Cinemas - What’s still showing - 27/2/09

Feb 27 2009 by Michael Green, Flintshire Chronicle

BLINDNESS (18)

AN UNEXPLAINED mass epidemic of blindness sweeps through an unnamed contemporary city and pushes society to the brink of breakdown. Only a doctor’s wife (Julianne Moore) can still see and, along with her blinded husband (Mark Ruffalo), she tries to care for other stricken citizens. Showing at Clwyd Theatr Cymru in Mold from Saturday-Monday.

STAR RATING: **

BOLT (PG)

OFTEN resembling a canine Truman Show, this Disney animated feature has pint-sized acting dog Bolt (voiced by John Travolta) believing he really is a mutt with superpowers like the character he plays in a hit TV series. Convinced his on screen owner Penny (Miley Cyrus) has been kidnapped, Bolt ends up on the streets of Manhattan, increasingly puzzled as to why his powers have deserted him.

STAR RATING: ***

CONFESSIONS OF A SHOPAHOLIC (PG)

A-LIST fame is beckoning for former soap star Isla Fisher, whose skilful comedic performance in this otherwise light and fluffy comedy is nothing short of brilliant. Like Sex and the City without the sex and The Devil Wears Prada without the wit, there is nevertheless some priceless slapstick comedy that is funnier than anything in the two Steve Martin Pink Panther movies put together.

STAR RATING: ***

THE EDGE OF LOVE (15)

JOHN Maybury directs this account of Dylan Thomas (Matthew Rhys) and the conflicts and complications arising from his relationships with two women – his wife (Sienna Miller) and his childhood sweetheart (Keira Knightley). Showing at Clwyd Theatr Cymru in Mold on Friday only.

STAR RATING: **

FRIDAY THE 13TH (18)

REMAKE of the 1980s slasher classic – a bunch of unknowns gather at Camp Crystal Lake, make out and then make dead as they are polished off one by one by psychotic hockey-mask-wearing Jason.

STAR RATING: *

GRAN TORINO (12A)

CLINT Eastwood is both director and actor for this absorbing character study of a retired auto-worker whose racist tendencies are challenged when he befriends an Asian teenager living next door. Could be Eastwood’s swan song as an actor.

STAR RATING: ***

HE’S JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU (12A)

AN AMAZING cast has been assembled for this rom com. Scarlett Johansson, Jennifer Aniston, Jennifer Connolly, Drew Barrymore, Ben Affleck, Justin Long, Bradley Cooper and Kris Kristofferson all crop up during the merry-go-round of relationship dramas.

STAR RATING: ***

HOTEL FOR DOGS (U)

TWO foster children end up looking after scores of dogs in an abandoned hotel in this innocent family fantasy. It’s another cute but safe hit for Julia’s niece, Emma Roberts, who seems to occupy this turf exclusively now that Hilary Duff has matured.

STAR RATING: **

PEEPING TOM (18)

MICHAEL Powell’s supremely bleak thriller was way ahead of its time in 1960 and its story of a psychopath obsessed with filming the deaths of his victims a precursor to the serial killer flicks which are now commonplace.

STAR RATING: ***

THE PINK PANTHER 2 (PG)

IT’S no surprise Steve Martin returned to play Inspector Clouseau, despite the appalling reviews he received first time round. It has been obvious for years his main career motivation has been financial. But it is a bit of a shock to see him supported by the likes of Emily Mortimer, Jean Reno and John Cleese.

STAR RATING: *

PUSH (12A)

CONFUSING supernatural thriller about a group of psychics with the ability to push their way into other people’s minds.

They are hiding out from the Government, which uses their abilities by boosting them with drugs that usually prove fatal.

Dakota Fanning and Chris Evans head the cast but there are times when this borders on being impossible to follow.

STAR RATING: **

THE SILENCE OF LORNA (15)

LORNA is an Albanian refugee who has obtained citizenship through a sham marriage to a Belgian drug addict. This marriage needs to end so she can enter into another marriage using her newly acquired citizen status. She has a plan, but the gangsters have different ideas. Showing at Clwyd Theatr Cymru in Mold on Tuesday-Wednesday.

STAR RATING: ***

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE (15)

OSCAR night glory came eight times for this phenomenal film. It has no stars whatsoever, is set on the teeming streets of India, is directed by maverick Brit, Danny Boyle and has India’s version of the hit TV quiz show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? at the very heart of its story!

STAR RATING: ****

VICKY CHRISTINA BARCELONA (12A)

FILM-making genius Woody Allen produces his best-reviewed film in years and his third to star Scarlett Johansson in the tale of two friends whose lives are changed while on holiday in Spain.

STAR RATING: ***