ANGELS & DEMONS (12A)
TOM Hanks returns to the role of Dan Brown’s hero Robert Langdon for this Da Vinci Code sequel set in Vatican City where a series if brutal killings puts the Pope himself in danger.
STAR RATING: ***
CHERI (15)
SET in the heaving bosom of pre-First World War Paris, Stephen Frears' costume romp draws obvious comparisons with Dangerous Liaisons, reuniting the British director with screenwriter, adapting the novels by Colette and starring Michelle Pfeiffer as a retired courtesan who begins a passionate affair with a teenage boy
STAR RATING: ***
CORALINE (PG)
THERE'S no place like home in Coraline, the first ever stop-motion animated feature created in stereoscopic 3D. Adapted from Neil Gaiman's best-selling novel by writer-director Henry Selick (The Nightmare Before Christmas), this colourful, yet thematically dark, fairy-tale has echoes of The Wizard Of Oz and Alice In Wonderland as an 11-year-old girl confronts the evil that threatens her fractured family.
STAR RATING: ***
IL DIVO (15)
ITALY’S hottest young director Paulo Sorrentino follows The Consequences of Love with this tense, lively thriller dealing with the extraordinary life of Giulio Andreotti (Tony Servillo), Italy’s seven-time premier during the chaotic days of the 1970s and 80s when corruption and assassinations were rife. Showing at Clwyd Theatr Cymru in Mold on Tuesday and Wednesday only.
STAR RATING: ***
ETRE ET AVOIR (U)
NICOLAS Philibert’s award-winning documentary presents a village primary school, in the heart of a remote farming community in the Auvergne, which has just one class and a total of 12 pupils. Showing at Clwyd Theatr Cymru in Mold on Thursday only.
STAR RATING: ***
FIGHTING (15)
STRUTTING down similar avenues to David Fincher's Fight Club, this is a no-holds-barred tale of one young man's introduction to the bare-knuckle brawl scene in present day New York City. Writer-director Dito Montiel, who made an assured debut with A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints, reunites with rising star Channing Tatum, who copes magnificently with the extreme physical demands of his role.
STAR RATING: **
GHOSTS OF GIRLFRIENDS PAST (12A)
INSPIRED loosely by Dickens' A Christmas Carol, Mark Waters' romantic comedy concerns an incorrigible womaniser (Matthew McConaughey) who considers changing his ways thanks to the intervention of three spiritual guides.
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: **
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 tyke 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: ***
PRIDE AND PREJUDICE (12A)
KEIRA Knightley is superb in one of her breakthrough roles as the feisty heroine of this atmospheric adaptation of the Jane Austen classic. Showing at Clwyd Theatr Cymru in Mold on Friday only.
STAR RATING: ***
STAR TREK (12A)
THE 40 year old franchise is given a kick start and sent back into warp drive by Lost creator JJ Abrams who has directed the best reviewed Star Trek movie ever. Purists will have problems with new faces in the iconic roles of Kirk and Spock but on its own merits, this is quality science fiction which injects some welcome vitality into a previously tired concept.
STAR RATING: ***
TWO LOVERS (15)
JOAQUIN Phoenix stars in the tale of a man who has moved back in with his parents following the break-up of his relationship. His parents fix him up with the daughter of a family friend but just as that seems to be working out, he meets another woman (Gwyneth Paltrow), giving rise to further emotional conflict. Showing at Clwyd Theatr Cymru in Mold from Saturday-Monday.
STAR RATING: **
X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE (12A)
HUGH Jackman sharpens his retractable, adamantium claws in this spin off from the X-Men films, expanding the back story of one of the franchise's most popular characters.
STAR RATING: ***
