The latest releases reviewed

RATATOUILLE *****

Directed by Brad Bird. Voices of Patton Oswalt, Ian Holm, Brian Dennehy, Peter O'Toole Gen cert

In Pixar's inventive, charming animated comedy, a young rat reveals outstanding culinary skills in Paris. The imagery is state-of- the-art, meticulous in every detail. The voice cast notably includes O'Toole on sublime form as a snooty food critic named Anton Ego. MICHAEL DWYER

ACROSS THE UNIVERSE ****

Directed by Julie Taymor. Starring Jim Sturgess, Evan Rachel Wood, Eddie Izzard, Bono, Joe Cocker, Salma Hayek 15 cert

Taymor's highly stylised musical draws on a wealth of Beatles songs for its tale of Jude (Sturgess), a young Liverpud- lian, discovering the counter-culture in late 1960s New York and falling for student Lucy (Wood). This heady audiovisual experience is bursting with creative ideas and suffused with the joy of performance. MICHAEL DWYER

THE HOAX ****

Directed by Lasse Hallström. Starring Richard Gere, Alfred Molina, Marcia Gay Harden, Stanley Tucci, Julie Delpy PG cert

Exciting, consistently interesting picture following the true(ish) story of the man who, in the early 1970s, convinced a major publisher that Howard Hughes had granted him permission to ghost an exclusive autobiography. This unreliable history of an unreliable history features delicious period detail and benefits from a properly sleazy lead performance by Gere. Bare-bones DVD, alas. DONALD CLARKE

CONTROL ****

Directed by Anton Corbijn. Starring Sam Riley, Samantha Morton 15 cert

Riley brings the late Joy Division singer Ian Curtis vividly to life, on and off the stage, in Corbijn's compelling biopic. The film is fuelled with such an empathy and affection for Curtis and his music that it forms a moving portrait of the artist as an angry young man. MICHAEL DWYER