THE BANISHMENT (12A) (Clwyd Theatr Cymru, Mold, Tuesday-Wednesday)

A TALE of pride in the Russian male. Alex returns after 12 years away and settles down with his wife and children in idyllic rural surroundings. But when his wife tells him she is pregnant with another man’s child, it sets off a chain of tragic events.

STAR RATING: ***

BURN AFTER READING (15) (All major cinemas)

SIBLING geniuses Joel and Ethan Coen strike gold again with this comedic gem in which George Clooney and Frances McDormand try to sell a computer disc containing the memoirs of a washed up CIA agent, played by John Malkovich. Brad Pitt also turns up as a bubble-headed fitness instructor.

STAR RATING: ****

CITY OF EMBER (PG) (All major cinemas)

KIDS film it may be but here is a family flick that uses its adventure story and fantasy world premise to deliver a stark message to the leaders of our own planet.

STAR RATING: ***

Š

EAGLE EYE (12A) (All major cinemas)

RISING star, Shia LaBeouf and director DJ Caruso, remade Rear Window together as Disturbia and now take a crack at a variation on Enemy of the State. LaBeouf and Michelle Monaghan are two ordinary people thrown together into extrardinary circumstances when a mysterious female voice threatens their lives and families if they do not do what she says. Why this happens becomes less and less important as the two innocents get embroiled in ever-more ludicrous action sequences.

STAR RATING: **

FLY ME TO THE MOON (PG) (Vue, Cheshire Oaks)

THE 3-D gimmick has come a long way in recent years and this animated feature makes the most of it as – somewhat improbably – we follow the fortunes of a family of houseflies who hitch a ride on Apollo 11 in 1969 as it makes its way to the moon!

STAR RATING: ***

GHOST TOWN (12A) (All major cinemas)

RICKY Gervais is the latest British TV comedy stars taking a shot at Hollywood movie fame and he is on sparkling form, even if the movie itself plays if safe. Gervais is an anti-social dentist, who is openly rude because he hates people and wants to keep them at arm’s length. But then he starts to see dead people who are so delighted to make contact with someone from the land of the living, they bombard him with attention.

STAR RATING: **

HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 3: SENIOR YEAR (U) (All major cinemas)

TROY, Gabriella, Sharpay and Chad on the big screen in all their glory! It’s every teenage girl’s dream come true. Although the film inevitably recycles some of the songs which its target audience knows by heart, the story taps into some universal teenage concerns as the friendship groups at the heart of the franchise face the prospect of breaking up as they go their separate ways to college.

STAR RATING: ***

THE HOUSE BUNNY (12A) (All major cinemas)

ONE day, Anna Faris will make a comedy classic. For now, she is saddled with being the best thing about average movies such as this one in which she is a Playboy bunny thrown out of the mansion by Hugh Hefner and ends up helping a college sorority group of misfit girls find their inner beauty.

STAR RATING: **