´óÏó´«Ã½

An epic book gets turned into an average film. 14 year old Susie (Saoirse Ronan) narrates the story of her own murder from a Tellytubbyland-looking afterlife, whilst evil neighbour Stanley Tucci tries to evade the police back in the real world. Director Peter Jackson does scrimp on the attention to detail but with horror, comedy and romance all rammed into 2hrs 15 running time, he ends up with a slick film without real focus.

Solomon Kane
Brooding 16th century warrior Kane (James Purefoy) must battle demons - and a dodgy West Country accent - in this swords 'n' sorcery actioner. It's cold-hearted and not hugely original but it's also slick enough to get genre fans off World Of Warcraft for a couple of hours and into the cinema.
3 stars.

Crazy Heart
Jeff Bridges looks like he hasn't washed for a while in this story of a tanked-up Country singer looking for one last shot at the big time. The Dude is awesome in it - grizzly, grumpy and growly. An Oscar's in the bag and for his quiet power. I'm not so sure about Colin Farrell as his pony-tailed protégé though.
4 stars.

The Last Station
What could have been a stuffy tale about legendary Russian writer Tolstoy is actually a lot funnier than you'd expect, with doe-eyed James McAvoy as the scribe's new assistant discovering his beardy boss is actually a complete loon. Crinkly thesps Helen Mirren and Christopher Plummer add to the classy laughs.
4 stars.

And now what you can watch on TV over the weekend.

Sweet Home Alabama

´óÏó´«Ã½ Three
Saturday - 8.35pm

You gotta love chick flick cliches. If it's not love/hate relationships then it's gay best friends. Or that other old chestnut, 'the fish out of water' (see Legally Blonde, Did You Hear About The Morgans?, and several episodes of 'Sex And The City'.) Luckily Reese Witherspoon (pictured left) has the mannerisms to upstage even the biggest stereotypes.

Mission Impossible 3
Channel 4
Sunday - 9.15pm

Phillip Seymour Hoffman cashes in his post-Oscar fame by playing the baddie in JJ Abrams' explosive (see right) take on the Tom Cruise franchise. Unlike its leading man, this is huge.