The Monk

You don't cast Vincent Cassel as a devout monk unless he’s headed for a serious fall. So it goes in Dominik Moll’s arty ecclesiastical horror, as visitations tempt Cassel into Obi Wan-dering with his Kenobi out. Despite the stylish, authentically weird atmosphere, Moll’s ambitions for the source material – a once-scandalous 18th-Century Gothic novel – can’t help but translate into a generic splice of The Name Of The Rose and The Ninth Gate. It might have worked better played for laughs – Moll’s uncertain tone is neither creepy nor darkly comic enough. The Monk News an d Features

The Bourne Legacy

28 Weeks Later. Predator 2. xXx: State Of The Union. Just a few of the pictures that have tried to perpetuate a franchise without their original stars on board. To their number we can now add The Bourne Legacy, a continuation of the Robert Ludlum-inspired spy series without Matt Damon’s amnesiac assassin as its focal point. To some it will be like Hamlet without Hamlet. Yet while Tony Gilroy’s fourquel never feels particularly vital, it’s certainly not the cynical cash-grab we might’ve feared. For one thing it has Jeremy Renner, capably inheriting Damon’s mantle as another secret agent who finds himself at odds with his shadowy superiors. Introduced as a full-bearded mountain man on a training outing in Alaska, Renner’s Aaron Cross soon proves himself to be a force to be reckoned with whether dealing with freezing water, snarling wolves or an automated drone plane. He’s also no slouch on a motorbike, a climactic chase through the streets of Manila giving second unit director Dan Bradley (a Bourne veteran) another chance to run riot in a teeming urban environment. This thrilling set-piece isn’t the only Bourne signifier. Like Doug Liman and Paul Greengrass before him, Gilroy juxtaposes action in the field with testy scenes at Espionage HQ, here with Ed Norton and Stacy Keach as government suits battling to contain the “infection” that Jason Bourne’s exploits have let loose. Fleeting cameos from Scott Glenn, David Strathairn and Albert Finney further assist the movie’s aim to be a logical extension of a pre-established universe. The result is it’s surprisingly easy to see Legacy as a parallel adventure, allied to yet not rel iant on what’s gone before. But for all Renner’s swagger and physical dexterity, his hounded hero simply isn’t as compelling a protagonist as Damon’s Jason. Robbed of his memory and sense of self, the latter’s quest to uncover his nature gave the original trilogy an almost existential element as Bourne strived to reconcile the man he was with who he hoped to be. Aaron’s problem is more pedestrian: a chemical dependency on the ‘meds’ that make him quicker, stronger and brainier. Teaming up with Rachel Weisz’s lab technician, Renner effectively conveys sweaty desperation as he races to get the pills on which his life depends. Yet because he’s essentially a junkie after a fix, he’s a hard man to warm to in a film that, without a human connection, feels noticeably cold to the touch. The Bourne Legacy News and Features

The Addiction

Given perverse energy by writer/director Abel Ferrara’s moody brew of arthouse pretension and sleazesploitation, this tasty horror sees Lili Taylor as the New York philosophy student chomped by vamp Annabella Sciorra who embraces her gory new life among the undead. It doesn’t have much to say about the human evil (images of My Lai and Dachau are grubby low-blows) but there’s plenty of macabre pleasure in the lustrous black-and-white cinematography, a masterfully weird cameo from supervamp Christopher Walken and one hell of an orgy. The Addiction News and Features

Damsels In Distress

“There’s no logic to the algebra of love!” sighs one of the damsels in Whit Stillman’s first pic since 1998’s The Last Days Of Disco, an amusing if never especially funny whimsy about super-articulate collegians who are not as bright as they think they are. Greta Gerwig delights as the leader of four meddling femmes out to bring refinement to their male-dominated campus, with Analeigh Tipton equally ace as the new recruit who bridles at her bossiness. Yet as enjoyable as it is to spend time in their company, the film’s hermetic, rarefied milieu may leave you gasping for air. Damsels In Distress News and Features

If I Want To Whistle, I Whistle

Low-key Romanian prison drama with a direct plot and urgent performances, as an 18-year-old convict struggles to save his younger brother. If I Want to Whistle, I Whistle News and Features

Black Gold

Funded by and starring (in widescreen glory) the Gulf state of Qatar, Black Gold is commendable for its good intentions – sympathetically presenting the duel pursuits of wealth and spirituality in ’30s Arabia as oil is discovered. But this Lean-lite epic fails to strike the good stuff from the get-go with undermining international casting and a leaden script. So we have Mark Strong and Antonio Banderas (rocking facial topiary and tans) as emirs at odds over oil-rich lands, plus Freida Pinto, Riz Ahmed and Tahar Rahim as their eyelinered rebel kids… and lots of camel-ocide. Handsome but shallow. Black Gold News and Features < table border="0">

The Wedding Video

Asked to be best man at brother Tim’s (Robert Webb) nuptials, loveable fool Raif (Rufus Hound) gets cracking on his gift to the happy couple: a video shambolically documenting the build-up to the big day. When it’s not being shrill, obvious or awkwardly wistful, Nigel Calendar Girls Cole’s comedy is quite funny: crazed dance rehearsals, an out-of-control wine tasting, the bride-to-be’s (Lucy Punch) hideous grandmother (Miriam Margoyles). Sadly, shrill, obvious and awkwardly wistful win out in the end. For a better Webb/wedding bet, try Confetti or Peep Show’s Season 4 finale. The Wedding Video News and Features

The Three Stooges

The Three Stooges marks the Farrelly brothers’ 10th live-action feature film. Sadly, hitting that double-figures milestone hasn’t inspired a return to form. The days of Peter and Bobby’s blockbuster comedies Dumb & Dumber and There’s Something About Mary feel very, well, last century. Instead, we have a misguided attempt to resurrect the titular slapstick trio, who hit peak popularity on screen back in the 1930s. Trouble is, Moe, Curly and Larry’s childlike squabbles were designed for shorts. There are only so many three-way nose-tweaks you can take, and the Farrellys’ idea of splitting the film into three nominal epi sodes doesn’t really solve the problem. The first segment, ‘More Orphan Than Not’, sets out the paper-thin plot: thanks to their accident-prone antics, the Stooges’ Catholic orphanage home (run by Mother Superior Jane Lynch) will close in 30 days, unless  they find $830k. With a plot that sounds suspiciously lifted from The Blues Brothers, so begins a decidedly hit-and-miss affair as the “pure of heart and dim of wit” threesome set out on a cash-raising odyssey. Credit where it’s due, though: the three stars - Sean Hayes (smart-mouthed Larry), Will Sasso (baldy dimbo Curly) and Chris Diamantopoulos (self-styled leader Moe) - look and sound close to their 1930s counterparts. Yet while the physical routines are well choreographed, it’s not enough to drag us through 90 formless minutes. The rest of the gags are eithe r groan-worthy (Curly thinks an iPhone works by putting his eye to it), cringe-inducing (using a baby’s pee as a water pistol) or just plain odd (like the ‘don’t try this at home, kids’ postscript). Even if you do get to see Larry David dressed as a mean-spirited nun or Moe slap the reality TV stars of Jersey Shore, it fails to enliven what is ultimately a sad, stale comedy. The jokes pile up and the laughs dry up; only unsophisticated under-10s need apply. The Three Stooges News and Features