Tom Cruise may seem like a curious choice to play the 6ft 5in hero of Lee Child’s vigilante novels, but, casting aside, Jack Reacher is a satisfyingly meaty whodunnit which has more in common with the private-eye thrillers of the 1960s and 1970s than it does with Mission: Impossible . Â Â Â Â
Parks and Recreation’s Chris Pratt almost single-handedly redeems this predictable high-school-reunion drama, his boorish family man bagging the best lines and a wince-inducing karaoke routine. Â Â Â Â
Barnaby Southcombe’s funereally paced but inventively lit oddity stars Charlotte Rampling (the director’s mother) as a lonely divorcée who after hooking up with a rotter at a speed-dating event, goes back to his Barbican flat and smashes his head in.
Scene stealer Christopher Walken, once again, appears to be acting in an entirely different film (a better one) in Martin McDonagh’s absurd but entertaining black comedy.
“I am surprised to hear that Aristotle is on the syllabus in the State of Wisconsin,†maintains a haughty don in Harold Pinter’s deft adaptation of Nicholas Mosley’s novel.    Â
JRR Tolkien’s sweet, 320-page fantasy has presumably been turned into a monstrous three-part film in order to make as much moolah as possible. Â Â Â Â
“Go shopping until you cheer up,†is the unhelpful advice given to Rebecca Gibney’s distraught mum, Shirley, in a cake shop.    Â
The Fresno County Library’s Bookshelf column shares suggestions for books, music and other items and provides information about library programs.
Available in the UK after a four-year wait, this American sitcom is heavily indebted to The Office and all its mock-doc stylings – there’s a sideways glance to camera every 30 seconds – but it has a sweetness and richness all of its own.
This is as rare as Javan rhinos, an absorbing, beautifully acted romantic comedy featuring recognisable humans: Bradley Cooper’s bipolar Pat, who is fixated about getting back together with his cheating wife, Jennifer Lawrence’s resentful widow whose cop husband has recently died and Robert De Niro’s volatile, OCD gambler who struggles to comprehend his son.