Film REVIEWS

ALSO RELEASED

Men in Black 3

Men in Black 3 (PG) 105min Sci- fi action comedy threequel starring Will Smith. See review on list.co.uk. General release from Fri 25 May.

Personal Best (12A) 89min British sport documentary on sprinting. Selected release from Fri 25 May. Tales of the Night (tbc) 84min Distinctive French animation. See review on list.co.uk. Selected release from Fri 25 May.

What to Expect When You’re Expecting (12A) 109min Ensemble romcom inspired by the influential pregnancy guide. General release from Fri 25 May.

Snow White and The Huntsman (12A) 127min A re- imagining of the Snow White myth. General release from Wed 30 May.

The Turin Horse ●●●●● (15) 146min Austere new film from Hungarian director Bela Tarr. See review at list.co.uk. Selected release from Fri 1 Jun. Death Watch ●●●●● (15) 128min Glasgow-set sci-fi reissue. See review at list.co.uk. Selected release from Fri 1 Jun.

Himizu (18) 129min Teenage drama set in post-tsunami Japan. Selected release from Fri 1 Jun.

Prometheus

LOL (12A) 97min Miley Cyrus stars in this high school romcom-drama. General release from Fri 1 Jun.

On the Sly (tbc) 77min Belgian family film about a girl who decides to disappear. Selected release from Fri 1 Jun. Prometheus (15) 123min Hyped sci-fi blockbuster from Ridley Scott.

90 THE LIST 24 May–21 Jun 2012

General release from Fri 1 Jun. Top Cat The Movie (U) 90min He’s the boss, he’s a pip, he’s the championship. He’s now in 3D. General release from Fri 1 Jun.

The Harsh Light of Day (tbc) 90min British thriller about an author who seeks revenge on his wife’s killers. Selected release from Fri 8 Jun.

Victim (tbc) 98min Action drama set in the criminal underworld of inner-city London. Selected release from Fri 8 Jun. Woody Allen: A Documentary (tbc) 113min A factual look at the New York auteur’s life and films. Selected release from Fri 8 Jun.

The Apartment (PG) 125min Billy Wilder’s sharp comedy is treated to a spit & polish reissue. Selected release from Fri 15 Jun.

Fast Girls (12A) 91min British teen sports drama. General release from Fri 15 Jun. Cosmopolis (15) 108min David Cronenberg returns accompanied by Robert Pattinson. General release from Fri 15 Jun.

Jaws (PG) 124min Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water, a new reissue comes along. General release from Fri 15 Jun.

Kosmos (12A) 122min Fantastical Turkish drama from director Reha Erdem. Selected release from Fri 15 Jun. Late September (tbc) 87min Drama depicting the tensions within a group of late-middle-aged friends. Selected release from Fri 15 Jun.

Rock of Ages (tbc) tbcmin Hair metal musical starring Tom Cruise and Russell Brand. General release from Fri 15 Jun.

A Thousand Kisses Deep (15) 84min Unsettling thriller starring Dougray Scott. Selected release from Fri 15 Jun. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (tbc) tbcmin A history- baiting take on the Great Emancipator. General release from Wed 20 Jun.

DRAMA ILL MANORS (18) 121mins ●●●●●

To say Ill Manors doesn’t pull punches is like saying Mike Tyson hits quite hard. Raw, uncompromising and brutal, this urban tale of violence, prostitution and drugs smacks you round the face, then kicks you in the groin for good measure. It marks the directorial debut of Ben Drew aka hip-hop artist Plan B and makes Noel Clarke’s Adulthood look like a playground punch-up. Anger aside, Drew’s also ambitious, cinematically, not least when he intervenes on the soundtrack to rap about a character’s backstory (the visuals matching his words in a dazzling blur of images). Interweaving six storylines, all set around London’s Forest Gate, Ill Manors might be considered a hoodie Magnolia, with its tales of revenge and redemption.

Riz Ahmed is the most recognisable face, and is on fine form as the moral compass of the film a small-time dealer who must care for a baby (abandoned by Natalie Press’ East European call girl). Drew draws great performances from the lesser-known cast too, yet takes great care to examine the reasons behind these wayward characters’ lives. Jarring, grimy and a searing indictment of Broken Britain. (James Mottram) General release from Wed 6 Jun.

THRILLER THE PACT (15) 89min ●●●●●

The latest US horror/thriller to be granted a UK release has a slightly better pedigree than most: writer/director Nicholas McCarthy’s film emerged from his own short, which was shown last year at Sundance, quickly developed into this feature and debuted at the same festival earlier this year. In an opening that recreates the action of the original short, Nicole (Agnes

Bruckner) moves into the oddly-wallpapered house vacated by her freshly deceased mother, only to quickly go missing. Her tough-nut sister Annie (Mad Men’s Caity Lotz) has developed an understandable suspicion of the house, but arrives to investigate her sisters disappearance, soon finding herself bounced from room to room by a powerful and malevolent supernatural force. Annie’s investigations lead her to seek help from a local cop (Casper Van Dien, still reliably wooden 15 years after Starship Troopers) but it’s ultimately within her own family that the real secrets reside. The Pact is a low budget thriller that’s light on gore and stronger on tension in the old-school John Carpenter way, without adding much new of its own. It’s a promising, efficient debut for McCarthy, but any kind of originality isn’t part of the deal. (Eddie Harrison) General release from Fri 8 Jun.