News

Rock Of Ages (12A)

(Adam Shankman, 2012, Us) Julianne Hough, Diego Boneta, Tom Cruise, Alec Baldwin, Russell Brand, Paul Giamatti, Catherine Zeta-Jones. 123 mins

Doing for 1980s hair metal what Mamma Mia! did for Abba, this glossy musical gives you the broad pleasures of pantomime rather than rock'n'roll danger, with theatrical star turns and a playlist of power ballads hung around an archetypal tale of a smalltown girl and a wannabe rock star boy on La's Sunset Strip. You can stop believin' now.

Cosmopolis (15)

(David Cronenberg, 2012, Fra/Can/Por/Ita) Robert Pattinson, Juliette Binoche, Sarah Gadon. 109 mins

Don De Lillo's prescient novella makes for a cool Manhattan odyssey, centred on Pattinson's jaded banker and the Occupy zeitgeist.

Polisse (15)

(Maïwenn, 2011, Fra) Karin Viard, Joey Starr, Marina Foïs. 128 mins

A Wire-like approach to a French child protection unit reaps dividends for this docu-style procedural.

Red Lights (15)

(Rodrigo Cortés, 2012, Us/Spa) Cillian Murphy, Robert De Niro,...

Reha Erdem's brilliant Kosmos is strange in a way few films beyond experimental cinema ever manage to be. The story of a visitor to a lonely, insular Turkish city and how the people there react to him, it's not merely that it's one of those movies where nothing makes much logical sense or that it tackles very highbrow themes without a shred of irony. Above all else it never seems particularly interested in explaining itself, never throwing the audience more than a cursory bone to help them understand what's going on.

The stunning cinematography makes it obvious pretty early on there's more to Erdem's film than empty arthouse posturing, and there are enough moments of wonder dotted throughout the running time to keep reinforcing that idea, but even the most patient viewer will probably wonder at some point whether it's worth sitting through the whole thing.

Yet persevere until the home stretch,...