ALICE IN WONDERLAND (PG)
DIRECTOR Tim Burton’s descent down the rabbit hole is a characteristically eye-catching and quixotic journey of self-discovery in a world where anything can, and probably will, happen. Mia Wasikowska plays a 19-year-old Alice, with Johnny Depp as her old friend, the Mad Hatter. The visuals are stunning, but the characterisation is weak, and Depp’s turn as the Mad Hatter is one bout of lunacy too far.
STAR RATING: ***
THE BLIND SIDE (12A)
Based on the book The Blind Side: Evolution Of A Game, Sandra Bullock delivers an eye-catching turn as crusading southern mom Leigh Anne Tuohy in Memphis, Tennessee. Driving home one night, Leigh spots Michael Oher wandering along the road and offers the homeless, black teenager a room. The matriarch encourages the lad to improve his grades and chase the possibility of an American football scholarship.
STAR RATING: ***
THE BOUNTY HUNTER (12A)
WHEN Milo Boyd (Gerard Butler) divorced his then wife Nicole (Aniston), he thought that was the end of the misery, but all those old emotional wounds are about to be re-opened in Andy Tennant’s fast-paced romantic comedy. Now working as a bounty hunter, Milo is hired to track down his reporter ex-wife, who has jumped bail. When he finally catches up with Nicole, Milo finds himself on the run for his life too and the two former lovebirds have to put their many and obvious differences to one side to avoid their pursuers.
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: ***
GREEN ZONE (15)
BRITISH filmmaker Paul Greengrass creates a breathless two hours of adrenaline-pumping action and political manoeuvring based on the book Imperial Life In The Emerald City: Inside Iraq’s Green Zone by journalist Rajiv Chandrasekaran. Matt Damon delivers a passionate performance as a soldier with a conscience, while Greg Kinnear and Brendan Gleeson relish their roles as duplicitous political pawns.
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: ***
PERRIER’S BOUNTY (15)
FOUL-mouthed and gleefully violent, Perrier’s Bounty is an edgy black comedy about one man’s turbulent journey through the lawless streets of Dublin. Michael McRea (Cillian Murphy) owes a considerable amount of money to kingpin Darren Perrier (Brendan Gleeson), who calls in the debt, giving Michael less than a day to come up with the cash or pay with his legs.
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: ***
SERAPHINE (PG)
MARTIN Provost directs this account of a famous German art collector who decides to hole up in the French countryside for a bit to escape the strains of work. As he takes tea with his landlady, he notices a fabulous painting on her wall and is astounded to learn it was painted by one of the servants Seraphine (Yolande Moreau) whose life is about to change forever. Showing at Clwyd Theatr Cymru in Mold from Tuesday-Wednesday.
STAR RATING: ***
SHUTTER ISLAND (15)
THE lunatics are taking over the asylum, or that’s what Martin Scorsese’s impeccably crafted psychological thriller would have us believe. Scorsese is all at sea on the Boston Harbor Islands and, for all its style, Shutter Island is a largely predictable and pedestrian yarn, elevated by a superior cast, including Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo and Sir Ben Kingsley.
STAR RATING: ***
THE SPY NEXT DOOR (PG)
BRIAN Levant’s high-tech comedy marries the martial arts prowess of Jackie Chan with slapstick and cartoon violence. Special agent Bob Ho (Chan) hangs up his crime-fighting gadgets to pursue a romance with neighbour Gillian (Amber Valletta). And when Gillian is called away from home, Bob agrees to babysit, and the mishaps and adventures begin. The Spy Next Door is everything you’d expect from a Jackie Chan escapade, and Jonathan Bernstein and James Greer’s script holds no surprises.
STAR RATING: ***
UP IN THE AIR (15)
GEORGE Clooney stars in Juno director Jason Reitman’s comedy about an executive axe-man who revels in jetting all over the US, “rationalising workforces” and is determined to get enough airmiles to get into the elite frequent flyer club. Showing at Clwyd Theatr Cymru in Mold on Friday and Saturday.
STAR RATING: ****
