Wonderland 18
Directed by Michael Winterbottom Starring Molly Parker, Kika Markham, John Simm, Gina McKee, Ian Hart, Shirley Henderson, Stuart Townsend
Winterbottom's cherishable film is packed with incident, energy and insights as it weaves together the inter-connected experiences of 13 characters over four eventful days in London. Accompanied by a gorgeous, shimmering Michael Nyman score, Wonderland draws vivid, credible performances from an astutely chosen cast.
The Limey 18
Directed by Steven Soderbergh Starring Terence Stamp, Peter Fonda
Soderbergh's droll revenge thriller brings together two 1960s cultural icons from opposite sides of the Atlantic - Stamp, riveting as a world-weary English career criminal who travels to the US when his daughter is murdered, and Fonda as the wealthy Los Angeles record producer he believes is responsible for her death. The flashbacks to the Englishman's earlier life quite ingeniously employs footage of Stamp from Ken Loach's 1967 film, Poor Cow.
Angela's Ashes 15
(On DVD release from Monday; VHS release to follow)
Directed by Alan Parker Starring Emily Watson, Robert Carlyle, Ronnie Masterson, Pauline McLynn, Liam Carney, Eanna MacLiam
Parker's virtuosity as a visual artist has never been more vividly illustrated than in the succession of subdued but indelible compositions which constitute his restrained and unsentimental yet deeply affecting film of Frank McCourt's bestseller. This underrated film is succintly composed in a series of telling vignettes accumulating into a boy's own story of surviving against all the odds in a poverty-stricken Limerick family of the 1940s. In an exemplary cast the boy is played at different ages by three remarkable youngsters - Joe Breen, Ciaran Owens and Michael Legge. For all the horrors and abject poverty it unflinchingly addresses, the film is shot through with great humanity and a rich sense of humour.