In the cinematic desert that is the January-February movie-release schedule, one gains a greater appreciation for mere competence.

Hawaii isn’t paradise, real estate agent Matt King (George Clooney) tells us as The Descendants (15A) begins, because despite all the sunshine and palm trees, Hawaiians have the same problems as everyone else.

Joel and Ethan Coen won the top prize from the Directors Guild of America for 'No Country for Old Men', giving them the inside track for the same honour at the Academy Awards - assuming the Oscars go on amid the writers strike.

Proof that a well-made documentary can convey heaps more than a contrived fiction … this harrowing film takes us into the heart of darkness that is a shanty section of Port Au Prince.