Drillbit Taylor (12A)

12:06am Thursday 27th March 2008

Frat pack comedian Owen Wilson joins Judd Apaptow’s gang for this geeks’ comedy produced by the director of Knocked Up and co-written by one of its stars, Seth Rogen.

First Sunday (12A)

12:10am Thursday 27th March 2008

Ice Cube reprises his down- on-his-luck small-time crook character from the Friday film series he wrote, produced and starred in. Though this is not, strictly speaking, another sequel to Friday, Next Friday and Friday After Next.

Back to Normandy (12A)

12:13am Thursday 27th March 2008

In 1835 Pierre Riviere, son of a Normandy farmer, plunged a bill hook into the heads of his mother, sister, and brother. In 1975, director Rene Allio made a movie about the murders.

A chilly blast of Latin spirit

12:46am Thursday 20th March 2008

The Orphanage (15): One of the many advantages of being a moviegoer is that it makes death so much more interesting. There you are, breathing your last, and it comes time to roll the final showreel. While others might be content with glimpses of holidays and parties flashing before their eyes, the film lover will always have Casablanca.

Lars and the Real Girl (12A)

12:52am Thursday 20th March 2008

Ryan Gosling is one actor who could never be accused of taking the easy roles. Oscar nominated two years ago for playing a drug addict teacher in Half Nelson, Lars and the Real Girl finds him getting up close and personal with a sex doll bought over the internet.

Horton Hears a Who! (U)

12:55am Thursday 20th March 2008

Here's a Dr Seuss story about an elephant and glory/ He’s played by Jim Carrey, an actor quite scary/ But it’s really quite fun, so don’t worry kids/ And if all else fails, it will sell lots of vids!

Love in the Time of Cholera (15)

12:58am Thursday 20th March 2008

War, cholera, poverty - anything would be preferable to sitting through this costumed hooey again. What happened here? What should have been a succulent cinematic morsel ends up as something you wouldn't serve to the dog.

The Spiderwick Chronicles (PG)

12:59am Thursday 20th March 2008

The director of Freaky Friday (the recent Lindsay Lohan version, not the Jodie Foster original) turns in a winning combination of fantasy and domestic drama that features such terrifying creatures as evil goblins and bickering parents.

Annie Leibovitz: Life Through a Lens (15)

12:01am Thursday 20th March 2008

Annie Leibovitz has become the celebrity photographer to celebrities. From Jagger to Hillary, Clooney to Whoopi – you’re nobody till Annie’s lens has loved you. This documentary, directed by her sister Barbara, retraces her life and career to show how AL made her name.

Still Life (PG)

12:05am Thursday 20th March 2008

Jia Zhangke’s subtle drama, winner of the Golden Lion in Venice in 2006, shows a China where life is anything but still. Han, a coal miner from Shanxi province, has arrived in the Three Gorges region to look for his estranged wife. Shen, a nurse, is trying to find her husband.

Jesus Camp (PG)

12:06am Thursday 20th March 2008

"Had it been in the Old Testament, Harry Potter would have been put to death.” So beginneth the lesson at an evangelical summer camp for children in North Dakota at which youngsters pray, dance to Christian rock, and smash crockery for Christ (a protest against political suppression, apparently).

Meet the Spartans (12A)

12:02am Thursday 20th March 2008

A tragedy occurred during the press screening of this spectacularly lame spoof of knickers-and-sandals extravaganza 300. Several critics, deafened by the silence greeting the antics on screen, failed to hear the approach of a giant tumbleweed blowing across the auditorium. The poor devils were crushed like grapes.

The impenetrable fog of war

12:01am Thursday 13th March 2008

Redacted (15): If Vietnam was the first television war, the conflict that began on September 11, 2001, is the first one fought by multimedia means.

Children of Glory (15)

12:01am Thursday 13th March 2008

Hollywood gloss meets European sensibilities in Krisztina Goda’s stirring drama. Set in Hungary during the 1956 uprising, Ivan Fenyo plays Karcsi, a sporting golden boy with nothing on his mind but an Olympic medal.

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