Wiig, Adam Scott, Kathryn Hahn, Shirley MacLaine, Sean Penn
Director: Ben Stiller 
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
MPAA Rating: PG
Release Date: December 25th (wide)
Based On: "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" by James Thurber

Ben Stiller directs and stars in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, James Thurber's classic story of a daydreamer who escapes his anonymous life by disappearing into a world of fantasies filled with heroism, romance and action. When his job along with that of his co-worker are threatened, Walter takes action in the real world embarking on a global journey that turns into an adventure more extraordinary than anything he could have ever imagined.

The Wolf of Wall Street
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jean Dujardin, Jonah Hill, Matthew McConaughey, Margot Robbie, Jon Favreau, Kyle Chandler, Rob Reiner, Jon Bernthal
Director: Martin Scorsese
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
MPAA Rating: R
Release Date: December 25th (wide)
Based On: THE WOLF OF WALL STREET by Jordan Belfort

Revered filmmaker; Martin Scorsese directs the story of New York stockbroker Jordan Belfort. From the American dream to corporate greed, Belfort goes from penny stocks and righteousness to IPOs and a life of corruption in the late 80s. Excess success and affluence in his early twenties as founder of the brokerage firm Stratton Oakmont warranted Belfort the title --- “The Wolf of Wall Street.”

Money. Power. Women. Drugs. Temptations were for the taking and the threat of authority was irrelevant. For Jordan and his wolf pack, modesty was quickly deemed overrated and more was never enough.

On TV:

“Mob City”
Cast: Jon Bernthal, Neal McDonough, Ed Burns, Alexa Davalos, Milo Ventimiglia, Robert Knepper, Jeffrey DeMunn, Jeremy Luke, Gregory Itzin
Network: TNT
Series Premiere: Wednesday, December 4th at 10pm ET
Based On: L.A. NOIR: The Struggle for the Soul of America’s Most Seductive City by John Buntin

Acclaimed filmmaker Frank Darabont ("Walking Dead," Shawshank Redemption) brings 1940s Los Angeles to life in TNT's eagerly anticipated three-week television event, "Mob City."

Based on the real-life accounts of the cops and gangsters of the time, this is the seductive story of the violent crime underbelly of America's most glamorous city and those who wanted to control it.

"The Vampire Diaries"
Cast: Nina Dobrev, Ian Somerhalder, Paul Wesley, Steven R. McQueen, Kat Graham, Candice Accola
Network: The CW
Air Dates: Thursdays at 8pm ET
Based On: The Vampire Diaries series by L.J. Smith

In the tumultuous fourth season of "The Vampire Diaries," the world of Mystic Falls was turned upside down when the beautiful and compassionate Elena Gilbert came face-to-face with her worst nightmare --- life as a vampire. While Elena struggled to control her new powers and the overwhelming thirst for blood, the astonishing news that a cure for vampirism may actually exist reached Damon and Stefan Salvatore, the two vampire brothers who love her. Their search for the cure leads the brothers, along with Elena’s brother Jeremy and her best friends Bonnie and Carol, to a horrifying confrontation with the ancient and all-powerful immortal, Silas, who has been entombed with the cure for more than 2,000 years. But Elena isn’t the only vampire who longs to return to life as a human, and the question of who will take the cure is resolved in the heart-stopping season finale, along with moments of unexpected joy, unspeakable sorrow, and a confession of true love.

The series heads into its fifth season with some characters headed off to college, a newly cured vampire trying to survive as a human, and a shocking Salvatore secret.

"Dracula"
Cast: Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Jessica De Gouw, Thomas Kretschmann, Katie McGrath, Nonso Anozie, Victoria Smurfit
Network: NBC
Air Dates: Fridays at 10pm ET
Based On: DRACULA by Bram Stoker

Golden Globe winner Jonathan Rhys Meyers ("The Tudors") stars in this provocative new drama as one of the world's most iconic characters. It's the late 19th century, and the mysterious Dracula has arrived in London, posing as an American entrepreneur who wants to bring modern science to Victorian society. He's especially interested in the new technology of electricity, which promises to brighten the night --- useful for someone who avoids the sun. But he has another reason for his travels: He hopes to take revenge on those who cursed him with immortality centuries earlier. Everything seems to be going according to plan...until he becomes infatuated with a woman who appears to be a reincarnation of his dead wife.

On DVD:

The Family
Cast: Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer, Tommy Lee Jones, Dianna Agron
Director: Luc Besson
Distributor: Relativity Media Distribution Group
MPAA Rating: R
DVD Release Date: December 17th
Based On: MALAVITA by Tonino Benacquista 

A mafia boss and his family are relocated to a sleepy town in France under the witness protection program after snitching on the mob. Despite the best efforts of Agent Stansfield to keep them in line, Fred Manzoni, his wife Maggie and their children Belle and Warren can't help but revert to old habits and blow their cover by handling their problems the "family" way, enabling their former mafia cronies to track them down.

The Lone Ranger
Cast: Johnny Depp, Armie Hammer
Director: Gore Verbinski
Distributor: Walt Disney Pictures
MPAA Rating:  PG-13
DVD Release Date: December 17th
Based on: THE LONE RANGER RIDES by Fran Striker

Native American warrior Tonto recounts the untold tales that transformed John Reid, a man of the law, into a legend of justice --- taking the audience on a runaway train of epic surprises and humorous friction as the two unlikely heroes must learn to work together and fight against greed and corruption.

Kick-Ass 2
Cast: Chloë Grace Moretz, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jim Carrey
Director: Jeff Wadlow
Distributor: Universal Pictures
MPAA Rating: R
DVD Release Date: December 17th
Based On: KICK-ASS 2 by Mark Millar and John Romita Jr.

When we last saw junior assassin Hit Girl and young vigilante Kick-Ass, they were trying to live as normal teenagers Mindy and Dave. With graduation looming and uncertain what to do, Dave decides to start the world's first superhero team with Mindy. Unfortunately, when Mindy is busted for sneaking out as Hit Girl, she's forced to retire --- leaving her to navigate the terrifying world of high-school mean girls on her own. With no one left to turn to, Dave joins forces with Justice Forever, run by a born-again ex-mobster named Colonel Stars and Stripes.

Just as they start to make a real difference on the streets, the world's first super villain, The Mother F%&*^r, assembles his own evil league and puts a plan in motion to make Kick-Ass and Hit Girl pay for what they did to his dad. But there's only one problem with his scheme: If you mess with one member of Justice Forever, you mess with them all.

Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters
Cast: Logan Lerman, Brandon T. Jackson, Alexandra Daddario, Jake Abel, Douglas Smith, Stanley Tucci
Director: Thor Freudenthal
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
MPAA Rating: PG
DVD Release Date: December 17th
Based On: THE SEA OF MONSTERS: Percy Jackson & the Olympians, Book Two by Rick Riordan

Based on the publishing phenomenon, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters continues the young demigod’s epic journey to fulfill his destiny. To save their world, Percy and his friends must find the fabled and magical Golden Fleece. Embarking on a treacherous odyssey into the uncharted waters of the Sea of Monsters (known to humans as the Bermuda Triangle), they battle terrifying creatures, an army of zombies, and the ultimate Evil.