This week’s movie releases

Director Oliver Stone (<CF1001>JFK<CF1000>, <CF1001>Natural Born Killers<CF1000>) returns to his violent ways this week, in <CF1001>Savages<CF1000>, a stylish action thriller that follows a threesome made up of a Californian girl and her two good-looking boyfriends, all of whom are dedicated to the business of growing weed. Things get decidedly ugly, however, when drug kingpin Elena, brilliantly played by Salma Hayek, moves in on their business.

Former Stone leading man Tommy Lee Jones pops up in Hope Springs, playing alongside the ever-brilliant Meryl Streep. This romantic comedy, directed by David Frankel (The Devil Wears Prada, Marley and Me) follows the pair, who play a married couple seeking out counseling to save their 30-year marriage.

The pre-teens in your life will no doubt be keen to catch the third installment in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, with this latest movie bearing the subtitle Dog Days. Learning from your mistakes is the lesson to be learnt this time around, although there are plenty of laughs to be enjoyed as well, away from the moralizing.

Apart from the English-language releases, this week sees <CF1001>A Better Life<CF1000> hit our screens, a French film from director Chris Weitz (<CF1001>About a Boy<CF1000>). This touching tale follows a man who is determined to give his son a decent start in life.

And from Spain comes <CF1001>Esperando Septiembre <CF1000>(or, Waiting for September), a timely tale of a group of friends in crisis-stricken Madrid who are anxious for the summer to end, so they can get out there and start looking for a job.