THE BIG SHORT – How do you make a movie about collateralized debt obligations and credit default swaps watchable? By packing it with star names. Brad Pitt plays an angel investor, and he also produced this satire of the 2008 financial collapse, which features Christian Bale as a hedge fund manager and Ryan Gosling as a trader. In one memorable scene, actress Margot Robbie explains subprime mortgages in between sips of champagne while also washing her body.

IN THE HEART OF THE SEA – Two sailors compete for a captain’s job – one has the perfect experience while the other has the right family connections. Guess who gets it? When the adversaries take to sea they have to put their differences aside and fight to stay alive as a whale takes a dislike to their boat in this dramatization of the true events that inspired literary classic Moby Dick.

THE LADY IN THE VAN – A successful writer working from home in a posh London street struggles to finish his scripts when a homeless woman takes up residence in his driveway and refuses to leave. Soon the neighbors are complaining that their property values are sinking due to the mess and smells she creates. Dame Maggie Smith stars as the unwelcome guest.