WITH no new releases hitting the screens this week, here's a round-up of what’s still showing and where during this bank holiday weekend: AMAZING GRACE (PG) (Clwyd Theatr Cymru, Mold, Saturday only) SKIRTING dangerously close to the worthy but dull category, this is a creditable commemoration of the bicentenary of the abolition of the slave trade. Ioan Gruffudd plays William Wilberforce, the MP who fought to wake people up to the abominations of slavery. A fine support cast includes Albert Finney, Michael Gambon and Rufus Sewell. *** THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM (12A) (All major cinemas) ANOTHER film series reaches chapter three in 2007 and this just might be the most promising of the lot as Matt Damon finds more answers to his past in a picture which reunites him with remarkable British director Paul Greengrass. **** BRATZ: THE MOVIE (PG) (All major cinemas) A FILM based on a series of dolls! Well, it’s not the first time but if ever a movie was a no-go zone for anyone over the age of 14, this is it. ** DIE HARD 4.0 (15) (Vue, Cheshire Oaks) IT MUST have been an irresistible prospect to pit the old-fashioned muscle power of Bruce Willis’s John McClane against a 21st Century cyber-terrorist – the clash which lies at the heart of this fourth outing – 20 years after the original Die Hard hit our screens. It’s interesting that despite the terrorist plot – and the tendency of this series to favour Euro villains – we have an American bad guy planning to bring the nation to its knees by hacking into computer network of the US defence system. *** EVAN ALMIGHTY (PG) (All major cinemas) IT’S not often a sequel to a hit movie jettisons the main character and instead elevates a former supporting player to lead status. But, then again, Bruce Almighty did have the advantage of giving an early break to a major talent such as Steve Carell just before his star rose courtesy of the American TV version of The Office and the big-screen box office bonanza that was The 40 Year Old Virgin. Apart from Carell – who was, if you remember, an obnoxious TV news anchorman first time round – the only returning element here is Morgan Freeman as God. ** HAIRSPRAY (PG) (Vue, Cheshire Oaks) IN the wake of The Producers, here is another cult movie that was turned into a hit stage musical and now returns to the big screen in updated format. Against the odds, this has been getting pretty good reviews for its kitsch look at early 60s teen culture in America. The Corny Collins Show is a dance party TV hit that allows ‘ordinary’ teenagers the chance to strut their stuff on camera. Star attraction is spoiled brat Amber Von Tussle (Brittany Snow), whose supremacy is threatened by overweight but good-hearted girl Tracy Turnblad (Nikki Blonsky). *** HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX (12A) (All major cinemas) POTTERMANIA is in full flow with the fifth film and final book battling it out for supremacy. Debutant director David Yates takes the helm of the most difficult film in the series so far, stripping away a lot of the flab and focusing on the fact that while Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) is back no-one believes it, Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) has been kicked out of Hogwarts and replaced by the evil Dolores Umbridge (Imelda Staunton) and Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) is in disgrace with the wizarding community. *** THE HOAX (15) (All major cinemas) COMPLEX star vehicle for Richard Gere which he uses to great effect even though it will be a tough sell in this country. It tells the fascinating true story of writer Clifford Irving who, during the 70s, came close to pulling off one of the great publishing scams of the century when he persuaded a major company to buy a comprehensive and entirely fake Howard Hughes autobiography. The subsequent scandal caused quite a fuss in America but went largely unnoticed in this country but director Lasse Hallstrom – on decent Chocolat rather than lacklustre Casanova form – manages to make this a multi- layered experience. *** KNOCKED UP (15) (All major cinemas) ROMANTIC comedy with an edge that has gained great reviews in America for its story of what happens when a slobby guy has a one-night stand with a gorgeous career girl and she ends up pregnant. Best big-screen role ever for Katherine Heigl but all the buzz surrounds the arrival of Seth Rogen as a major comedic force to be reckoned with. *** LICENCE TO WED (12A) (Vue, Cheshire Oaks) IT’S a sad fact that Robin Williams, one of the most naturally gifted clowns of the past half-a-century, has made so many poor big-screen choices. After the recent travesty that was RV, Williams is once again being reviled for his role in this dodgy comedy as a loony vicar who refuses to preside over the wedding of Mandy Moore and John Krasinski until they prove to him they are worthy of the institution of marriage. ** THE LIVES OF OTHERS (15) (Clwyd Theatr Cymru, Mold, Tuesday-Thursday) WINNER of the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s directorial debut is set against the unrelenting Stasi surveillance of former East Germany. Writer Georg is a good socialist but when a Stasi colonel takes a shine to his actress girlfriend he gets a secret agent to dig some dirt. *** NO RESERVATIONS (PG) (All major cinemas; Wednesday and Thursday previews) CATHERINE Zeta Jones ventures into Julia Roberts/Reece Witherspoon territory with this feel-good rom-com in which she plays a career-obsessed master chef who makes Gordon Ramsey look work-shy – until tragedy strikes and her sister is killed, forcing her into the role of guardian to her young niece. Aaron Eckhart co-stars in Shine director Scott Hicks’s latest feature. Midweek previews take place ahead of next Friday’s official release. PAN’S LABYRINTH (15) (Clwyd Theatr Cymru, Mold, Friday only) ALTHOUGH sometimes resembling a fairy tale, this is very much an adults-only fantasy, packed with imagery which manages to be both bewitching and disturbing as a 12-year-old girl retreats into a mysterious world of her own making to escape the horrors of 1940s fascist Spain. Director Guillermo del Torom achieves his masterpiece with what was the finest film of 2006. **** RUSH HOUR 3 (12A) (All major cinemas) YOU know what you’re getting with just about any Jackie Chan movie but that goes double for his lucrative collaborations with co-star Chris Tucker. Rush Hour is now yet another series to become a trilogy in 2007 but don’t expect much plot progression: the culture clash of action and comedy styles between the two stars is what it is all about. Much less important is the contrived plot, which sends the partners to Paris to battle part of the notorious Chinese organised crime unit known as the Triads. ** SHREK THE THIRD (U) (Vue, Cheshire Oaks) CONTINUING this summer’s theme of disappointing third entries in a series, Shrek and Fiona have to come to terms with the prospect of parenthood as Prince Charming hires a bunch of fairy tale villains to take over the Far Far Away throne in a film significantly lacking in ideas in comparison with the first two pictures. ** THE SIMPSONS MOVIE (PG) (All major cinemas) THE Simpsons is a genuine cultural phenomenon and, while it is generally accepted recent episodes have not quite matched the glory days of its first decade, critics have been dusting off the superlatives to cope with the movie release. The animation style remains the same, although somehow director David Silverman has managed to make it seem more epic as Homer is called on to avert a catastrophe he himself is responsible for creating. Everyone from the Springfield locals to US President Arnold Schwarzenegger are out for Homer’s blood and it is up to our hero to find a way of redeeming himself. *** SURF’S UP (PG) (All major cinemas) PENGUIN movies have almost become a little mini-genre of their own and have so far attracted much critical kudos in the wake of March of the Penguins and Happy Feet. And much praise has been heaped on this latest computer-animated venture, which cleverly combines the (in this case, mock) documentary approach of the former with the fictional comedy of the latter. Instead of dancing penguins, we have surfing penguins as young Cody (Shia LaBeouf) is whisked away from his home pool to compete in a major surfing competition. *** TRANSFORMERS (12A) (All major cinemas) A LIVE action movie based on a cartoon film based on a toy – it would be fair to say expectations of an arthouse classic are not high. What you do get is the epitome of an early 21st Century summer blockbuster, something which has been reflected in the astonishing box office returns the movie has scored in its native America. This is director Michael Bay cranked up to 11 – every over-the-top action trick learned on the likes of Armageddon, Bad Boys and Pearl Harbour comes home to roost in one package to overwhelm the senses. *** | 
