Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom

Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom is playing at Curzon Oxford starting Saturday 17 October, and it's not just there for the weekend. It's a proper run that stretches well into November, so you've got plenty of dates to choose from if you're taking the kids or just fancy a bit of stop-motion on the big screen.

The story is classic Shaun: everyone on Mossy Bottom Farm is looking forward to Halloween, until the clumsy Farmer trashes the Flock's beloved pumpkin patch. From there, the sheep have to sort things out, and it's all told without a word of dialogue, just the physical comedy the series is known for. It runs 80 minutes, which is a decent length for a family trip—long enough to get into the story, but not so long that the little ones start fidgeting.

At Curzon Oxford, the screenings are spread out across the next few weeks. It kicks off on Saturday 17 October at 1.45pm, then Sunday 18 October at 2.20pm, Monday 19 October at 3.00pm, Tuesday 20 October at 3.20pm, Wednesday 21 October at 3.40pm, and Thursday 22 October at 3.20pm. After a short break, it's back on Sunday 25 October at 3.00pm, Wednesday 28 October at 3.00pm, Friday 30 October at 3.45pm, and finally Sunday 1 November at 3.00pm. Most of them fall in the mid-afternoon, which makes it an easy one to fit around a school run or a weekend outing.

If the Curzon doesn't suit your schedule, you've got two other options in town. Ultimate Picture Palace is also showing it, and Vue Cinema has a much denser run of screenings over the first week. At Vue, you can catch it on 17 October at 9.10am, 11.10am, 1.00pm and 5.00pm; 18 October at 9.45am, 12.20pm and 1.55pm; 19 October at 10.15am and 12.15pm; 20 October at 10.00am; 21 October at 10.15am; and 22 October at 10.30am, 1.30pm and 3.30pm. Between the three cinemas, there's almost always a showing that works, whether you're after a morning slot or something later in the day.