ALSO RELEASED THIS WEEK

ALL ABOUT STEVE (12A)

SANDRA Bullock enjoyed a phenomenal 2009 with rom-com The Proposal and drama The Blind Side.

In this new quirky romantic comedy, scripted by Kim Barker, she plays Mary Horowitz, a socially inept crossword compiler, who is living with her parents (Howard Hesseman, Beth Grant).

The folks set her up on a blind date with Steve (Bradley Cooper), a cameraman for a TV news channel.

Mary is smitten with Steve and flings herself at him on the date but he is terrified and does all he can to escape her clutches.

Unperturbed, Mary gives chase, following Steve and Hartman from the site of one news report to the next.

STAR RATING: **

THE BOOK OF ELI (15)

IN THE not too distant future, a cataclysmic war leads to the virtual destruction of mankind.

The few remaining survivors band together in the ruins of towns and cities, establishing their own rules.

Eli (Denzel Washington) continues his personal odyssey, which began 30 years ago. In his possession, Eli holds the secret to civilisation's rebirth – a secret he guards with pride, dispatching anyone who dares jeopardise mission.

One man, despot Carnegie (Gary Oldman), understands the importance of the secret and he covets this treasure for himself, enlisting his henchmen to bring down Eli.

The tyrant's adopted daughter Solara (Mila Kunis) is drawn to Eli, who offers her the freedom she has never had.

STAR RATING: ***

STILL SHOWING

ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS 2: THE SQUEAKQUEL (U)

GIRL power is alive and well in the Chipmunks sequel as Alvin, Simon and Theodore meet their match in three feisty females (voiced by Christina Applegate, Amy Poehler and Anna Faris), who challenge them for battle-of-the-band honours at their new high school. Director Betty Thomas treads a familiar path, driving a wedge between the tiny animated heroes and then reuniting them for a foot-stomping finale.

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: ***

CITIZEN KANE (U)

STILL often topping lists of the Best Movie of All Time, this is the legendary film debut as director and star of the late, great Orson Welles and it remains as compelling, innovative and relevant as ever. Showing at Clwyd Theatr Cymru in Mold on Thursday 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: ***

DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THE MORGANS? (PG)

HUGH Grant, again in bumbling Brit mode, reunites with Sarah Jessica Parker for the first time since the misfiring 1996 thriller Extreme Measures. They play a troubled couple who have the chance to repair their marriage thanks to a witness relocation scheme. Hiding in a dead-end US town, the New Yorkers are exposed to rural community values before a preposterous finale and schmaltzy epilogue.

STAR RATING: **

FISHTANK (15)

WINNER of the Jury Prize at Cannes this year, Andrea Arnold’s film is the story of Mia, an isolated teenage girl trapped in a harsh, bleak life without any familial affection on an Essex council estate. Things briefly look up when her mum takes up with a new boyfriend but he’s not all he appears to be. Showing at Clwyd Theatr Cymru in Mold from Tuesday-Wednesday.

STAR RATING: ***

(500) DAYS OF SUMMER (12A)

MARK Webb directs this rom com with a difference telling the story of Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a hopeless romantic who falls for a girl at work - the cynical Summer (Zooey Deschanel) who’s no sure she believes in love. Showing at Clwyd Theatr Cymru in Mold from Friday-Monday.

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: ***

NINE (12A)

OSCAR-winning Chicago director Rob Marshall returns to what he knows best after the poor fit of his follow-up Memoirs Of A Geisha. Daniel Day-Lewis's female co-stars (Nicole Kidman, Penelope Cruz, Marion Cotillard, Sophia Loren, Judi Dench) deliver show-stopping performances.

STAR RATING: ****

NOWHERE BOY (15)

CELEBRATED conceptual artist Sam Taylor-Wood makes her directorial debut with this handsomely-crafted valentine to John Lennon's formative years, based on the memoirs of the assassinated former Beatle's half-sister. Aaron Johnson stars as the pre-Fab Four Liverpudlian torn between his emotionally-repressed aunt and guardian (Kristin Scott Thomas) and unstable biological mother (Anne-Marie Duff).

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 should have been a dream new beginning for the director following a series of lacklustre offerings. However, his biggest budget to date, and first film since divorcing Madonna, 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: ***