In this age when quality dictates that the narrative should “ go dark ”, it's strange that the Roald Dahl back catalogue hasn't been plundered more extensively beyond that of the cloying Willy Wonka remake. There has been the odd Giant Peach and the oft forgotten Witches, but now his material finds itself filtered through the unique visionary genius of Tenenbaums and Life Aquatic director, Wes Anderson.

Mr and Mrs Fox (Clooney and Streep) live in modest surroundings with their young cub Ash (Jason Schwartzman). After years of suppressing his wild animal instincts by writing a much ignored column in the local paper, Mr. Fox decides that a return to his old ways of chicken theft will bring more satisfaction to his domestic life.

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The Cove (12A)

For a long time now cinema has been permeated by a willingness to save the planet; Al Gore started it all off, DiCaprio jumped on the bandwagon and since then everything from fish to flamingos have had their chance in the spotlight. Heck, even the lamentable Keanu Reeves dudbuster, The Day the Earth Stood Still was driven by an ecological message. And here we have another documentary with a porpoise, sorry, purpose [journalistic licence should be revoked for that!] to educate the masses in preservation.
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The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (12A)

This fantasy is very much a product of the fertile imagination of Terry Gilliam, being a sort of contemporary Gothic fairy tale with touches of Grimm, which at times takes off into the surreal animated world of his earlier Monty Python glory days.   Which means, whether it's to your taste or not, this film is glorious just to look at. 

There's more to it though than just pretty visuals.   It's the rambling but intriguing story of Dr Parnassus (Plummer), who with his daughter Valentina(Cole) and assistants Anton (Andrew Garfield) and Precy (Verne Troyer) travels around a  contemporary but somehow darkly skewed version of  London with the travelling show of the title. 

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New Town Killers - DVD

After writer/director Jobson's impressive 2003 debut "16 years of Alcohol", this movie is a sad disappointment.  

It's a thriller set in Edinburgh.   Pearson plays Sean, a hard up teenager, who is so desperate for money to pay his pregnant sister's debts that he agrees to a proposition from two well dressed strangers to take part in a hide and seek game through the night time streets of the city.   If he survives until morning, he gets the money.

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