CEMETERY JUNCTION (15)

IN THIS 1970s-set comedy from Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, best friends Freddie (Christian Cooke), Bruce (Tom Hughes) and Snork (Jack Doolan) have very different outlooks on life. While Bruce enjoys being cock of his small-town walk and loveable loser Snork is happy to trail in his wake, Freddie dreams of something better. As Freddie’s ambitions broaden, the three young men are forced to re-examine their friendship and contemplate whether their paths must diverge.

STAR RATING: ****

CLASH OF THE TITANS (12A)

AS A baby, Perseus (Sam Worthington) is rescued from the sea by fisherman Spyros (Pete Postlethwaite), unaware that he is actually the demi-god son of Zeus (Liam Neeson). Hades (Ralph Fiennes), the god of the underworld, causes the death of Perseus’s new family and the young man vows revenge. He gets his chance when Hades curses Argos and its rulers and threatens to unleash the Kraken upon the city unless they sacrifice their beautiful daughter Andromeda (Alexa Davalos) to the behemoth.

STAR RATING: **

DATE NIGHT (15)

PHIL Foster (Steve Carell) and his wife Claire (Tina Fey) live in New Jersey with their early-rising children. Every week, the Fosters hire a babysitter so they can go through the ritual of date night in a bid to keep their marriage alive. One week they arrive without a reservation and end up taking a table reserved for another couple, the Tripplehorns. However, Phil and Claire soon get into trouble with heavies who are looking for the real Tripplehorns.

STAR RATING: ***

DEAR JOHN (12A)

ARMY special forces operative John Tyree (Channing Tatum) heads home for two weeks’ leave to see his father (Richard Jenkins). During an afternoon on the beach, John meets local girl Savannah (Amanda Seyfried) and the spark of attraction is immediate. Inevitably, the two weeks end and John returns to the front line, promising his sweetheart, “I’ll be back for good”. Fate conspires to reunite the lovers, though not in a way that either of them would have wished.

STAR RATING: ***

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON (PG)

DREAMWORKS’S 3D epic has invention and emotion in abundance, and will delight audiences of all ages with its lush visuals and smart script telling the story of a young Viking, Hiccup (voiced by Jay Baruchel), who aspires to hunt dragons but ends up becoming friends with one of the supposedly fearsome animals. The bond makes Hiccup question everything he has ever been told about dragons.

STAR RATING: ****

INVICTUS (12A)

CLINT Eastwood directs this acclaimed account of Nelson Mandela’s determination to host the 1995 Rugby World Cup in South Africa in a bid to unite his countrymen. Starring Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon. Showing at Clwyd Theatr Cymru in Mold from Friday-Tuesday.

STAR RATING: ***

IRON MAN 2 (12A)

JON Favreau and his cast return for the explosive sequel to the 2008 blockbuster, based on the red and gold armoured Marvel Comics superhero. Billionaire industrialist and inventor Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) embraces his dual life as the supersonic Iron Man in the full glare of the media spotlight and wins countless adoring fans in the process. However, the US government and private investors are keen to acquire his technology for their own needs and Stark resists at all costs. Aided by beautiful and spirited assistant Virginia ‘Pepper’ Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) and good friend, Lieutenant Colonel James ‘Rhodey’ Rhodes (Don Cheadle), Stark attempts to keep his invention secret from prying eyes. However, Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke) ‘acquires’ the Iron man technology and uses it to transform himself into the deadly Whiplash.

STAR RATING: ***

IT’S A WONDERFUL AFTERLIFE (12A)

FAST-RISING cop DS Murthy (Sendhil Ramamurthy) transfers back to his home turf to help solve a spate of murders in the Indian community. Murthy runs into childhood friend Roopi (Goldy Notay). Roopi’s mother, Mrs Sethi (Shabana Azmi) is delighted – maybe she will be finally able to marry off her daughter. However, Mrs Sethi is the unlikely serial murderer that Murthy is hunting. She has killed the people who thwarted her efforts to marry off Roopi and now the ghosts haunt her.

STAR RATING: ***

THE JONESES (15)

STEVE Jones (David Duchovny) and his wife Kate (Demi Moore) move into a wealthy gated community with their good-looking teenage children. The measure of a man in this moneyed enclave isn’t his achievements but the price of his car or the weight of his wife’s jewellery. Steve and his family fit in well. However, there is more to the perfectly-tailored clan than meets the eye.

STAR RATING: ***

MY FATHER MY LORD (PG)

DAVID Volach directs this parable about a father, Rabbi Abraham, who devotes his life to the study of the Torah, instructs his son in the orthodox Jewish religion oblivious to the fact that the boy isn’t entirely accepting. Then, on holiday by the Dead Sea, the faith of both is put to the test. Showing at Clwyd Theatr Cymru in Mold from Wednesday-Thursday.

STAR RATING: ***

NANNY MCPHEE & THE BIG BANG (U)

THIS sequel to 2005’s original introduces the mysterious nanny to a family in crisis in wartime Britain and once again demonstrates Emma Thompson’s magical touch as McPhee. The nanny lends a hand when trouble brews after a group of city kids come to stay on a farm and fall out with the local children.

STAR RATING: ***