WEEKEND PIC Oct 26 - 28 2007

Your Guide To The Weekend Viewing:

1. 1408 (horror thriller with John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson) Rated: * * * 1/2 (out of 4): Arguably the scariest flick of 2007, this adaptation of Stephen King's short story is also intelligent - and comes with a double ending. Ya, you interprete its close. (Reviewed below)

2. SHOOT 'EM UP (actioner with Clive Owen, Paul Giamatti and Monica Bellucci) Rated * * * (3 stars): This is a spoof of the action-thriller genre, and it has shoot-outs and chases piling up on each other - each with even more carnage and mayhem. And like in Children Of Men, Owen is protecting a baby again!

3. BROTHERS (actioner with Andy Lau, Michael Mui and Eason Chan) Rated: * * * (3 stars): This triad action thriller has the requisite fight scenes and dark humour - plus a reunion of four of the five HK TVB buddies.

4. TRIANGLE (crime thriller with Simon Yam, Louis Koo and Kelly Lyn) Rated: * * * (3 stars): Helmed by three of HK's cult movie directors, Tsui Hark, Ringo Lan and Johnny To, we have an offbeat story of a trio of friends in search of buried treasure. (Reviewed below)

5. THE LAST LEGION (medieval adventure with Colin Firth, Aishwarya Rai and Ben Kingsley) Rated: * * 1/2 (2.5 stars): Even with Bollywood heart-throb Aishwarya, this sword-and-sandal fantasy fails to generate much heat or interest. (Reviewed below)

6. THE MAGIC GOURD (Cantonese fantasy filck with Zhu Qilong & Gigi Leung) Rated: * * 1/2 (2.5 stars): This Disney effort in Mandarin (the first joint-venture with China) is about the value of hard work. Strictly for young children. (Reviewed below)

7. APARTMENT 1303 (J-horror with Noriko Nakagoshi, Arata Furuta and Eriko Hatsune) Rated: * 1/2 (1.5 stars): Unscary and derivative tale about a haunted apartment and a young girl who investigates its history. (Reviewed below)

8. ART MUSEUM BY THE ZOO (Korean love story in the Korean Film Fest) Rated * * (2 stars): Slow and draggy tale about a guy (Lee Sung-jae) on army leave squatting in an apartment with a wedding photographer (Shim Eun-ha). It's all 'meet-cute' but not much romance. (Reviewed below)