Citizenfour (N/C)

Directed by Laura Poitras

4/5

IT IS one of the most shocking whistleblowing scandals of this century and filmmaker Laura Poitras captures history as it is being made in this chilling documentary about Edward Snowden and his extraordinary revelations. 

Poitras had been working on a film about surveillance when in January 2013 she started receiving encrypted emails from Citizenfour, alias Snowden, who revealed he wanted to expose the mass covert surveillance of ordinary US citizens by the National Security Agency (NSA). 

The former high-level analyst agreed to meet her along with journalists Glenn Greenwald and Ewen MacAskill from The Guardian.  The film gives you unprecedented access to their encounters and interviews with him in his hotel room in Hong Kong before escaping to Russia, during which he handed over classified documents which proved the NSA’s clandestine operation in conducting indiscriminate and illegal invasions of privacy. 

It is absolutely gripping watching the events unfold by the minute, as Snowden explains his actions and his insistence to leave it up to Poitras and Greenwald to determine what information to release and when. UT also reveals the personal cost to Snowden in having to leave his family and his long-term girlfriend behind without a word in order to protect them.  

And its shocking to hear Snowden calmly expose how Britain’s GCHQ is also secretly tapping our phone calls, emails and extracting personal data from the internet via an advanced computer system codenamed Tempora with reported impunity, an operation the US is envious of. 

Poitras suggests there is a higher profile whistle-blower waiting in the wings but in the meantime her powerful film will make you think long and hard about how you use your phone, your emails and browse the web. 

Maria Duarte 

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (12A)

Directed by Jonathan Liebesman

3/5

THIS latest reboot of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has all the hallmarks of its producer Michael Bay. 

It is loud, confusing and at times seems like the turtle equivalent of Transformers. 

It stars Megan Fox as fearless reporter April O’Neil on the hunt of a career-breaking story. 

She teams up with the four teenage mutant ninja turtles to save New York from Shredder and his evil Foot Clan. 

More fun than I had anticipated but it may well be too scary for kids under 10. 

Maria Duarte

The Judge (15)

Directed by David Doblin

3/5

ROBERT DUVALL and Robert Downey Jr are electrifying as an estranged father and son who can’t bury the hatchet in this family courtroom drama. 

Downey plays Hank, a charismatic but unscrupulous hot-shot city lawyer, who returns to his childhood home for his mother’s funeral but is forced to stay and confront his demons when his father, the town’s upstanding judge, is suddenly arrested for murder.

This Team Downey production is a slick but ordinary affair about fathers and sons dealing with loss, guilt and small-town mentality. 

What makes it memorable are the enthralling performances by Downey and Duvall, while Billy Bob Thornton is also wonderful value as the prosecuting lawyer determined on beating Hank.

It is totally compelling but, at almost two-and-a-half hours, a little less would have been more.  

Maria Duarte 

Palo Alto (15)

Directed by Gia Coppola 

2/5

THIS portrait of suburban teen malaise marks the debut of Francis Ford Coppola’s granddaughter Gia. 

Adapted from James Franco’s book of the same name, it’s set in California and  tells the story of class virgin April (Emma Roberts) as she negotiates her way through drunken parties, relationships and sex. 

To complicate matters even further, she’s got a crush on her classmate Teddy (Jack Kilmer) but also has a strange attraction to her much older football coach Mr B (James Franco). 

Introspective and with the occasional emotional charge it’s a film that never comes completely alive, perhaps because the characters are not fully developed and hence unsympathetic. 

Rita Di Santo