4 movies to watch in March

Midnight Special
The ubiquitous Michael Shannon stars as a father on the run with his uncommonly gifted eight-year-old son, aided by a sidekick (Joel Edgerton) and ex-wife (Kirsten Dunst). Written and directed by Jeff Nichols, the film's car-chase plots morphs into a work of supernatural sci-fi with a large debt to Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind. While the film generated some buzz at the Berlin Film Festival, some critics were less impressed: BBC Culture's Nicholas Barber described it as "a conventional sci-fi with some very obvious antecedents", while The Guardian's Benjamin Lee called it "disappointingly lifeless". Released 16 March in France and 18 March in Brazil and the US. (Credit: Atlaspix / Alamy Stock Photo)

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
Watchmen and 300 director Zach Snyder returns with the follow-up to Man of Steel (2013). Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill square off as the caped crusaders in the first live-action film to feature both characters on screen - as well as other DC Comics favourites, including Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) and The Flash. Support comes from a heavyweight cast (Amy Adams, Holly Hunter, Laurence Fishburne, Diane Lane), with villainous duties discharged by Jesse Eisenberg (Lex Luthor) and Michael Shannon (General Zod). Released 23 March in Spain, 24 March in Australia and 25 March in Japan. (Credit: Atlaspix / Alamy Stock Photo)

The Program
After two acclaimed documentaries on the subject (Alex Gibney's The Armstrong Lie and Alex Holmes' Stop at Nothing), the story of the incredible rise and spectacular fall of Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong gets a feature-film treatment. Stephen Frears (The Queen, Philomena) directs, with Ben Foster as the cyclist and Chris O'Dowd as the Sunday Times journalist David Walsh, who is intent on revealing the extent of doping in the sport. The Guardian's Catherine Shoard called The Program "a fluid, nippy telling of a tale that still seems strangely urgent", while Time Out's Dave Calhoun was full of praise: "Foster does great work with rich ingredients, making the most of every eerie smirk and glance". Released 2 March in the Philippines and 18 March in the US. (Credit: Pictorial Press Ltd / Alamy Stock Photo)

Truth
The directorial debut of James Vanderbilt (the writer of Zodiac), Truth is adapted from the memoir of a former CBS 60 Minutes producer, Mary Mapes. After broadcasting a controversial programme investigating George W Bush's military record, Mapes and a team of journalists come under intense scrutiny, and in the resulting firestorm both Mapes and the 60 Minutes anchor - and TV news legend - Dan Rather (Robert Redford) lose their jobs. As Mapes, Cate Blanchett impressed the critics - Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle said "Blanchett's journey from the top to the bottom is spellbinding", but overall, critics have been less effusive. The Hollywood Reporter's Todd McCarthy called it a "crackerjack journalism yarn", while Entertainment Weekly's Chris Nashawaty was unimpressed: "For a movie about the importance of objectivity, Truth feels like a biased and sanctimonious op-ed column." Released 10 March in Singapore, 17 March in Italy and 24 March in Greece. (Credit: Sony Pictures Classics)

Source: BBC