SHORTCUTS

NEW RELEASES

Man of Steel: Man of Steel serves up what could be as much spectacle and action as any movie anyone could think of. Zack Snyder’s huge extravaganza is a rehab job that proves so overwhelmingly insistent in its size and strength that it’s hard not to give in. ★★★★ Song for Marion: Sixties stars Vanessa Redgrave and Terence Stamp bring gravitas and pathos to this wellworn tale of pensioners competing in a choir competition. ★★★★ White House Down: Preposterously entertaining film that borrows from Die Hard, Air Force One, Lethal Weapon and Homeland, resulting in an action thriller that doesn’t know when to quit. Jamie Foxx plays the US president and Channing Tatum is a Secret Service agent who must protect him. ★★★

ON CIRCUIT

To The Wonder: Director Terrence Malick’s meditation on love and the disintegration of a relationship wafts along to no particular purpose. However, this meditative drama manages to be oddly moving. ★★★ Spud: The Madness Continues: Spud Milton is approaching the ripe old age of 15, with no sign of the much- anticipated manhood. He is coming to terms with the fact that he may well be a freak of nature. Not reviewed. I’m So Excited: This farce centres on a plane full of zany flight attendants and passengers who try to enjoy themselves despite believing they may soon crash. ★★★ Epic: The new CGI adventure based on children’s author and illustrator William Joyce’s The Leaf Men may be guilty of overselling itself, what with the title. Yet the film retains the magic of the original book, making it enormously visually appealing, even if the story is somewhat bloated. ★★★ Broken City: Mark Wahlberg and Russell Crowe star in this New Yorkset crime drama, about an ex-cop investigating the mayor’s cheating wife, which turns out to be a thread in a web of political corruption. ★★★ Gambit: A conman caper with a starstudded cast and a screenplay by Joel