THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON (12A)
DELIBERATELY arty take on the whimsical F Scott Fitzgerald short story with Brad Pitt as a man who is born old and grows into childhood. Cate Blanchett plays his love interest – at least when their ages tally. Showing at Clwyd Theatr Cymru in Mold from Friday-Monday.
STAR RATING: **
FERMAT’S ROOM (15)
FOUR top mathematicians are invited to a remote house for the evening by a mysterious stranger calling himself Fermat. But once there, they find they are trapped in a room and being sent puzzles via text message, each of which they have to solve within one minute or the walls of the room start to close inwards. Showing at Clwyd Theatr Cymru in Mold on Tuesday and Wednesday.
STAR RATING: ***
GHOSTS OF GIRLFRIENDS PAST (12A)
INSPIRED loosely by Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, Mark Waters’ romantic comedy concerns an incorrigible womaniser who considers changing his ways, thanks to the intervention of three spiritual guides. Celebrity photographer Connor Mead (Matthew McConaughey) adores his job, but loves women even more – not that he treats them with any respect, dumping girlfriends by conference call, sometimes two at a time. One night, the ghost of Connor’s idol, Uncle Wayne (Michael Douglas), visits the lothario to instruct him that the spirits of three jilted girlfriends will make contact to offer a glimpse at his past, present and future.
STAR RATING: **
HANNAH MONTANA – THE MOVIE (U)
THE Disney Channel’s phenomenally popular Hannah Montana comes to the big screen in the perky pop princess’ first dramatic feature, searching for love in this sentimental rites of passage drama, interspersed with thigh-slapping musical sequences.
STAR RATING: **
IN THE LOOP (15)
A WELL timed spin doctor scandal sees tenacious communications chief Malcolm Tucker (Peter Capaldi) hurriedly called into action to minimise the damage created by the bumbling British Secretary of State for International Development. Award-winning satirist Armando Iannucci pokes fun at the political establishment for this sardonic and foul-mouthed film, which crams more belly laughs into its first 20 minutes than most comedies manage in two hours.
STAR RATING: ***
IS ANYBODY THERE? (12A)
TWO beautifully judged performances from British actors more than 50 years apart distinguish John Crowley’s surprisingly tender coming of age story, set in the fashion black spot of 1987. A sleepy British seaside town, starved of colour, provides a suitably drab home for bookish type Edward (Bill Milner), who lives in the Lark Hall retirement home run by his parents. The boy’s solitude is interrupted with the arrival of grieving widower Clarence (Michael Caine), a retired magician who doesn’t suffer children gladly.
STAR RATING: ***
MONSTERS VS ALIENS (PG)
OUT of this world computer animated adventure, packed with dazzling visuals, wild and wacky characters and some genuinely funny moments. Apart from a bride-to-be growing to 49 feet tall, there isn’t a lot of story to it beyond what is explained in the title but this is one children’s family no fun-loving adult will object to.
STAR RATING: ***
OBSERVE & REPORT (15)
YOU wait years for a film about the comical misadventures of a deluded shopping centre security guard, then two come along almost at the same time. A little over a month after Kevin James’ tomfoolery as Paul Blart: Mall Cop, writer-director Jody Hill traverses similar territory in his eagerly awaited follow-up to the low budget mockumentary, The Foot Fist Way. The similarities end there because Observe And Report is most definitely not a frothy romp for the entire family. Humour here is very dark, so black in fact that it ceases to be funny and makes us squirm in our seats. The film certainly shows a different side to leading man Seth Rogen, who seizes the chance to portray a creepy and sinister anti-hero with limited success.
STAR RATING: ***
17 AGAIN (12A)
A MAGIC whirlpool enables thirty-something Matthew Perry to transform into teen beefcake Zac Efron in this wish fulfilment comedy that plays shamelessly to the High School Musical crowd, even to the extent of throwing in a production number! But Efron’s effortless charm carries the movie well and he handles the comedy with consummate ease.
STAR RATING: ***
STATE OF PLAY (12A)
ADAPTED from the six-part 2003 BBC mini-series created by Paul Abbott, State Of Play is a timely political thriller about the tug-of-war between morality and sensationalist headlines, featuring stunning performances from the likes of Russell Crowe, Helen Mirren and Ben Affleck.
STAR RATING: ***
THE UNINVITED (15)
HOLLYWOOD continues to save the planet by recycling successful Asian horror films with this drab English language of Kim Ji-woon’s 2003 supernatural horror, A Tale Of Two Sisters.
STAR RATING: **
Dates subject to change.
