While We’re Young (15) (Noah Baumbach, 2014, US)
Ben Stiller, Naomi Watts, Adam Driver, Amanda Seyfried, Charles Grodin. 97 mins
A new generation gap opens up beneath Stiller and Watts’s fortysomething couple when they meet carefree young hipsters Driver and Seyfried, and are inspired to recapture their own youthfulness. You know it’s not going to end well, but Baumbach skewers social types and mortal truths with accuracy, wit and – who’d have thought it? – maturity.
Fast & Furious 7 (12A)
(James Wan, 2015, US) Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Jason Statham. 137 mins
The untimely death of Walker and the franchise’s impressive mileage to date make this the most anticipated part 7 in movie history. The auto thrills are up to the usual supercharged standard, though there’s now a sentimental bond between these petrolhead renegades, too.
The Water Diviner (15)
(Russell Crowe, 2014, Aus/Tur/US) Russell Crowe, Olga Kurylenko. 111 mins
Like the man himself, Crowe’s directorial debut is powerful, ambitious and given to extreme emotions. His semi-mystical search for his slain sons on the battlefields of Gallipoli makes for a handsomely mounted melodrama.
Blade Runner: The Final Cut (15)
(Ridley Scott, 1982, US/HK/UK) Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer. 118 mins
The sci-fi landmark never seems to date, and it’s not just down to the endless makeovers. It amply rewards a viewing on the big screen.
The Dark Horse (15)
(James Napier Robertson, 2014, NZ) Cliff Curtis, James Rolleston. 125 mins
Curtis commands the screen as a bipolar, down-and-out former chess champ who seeks redemption coaching local kids. Too gritty to count as feelgood.
Altman (15)
(Ron Mann, 2014, Can) 93 mins
A documentary destined to compare unfavourably with the films of its subject, a straightforward primer on the director, with a wealth of clips and talking heads.
Kidnapping Freddy Heineken (15) (Daniel Alfredson, 2015, Neth/UK/Bel)
Jim Sturgess, Sam Worthington, Anthony Hopkins. 93 mins
The cast, title and general lack of fanfare mark this out as a crime-gone-wrong thriller gone wrong. Blame the lack of tension, humour and Hopkins’s screen time.
The Decent One (15)
(Vanessa Lapa, 2014, Aus/Isr). 96 mins
Heinrich Himmler’s diaries and letters are the basis for a bio-doc that problematically suggests the SS butcher was also a decent family man.
I Used To Live Here (NC) (Frank Berry, 2014, Ire)
Jordanne Jones, Dafhyd Flynn, James Kelly. 80 mins
Domestic strife, adolescence and suicide play on the mind of an Irish teenage girl in this impressive realist drama.
Hackney’s Finest (18) (Chris Bouchard, 2014, UK)
Nathanael Wiseman, Arin Alldridge. 86 mins
The Guy Ritchie brand of East End gangster shenanigans lives on, though this is one of the better efforts.
Something Must Break (18)
(Ester Martin Bergsmark, 2014, Swe) Saga Becker, Iggy Malmborg, Shima Niavarani. 84 mins
Sexual confusion and subculturalism as a transgender woman and teen punk fall for each other.
Out from Friday
The Duff
Mae Whitman’s ugly duckling upsets the high-school pecking order. Out on Mon
Cobain: Montage Of Heck
The authorised bio-doc, using the Nirvana frontman’s own home movies.
Woman In Gold
Helen Mirren sues Austria over a painting looted by the Nazis.
John Wick
Keanu Reeves is back on fighting form, and hurting a great many people.
Force Majeure
An Alpine avalanche sets off a psychological disaster movie.
Lost River
Ryan Gosling’s stylised take on urban decay.
Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2
Kevin James’s small-time hero resumes duty in Vegas.
Broken Horses
Bollywood auteur Vidhu Vinod Chopra directs a Hollywood thriller.
Bypass
Pride’s George Mackay plays a teen criminal in broken Britain.
Jauja
Viggo Mortensen plays a Danish soldier in 19th-century Patagonia.
Good Kill
Ethan Hawke is a drone pilot with a conscience.
Hot Tub Time Machine 2
Back, and to the future with this John Cusack-less time-travel sequel.
Drone
Documentary taking a hard look at drone warfare.
In two weeks
Kate Winslet in Alan Rickman’s A Little Chaos… Mads Mikkelsen and Eva Green in western The Salvation.
In three weeks
Superheroes reassemble for Avengers: Age Of Ultron… Carol Morley’s school drama The Falling.
In a month
Carey Mulligan in new Far From The Madding Crowd… Shirley MacLaine/Christopher Plummer romance Elsa & Fred.
