Inherent Vice (15)
(Paul Thomas Anderson, 2015, US) Joaquin Phoenix, Josh Brolin, Owen Wilson. 149 mins
More a stoned comedy than a stoner comedy, Anderson’s sun-kissed noir has as many loose ends as a hippie shawl, and an uncommercially shaggy vibe that will sort the heads from the squares. Based on Thomas Pynchon’s novel, it paints the death of 1960s counterculture as a psychedelically convoluted conspiracy, pulling in missing persons, shady deals, hard-nosed cops, secret cults, drug gangs, dentists… Phoenix’s sandal-wearing investigator is too baked to piece it all together, which kind of makes perfect sense.
Big Hero 6 (PG)
(Don Hall, Chris Williams, 2014, US) Ryan Potter, Scott Adsit. 108 mins
Disney straddles east and west with a bright, near-futuristic boy-and-his-robot tale. Its secret weapon is Baymax, a squishy, compassionate, immensely likable android, who helps our bereaved hero overcome his grief – and exact kick-ass revenge.
Kingsman: The Secret Service (15)
(Matthew Vaughn, 2015, UK) Taron Egerton, Colin Firth, Samuel L Jackson. 129 mins
Laddish comic-book action aimed at those too young to have tired of Bond parodies. Firth inducts a teen tearaway into an exclusive society that’s more interested in male grooming than saving lives.
Trash (15)
(Stephen Daldry, 2014, UK/Bra) Rickson Teves, Rooney Mara. 114 mins
Slumdog Millionaire comparisons abound in this developing-world kids’ thriller, concerning three Brazilian trash-pickers whose discovery of a wallet has potentially seismic consequences.
Tales Of The Grim Sleeper (15)
(Nick Broomfield, 2014, US/UK) 110 mins
Broomfield at his best, investigating a prolific, little-known LA serial killer.
Son Of A Gun (15)
(Julius Avery, 2014, Aus) Ewan McGregor, Alicia Vikander. 109 mins
Running the gamut from prison break to heist fallout, this Aussie thriller crams in a great deal of action, mentor-protege dynamics, romance and chess metaphors.
I Am Yours (18)
(Iram Haq, 2013, Nor) Amrita Acharia, Ola Rapace. 100 mins
A Pakistani-Norwegian single mother and aspiring actor has a cultural minefield to navigate in this mature character drama.
Pelo Malo (15)
(Mariana Rondón, 2013, Ven/Per/Arg/Ger) Samantha Castillo, Nelly Ramos. 93 mins
A sympathetic, enlightening study of a Caracas mother-son relationship coloured not only by poverty but also the suspicion that her hair-obsessed son might be gay.
No Manifesto: A Film About Manic Street Preachers (15)
(Elizabeth Marcus, 2014, UK) 116 mins
Self-explanatory rockumentary.
Au Revoir Les Enfants (12A)
(Louis Malle, 1987, Fra) Gaspard Manesse, Raphael Fejtö. 100 mins
Malle’s poignant, semi-autobiographical childhood drama, viewing occupied France through the microcosm of a Catholic boys’ school.
Out from Friday
Jupiter Ascending Mila Kunis, Eddie Redmayne and Channing Tatum lead the Wachowskis’ interplanetary spectacular.
Selma David Oyelowo plays Martin Luther King, in one of the key episodes of the civil rights movement.
The Interview Seth Rogen and James Franco’s notorious North Korean jaunt comes to Britain.
Shaun The Sheep Movie An urban adventure for Aardman’s claymation flock.
Amour Fou German drama mocking a self-absorbed 19th-century romantic.
Love Is Strange John Lithgow and Alfred Molina play a gay couple out of their comfort zone.
Still Life Eddie Marsan seeks a dead man’s next of kin in this Brit fable.
The Turning Star-studded Aussie shorts (Rose Byrne, Cate Blanchett) based on the stories of Tim Winton.
The Rendlesham UFO Incident Homegrown found-footage sci-fi on a shoestring budget.
Shamitabh Dhanush plus Amitabh Bachchan equals Bollywood self-satirising.
Coming soon
In two weeks... Dakota Johnson submits to Fifty Shades Of Grey… Richard Hawley and romantic movies in Love Is All…
In three weeks... Feel Jennifer Aniston’s pain in Cake… Experience 70s-styled surrealism in The Duke Of Burgundy…
In a month... Richard Gere checks into The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel… Promising British thriller Catch Me Daddy…
