Double act to die for

The Nice Guys (15) ●●●● ●

Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe are one of the year’s finest double acts in Shane Black’s neo-noir comedy.

The pair’s snappy dialogue and prickly bond provide plenty of laughs and crime capers.

Black pays respect to the genre with a twisty plot full of red herrings which, admittedly, does run out of steam.

Love & Friendship (U) ●●●● ●

Kate Beckinsale ditches the PVC catsuits associated with her Underworld role for corsets and bonnets – and proves she can act.

The Londoner is delightful in Whit Stillman’s bright and breezy adaptation of Jane Austen’s novella Lady Susan.

Chloë Sevigny and Tom Bennett perform superbly too in this riotous period romp.

The Walking Dead Season 6 (18) ●●●● ●

The darkness goes up a notch in the sixth run of the zombie drama, which remains one of TV’s finest shows.

Some may bristle as Andrew Lincoln’s Rick and the gang brutally deal with potential threats – but this has been built as a world where only the strong survive.

The season starts with stunning episodes that sees our heroes deal with a horde of quarry-dwelling walkers.

There’s the odd pause for breath for character-driven episodes before an unbearably tense climax that sees Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s psychotic antagonist Negan introduced.

His baseball bat wielding season sign-off may have caused widespread frustration, but leaves a heck of a cliffhanger for series seven.