Film: Killing Them Softly

The title refers to Brad Pitt’s hitman’s method of dealing with his targets – from afar to avoid any emotional entanglements: people pleading, calling for their mothers, that sort of thing.

It couldn’t be any less apt a description for his actions, though – or for director Andrew Dominik’s brutal, blood-soaked gangster thriller.

Low-level hoodlums and the mob clash in this Boston-set crime tale, as a pair of strung-out junkie fuck-ups robs a mob-controlled poker game, a contract landing on their heads for their efforts.

In steps Pitt – re-teaming with his The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford director – to clear up the mess.

Starring: Brad Pitt, Scoot McNairy, Ray Liotta | 18 | 97mins | On general release Sept 21

 

Film: Now Is Good

Dakota Fanning stars, English accent and all, in this adaptation on Jenny Downham’s bestseller about a terminally ill 17-year-old who draws up a bucket list of things to do before she succumbs.

Inspirational and emotional ‘carpe diem’ platitudes are sure to feature as Fanning falls in love with Jeremy Irvine (the non-equine star of Spielberg’s War Horse).

Starring: Dakota Fanning, Jeremy Irvine | 12A | 103mins | On general release from Sept 19

 

Film: Savages

Drugs, masks, girls, threesomes, revenge – Oliver Stone’s latest follows Taylor Kitsch and Aaron Johnson’s pot-dealing entrepreneurs as they tangle with south of the border cartels and John Travolta’s federal agent.

An all-star cast, including Uma Thurman, Blake Lively and Salma Hayek team up with the unpredictable Stone back on familiar ground for this riotous action thriller. On general release from Sept 21

Comedy: Stonewall Presents: Girls Night Out 

This charity fundraiser for lesbian/ gay/ bisexual charity Stonewall features the crèmè de la crèmè of the UK’s stand-up talent.

Shappi Khorsandi (above) and Zoe Lyons are the headliners, with Susan Calman, Kerry Goldiman, Francesca Martinez, Leisa Rea, Suzi Ruffell and Maureen Younger on the extensive line-up.

Bloomsbury Theatre 15 Gordon Street
WC1H 0AH. Sept 24. £25
Tube | Euston
thebloomsbury.com

Exhibition: Art of Change: New Directions From China

 China is the future, economically and, as this exhibition shows, increasingly culturally, too.

Installations and performance art constitute this “living breathing” exhibition considering transformation, with artworks from 1980s to today.

There’s a woman floating above the gallery floor and live silk worm sculptures.

Hayward Gallery Southbank Centre, SE1 8XX.
Until Dec 9. £10
Tube | Waterloo
southbankcentre.co.uk

 

 

Theatre: Jumpy

Being 50 is no fun for long-married Hilary in this bitingly funny comedy.

Though laughter predominates in Nina Raine’s pacey production, there’s poignancy too, with the men floundering as much as the women, and the youngsters shrugging off the impact of motherhood far too early in their comfortable middle class lives.

Duke Of York’s WC2N 4BG. Until Nov 3.
From £15
Tube | Leicester Square
jumpytheplay.com