This week’s movie releases

International action thriller The Gunman stars Sean Penn as a former sniper-for-hire who finds his life in danger over a job he carried out in the Congo a decade previously. Javier Bardem plays one of the old colleagues he turns to for help in Taken director Pierre Morel’s movie, which was partly shot in Barcelona. The big-name cast also includes Idris Elba, Ray Winstone and Mark Rylance.

Poltergeist is a reboot of the Steven Spielberg-produced, Tobe Hooper-directed 1982 horror classic about a suburban family who see their daughter sucked into the TV set by evil spirits. Sam Rockwell and Rosemarie DeWitt play the parents while Kennedi Clements is the young supernatural kidnap victim in Monster House director Gil Kenan’s movie.

The Cobbler stars Adam Sandler as a New York shoe mender who, thanks to a magical stitching machine, suddenly finds he has the ability to experience the extraordinary lives of his customers by literally stepping into their shoes. Thomas McCarthy (The Station Agent) writes and directs this comedy fable, which also features Dan Stevens, Dustin Hoffman, Steve Buscemi and Ellen Barkin.

Clive Owen and Billy Crudup play warring brothers in 1970s Brooklyn in Blood Ties, which marks the English-language debut of French director and actor Guillaume Canet (Little White Lies). The former is just out of jail after a 10-year stint for murder, while the latter is a cop trying to keep him on the straight and narrow. Zoe Saldana, Marion Cotillard, Mila Kunis, Matthias Schoenaerts and James Caan provide the support.

Racial relations

Black or White stars Kevin Costner as a man left in sole care of his granddaughter after his wife passes away, who then subsequently finds himself locked in a custody battle with the youngster’s African-American paternal grandmother (Octavia Spencer). Director Mike Binder’s drama also stars Jillian Estell, Bill Burr and Jennifer Ehle.

Marking the directorial debut of actress Elizabeth Banks – of TV series 30 Rock and The Hunger Games saga – Pitch Perfect 2 is the sequel to the 2012 musical comedy about an all-female college a cappella group. Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, Brittany Snow, Ester Dean, Alexis Knapp and Hana Mae Lee reprise their roles, in a movie that sees the girls banned from competing in the US and seeking to restore their reputation at an international contest.

Lastly, Spanish nature documentary Arrecifes. Oasis de vida journeys to the depths of the ocean to show some of the little-known and remarkable aspects of the world’s coral reefs.