Heli (18)

Directed by Amat Escalante

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THE horror of people living in constant fear of their lives in Mexico is portrayed to disquieting effect in this no-holds-barred drama by Amat Escalante.

Its unashamed violence, bordering on the gratuitous, is so graphically and realistically depicted it is very difficult to watch at times.

It ranges from a tiny dog having his neck snapped in two — with no cut-aways — to the protagonists being tortured and beaten with a bat and having their genitalia set on fire. Fortunately we are spared seeing the protagonist Heli’s 12-year-old sister being gang raped.

Things turn brutal when the father of one, his sister Estela and her 17-year-old boyfriend Beto are snatched by sinister military types searching for their missing drugs. They kill Heli’s father in front of them and then hang Beto to his death from a bridge.

But Heli survives and goes in search of his missing sister who eventually turns up pregnant and so traumatised she can’t speak.

Though Escalante is an accomplished and diligent film maker who delivers a beautifully made film about the corruption and violence which is rife in contemporary Mexican society this film passes no judgement or sheds any new light on the subject.

Maria Duarte

Fading Gigolo (15)

Directed by John Turturro

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YOU could be forgiven for mistaking this for a Woody Allen film because it looks and sounds just like one and stars the veteran director himself.

But no, this was written and directed by John Turturro who plays the fading gigolo of the title. He is persuaded by his friend Murray (Allen) to enter the world’s oldest profession.

Set in New York, Fading Gigolo is gentle and witty with Allen on top comic form as Turturro’s pimp. But this is every middle-aged man’s wet dream as it features a threesome with Sharon Stone and the voluptuous Sofia Vergara.

Unfortunately women are portrayed as either prostitutes (Stone/Vergara) or virgins/Madonnas (Vanessa Paradis, as the lonely but chaste widow of a revered Hasidic rabbi) as in most of Allen’s films.

Allen’s character, pontificating about sex, relationships and his impending mortality, makes this a film by the Hollywood director in all but name.

Maria Duarte

Beyond The Edge (PG)

Directed by Leanne Pooley

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THROUGH a series of interviews, photos, original colour footage and dramatised recreation this documentary captures the sweat, blood and tears that the first two men to climb Everest underwent in 1953.

Edmund Hillary, a modest bee keeper from New Zealand, and Tenzing Norgay, an extremely experienced Sherpa, were part of the British team who tackled the ascent more than 60 years ago.

Written and directed by Leanne Pooley this is an extraordinary film which recreates their gruelling climb in 3D.

The original footage and photos of the time are seamlessly interwoven with audio interviews and nail-biting recreations.

It is topped by the stunning shots of Everest and the breath-taking ethereal views from the summit which are exquisitely portrayed.

Maria Duarte

Seven Streets, Two Markets and a Wedding: Glimpses of Lost London 1930-1980 (U)

by London Film Archive

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CURATED by the London Film Archive, Seven Streets... includes films produced by amateurs of aspects of London illustrating changes to the capital from 1930 up to 1980.

One of them linked the “inner green spaces to the outer green belt” that were considered essential to providing environmental lungs in a rapidly expanded London.

There is footage of the original Lambeth Walk, dray horses in Marylebone and the changing face of the East End being transformed by amazing council houses, now mostly privatised.

Yet though it’s a fascinating picture of changing transport, fashions and peoples as the capital embraced workers necessary for growth it omits explaining the politics that this often entailed.

Jeff Sawtell

Blended (12A)

Directed by Frank Coraci

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SEXIST, racist, borderline crude and painfully unfunny, Blended is another Adam Sandler “comedy.” On the plus side, no animals pee in his mouth as in previous films.

Shot in South Africa, the film reunites Sandler with Drew Barrymore for the third time and the two haven’t lost any of their on-screen charm or chemistry.

They play single parents who after experiencing the blind date from hell together end up on the same holiday in Africa with their kids.

What is infuriating is that if you strip away all the tasteless and pointless gags Blended has the makings of a sweet and poignant rom com family feature.  

Instead it is full of sexist and racist stereotypes, jaw-dropping one- liners and an inordinate amount of references to masturbation for a 12A film.

Plus it portrays South Africa as one big happy, obsequious country. Those running the tourist board there must be kicking themselves now.  

Maria Duarte