Chappie (15A) ***
This blend of sci-fi and comedy in set in a future where an army of oppressive robot police has effectively cleaned up the city - but some of its senior developers do not agree with company policy.
Senior staff member Vincent Moore (Hugh Jackman) is furious that his style of concept for the force has been turned down in favour of the ideas of his younger rival, Deon Wilson (Dev Patel).
Wilson has some illicit activity of his own - he wants to create an AI robot capable of thinking and feeling for himself. Using a faulty model, he creates Chappie, and is stunned at the level of success of his experiment.
But trouble looms when a group of crooks hijack the 'bot with the intention of using him as a killer robot in a massive heist they need to pull off for another violent gang.
Chappie is directed by avant grade South African filmmaker Neill Blomkamp, who made an impressive debut with District 9 and also brought us Elysium, starring Matt Damon.
It's in his creation of Chappie that the film works best. Voiced by Blomkamp regular Sharlto Copley,
he's a childlike character who is processing information quickly but hasn’t yet become accustomed to the ways of the world around him.
The movie is set in South Africa and features the striking visual style that helped make District 9 a global smash hit.
But tonally the movie's a mess, moving uncomfortably between emotional moments, parody and comedy, with limited success.
Chappie makes for good company - but Blomkamp's latest is no District 9.
Still Alice (12A) ****
When Julianne Moore picked up her Oscar for this film last month, it righted an anomaly in the Academy's history books.
After all, one of our greatest living actresses had missed out on the coveted award four time before.
She'd paid her dues - but Moore's win is no mere career award. She is simply terrific in this heartbreaking drama.
In fact, you forget you're watching a performance, so effective is Moore's ability to bring us inside the life of Alice Howland.
She's a successful linguistics professor who’s happily married to John (Alec Baldwin) mother to three children.
When she starts to forget words, she initially puts it down to the stresses of modern living. However, when she loses sight of where she is during her daily run, she’s frightened enough to go to a neurologist.
The news is shocking - 50-year-old Alice has Early-Onset Alzheimer’s Disease and it’s a genetic form, which means she may have also passed it on to her kids, (including Kristen Stewart).
The movie shows how Alice fights to hold on to her intellect and her dignity as the disease takes its hold, and the impact it has on her marriage, her work and relationships.
It's a hard watch, moving but never ever mawkish. Still Alice is a great film, and it will stay with you.
