This week's new films

Greenberg (15) (Noah Baumbach, 2010, US) Ben Stiller, Greta Gerwig, Rhys Ifans, Jennifer Jason Leigh. 107 mins Usually Ben Stiller is the guy you like in the movie, and the guy you laugh at. Here he's bravely subdued and unsympathetic – a self-absorbed slacker with extreme empathy issues – but you can still laugh at him. After a while, you might even like him. Drifting back to LA, he picks at old relationship wounds and opens up fresh ones (with the winningly pathetic Gerwig) in a charming character study with indie values (and soundtrack) that under-achievers of a certain age will relate to. Brooklyn's Finest (18) (Antoine Fuqua, 2009, US) Richard Gere, Don Cheadle, Ethan Hawke. 132 mins Breaking news: law enforcement in the sketchier areas of New York is sometimes quite difficult. This three-pronged assault hammers the cliches home relentlessly, self-importantly detailing the trials of its compromised lawmen as if it's saying something new. Or something at all. Women Without Men (15) (Shirin Neshat, Shoja Azari, 2009, Ger/Aus/Fra) Orsolya Tóth, Pegah Ferydoni, Arita Shahrzad. 100 mins Artist Neshat conjures some ravishing images to render this mournful tale of four women in politically turbulent 1950s Iran. Dramatically it's less successful, but still a unique vision. Black Death (15) (Christopher Smith, 2010, UK/Ger) Sean Bean, Eddie Redmayne, Carice Van Houten. 101 mins A medieval thriller that deserves a better label, as devout knight Bean and his party seek to apprehend the leader of a village that's somehow escaped the plague. Religious and moral ambiguities back up the dread and bloodletting. Letters To Juliet (PG) (Gary Winick, 2010, US) Amanda Seyfried, Vanessa Redgrave, Christopher Egan. 105 mins Still tirelessly diluting western culture, Seyfried teams up with Redgrave for a double romance with Shakespearean pretensions and postcard visuals. The discovery of an old love letter in Verona sets the predictable quest in motion. Bronco Bullfrog (15) (Barney Platts-Mills, 1969, UK) Del Walker, Anne Gooding, Sam Shepherd. 87 mins As authentic a slice of realism as you'll find, this lo-fi council-estate drama is a testament to how unromantic most of Britain still was in the 1960s. The real-life locations and guileless "acting" capture much that other films of the era missed. Shed Your Tears And Walk Away (NC) (Jez Lewis, 2009, UK) 88 mins Powerful mix of personal and political, as the director tries to understand the alcoholism and self-destruction affecting his Yorkshire hometown – and his childhood friends. H2Oil (NC) (Shannon Walsh, 2009, Can) 73 mins Another depressing doc on Canada's tar sands-based oil industry, after Dirty Oil and Petropolis, in case you didn't get the message. This one charts the human costs, as well as the environmental ones. OUT FROM FRIDAY Trash Humpers Harmony Korine wallows with lowlifes. Ajami Even-handed Israeli-Arab drama. Hierro Spanish missing-child thriller. Journey To Mecca Holy historical travelogue in IMAX. Killers Ashton Kutcher and Katherine Heigl in action. MacGruber Will Forte leads an SNL action spoof. Our Family Wedding Comedy led by Forest Whitaker. Please Give Manhattan comedy starring Catherine Keener. Raavan Bollywood kidnap drama. Rashômon Kurosawa's multi-angled masterpiece. Wild Grass Classy thriller from Alan Resnais. Wild Target Bill Nighy and Emily Blunt Brit crime caper. COMING SOON In two weeks... Russell Brand gets to be a rock star in Get Him To The Greek … Chris Rock gets to the roots of Good Hair … In three weeks ... Johnny Depp narrates Doors documentary When You're Strange … A fairytale franchise ends in Shrek Forever After … In a month ... The vampire epic comes to a climax in The Twilight Saga: Eclipse … Adrien Brody leads the alien-hunt in Predators …