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Long Shot 15 ★★★★★ This is surely one of the most welcome surprises of the cinematic year, with Jonathan Levine’s enjoyable film showing that unorthodox casting combinations can work and that there is still life in the romantic comedy. Hurrah!

Charlize Theron plays Charlotte Field, perhaps the most glamorous Secretary of State in American political history, while Seth Rogen is the lippy, badly dressed journalist Fred Flarsky, who’s just lost his job. They used to be childhood friends, hit it off again, and when Charlotte decides to run for President and finds herself in need of a speech writer… well, Fred seems perfect for the job.

What ensues is intelligent, funny, bang up to date and without stereotypes. Amid the romantic fun, look out for a bedroom scene that is not only very funny but mildly sexy too. Vox Lux ★★★★★ Brady Corbet’s cautionary tale of fame and pop music has real quality, particularly in the first half, as the actorturned-film-maker tells the story of Celeste, a young pop wannabe who achieves overnight success when she survives a high-school shooting and writes a haunting musical tribute to classmates who did not.

With Jude Law playing her manager, we see the stillonly-14-year-old Celeste – played very well by Raffey Cassidy – taking her first steps to fame and fortune. Then the story jumps 16 years and Natalie Portman – rocking a very big performance – takes over as the, by now, badly damaged diva. The film will divide opinion but the late Scott Walker’s score is wonderful. A Dog’s Journey PG ★★★★★ A surely unwanted sequel to A Dog’s Purpose, the 2017 oddity about seemingly endless doggy reincarnation. With Bailey’s original owner now very old, a new succession of pooches – all reincarnations of Bailey, inset – are charged with looking after his granddaughter. Josh Gad’s canine voiceover is as testing as the near two-hour running time. The Curse Of La Llorona 15 ★★★★★ This is a horror flick based on the Mexican legend of La Llorona, top, the weeping mother who, discovering her husband’s infidelity, murders her children and has been killing other people’s children ever since. Expect a Seventies Los Angeles setting, plenty of jump-scares and a generous dollop of The Exorcist.