SHORTCUTS

NEW RELEASES

Spectre: A vivid and tremendously well-crafted action thriller, steeped in James Bond history and tradition. There is an old-fashioned feel to the film-making: one reason that the budget is so vast is that the director prefers to film the stunts wherever possible, rather than to rely on digital trickery. ★★★★ Testament of Youth: A rousing, robust adaptation of Vera Brittain’s landmark World War I memoir. Deftly balancing restrained sentimentalism with toughminded human tragedy, this impressive, unashamedly classical feature debut by TV director James Kent is sumptuously appointed and attractively cast — with Swedish upand-comer Alicia Vikander a luminous Brittain. Youth may be lower in profile and star wattage than a comparably skilled wartime weeper like Atonement, but should be appreciated by much the same audience. ★★★★ Before We Go: A missed train sets the stage for Chris Evans’s directorial debut, but dramatically speaking, this talky, contrived and ultimately tedious actors’ exercise never leaves the station. While Evans deserves credit for wanting to reveal a more serious, thoughtful side to himself than the Marvel universe will allow, a tepid homage to Richard Linklater, Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy’s Before trilogy may not have been the best idea. ★★★ Return to Sender: One has to feel for Rosamund Pike: no actor deserves to have their Oscar-nominated breakout role followed by the likes of Return to Sender, a queasy and strangely gutless exploitation pic that plays not unlike a very belated dry run for Gone Girl. As it is, the tight-lipped coolness that she brought to David Fincher’s adult blockbuster provide the only notes of curiosity or complexity in Fouad Mikati’s rape-revenge thriller. ★★ Rock the Kasbah: Sexist, racist, overlong, dull, visually ugly and, worst of all, unfunny, Kasbah squanders its cast, headlined by Bill Murray as a dissolute American rock promoter stuck in Afghanistan. ★

ON CIRCUIT

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2: The four-film saga of Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence)comes to a conclusion in this finale to the dystopian sci-fi action series about a rebel uprising against an autocratic regime structured around gladiatorial spectacle. ★★★★ He Named Me Malala: Davis Guggenheim’s documentary paints a portrait of Malala Yousafzai, the 18year-old activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner, whose courageous advocacy for girls’ education has resonated through the world. ★★★★ Maggie: This unusual zombie drama starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as Wade, a taciturn farmer, is not your typical Hollywood blockbuster. Wade’s teenage daughter Maggie (Abigail Breslin), has been bitten, but so far shows no symptoms of transforming into a zombie – but she will.Once you get used to the fact that this is not World War Z, it has its small pleasures – both cerebral and emotional. ★★★ No Escape: In their new (unnamed, in the film) overseas home, an American family find themselves caught in the middle of a coup, frantic to escape as foreigners are being executed. Borderline racist thriller, every Asian character is either a ruthless murderer or anonymous collateral damage. A lot of locals have to die, the film suggestsin order for one white family to survive. ★★★ ’n Man Soos My Pa: This drama explores familial devastation and the wide rippling effects of addiction. News of a terminal illness draws one family together for the first time in several years. Dealing with imminent death, a father, mother and son must find the courage to forgive the terrible mistakes of the past. ★★★ Grandma: Elle Reid, a tart-tongued septuagenarian author who charges through life like a bull in a china shop, is the sort of character Lily Tomlin might have created decades ago. But it’s doubtful the 75-year-old Tomlin could have played Elle then with the same deep reserves of anger and sorrow she brings to Grandma, an initially breezy family comedy about mothers, daughters and abortions that slowly sneaks up on you and packs a major wallop. A most impressive detour into low-budget DIY filmmaking for writerdirector Paul Weitz, this surprising character piece should spark awards chatter for Tomlin and at least one of her co-stars. ★★★★★