Teenage angst is hard to treat
	Charlie Bartlett (15): The ever-brilliant Robert Downey Jr, playing the headmaster with problems of his own, shows the youngsters how it’s done as he slowly peels the layers off his character.

Smart People (15)

From the trendy typography in the opening credits to the acoustic guitar soundtrack, Noam Murro's debut mumbles "indie drama" from the off. Dennis Quaid is a widowed professor bringing up a teenage poet son and a Young Republican daughter (Ellen Page).

	Shutter (15)
	Reduce, reuse, recycle. Hollywood has always been a green kind of town when it comes to foreign films, believing there's no such thing as a good idea that can't be stripped of its subtitles and repackaged for domestic consumption. Shutter, a remake of the 2004 horror from Thailand, shows what a futile exercise it can often be.

Caramel (PG)

With perfect timing given recent events comes this Beirut-set tale from actor-director Nadine Labaki. Layale (Labaki) runs a beauty salon where the speciality of the house is waxing with caramel. When she's not tending to customers' legs, Nadine is waxing lyrical about her own woes (she's involved with a married man) and inviting her customers to do the same.

Heartbeat Detector (12A)

Mathieu Amalric Amalric, star of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, makes this ideas-laden drama watchable. Set in the French offices of a German company, Amalric plays Simon, a psychologist asked to investigate an executive's increasingly strange behaviour. Finding that the answers lie in the firm's wartime past, Simon begins to see disturbing links to the present.

Outpost (18)

True to its title, Steve Barker's horror is certainly out there. A little bit The Fog, a lot The Thing, and shot on a tiny budget in Scotland, it's a curious beast. A band of mercenaries have been sent to an unidentified location in Eastern Europe.

Welcome to the Sticks (12A)

Unlike Beaujolais and lorry driver protests, French comedy doesn't always travel well. In Dany Boon's picture, a massive hit at home, post office manager Philippe (Kad Merad) pretends to be disabled to wangle a cushy transfer to the seaside. In punishment, the diehard southerner is despatched to what he views as the frozen, savage, north.

	A hackneyed horror hits the wall
	Doomsday (18): Speculating about the effect of free-range zombies on the property market is one way to pass the time while watching Marshall’s ragbag of a picture.
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What happens in vegas (12A)

Finding the ideal partnership for a romantic comedy is like cracking a safe. There are infinite combinations but only one opens the door to greatness. Take Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher. Two young, gorgeous, fun-loving sorts with all their all own teeth and in Diaz’s case considerable comedy chops. Put them together and they should click.

Speed racer (PG)

The Wachowski brothers of Matrix fame go wild with the paint box and SFX in this live action adaptation of the Japanese cartoon. Imagine a highly stylised, hyper-caffeinated cross between Wacky Races and The Jetsons with ninjas and a chimpanzee thrown in and you’re almost there.

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