Cinemas - Still showing - 25/2/10

Feb 25 2010 Flintshire Chronicle

AVATAR (12A)

FOUR years after his underwater IMAX documentary Aliens Of The Deep, director James Cameron (Titanic) unleashes his latest special effects-laden blockbuster, which is rumoured to push the boundaries of big-screen technology. When warmonger Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang), decides to attack an alien race, his methods change the face of warfare and the fate of a planet.

STAR RATING: ***

THE CRAZIES (15)

EXECUTIVE produced by George A Romero, Breck Eisner’s suspenseful yarn pays homage to the 1968 zombie classic with experimental bio-weapons as the contemporary trigger for all of the mayhem. The Crazies should satiate the blood lust of horror fans, culling large numbers of residents from the town of Ogden Marsh by gun, kitchen knife, garden fork and flame thrower. STAR RATING: ***

EVERYBODY’S FINE (12A)

ANCHORED by an engaging lead performance from Robert De Niro as a lonely widower who hopes to reconnect his family, Everybody’s Fine hits every emotional note we expect. Frank Goode (De Niro) decides to visit his two sons and two daughters, despite his ill health. De Niro slouches into his role, and his warmth and quiet charm are in stark contrast to the spikiness of Kate Beckinsale and Sam Rockwell, while Drew Barrymore smiles her way through a similarly undernourished supporting role.

STAR RATING: ***

THE LOVELY BONES (12A)

THERE is life after death in Peter Jackson’s visually stunning interpretation of the bestseller by Alice Sebold. Cutting back and forth between the real world and a heavenly limbo, The Lovely Bones details the efforts of a murdered 14-year-old schoolgirl (Saoirse Ronan) who helps her grieving father (Mark Wahlberg) apprehend her killer from beyond the grave.

STAR RATING: ***

PERCY JACKSON & THE LIGHTNING THIEF (PG)

CHRIS Columbus directs the big-screen big budget version of the first of five books by Rick Riordan. High school student Percy Jackson (Logan Lerman) embarks on a quest to the underworld when he discovers he is the son of Poseidon (Kevin McKidd). Columbus doesn’t let the effects overwhelm the storytelling, although it’s more of a stretch than a squeeze to fill the rollicking two hours.

STAR RATING: **

THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG (U)

DISNEY breaks with tradition and casts its first ever African-American princess in this enchanting reworking of the Grimm brothers’ fairytale, set in New Orleans around the time of the First World War. Tiana (voiced by Anika Noni Rose) is turned into a frog after kissing a smooth-talking amphibian, and has to embark on a perilous quest to get herself turned back into a human.

STAR RATING: ***

A SINGLE MAN (12A)

OSCAR-nominated Colin Firth stars in Tom Ford’s first cinematic outing, which is a haunting drama about a professor who secretly says farewell to the people he loves as he contemplates suicide after the death of his lover. It is a deeply moving portrait of love and death, anchored by Firth’s fearless central turn, and Julianne Moore is dazzling as ever in a booze-soaked supporting role.

STAR RATING: ****

SOLOMON KANE (15)

BASED on the character created by Robert E Howard, Solomon Kane is a rather simplistic tale of a morally corrupt man’s fall and equally spectacular redemption, bookmarked by set pieces of swordplay on foot and horseback. Production values are cheap and cheerful, including a computer-generated demon from the underworld in the final showdown that might very well have been transplanted straight from a videogame. James Purefoy wields his blade with intent, but fails to tease a single tangible emotion from his damned slayer.

STAR RATING: **

VALENTINE’S DAY (12A)

JULIA Roberts, Jessica Alba, Bradley Cooper, Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Anne Hathaway, Ashton Kutcher and Shirley MacLaine are among the stars in Garry Marshall’s sugar-coated tale of romance and heartbreak in Los Angeles. Marshall’s film runs the risk of being little more than cinematic candy floss, however, there are some big laughs and eye-catching performances from a stellar cast, who appear to be having a ball.

STAR RATING: ***

WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE (PG)

MAURICE Sendak’s classic children’s story comes to the big screen in this enchanting adaptation, directed by Spike Jonze of Being John Malkovich fame. Showing at Clwyd Theatr Cymru in Mold from Friday-Monday.

STAR RATING: ***

THE WHITE RIBBON (15)

MICHAEL Haneke directs this year’s Cannes winner, a period drama set in a small German village on the brink of World War One where strange “accidents” suddenly start to happen. Showing at Clwyd Theatr Cymru in Mold from Tuesday-Thursday.

STAR RATING: ****

THE WOLFMAN (15)

ALMOST 70 years after the original film was made, the furry beast runs free again in director Joe Johnston’s remake, starring Benicio Del Toro, Emily Blunt and Sir Anthony Hopkins. A man (Del Toro) returns to his homeland to help search for his missing brother, but becomes embroiled in a horrifying mystery that has haunted the village of Blackmoor. Johnston orchestrates some tense set pieces.

STAR RATING: **