UK 2010 97 mins 15

Yet another British coming-of-age movie might be one’s initial response to the PR blitz, but this first directorial crack by TV’s IT Crowd actor, Richard Ayoade, happily confounds such cynicism. Oliver Tate (talented newcomer Craig Roberts) is a confused, self-conscious schoolboy whose cack-handed efforts to save his mother (Sally Hawkins) from infidelity with a sleazy mystic parallel his equally awkward wooing of capricious and self-consciously eczema-riddled schoolmate Jordana (Yasmin Paige). Alternately touching and edgy but never overwrought, the entire exercise is infused with a consistent, quirky good humour with the added bonus of a familiar South Wales setting.

Australia 2010 113 mins 18

Based on a real Melbourne crime family, Animal Kingdom is a highly-charged emotional thriller which reaffirms Australian cinema’s potency. Veteran TV actress Jacki Weaver plays a matriarch, Janine Cody, whose almost incestuous relationships with her two thieving, drug-dealing sons and a third who wavers on the cusp of lawlessness, fuels a cat-and-mouse standoff with a group of renegade detectives led by Guy Pearce’s Nathan Leckie. With numerous dramatic confrontations and meditations on corruptive influences on the way to its inevitably tumultuous conclusion, the film is blessed with some truly exceptional performances and a taut script by director, Michôd.

Fra/Belg 2009 110 mins 12A

A first rate drama by young writer-director Mia Hansen-Løve set against the backdrop of a busy Parisian film production company. Based on real characters and circumstances the film follows charismatic producer Gregoire Canvel (Louis-Do de Lencqueseing) as he juggles the demands of an increasingly cash-strapped business, with its awkward auteurs and wary investors, and the family life provided by his wife and three daughters. This tension is beautifully played out by a practically unknown cast, and Hansen-Løve’s sensitive direction extracts some wonderfully natural performances, particularly from the children. Poignant and moving, but without sentimentality. (S)

Austria 2010 117 mins 15

Revanche can mean either “revenge” or “rematch” in German. Alex (Johannes Krisch), a barman in a Viennese brothel, plans a bank robbery to finance a new life with his lover Tamara (Irina Potapenko). Alex’s cantankerous grandfather (Hannes Thanheiser) struggles alone on his rural farm and is befriended by his near neighbour Susanne (Ursula Strauss), wife of Robert the local policeman (Andreas Lust). Coincidence, accident and fate combine to bind the lives of these characters ever closer. Götz Spielmann’s tight direction, together with superb cinematography and some first-rate performances make Revanche into a wonderfully engrossing film. Don’t miss it! (S)

USA 2011 132 mins 12

On Stranger Tides is the subtitle to the latest blockbusting spectacular in the popular Disney Pirates of the Caribbean series. Once again Johnny Depp returns as Captain Jack Sparrow, the devious and swaggering pirate whose skin-of-the-teeth escapades have thrilled audiences around the globe. The female lead is taken by Penelope Cruz, playing a woman from Jack Sparrow’s past who appears to be still interested in him - or is she more interested in using him to find the mythical Fountain Of Youth? Witty, laced with mystery, and of course thrilling action as the outlaws ply their trade, this roller-coaster movie is tremendous fun for all pirate fans.

UK  2010  114mins  15

A young man, Edward (played by Tom Hiddleton), and his family collect to take a holiday on the Scilly Isle of Tresco in this quietly observed examination of the British bourgeoisie. Taking the notion of the family as a group of linked islands, writer-director Joanna Hogg’s film plays off the tensions, connections and moments of downbeat humour as the characters re-discover the relationships that have dictated their progress thus far. Against the backdrop of tranquil Tresco they, and the strangers they meet, are at once free individuals but contained by its boundaries. The story develops in a naturalistic style that carefully exposes the dynamics of their repressed family life.

Greece 2009 96 mins 18

This highly intriguing and unusual film, like the very different Archipelago above, is also about a family – father, mother, and three children who are on the cusp of adulthood. They live in a nice house with a large garden surrounded by tall hedges and fences. However, only the father leaves the household, to work and to provide everything that he decides his family needs. The children know only what father and mother have told them, mainly deliberate distortions. Thus infantilised, the boy and two girls obey their parents and play among themselves a warped version of normal life that is also increasingly difficult for the adults to control. Compelling and thought provoking. (S)

UK 2011 88 mins 15

A gang of (inevitably) black teenagers’ efforts to mug waitress Sam (Jodie Whittaker) as she returns to her towerblock flat on Bonfire Night are interrupted by a squealing, hairy alien who’s unwisely chosen that moment to fall to earth. Urged on by gang leader Moses (a charismatic John Boyega), they manage to kill it and what follows is a fast-paced, and literally fantastic, romp as the apparently hapless block dwellers try to repel a pestilence of avenging aliens, alternately aided and obstructed by the resident dope farmers and querulous girlfriends. Gripping yet hugely funny, with a subtle social subtext inspired by director Joe Cornish’s own mugging at the hands of a street gang.