ALL ABOUT STEVE (12A)
SANDRA Bullock plays socially inept crossword compiler Mary, who is living with her parents in Phil Traill's quirky romantic comedy. Her folks set her up on a blind date with Steve (Bradley Cooper), a cameraman for a television news channel, and Mary is immediately smitten with Steve and flings herself at him. He is, understandably, terrified of the obsessive oddball and does all he can to escape her clutches.
STAR RATING: **
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 BOOK OF ELI (15)
IN A lawless and perilous wasteland that once was America, Eli (Denzel Washington) holds the secret to civilisation's rebirth – a secret he guards with pride, dispatching anyone who dares jeopardise his mission to deliver the precious information to those who can carry out his wish. One man, despot Carnegie (Gary Oldman), understands the vital importance of the secret and he covets this treasure for himself, enlisting his henchmen to bring down Eli with violence.
STAR RATING: ***
CHANGELING (15)
CLINT Eastwood directs this provocative thriller based on actual events. Christine Collins (Angelina Jolie) believes her prayers have been answered when her kidnapped son is returned. But amid the frenzy of the reunion, she realises the child is not hers. Showing at Clwyd Theatr Cymru in Mold on Friday only.
STAR RATING: ***
DAYBREAKERS (15)
“LIFE'S a bitch then you don't die” grumbles a vampire in Daybreakers in a world decimated by a mysterious plague which has transformed the vast majority of the population into fanged fiends. Peter and Michael Spierig's sci-fi thriller injects fresh blood into the creatures of the night, with undead scientist Edward (Ethan Hawke) working to preserve the precious blood resources of the few humans left alive.
STAR RATING: ***
AN EDUCATION (12A)
LONE Scherfig directs Nick Hornby’s story set in the 1960s about Jenny (Carey Mulligan), a young girl dutifully fulfilling parental ambitions of an Oxford education when she meets an older man (Peter Sarsgaard) who turns her head with glamorous talk of the school of life that takes her completely off course. Showing at Clwyd Theatr Cymru in Mold on Saturday and Monday.
STAR RATING: ****
GOODBYE SOLO (15)
RAMIN Bahrami directs this tale of Solo, a chatty taxi driver hired by William, a 70-year-old man who wants to return in two weeks to drive him to a nearby cliff, so that William can throw himself off. As the time creeps by, a friendship springs up but can Solo talk William out of his plan? Showing at Clwyd Theatr Cymru in Mold on Tuesday and Wednesday.
STAR RATING: ***
IT'S COMPLICATED (15)
MERYL Streep stars as a divorcee who embarks on a passionate affair with her ex-husband (Alec Baldwin) in writer-director Nancy Meyers's romantic comedy. The sparkling on-screen chemistry between the characters, including a star turn from Steve Martin as a lovelorn architect, adds polish to the familiar material. It's Complicated is a delightful two hours of laughter and self-reflection, and Streep affirms her credentials as one of the best comic actresses working today.
STAR RATING: ***
KATALIN VARGA (15)
HARKING back to the vengeance tales of the Icelandic sagas, British director Peter Strickland directs this tale about a woman who sets out with her young son to seek out the man who brutally raped her many years ago. Showing at Clwyd Theatr Cymru in Mold on Thursday only.
STAR RATING: ***
THE ROAD (15)
THE future isn't bright, not in the slightest, in John Hillcoat's Oscar-tipped, post-apocalyptic thriller, adapted by Joe Penhall from the novel by Cormac McCarthy. A heavily bearded Viggo Mortensen and Australian child star Kodi Smit-McPhee are cast as father and son in a desolate landscape littered with dangers. The Road is unremittingly downbeat, bolstered by terrific performances. It's not a road movie you'll forget in a hurry.
STAR RATING: ****
SHERLOCK HOLMES (12A)
GUY Ritchie's reinvention of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's legendary sleuth has produced an entertaining triumph of style over substance as Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law track a killer who comes back from the dead.
STAR RATING: ***
UP IN THE AIR (15)
GEORGE Clooney plays a loveless man who earns his living by flying around America and making total strangers redundant in Jason Reitman's comedy drama. Having no time for family or emotional ties, he finally meets his match in fellow jetsetter Alex (Vera Farmiga). Up In The Air should secure Clooney another Oscar nomination as Best Actor, if not the actual statuette, for his mesmerising portrayal of a corporate middleman, who loathes the prospect of standing still and is now almost numb to the anguish he wreaks.
STAR RATING: ****
