Toni Erdmann (dir: Maren Ade, 2017, cert 15)
An utterly bizarre, hilarious and completely engaging near three hour romp through the tragedy and awkwardness of family dynamics. Peter Simonischek is the incorrigibly wacky and possibly cringe inducing Winfried Conradi, who decides that adopting the persona of Toni Erdmann and visiting his daughter is just what she needs in what he perceives is her unhappy life. Despite the length it never lags and you will laugh throughout, you may even cry. There is the usual talk of a Hollywood remake but why bother when the original is so good?
Mon 27 Feb to Thu 2 Mar at mac, Cannon Hill Park, Birmingham B12 9QH £8 macbirmingham.co.uk
Fri 3 Mar to Wed 8 Mar at Lighthouse, The Chubb Buildings, Fryer Street, Wolverhampton, WV1 1HT £8.15 light-house.co.uk

Trespass Against Us (dir: Adam Smith, 2017, cert 15)
Adam Smith’s debut feature, exploring the travails of an Irish traveller family adrift in the West Country stars Michael Fassbender and Brendan Gleeson as son and father Cutler. Their scenes together are electrifying as talk turns to pulling off one last big job and tension is ratcheted skywards. The dynamic exchanges between Gleeson and Fassbender more than compensate for any flaws. A BIFA independents screening.
Mon 27 Feb 6.30pm  at Everyman, The Mailbox, Birmingham B1 1RF £13.30 www.everymancinema.com

Ghost in the Shell (dir: Mamoru Oshii, 1995, cert 15)
In readiness for the live action reboot (oh no), one of the greatest and most influential anime films ever produced is being screened across the country for one night only, even the multiplexes are involved in what is effectively a cute marketing gimmick. Whatever the reasons for the screening, viewing Ghost in the Shell on a big screen should be high on your cinematic to do list. The beautifully rendered quest by Section 9 to locate the mysterious hacker the Puppet Master is an eye popping visual feast. Disconnect your consciousness and plug it into a shell, you won’t regret it. We also recommend avoiding the enormously negative brain augmentation that watching the remake will undoubtedly foster.
Mon 27 Feb 6.15pm at the Electric, Station Street, Birmingham B5 4DY £9.50 www.theelectric.co.uk

Moonlight (dir: Barry Jenkins, 2017, cert 15)
A heavyweight Oscar contender with 8 nominations, Barry Jenkins universally acclaimed drama is a powerhouse film of identity and sexuality that resonates with a heavy piquancy in these intolerant times. The ensemble cast is nothing short of astonishing with Trevante Rhodes’ performance as a gay black man adrift in an unaccepting culture being the highlight. Moving and essential cinema.
Mon 27 Feb to Thu 2 Mar at Electric, Station Street, Birmingham B5 4DY £9.50 www.theelectric.co.uk
Mon 27 Feb to Thu 2 Mar at Everyman, The Mailbox, Birmingham B1 1RF £13.30www.everymancinema.com

Manchester By The Sea (dir: Kenneth Lonergan, 2017, cert 15)
Kenneth Lonergan’s sharp study of loss and raging helplessness is an emotionally raw examination of the unsettlingly internal trauma of grief. Casey Affleck is astonishing and, most importantly, believable as a host of real world problems begin to crush the life of his character Lee. Human experience laid bare. Beautifully scored, shot, acted and directed. In short, a masterpiece.
Mon 27 Feb to Thu 2 Mar at Electric, Station Street, Birmingham B5 4DY £9.50 www.theelectric.co.uk

La La Land (dir: Damien Chazelle, 2016, cert 12A)
A film that’s probably going to clean up at the Oscars, this throwback to the heady days of the musical and its uplifting reanimation of what had cheerily been described as an ‘extinct genre’ in some quarters, is an unexpectedly thrilling delight. The saccharine overload might not be to everyone’s immediate taste but let yourselves go and enjoy the dizzying thrill of blossoming love. You won’t regret it.
Mon 27 Feb 7pm at mac, Cannon Hill Park, Birmingham B12 9QH £8 macbirmingham.co.uk
Mon 27 Feb & Tue 28 Feb various times at Mockingbird, The Custard Factory, Gibb St, Birmingham B9 4AA £6.95 to £9.50 ticketing.eu.veezi.com
Mon 27 Feb to Thu 2 Mar at Everyman, The Mailbox, Birmingham B1 1RF £13.30 www.everymancinema.com
Fri 3 Mar to Wed 8 Mar at Lighthouse, The Chubb Buildings, Fryer Street, Wolverhampton, WV1 1HT £8.15 light-house.co.uk
Sat 4 Mar 5.45pm & Sun 5 Mar 5.45pm at Electric, Station Street, Birmingham B5 4DY £9.50 www.theelectric.co.uk

I, Daniel Blake (dir: Ken Loach, 2016, cert 15)
An important antidote to the vile class stereotyping so beloved of the Daily Mail and its ilk and the most relevant film you will have seen in the last 12 months. Do not miss. You have been told.
Tue 28 Feb 6pm at mac, Cannon Hill Park, Birmingham B12 9QH £8 macbirmingham.co.uk

The Love Witch (dir: Anna Biller, 2017, cert 15)
A gloriously garish throwback to the technicolor cinema of yore, filmed in sumptuous 35mm and recalling thriller genres such as giallo and sexploitation. Anna Biller’s feminist appropriation of what is a uniformly and historically sexist narrative lends an edifying power to her vision. The attention to period detail is astonishing, right down to the publicity material but the message buried in all that nostalgia is from the 21st century. Demands to be seen on a big screen. The screening is presented b The Final Girl’s film collective.
Tue 28 Feb 8.15pm at Electric, Station Street, Birmingham B5 4DY £9.50 www.theelectric.co.uk

Hell or High Water (dir: David Mackenzie, 2016, cert 15)
Highly recommended. A gloriously rollicking throwback to the big budget muscle cinema of the seventies. Think Hackman, Eastwood, Marvin and Mitchum to name a few. The Howard boys, played with a proper Western swagger by Chris Pine and Ben Foster, wreak havoc across Texas on a thrilling bank robbing spree. Jeff Bridges is the dogged Texas Ranger Marcus Hamilton out to stop them. Beautifully shot in New Mexico lending an authentic ‘Western’ feel to the action. With a pitch perfect Nick Cave and Warren Ellis score married to some cracking dialogue and timely contemporary social narrative, Hell or High water is that rare breed of modern Hollywood release well worth seeking out.
Tue 28 Feb  9pm at Electric, Station Street, Birmingham B5 4DY £9.50 www.theelectric.co.uk

Arrival (dir: Denis Villeneuve, 2016, cert 12A)
That rarest of things a grown up sci-fi film that nurtures and encourages thought and imagination, with a compelling narrative and intelligently implemented CGI effects. In short, a film that respects its audience. What if the future of humanity rested on the interpretation of a word or phrase? A fascinating examination of language, speech and ideas. Amy Adams is exceptional as linguist Louise Banks and her non-nomination for an Academy Award is astonishing. Be warned your head, mind and probably whole consciousness may be spinning by the end.
Thu 2 Mar 8.30pm at Electric, Station Street, Birmingham B5 4DY £9.50 www.theelectric.co.uk

Postřižiny (Cutting It Short) (dir: Jiří Menzel, 1980, cert n/a)
If you haven’t before you really should dip into the wonderful world of classic Czech cinema. The Czech New Wave of the sixties and early seventies was one of the most creative periods in world cinema. Tonight’s screening is Postřižiny (Cutting It Short) a classic comedy from one of the Czech New Wave heroes Jiří Menzel. Riffing on silent movies throughout, the film has been compared to Chaplin and Tati and some of the imaginatively staged slapstick is riotously funny.
Sat 4 Mar 8pm at the Gunmakers Arms 93 Bath Street City Centre Birmingham B4 6HG Free www.facebook.com

Night of the Living Dead (dir: George Romero, 1968, cert 15)
Fright fanatics are in for a treat this month as the Birmingham Horror Group will be screening the George Romero classic that really got the fascination with on screen zombies underway and shifted from the weak undead B-movie tropes that had gone before. The zombies in Night of the Living Dead are terrifying and the brutality very real as our heroes fight to stay alive. In a sense one could argue that the zombies got serious. Night of the Living Dead is a creepy little chiller and it has lost none of its power to shock. “They’re coming to get you Barbara”. Expect an enlightening introduction to the film from horror encyclopedia on legs, Steve Green.
Sat 4 Mar 7pm at the Gunmakers Arms 93 Bath Street City Centre Birmingham B4 6HG Free www.birmingham-horror.co.uk

Brief Encounter (dir: David Lean, 1945, cert PG)
A perfectly constructed cinematic treatise on love, obligation, trust and the ego. Everyone remembers the clipped accents and stilted Englishness, but beneath that Lean shines a light on the transcendent pulse of the human condition. What makes us who we are? Why do we do the things we do? Is everything as it seems? Is Trevor Howard’s Alex Harvey simply a predatory cad circling the napkin thick naivete of Celia Johnson’s Laura like he has so many other women? A film that is guaranteed to disturb your existential equanimity on some level. “This misery can’t last. I must remember that and try to control myself.” Screened as part of the Cinematic Time Machine season.
Sun 5 Mar 11.30am at Electric, Station Street, Birmingham B5 4DY £9.50 www.theelectric.co.uk

The Harder They Come (dir: Perry Henzell, 1972, cert 15)
The film responsible for bringing Jamaican culture and music to a wider audience is a gritty gangster melodrama appropriating many Blaxploitation motifs that when married to the glorious soundtrack makes for a captivating piece of cinema. Starring a youthful Jimmy Cliff as Ivan, who leaves the sticks to try his luck in Kingston after his grandmother dies. Cliff is engaging enough but the real stars are the procession of great tunes, including his timeless title song, and the Jamaican landscape. A real treat to see this on a big screen. Look out for some great nods to the 1966 Sergio Corbucci Western, Django. Luckily the mooted remake appears to have been shelved.
Sun 5 Mar 2pm at at Mockingbird, The Custard Factory, Gibb St, Birmingham B9 4AA £5 ticketing.eu.veezi.com