Vicky Cristina Barcelona * * *
Cert 12A, 96 mins
With less than 24 hours to go to St Valentine’s Day, men haven’t got long to rush out to see this movie in order to learn one of the great chat-up techniques of modern cinema.

It might help your chances, though, if you’ve got nerves of steel and the brooding presence of Spanish star Javier Bardem (now looking much more like his old self again after those unforgettable serial-killer antics in the Oscar-winning No Country For Old Men).

You simply find a table with two lovely ladies out for a quiet meal and offer them some bare-faced cheek. Sort of.

So the wheels are set in motion for the sort of film which seasoned Woody Allen observers were worrying he couldn’t make any more – one which perceptively explores the frustrations and temptations within all relationships.

Rebecca Hall (Caroline Cushing in Frost/Nixon) plays Vicky while Scarlett Johansson is Cristina; the duo are two American friends spending their summer in Barcelona with Vicky’s distant relative Judy (Patricia Clarkson).

Vicky wants to concentrate on her masters degree before marrying her beau, while Cristina is in post-break-up mode but since artist Juan Antonio (Bardem) is such a handsome beast, how could either resist a fling?

Well, there’s strings attached. He’s rumoured to have had such an explosive relationship with his ex-wife Maria Elana (the Oscar-nominated Penelope Cruz) that one tried to kill the other...

After Allen’s disappointing London trilogy of Scoop, Match Point and the appalling Cassandra’s Dream, this is his best film since Sweet and Lowdown a decade ago. Working in Spain with Pedro Almodovar’s cinematographer from Talk to Her clearly suits him.

There’s enough eye candy for both men and women to make this a fun and cerebral date movie, as long as you aren’t expecting Woody to hit the heights of old. While 78-year-old Clint Eastwood is still going from strength to strength – next week’s release, Gran Torino, is his biggest American hit to date as well as a critical rave – Woody, now 73, has spent too long recently clinging on to the big time by his fingertips.

But he’s a stayer, too. Variety has reported this week that he’ll be shooting in London again this summer with Josh Brolin and Anthony Hopkins.

Hotel for Dogs * * *
Cert U, 100 mins
There has probably never been a better time to be an animal trainer in Hollywood. The number of dogs in this movie and Beverly Hills Chihuahua runs into scores. Add in the appeal of John Travolta’s animated superdog dog in Bolt 3D and next month’s comedy-cum-weepie Marley & Me and demand for an alert response to cries for ‘Action’, ‘Cut’, ‘Food’ and ‘Comfort Break’ will probably grow even higher.

For every Christian Bale barking his orders on set in another expensive Terminator sequel, you could probably afford to have 5,000 mutts on camera doing the real thing, as long as their owners/trainers are in full control of them.

This adaptation of a book by Lois Duncan pushes all the right comedy buttons as two foster-home refugees turn a disused hotel into a home for dogs.

Andi (played by Emma Roberts) and younger brother Bruce (Jake T Austin) already have a Jack Russell terrier called Friday. Since they are managing to keep it a secret from new foster parents Carl and Lois Scudder (Kevin Dillon and Lisa Kudrow), why don’t they use Bruce’s talents for invention to look after more homeless waifs?

Hotel for Dogs is fun, strictly for the under-tens, but likely to lead to the question: ‘Mum... when can we have a dog?’

Notorious * * *
Cert 15, 123 mins
Rap music polarises opinions like Marmite. People either like it or they don’t and, if they do, they might like one form or not another.

Hence the rivalry between east- and west-coast rappers like The Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur respectively. Both were shot and killed in the mid- 1990s but this film is primarily about the life of Christopher ‘Biggie’ Wallace, who died six months after Shakur.

Director George Tillman Jr avoids getting bogged down in rap culture, nor does he bother with conspiracy theories. Instead, Biggie is portrayed in human terms and the result is a surprisingly watchable biopic grounded by Angela Bassett’s brief yet powerful turn as an agonised single mother. It may not be to all tastes but this is a film with wider appeal than you might imagine.

Friday the 13th  *
Cert 18, 97 mins
Camp Crystal Lake and Jason Vorhees are back on... Friday February 13, 2009. It’s a neat one-day marketing trick but hardly the stuff of dreams for a memorable Valentine’s Day night out tomorrow.

Producer Michael Bay has wrung a few extra dollars out of a remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and it’s the same ploy here with a franchise that has already spawned ten sequels.

The Pink Panther 2
Cert PG, 92 mins
Despite a CV littered with films you wouldn’t want to see again, there have been enough hits for us to consider that Steve Martin is a bright and talented man. You’d think that starring in Sgt Bilko in 1996 would have put him off remaking classic material but, back he came in 2006 with another dud in The Pink Panther. Quite why he’s co-written and starred in this turkey sequel is a mystery.