31 October 2013 films to watch in November 2013

• Big Sur

  Jean-Marc Barr stars as Jack Kerouac in director Michael Polish's adaptation of the Beat Generation author's autobiographical novel, Big Sur, written as he was struggling with his newfound fame following the success of On the Road. Big Sur chronicles his three trips to a remote cabin, his affair with the mistress (Kate Bosworth) of poet Neal Cassady (Josh Lucas), and his subsequent nervous breakdown. Even after the recent Kill Your Darlings and the film adaptation of On the Road, the Beats go on. Released 1 November in the US. (Ketchup Entertainment)

   
•  

  How I Live Now

  Nobody plays a strong-willed teenager like Saoirse Ronan. In the new film by Kevin Macdonald (The Last King of Scotland), Ronan is a feisty New Yorker sent to live for the summer with her cousins in the English countryside. Shortly after her arrival, growing worldwide political instability causes society to break down and the UK to become a fearsome police state. Released 7 November in Russia, 8 November in the US, and 14 November in Greece. (Magnolia Pictures)
  
  
  

  The Book Thief

  Based on Australian author Markus Zusak's 2006 novel, The Book Thief stars 13-year-old Sophie Nelisse as a German orphan sent to live with foster parents in Bavaria right on the eve of World War II. The story is a Mrs Miniver in reverse, showing what the experience of civilian life in Nazi Germany was like during the war - except that unlike Mrs Miniver, this is a story narrated by death. Downton Abbey director Brian Percival helms the film, which was shot largely on location in Germany and also stars Geoffrey Rush and Emily Watson. Released 8 November in the US, 9 January 2014 in Australia, and 31 January 2014 in the UK. (Twentieth Century Fox)