WEEKEND PIC Oct 20 - 22

(A guide to help you plan your cinema-going)


1. OPEN SEASON (Animated feature with the talents of Martin Lawrence and Ashton Kutcher) Rated * * * (out of 4): This debut animation by Sony Pictures is up to par with those from the other studios. The story, about a rebellion of wild animals against hunters, should be great holiday entertainment for the family.

2. DON (Hindi drama with Shahrukh Khan and Priyanka Chopra) Rated * * * (3 stars): Hey, it is Deepavali season and what better way to get in the mood than grooving to Shahrukh and company in a typical dance-and-melodrama treat?

3. JOHN TUCKER MUST DIE (Teen comedy with Jesse Metcalf and Brittany Snow) Rated * * 1/2 (2.5 stars): Another by-the-book teen-com about how some girls gang up against the three-timing high school hunk. Basically, a date movie.

4. THE GRUDGE 2 (Horror thriller with Sarah Michelle Gellar and Amber Tamblyn) Rated * * ½ (2.5 stars): The long-haired, pale faced child ghost is back to create more havoc with this sequel about the return to the haunted house.

5. SILK (Taiwan-made psychological thriller with Japanese and HK stars) Rated * 1/2 (1.5 stars): Inane and overdrawn thriller about a team of scientists who trap a boy ghost for study. Not even scary.

6. LOVE STORY (arthouse drama directed by Kelvin Tong of Singapore) Rated: * ½ (1.5 stars): This is about a pulp romance writer who stalks a library for women and inspiration. It is arty-farty stuff which is more farty than arty. (GSC International Screens)