ADVENTURELAND (15)
GROWING pains leave bruises rather than scars in writer-director Greg Mottola's nostalgic coming-of-age tale set at a Pittsburgh theme park in the summer of 1987. Jesse Eisenberg stars as the college graduate forced to take a part-time job so he can follow his dream of going to university. He falls for a co-worker (Kristen Stewart) who is having a secret affair with the park's married handyman (Ryan Reynolds), setting himself up for heartbreak.
STAR RATING: ***
DISTRICT 9 (15)
FORGET Transformers, Terminator Salvation, GI Joe and even the rejuvenated crew of the Starship Enterprise – the science-fiction blockbuster of the year has arrived. South African director Neill Klomkamp's feature debut is a heartbreaking morality tale about humanity's intolerance emerging from the arrival of an alien spaceship, augmented with state-of-the-art visual effects and a spectacular finale.
STAR RATING: ****
DORIAN GRAY (15)
THE corruptive power of celebrity casts a long, dark shadow over Victorian London in Oliver Parker's take on Oscar Wilde's gothic horror. The set and costume designs are impressive, much more so than Ben Barnes – whose portrayal of the beautiful titular lead is more wooden than the frame of his infamous portrait. His lifelessness is thrown into greater relief by Colin Firth's eye-catching performance as his corrupter.
STAR RATING: ***
THE FINAL DESTINATION (15)
THE gleefully gory fourth instalment of the Final Destination series sees bodily parts flying all over the screen. Bobby Campo plays the lead who saves his friends and other bystanders from certain death at a speedway track, then sees them killed one by one as death restores its true order.
STAR RATING: **
FIREFLIES IN THE GARDEN (15)
DENNIS Lee directs Ryan Reynolds as a young novelist about to publish a memoir of his somewhat tortured childhood. But then everything is turned upside down when his mother is killed in a car crash. Also starring Julia Roberts and Emily Watson. Showing at Clwyd Theatr Cymru in Mold from Friday-Monday.
STAR RATING: ***
(500) DAYS OF SUMMER (12A)
DIRECTOR Marc Webb's quirky romantic comedy allows no happy ending for greeting-card writer Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), who falls for his boss's new assistant Summer (Zooey Deschanel). As the 500 days of their relationship unfold, Tom comes to realise that while Summer might be perfect for him, he's not her 'Mr Right Now' or even her 'Mr Right Ever'. It's a haunting tale of relationship woes, with two strong lead performances.
STAR RATING: ****
FUNNY PEOPLE (15)
THERE'S nothing remotely funny about Judd Apatow's latest, which is based on his early years writing jokes for other performers. Adam Sandler stars as a stand-up comic turned film actor who finds out he has leukaemia, and hires Seth Rogen to pen him gags. After surprisingly recovering, he seeks out an old flame (Leslie Mann), who is married with kids.
STAR RATING: **
INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS (18)
QUENTIN Tarantino's long-mooted war opus is a blood-soaked fairytale set in Nazi-occupied France, divided into five hefty chapters. He plays loose and fast with historical fact, and splices genres to dizzying effect across its over-long two-and-a-half hours.
STAR RATING: ****
JULIE & JULIA (12A)
MERYL Streep looks certain to secure a 16th Oscar nomination for her tour-de-force portrayal of American cultural icon Julia Child in the new comedy from writer-director Nora Ephron. Based on two memoirs set more than 50 years apart, this is a frothy and entertaining tale of cuisine and l'amour which simmers nicely but never quite comes to the boil. Amy Adams co-stars as the modern-day cook and blogger Julie Powell.
STAR RATING: ***
LES QUATRE CENT COUPS (PG)
FRANCOIS Truffaut’s extraordinary debut film from 1959 about a young boy who constantly winds up in trouble. Showing at Clwyd Theatr Cymru in Mold on Thursday only.
STAR RATING: ****
SORORITY ROW (15)
SISTERS are doin' it for themselves – covering up murder, that is – in Stewart Hendler's competent remake of the 1983 slasher The House On Sorority Row. A prank on the two-timing brother of a sorority member goes horribly wrong, and months later the girls involved are stalked by a killer in a black graduation robe, wielding the same weapon used to slay their friend. The good-looking young cast includes Briana Evigan, Rumer Willis and Leah Pipes.
STAR RATING: ***
SUMMER SCARS (15)
JULIAN Richards directs this Welsh produced tale of a lone drifter who comes across a group of kids in the woods and invites himself to join their gang and maybe teach them a thing or two about growing up. Showing at Clwyd Theatr Cymru in Mold from Tuesday-Wednesday.
STAR RATING: **
THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE (12A)
UNFOLDING over the course of 35 years, this recounts a heartbreaking romance between two people who were always destined to meet and fall in love – one of whom suffers from random fits of time-travelling. Rachel McAdams and Eric Bana star in director Robert Schwentke's faithful adaptation of the bestselling book by Audrey Niffenegger, which builds to a harrowing finale.
STAR RATING: ****
