Odeon Chelmsford

• 2014
• US
• 108 min
• PG

• Directed by: Chris Williams, Don Hall
• Cast: Ryan Potter, Scott Adsit, Jamie Chung, Damon Wayans Jr., Génesis Rodríguez, T. J. Miller, Daniel Henney, Maya Rudolph

Hiro (Potter) is a 14-year-old robotics genius who, after a family tragedy, teams up with inflatable robot Baymax (Adsit) to become crimefighting superheroes. This Disney adaptation of a Marvel comic deals with dark themes of loss and grief but also has plenty of heart and some big laughs, especially from Adsit.

• 80%
• 74%
• 89%

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• 2014
• US
• 119 min
• 15

• Directed by: Alejandro González Iñárritu
• Cast: Michael Keaton, Emma Stone, Edward Norton, Andrea Riseborough, Zach Galifianakis, Naomi Watts, Amy Ryan

Riggan Thompson (Keaton) played Birdman, a popular Hollywood superhero, but that was a while ago and he's having trouble getting the second art of his career started. A stellar cast (Norton, Watts, Stone) and fluid script prop up an award-worthy turn from Keaton, all mesmerisingly photographed by Lubezki. Highly imaginative.

• 81%
• 88%
• 92%

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• 2015
• US
• 15

• Directed by: Rob Cohen
• Written by: Barbara Curry
• Cast: Jennifer Lopez, Ryan Guzman, Kristin Chenoweth

Classics teacher Claire (Lopez) is seduced into a one-night stand by handsome psycho Noah (Guzman), who gives her a copy of the Iliad ("It's a first edition!" she gasps.) Hilariously bad stalker flick, a must-see for all the wrong reasons, most of which have to do with debut screenwriter Curry's howler-ridden script.

• 44%
• 30%
• 14%

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• 2015
• US
• 18

• Directed by: Sam Taylor-Johnson
• Cast: Dakota Johnson, Jamie Dornan, Luke Grimes, Victor Rasuk, Jennifer Ehle

Despite its troubling gender politics and distinct lack of plot, the likeable Johnson brings nuance and charm to a paper-thin character; Dornan manages to offer a hint of humanity; and given the many constraints, this sleek, fairly trim and occasionally sensual adaptation is the best imaginable outcome.

• 42%
• 46%
• 25%

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• 2015
• US
• 104 min
• 15

• Directed by: Glenn Ficarra/John Requa
• Cast: Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Rodrigo Santoro

Nicky (Smith) is a lifelong con man who takes wannabe swindler Jess (Robbie) under his wing, only to fall for her; dull romantic twists and not-very-ingenious stings ensue. The two stars have almost no chemistry and the film's greatest scam is that it fools you into thinking it's going to amount to more than it does.

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• 2014
• UK/USA
• 113 min
• 12A

• Directed by: Morten Tyldum
• Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode

Historical drama about Alan Turing (Cumberbatch), father of modern computer science; how he and a team of codebreakers figured out how to beat the German Enigma machine during WWII, and his tragically early death. Triumphant slice of British heritage drama, with great emotional force and a touching performance from Cumberbatch.

• 82%
• 72%
• 89%

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• 2015
• UK
• 15

• Directed by: Matthew Vaughn
• Cast: Colin Firth, Samuel L Jackson, Mark Strong, Taron Egerton, Michael Caine

Eggsy (Egerton) is a streetwise petty criminal, who debonair secret agent Harry (Firth) inducts into Kingsman, a super-secret spy organisation going up against bonkers, lisping billionaire Richmond Valentine (Jackson). Egerton is confident and engaging, Firth is visibly enjoying himself, and despite the odd puerile joke it's riotously entertaining.

• 83%
• 59%
• 75%

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• 2014
• UK
• 150 min
• 12A

• Directed by: Mike Leigh
• Cast: Timothy Spall, Paul Jesson, Dorothy Atkinson

Portrait of the last 25 years of the life of painter Joseph Mallord William Turner (Spall). A work of great beauty, wit and poignancy, presenting the artist as unapologetically gruff but sympathetic and spectacularly eccentric. Leigh's latest demonstrates a command of his craft to rival that of his subject.

• 70%
• 94%
• 97%

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• 2015
• UK

• Directed by: Christopher Luscombe

Shakespeare's comedy, otherwise known as Much Ado About Nothing, set in the autumn of 1918, as the war draws to a close.

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• 2014
• UK

Shakespeare's comedy about a king trying to avoid womanly wiles, transposed to 1914.

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• 2015
• US/UK
• 122 min
• PG

• Directed by: John Madden
• Cast: Maggie Smith, Bill Nighy, Judi Dench

This sequel to The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (yes, you may have guessed) has an ensemble cast, and follows the expansionist dreams of Sonny. He has his eye on a second property, but there are still predicaments to resolve in his first.

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• 57%
• 75%

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• 2014
• US
• 128 min
• 12A

• Directed by: Ava DuVernay
• Cast: David Oyelowo, Carmen Ejogo, Tim Roth, Tom Wilkinson

The story of the 1965 civil rights marches from Selma to Montgomery, with Martin Luther King (Oyelowo) facing a nervous President Johnson (Wilkinson) and Alabama's racist Governor Wallace (Roth). Among a stellar cast Oyelowo is exceptional, and DuVernay and Webb capture both the greatness and the limitations of King's achievements. Essential.

• 77%
• 89%
• 98%

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• 2015
• UK
• U

• Directed by: Mark Burton, Richard Starzack
• Cast: Justin Fletcher, John Sparkes

When the Farmer gets lost in the Big City, Shaun (Fletcher) and his friends leave Mossy Bottom Farm to rescue him. With a steady stream of hilarious, well-timed sight gags, it's a beautifully made comedy for the whole family, packed with the kind of detail that rewards future viewings.

• 79%
• 77%
• 100%

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• 2014
• US/UK
• 123 min
• 12A

• Directed by: James Marsh
• Cast: Eddie Redmayne, Felicity Jones, Tom Prior

Stephen Hawking (Redmayne) and Jane Wilde (Jones) lock eyes at a university party, but their budding love affair is given a blow by his diagnosis of motor neurone disease. Redmayne is astonishingly good and Jones inspires sympathy and admiration, but the script is never really convincing.

• 78%
• 72%
• 80%

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• 2015
• US
• 101 min
• 15

• Directed by: Jeremy Garelick
• Cast: Kevin Hart, Josh Gad, Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting, Olivia Thirlby

Affluent LA businessman Doug (Gad) is getting married to Gretchen (Cuoco-Sweeting) but he has no friends, so he contacts 'Wedding Ringer' Jimmy (Hart) who makes a living being the best man for grooms who don't otherwise have one. Crude and mirthless comedy squandering otherwise talented performers.

• 69%
• 35%
• 33%

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