AUSTRALIA (12A)
COOL director Baz Luhrmann takes on an epic romantic drama that seeks to encapsulate a country as well as characters and story – it could have been a recipe for disaster. It tells the sweeping tale of English aristocrat Nicole Kidman arriving in Oz to take over the huge ranch owned by her philandering but now murdered husband. She tries to persuade heroic cattle driver but stubborn free spirit Hugh Jackman to help her, especially when villainous rival rancher Bryan Brown threatens to take over Kidman’s land.
STAR RATING: ***
BEDTIME STORIES (PG)
ADAM Sandler plays a handyman who discovers the bedtime stories he tells his young nephew and niece are starting to come true. The fact this is a family friendly fantasy comedy means Sandler is more like the likeable guy he played in 50 First Dates rather than the objectionable persona of Click.
STAR RATING: **
BURN AFTER READING (15)
THE Coen Brothers’ latest is a dark spy comedy about an ousted CIA man’s memoir which falls into the hands of two unwise gym employees intent on exploiting their find. Starring George Clooney, Francis McDormand and Brad Pitt. Showing at Clwyd Theatr Cymru in Mold on Friday, Saturday and Monday.
STAR RATING: ***
CHANGELING (15)
CLINT Eastwood may be less than two years away from his 80th birthday but it is extraordinary how his powers as a film-maker are growing as he gets older. Set in Los Angeles in the 1920s, his latest stars Angelina Jolie as a hard-working single mother who suffers the ultimate nightmare when the nine-year-old son she dotes on goes missing.
STAR RATING: ****
CHE: PART ONE (15)
OCEAN’S 11 director Steven Soderbergh returns to more serious film-making with this epic biopic which takes a romantic but technically detailed look at the role played by the legendary Che Guavara in the success of the Cuban revolution.
STAR RATING: ****
THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL (12A)
KEANU Reeves returns to science fiction by taking the risky gamble of starring in a remake of one of the best loved examples of the genre ever made. A well spoken, immaculately dressed alien comes to warn mankind of certain destruction if they don’t find a way to live in peace.
STAR RATING: ***
FEAR(S) OF THE DARK (12A)
HORROR maestro Guillermo del Toro explores the nature of horror by presenting a collection of short animated chiller flicks from some of the world’s coolest cult comic book artists. The stories are connected by an enormous dog from hell. Showing at Clwyd Theatr Cymru in Mold on Friday, Saturday and Monday.
STAR RATING: ***
INKHEART (PG)
AN ATTEMPT to create a lucrative family film franchise along the lines of Narnia but this time based on the successful series of fantasy novels written by Cornelia Funke. A young girl discovers her father has an amazing talent to bring characters out of their books and must try to stop a freed villain from destroying them all, with the help of her father, her aunt, and a storybook's hero.
STAR RATING: ***
I’VE LOVED YOU SO LONG (12A)
PHILIPPE Claudel’s film tells the story of Juliette (Kritsin Scott-Thomas) who, after 15 years in prison, returns to her hometown where she moves in with Lea, her younger sister, only to find herself imprisoned by emotional pain and secrecy. Showing at Clwyd Theatr Cymru in Mold on Friday, Saturday and Monday.
STAR RATING: ***
MADAGASCAR : ESCAPE 2 AFRICA (PG)
THE animated foursome, Alex the lion, Marty the zebra, Melman the giraffe, and Gloria the hippo are back, in this spectacular sequel to 2005's top family comedy.
STAR RATING: **
QUANTUM OF SOLACE (12A)
THE Bourne Influence might be a good subtitle for Daniel Craig’s second 007 outing which merely adds to one’s enjoyment of a breakneck Bond sequel to Casino Royale.
STAR RATING: ***
THE READER (15)
YET another stunning performance from Kate Winslet dominates this Stephen Daldry film based on the acclaimed book set in post World War Two Germany where a young man encounters the older woman with whom he had an affair 10 years earlier – only to discover she faces war crime charges.
STAR RATING: ***
THE SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELLING PANTS 2 (12A)
WELCOME sequel to the delightful 2005 teen chick flick which reunites the talented cast to follow the further fortunes of a group of friends as they try to survive their first year of college having gone their separate ways.
STAR RATING: ***
THE SPIRIT (12A)
COMIC books legend turned director Frank Miller returns to cinema after his Sin City triumph with a similar project but this time focussed on one story of a cop who returns from the grave to fight the forces of evil.
STAR RATING: **
COMING SOON
January 16: SEVEN POUNDS (Will Smith)
January 16: THE WRESTLER (Mickey Rourke)
January 23: FROST/NIXON (Michael Sheen)
January 23: VALKYRIE (Tom Cruise)
January 30: REVOLUTIONARY ROAD (Kate Winslet)
Dates subject to change.
