Ben X (15)

Thursday 28th August 2008

Bullying raises its revolting head in this Belgian drama written and directed by Nic Balthazar from his own novel. Though a harrowing watch at times, strong performances and a story that is never quite what it seems combine to make a memorable debut.

Badlands (15)

Thursday 28th August 2008

If a classic can be defined by how fresh it remains after its first release, then Terrence Malick's crime drama, 35 years young, is worthy of the tag.

The Strangers (15)

Thursday 28th August 2008

Bryan Bertino's horror conforms with deadly intensity to the old-school rules of the genre: every curtain drawn back must reveal a scary face, empty swings must move sinisterly in the breeze.

El Bano del Papa (15)

Thursday 28th August 2008

The Pope's Toilet, to give this Uruguayan charmer its earthier title, is a tale of hope set in a place desperately short of the stuff.

Step Brothers (15)

Thursday 28th August 2008

It's worth tapping into your inner child before entering Step Brothers, a juvenile yet amusing new comedy from the Anchorman team.

Mes Amis, Mes Amours (15)

Thursday 28th August 2008

Anyone allergic to very cheesy but sweet French rom-coms should avoid this like a ferry strike.

Babylon AD (12A)

Thursday 28th August 2008

French director Mathieu Kassovitz has reportedly already dismissed Babylon AD as "pure violence and stupidity", and audiences are likely to share his sentiments.

Somers Town (12A)

12:05am Thursday 21st August 2008

Thomas Turgoose gave one of the most astonishing performances of any young British actor in recent times when playing a teeny skinhead in Shane Meadows’s This is England. The pair team up again for Somers Town, another coming of age tale.

Get Smart (12A)

Thursday 21st August 2008

Mel Brooks began his career as spoofmaster-in-chief in the Sixties with a TV series about a bungling Bond-type secret agent. Somewhat late in the day, the Stateside hit is reinvented as a movie, with Brooks listed as a consultant, and this year's hottest comedy property, Steve Carell, the headline talent.

Zero: An Investigation into 9/11

Thursday 21st August 2008

Seven years on from that day in 2001, conspiracy theories continue to lurk on the wilder reaches of the internet. This patchy Italian documentary takes a few of the notions and holds them up to the light with varying degrees of success.

Her Name is Sabine (15)

12:01am Thursday 21st August 2008

French actress Sandrine Bonnaire turns director to deliver an impassioned and moving portrait of a little sister lost to autism.

College Road Trip (U)

12:03am Thursday 21st August 2008

College Road Trip, the latest vehicle for Martin Lawrence's tireless facial mugging, is a dispiriting excursion into the comedy mire from a director whose previous wrecks include Just Friends and The Sweetest Thing.

Accomplished party to a conflict

12:37am Thursday 14th August 2008

If her Oscar-winning performance as a no-nonsense police chief in Fargo wasn't enough to make you realise that Frances McDormand isn't at least as talented as her contemporaries Meryl Streep and Susan Sarandon, her lead role in this ought to do the trick.

You Don’t Mess With the Zohan (12A)

12:43am Thursday 14th August 2008

Having played it semi-serious with his last few films – Spanglish, The Longest Yard, Reign Over Me – the prince of potty humour, Adam Sandler, returns to what his legions of fans love him for with this supremely daft and wantonly crude comedy.

Wild Child (12A)

12:44am Thursday 14th August 2008

Emma Roberts, aka Nancy Drew, aka Julia Roberts’s niece, plays a spoilt Malibu princess whose despairing father (Aidan Quinn) packs her off to a strict girls-only British boarding school in the hope that the brat will learn some life lessons.

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