Star Trek: Insurrection
Directed by Jonathan Frakes Starring Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner, Gates McFadden
Insurrection should prove satisfying for committed fans, but it's unlikely to become a classic of the series. This time out, the story revolves around a Federation conspiracy which Jean-Luc Picard and his crew feel compelled to resist by force. Frakes does a competent enough job, although the misty-eyed sentimentality occasionally recalls some of the excesses of the William Shatner era - Picard's romance with one of the planet's leaders is more than a little reminiscent of Kirk's dalliances with big-haired intergalactic lovelies.
The Acid House
Directed by Paul McGuigan Starring Ewen Bremner, Stephen McCole, Kevin McKidd, Martin Clunes Based on three stories by Irvine Welsh, McGuigan's energetic, uneven but sometimes compelling film is a typically extreme mixture of scatological humour, fantasy and over-the-top violence, overlaid with the de rigueur soundtrack from a range of bands including Primal Scream, the Chemical Brothers and Oasis. Rougher around the edges, and less romantic about the violent, screwed-up lives it depicts than Trainspotting, it has a rude energy and audacious visual style.
The Opposite Of Sex
Directed by Don Roos Starring Christina Ricci, Martin Donovan, Ivan Sergei, Lisa Kudrow
A wonderfully acidic romantic comedy which proves that you can make a film about gay characters without retreating into the ghetto of Queer Cinema or resorting to the banalities of middle-of-the-road fare like In and Out. Ricci proves again what a remarkable young talent she is, playing Dedee Truitt, blonde, 16 years old and cynical as hell, who runs away from her Louisiana home and arrives on the Indiana doorstep of her schoolteacher half-brother (Donovan) and his handsome but not too bright boyfriend (Sergei), wreaking havoc within weeks.
On Connait La Chanson
Directed by Alain Resnais Starring Pierre Arditi, Sabine Azema, Jean-Pierre Bacri, Andre Dusollier
Resnais, unusually for a French director, is an ardent anglophile, and his new film is billed as "inspired by the work" of Dennis Potter, appropriating the British writer's technique of using popular songs to heighten and punctuate the narrative. Unlike Potter, however, Resnais never gives us the chance to relax into the cheap dreams of the songs, which range from 1930s ballads to sub-disco 1970s ditties. The effect is at once alarming and engaging, and it lends this surprisingly light romantic concoction an air of dry humour that raises it well above the ordinary.
