MIRACLE AT ST ANNA
Dir: Spike Lee - Starring: John Turturro, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, John Leguizamo

Spike Lee films used to be events but, despite his output remaining challenging and impressive, these days there is little fanfare. The contrast to the fuss made over Clint Eastwood's mediocre canon is depressing.

Here Lee takes on the stories of World War 2's buffalo soldiers -America's famous black 92nd infantry division, primarily four soldiers trapped behind enemy lines in Tuscany, caught between Germans and resistance politics. (Note: despite what the DVD might say this is not a true story.)

And, as we've come to expect from Lee, it's a film vibrant with life, fresh and dynamic while simultaneously harking back to war epics of the sixties and seventies. And it is something of an epic itself, clocking in at a solid two hours forty. But most of all it's a cracking story, told with uncommon intelligence, both satisfying and moving, if occasionally veering towards sentiment.

In fact there may be too much going on. There's a lot to get in to the story, but I'd rather have too much than too little.
The marquee names (above) are part of a wrap-around story, only present at the beginning and end. The real stars play the four soldiers – Derek Luke, Michael Ealy, Laz Alonso and Omar Benson Miller – who establish a believably complex camaraderie. They, and one small boy, are the heart of the film and really will make you care.

We've seen the 2008 financial crash from pretty much every angle now, whether dramatization (the recent Too Big To Fail) or documentary (Inside Job). Now we have it told as fiction by Margin Call. And it all seems a bit... redundant -which isn't to say this is in any way a bad film. It starts with a couple of analysts realising the big bank is in danger of disaster. Bigwigs assemble to decide their response – do they behave ethically or just screw everyone else and save themselves? Jeremy Irons is a standout as the wolfish CEO; Kevin Spacey is the guy with a conscience.

The Innkeepers has - inexplicably to my mind - received a fair amount of praise in some circles. It's the story of the final days of the Yankee Pedlar Inn, a famously haunted spot. There are only two people working there as it closes, both of whom are amateur ghost hunters using their downtime to search for spooks. If only they'd found something interesting. Or were interesting themselves. The film's boosters claim it's all about atmosphere but there's precious little of that either, and when the story comes to its 'horrifying conclusion” there's nothing but a huge anti-climax.

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen is a rather delightful little English film, a clearly eccentric set-up not distracting from the many charms on display. It centres on Ewan McGregor's buttoned-down scientific civil servant who, because of various political machinations, ends up assigned to help a 'visionary” sheik introduce Scottish salmon to the Yemen. He is assisted by Emily Blunt and – no surprises here – a certain attraction arises. The story arc is predictable but satisfying, while a rich vein of humour is mined from harried government heavy Kristin Scott Thomas and the absurdities of bureaucracy.

A blind woman is murdered but everyone thinks it is suicide except her sister, Julia, who suffers from the same degenerative eye condition. With mysterious things happening she investigates – did her sister have an unknown lover who killed her? Suspicious events compound and witnesses die. So goes Spanish horror outing Julia's Eyes, which starts as a slow-burning thriller before heading towards the more delirious. It's a handsome production with a solid lashing of Spanish melodrama, contrived camera-work and a touch of Brian De Palma and Dario Argento. It does, however, fall a little short in the scary stakes.