This week's movie releases

Johnny Depp has played many eccentric characters throughout his career, but none have previously involved him wearing a bird on his head. In The Lone Ranger however, he embraces ornithological headgear to play the titular character's Native American sidekick, Tonto. This Disney remake of the well-loved 1950s movies is directed by Gore Verbinski and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, the duo who gave the world Pirates of the Caribbean. In this offering, Tonto tells the story of how small-town lawyer John Reid (played by Armie Hammer) was transformed into the legendary hero.

This year has seen a plethora of apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic films, and in Seth Rogan and Evan Goldberg's This is the End, the trend seems set to continue. The comedy horror film sees a group of celebrity friends (including Seth Rogan and Jay Baruchel) head over to James Franco's place for a showbiz party. Everything is fairly normal: sex, drugs, Michael Cera trying and failing to hit on Rihanna, until suddenly... Armageddon begins. The group of friends must then survive as all of civilization crashes down around them. A star-studded cast including Jonah Hill, Danny McBride, Emma Watson, Jason Segel and Craig Robinson play themselves in this enjoyable end-of-the-world romp.

Tightly strung

Not to be confused with Quartet, released earlier this year, A Late Quartet follows the story of a famous string foursome. As their 25th anniversary draws near, one of them becomes very ill; something that causes passion, anger and a host of other emotions to come bubbling to the surface. Catherine Keener, Christopher Walken and Philip Seymour Hoffman star.

Paradise: Faith (Paradies: Glaube), the second film in Austrian director Ulrich Seidl's Paradise trilogy, tells the story of a devoutly Catholic Viennese lady, Anna Maria, (Maria Hofstätter) who spends her days off preaching door-to-door around the city. Her faith is challenged by the reactions of the people she meets. Also, her Muslim husband is back and causing trouble. Winner of the Special Jury Prize at the Venice International Film Festival.

Family relationships are explored in Belgian director Joachim Lafosse's new film, Our Children, Mounir (Tahar Rahim) is the adopted son of a wealthy doctor, Doctor André Pinget (Niels Arestrup). Mounir's marriage to Murielle (Émilie Dequenne), and the subsequent birth of their children causes tension with Doctor, Pinget, and the young family end up moving back in with him. That is when Murielle starts to feel stifled...