This week's cinema preview

A new, regular feature looking ahead to the coming week's cinema releases.

Iron Man
Looks to be that rare beast, a comic book adaptation that doesn't suck. Advance word is positive with plenty of good reviews. Stars Robert Downey Jr as industrialist Tony Stark (aka Iron Man), who builds an armoured suit and uses it to fight evil. Gwyneth Paltrow is the love interest and support is provided by Terrence Howard, Jeff Bridges (who hasn't done anything this decent in years) and this man's second-favourite actress, Leslie Bibb. Directed, surprisingly, by Jon Favreau.
IMDb rating: 8.3, my predicted rating: 4/5
http://www.ironmanmovie.com

Joy Division
Documentary charting the history of the band Joy Division, featuring the surviving members. Directed by Grant Gee, who directed Radiohead's Meeting People Is Easy documentary and their No Surprises video.
IMDb rating: 7.9, my predicted rating: 3/5
http://www.joydivisionmovie.co.uk

Made Of Honor
A guy realises he's in love with his best friend after she gets engaged to another man. Looks like a fairly generic romantic comedy, with a not especially starry lead in Grey's Anatomy's Patrick Dempsey. However, Michelle Monaghan is gorgeous and Busy Phillips and Nip Tuck's Kelly Carlson provide additional eye candy, which should at least make it watchable, if not essential. Weightier support is provided by Sydney Pollack and Kathleen Quinlan. Director Paul Weiland got a Razzie nomination in 1997 for directing pisspoor Bill Cosby movie Leonard Part 6, though in fairness, he also had a BAFTA nomination for Blackadder, so it's a case of mixed fortunes.
My predicted rating: 3/5
http://www.madeofhonor-movie.com

Tovarisch, I Am Not Dead
Documentary following holocaust and gulag survivor Garri Urban as he revisits the sites of part horrors and happier times in his life. Don't be put off by the 3.3 IMDb rating. The maths on that is screwed up. if you look at the voting breakdown it's clear the average is actually higher. It's won a few awards as well. Directed by his son, Stuart Urban, perhaps best known for Preaching To The Perverted.
IMDb rating: 3.3, my predicted rating: 3/5
http://www.tovarisch.net

P2
Low-budget horror in which a woman gets locked in a parking garage on christmas eve and is persued by a psychopathic security guard. Rachel Nichols leads, Wes Bentley seemingly continues his non-descript post-American Beauty career.
IMDb rating: 6.0, my predicted rating: 2/5
http://www.p2themovie.com

Nim's Island
Aimed at kinds and families, I can't quite get a handle on what this film is about. It stars Abigail Breslin (Litle Miss Sunshine) as a young girl who lived on an island with her father and communicates with the author of a novel she's reading, but beyond that I'm a bit clueless. The author, incidentally, is Jodie Foster in what must be of her most low-key roles for years. It's a bit disappointing really because she only makes one film a year and this is it for 2008. Also stars Gerard Butler.
IMDb rating: 6.2, my predicted rating: 2/5
http://www.nimsisland.com

Mr White, Mr Black
I know very little about this, other than that it's a Bollywood movie and thus of almost no interest to me whatsoever.
My predicted rating: 2/5
http://mrwhitemrblack.erosentertainment.com