Son Of Rambow (12A)
(Garth Jennings, 2006, UK)
Bill Milner, Will Poulter, Jessica Stevenson. 95 mins.
After not quite scaling the Hollywood heights with The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, the UK's Hammer And Tongs music-promo-making partnership of director Garth Jennings and Nick Goldsmith went back to their lo-fi roots for the follow-up. And thank God they did. Made for less than Hitchhiker's ad budget, this great, hand-crafted little wonder is not only a rare fun-for-all-ages crowd-pleaser - it's also a kids' movie for adults that works on both levels without any compromise. Set in a sleepy '80s seaside town, where Rambo: First Blood has just opened, it finds two young loners becoming the best of friends while trying to film their own Stallone-inspired action caper for TV's Screen Test. Sweet, and truly heartwarming.
Funny Games (18)
(Michael Haneke, 2007, US)
Naomi Watts, Michael Pitt, Brady Corbet. 111 mins.
Haneke's self-directed American remake of his 1997 creep-out is as good as it possibly could be, with Pitt and Corbet superb as two vicious vagabonds who torture and torment an unsuspecting middle-class family. Its finger-wagging morality hasn't stood the test of time, but the shocks are as nasty and effective as they ever were.
Awake (15)
(Joby Harold, 2007, US)
Jessica Alba, Hayden Christensen. 84 mins.
Christensen stars as a rich kid who wakes up on the operating table in this inoffensive but strangely controversial thriller, which infuriates roughly 50 per cent of people who see it.
I'm A Cyborg, But That's OK (15)
(Park Chan-wook, 2007, South Korea)
Rain, Su-Jeong Lim. 107 mins.
Admirers of director Park's revenge trilogy are likely to be disappointed by this twisted but lightweight romcom, in which a pretty young mental patient falls in love during her stay in a psychiatric hospital. Still, his visual flair is very much in evidence, and the dark, delicious comedy that crept into portions of Lady Vengeance gets freer rein.
My Brother Is An Only Child (15)
(Daniele Luchetti, 2007, It)
Elio Germano, Riccardo Scamarcio. 104 mins.
The writing team behind the acclaimed six-hour epic The Best Of Youth give us a shorter but thematically similar and equally well-turned tale of a pair of two brothers taking different paths in 1960s Italy.
How She Move (12A)
(Ian Iqbal Rashid, 2008, US)
Rutina Wesley, Tre Armstrong. 91 mins.
Another dull 'inspirational' urban youth movie, about a girl who escapes the harsh realities of ghetto life through "step-dancing".
Never Back Down (15)
(Jeff Wadlow, 2008, US)
Sean Faris, Amber Heard. 113 mins.
The Karate Kid goes to Fight Club in this silly teen movie, in which a rebellious high-schooler joins a secret scrapping society and learns martial-arts moves to bring down the local bully.
One Missed Call (15)
(Eric Valette, 2008, US)
Shannyn Sossamon, Ed Burns. 86 mins.
The usual tepid US remake of a Japanese horror flick, this one a tenth-generation Ringu rip-off that finds doomed kids getting a creepy phone message to inform them of their impending demise.
Out from friday
21 Gambling drama about students swindling Vegas.
Krazzy 4 Remake of '80s hit Bollywood comedy.
The 39 Steps Reissue of Hitchcock's 1935 thriller.
Lonesome Jim Indie romcom, with Casey Affleck and Liv Tyler.
The Devil Came On Horseback Hard-hitting Darfur documentary.
The Banquet Martial arts-enhanced take on Hamlet.
The Last Mistress Period drama starring Asia Argento.
Shine A Light Martin Scorsese directs the Stones.
Strange Wilderness Comedy about a TV wildlife crew's hunt for Bigfoot.
Leatherheads Screwball 30s American football romp.
U, Me Aur Hum Love at first sight, Bollywood-style.
[Rec] Scary zombie chiller.
Coming soon
In two weeks... Colin Farrell stars in gangster comedy In Bruges... Mike Leigh comes over all Happy-Go-Lucky...
In three weeks... Iranian life becomes animated in Persepolis... The effects of serving in Iraq are examined in Stop-Loss...
In a month... Robert Downey Jr is Iron Man... Ian Curtis, Peter Hook, Stephen Morris and Bernard Sumner were Joy Division...
