Prepare to be tangled in a web of obscure villains

So, this is how it ends – if not the world, then at least Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost’s crowd pleasing ‘Three Flavours Cornetto’ trilogy. Directed by Wright, co-written by him and Pegg, and starring Pegg alongside Frost, what began nine years ago with zombie-fuelled comedy Shaun of the Dead and continued with…

Everybody knows Superman. Sometimes dismissed under the title of ‘The Big Blue Boy Scout’, he is the virtuous, infallible and virtually invincible symbol of American heroism; the superhero that begat all superheroes. Yet what’s often forgotten is that, despite possessing these traits, Superman is also something else – an alien, an ultimate example of the ‘other’. By focusing on the latter, director Zack Snyder lends interest to the former, providing a Superman whose otherworldliness serves only to make him more Earthly. It’s a strong starting point for the new franchise, but, as with the rest of mankind, this newly human Superman still has room for a little improvement.

“Always try to see the best in people.” It may be the mantra that The Great Gatsby’s narrator tries to live by, but it is a luxury that not all of the novel’s fans will have granted Baz Luhrmann when this latest adaptation was announced. Known for his highly stylised visuals and a penchant for aligning period specific plotlines with present day flourish overt enough to rival Quentin Tarantino’s, some feared that in Luhrmann’s hands the story would lose not only its context, but also its subtlety. Thankfully, they were wrong. Well, at least about the first part.

SO SHINY

A wide-reaching crime drama from the director and star of intimate relationship study Blue Valentine seems an unusual prospect on paper, but in practice the transition isn’t as big as you might expect. Bold and sweeping as The Place Beyond the Pines may be, it still revolves around family – it’s just a shame Derek Cianfrance tries to spoil his child a little too much.

Bizarre visuals, outdated humour and a needlessly abstract moral prevent this prehistoric offering from DreamWorks Animation from living up to its potential. The animation flows smoothly enough and the 3D doesn’t offend, but when it’s difficult to recognise the message, let alone the wildlife, it’s fair to say that something has missed the mark.

With the Glasgow Film Festival commencing its 9th year, we sent along two of our Highland based contributors to bring you their verdict on the line-up. Patrick Harley, determined to see an obscene amount of films over a short period of time, will be using what seconds he has spare to provide round-ups as the festival proceeds. Meanwhile when the festival ends, the fun continues, with Steven Neish on hand to select his Best of the Fest – unmissable gems you’ll be rushing to see when they come to a cinema near you. Here’s what happened on Patrick’s first day…

The potential break-down of a marriage is rarely imagined as an area ripe for hilarity. To debut writer-director Dan Mazer, however, it’s rib-tickling gold. Those moments of crippling doubt as you wonder whether you’ve made a mistake; side-splitting! The anguish you feel over your attraction somebody else; uproarious! So, how does Mazer attempt to justify humour in the heartbreak? It’s easy, really – he simply writes protagonists so unlikeable that the audience never cares about them in the first place.

A romantic comedy directed by husband and wife Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris (Little Miss Sunshine) and written by female lead Zoe Kazan, whose real life partner Paul Dano also stars, it is not unexpected that Ruby Sparks should have a lot to say about relationships. Where it does surprise, however, is in its refreshingly layered approach to the genre. Observing reality through the premise of a fairytale, it is at once a critique of fantasy and a lesson in how to make it real.