NEW RELEASES
Romeo and Juliet: The Royal Ballet dancing their signature piece to Kenneth MacMillan’s choreography, with Lauren Cuthbertson and Federico Bonello in the leads. (Not reviewed)
Song One: This film’s earnest charm and Anne Hathaway aren’t quite enough to get it beyond the slight and very familiar storyline. *** WP
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
The Guest: An intelligent, if a tad violent, thriller, this one is a good effort from genre director Adam Wingard. *** HR
Very Good Girls: Dakota Fanning and Elizabeth Olsen are wasted on veteran screenwriter Naomi Foner’s underwhelming directing debut. ** HR
ON CIRCUIT
A Most Violent Year: This measured character study questions whether it is possible for a person to stick to the higher moral ground and never compromise while chasing the American Dream. **** TS
Age of Adaline: While it might not say anything different about mortality than similar films, Blake Lively and Harrison Ford’s performances stand out. *** HR
Avengers: Age of Ultron: Joss Whedon’s stamp is all over this comic book sequel with witty one-liners, frenetic action and an underlying sense of dread as the superheroes unleash a supervillain on the world. **** TS
Barely Lethal: Hailee Stenfield plays a teenage assassin who trades in her guns for school books when she enrols at the local high school. (Not reviewed)
Far From the Madding Crowd: Tom Hardy’s book is turned into a film which explains the main character in a way the source material never made clear. Beautifully filmed and well acted. **** TS
Furious 7: This latest sequel is a sentimental last hurrah for Paul Walker, filled with fast cars and impossible stunts. *** TS
Get Hard: Will Ferrell and Kevin Hart are wasted on tired and offensive gags instead of allowed to take advantage of the comedy’s potential to break boundaries. ** WP
Hear Me Move: A high-energy South African dance film set against the backdrop of a dramatic coming-of-age story that is bound to be a hit with dance flick fans. **** LN
Hot Pursuit: Reese Witherspoon and Sofia Vergara try to replicate the success of The Heat. (Not reviewed)
Infinitely Polar Bear: Opposite Zoe Saldana, Mark Ruffalo plays a bipolar father trying to care for two children while his wife goes away to school. *** HR
Little Chaos: Alan Rickman directs an understated Kate Winslet and a restrained Matthias Schoonaerts in a period drama about the design of the garden around the Versailles Palace in what was then the Paris countryside. *** TS
Mad Max: Fury Road: This bonkers, adrenaline-fuelled drive through an eerily beautiful dystopian desert is crammed full of impossible stunts and a welcome dose of female power. **** TS
Paul Blart Mall Cop 2: This unnecessary sequel makes the original look like an unheralded classic. What happens in Vegas, should have just stayed there. * HR
Pitch Perfect 2: Elizabeth Banks directs a perfectly pitched sequel with more Fat Amy Jokes, lots of music and a bit of a lesson about growing up and facing the world. **** TS
Poltergeist (3D): This reboot might offend purist, but it doesn’t stray too much from the original. It has a more modern approach, plenty of scares and a palatable dose of humour. *** DT
Serena: Director Susanne Bier gathers a stellar cast including Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper and Rhys Ifans, and then does nothing with them. ** WP
Serial (Bad) Weddings: French comedy about the problems a white Catholic couple have with their daughters’ choice to marry non-white non-Catholic men. (Not reviewed)
She’s Funny That Way: If only the title were more true. ** HR
Somer Son: Clichéd meandering under the Mozambican sun apparently prompts romantic white South Africans to hire the local black man to bring some more alcoholic drinks. * TS
Survivor: Milla Jovovich is a disgraced US State Department employee targeted as a terrorist, even though she isn’t one, and Pierce Brosnan is the assassin trying to kill her before she gets home. (Not reviewed)
The Forger: John Travolta and Christopher Plummer try to inject some characterisation into this half-baked heist movie which is short on drama and thrill. ** TS
The Last Five Years: Based on the off-Broadway musical, this one uses mainly music to tell the story of a five-year relationship from two opposite ends, literally. Anna Kendrick creates a sympathetic lead female. *** WP
The Rewrite: Hugh Grant does a credible Hugh Grant impression in a film about scriptwriting, which relies on Hollywood clichés to try to tell the non-Hollywood story. Go figure. ** TS
The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel: The star-studded cast from the original are back in India in a humorous, poignant take on life that will lift your spirits. **** LdM
The Theory of Everything: It’s all about the performances of Eddie Redmayne (who was rewarded with an Oscar) and Felicity Jones as Stephen Hawking and his wife Jane on whose book it is based. A story of love rather than science. **** DdB
Tomorrowland: ‘What’s so amazing, that keeps us stargazing’ is not a question that will be answered by this hot mess of a theme park ride full of stuff blowing up and cool robots, but very little actual story. Looks good while going nowhere fast. *** TS
Treurgrond: Darrell Roodt turns in a beautifully lensed film about South African farm murders which doesn’t tell us who the murderers are or why they do it. Multiple sub-plots are left dangling, but the film will find its audience. *** TS
Yellowbird: This animated cliché won’t fly with anyone over the age of six. ** HR
You’re Not You: As a classical pianist with Lou Gehrig’s Disease, Hilary Swank delivers an emotionally and physically committed performance that significantly elevates the sometimes mawkish material. *** HR