NEW RELEASES
Boychoir: Dustin Hoffman, Kathy Bates and Eddie Izzard star in this movie about a troubled boy who finds his voice through joining a boys’ choir. *** HH
Glory Game: The Joost van der Westhuizen Story: Former Springbok rugby golden boy, Joost van der Westhuizen, fights the scourge of a debilitating disease in this moving documentary. (Not reviewed)
Man From U.N.C.LE.: Superman Henry Cavill can’t quite save this reboot of the popular TV series from the 1960s, but it’s fun and good to look at nonetheless. *** HR
Paper Towns: Supermodel and actress Carla Delevingne stars as a rebellious teen who runs away from home and is followed by her lovesick neighbour. Strictly for teens. ** MV
Where Hope Grows: Formulaic religious-themed drama in which a developmentally disabled young man gives spiritual guidance to those most in need. * WP
ON CIRCUIT
5 to 7: A heavily romanticised story about a would-be writer who embarks on an affair with an older woman that turns into a lesson about writing. *** TS
Ant-man: Funny, light-hearted and entertaining, this origins story meets passing-the-baton tale about the tiniest of Marvel superheroes is the most kid-friendly of any of their fare. *** TS
A Royal Night Out: Poignant and entertaining with enough of a satirical edge not just to seem like an exercise in cosy British nostalgia. **** IND
Entourage: The whole gang is back in this boring but cameo-filled bro-flick in which Ari stands up for Vince’s directorial debut with his entourage’s help. ** HH
Everyman: Chiwetel Ejiofor stars as Everyman in this morality play. Death visits to tell him he’s been called to a reckoning with God, setting him on a journey of attempted redemption. **** DdB
Fantastic Four: Diehards will rubbish this reboot – and they have every right to do so. It does come across as more of a prequel than a reboot. Bottom line, it’s very pedestrian teen fare which is enveloped in gimmicky action scenes and a wafer thin plot. ** DT
Inside Out: Beautifully animated return to form for Pixar, this story about 11-year-old Riley and the move to a new city teaches us we are emotional creatures in more ways than one. **** TS
Jurassic World 3D: A fun, adrenalin-fuelled ride through a dinosaur theme park where the humans become the food. The loving references to the old films make up for continuity faults. *** TS
Kidnapping Freddy Heineken: Bland documentation of the kidnapping of a beer magnate, which netted the perpetrators the biggest ransom at the time. ** TS
Lila & Eve: While Viola Davis does grieving mother very well, she can’t quite pull off vengeful angel. The film asks some pointed questions about how US police investigate the deaths of black men and leaves them hanging. ** WP
Love & Mercy: A perfectly cast Paul Dano plays the younger Brian Wilson with a winning mix of confidence and anxiety in this authentic biopic. **** IND
Magic Mike XXL: A road trip with hot boys in the most perfectly sculpted and taut bodies stripping down while exploring their 50 shades of erotic moves. That’s basically what the movie is about. The story? Well, there’s not one, per se. *** DT
Minions: This prequel to the Despicable Me films takes us back to the evolution of the banana-coloured creatures and their search for a new evil boss for their brotherhood. Not much in this one for adults, but kids will love it. *** LD
Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation: Forget what you know about the previous Mission Impossible films. This time around we have a more complex script which sees Ethan Burke (Tom Cruise) on the run from both his agency and an organised crime syndicate. **** MV
Pixels: Adam Sandler’s least offensive film in a while is contrived, boring and rather pointless. ** TS
Rudderless: Billy Crudup gives a contained yet powerful performance as a father struggling to reconcile the death of his only son with the life he finds the child was leading through his songwriting. **** TS
Spy: Fun and funny, this spy spoof is an excellent vehicle for the combo of actress Melissa McCarthy and director Paul Feig’s irreverent, broad yet still progressive comedy style. **** TS
That Sugar Film: Informative documentary with lots of gimmicks that inadvertently turns you off the idea of sugar, though it actually only suggests that you need to more careful about what you eat. *** TS
The Vatican Tapes: Two priests attempt an exorcism on a possessed woman in this derivative horror film directed by Mark Neveldine that fails to raise any scares. * HR
Thina Sobabili: A coming of age story about a girl whose desperate decisions alter her life and that of her overprotective brother. **** HH
Trainwreck: Comedy Central star, Amy Schumer, is a comedic tour de force in her auspicious feature film debut in which she plays a single journalist with a voracious sexual appetite. *** WP
While We’re Young: Ben Stiller and Naomi Watts play a middle-aged couple who live vicariously through young Adam Driver and Amanda Seyfried. **** HH
White Bird in a Blizzard: Lots of talk about feelings but not much action in this drama mystery thriller from director Gregg Araki, who emphasises teenage coming of age over story. ** TS
Woman in Gold: Helen Mirren is regal as the woman who successfully took on the Austrian government to get back her family’s art work, looted by the Nazis during WWII. *** TS