WEEKEND PIC - Dec 19 - 21, 2008

Your Guide To The Weekend Movies

NEW This Week:

1. IP MAN (Cantonese kungfu drama with Donnie Yen (pic), Simon Yam, Fan Siu-Wong and Sammo Hung) Rated * * * 1/2 (out of 4): This biopic on the grandmaster of Wing Chun kungfu and the teacher of the legendary Bruce Lee is nicely balanced with great martial arts action and an engaging and even charming narrative. Donnie Yen shines!

2. YES MAN (comedy with Jim Carrey, Zooey Deschanel, Bradley Cooper, Rhys Darby and Terence Stamp) Rated * * * (3 stars): This comedy plays out better when it goes into romantic comedy mode with Carrey and Deschanel displaying good screen chemistry. Otherwise, a bit uneven. (Reviewed below)

STILL GOING STRONG:

3. BODY OF LIES (espionage thriller with Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe, Mark Strong, and Golshifteh Farahani) Rating * * * 1/2 (3.5 stars): Ridley Scott's thriller on how a CIA team operates between its Langley HQ and an agent in the Middle East is both smart and intense. The plot is rather convoluted but the payoff is really satisfying.

4. BOLT (animated comedy with John Travolta, Miley Cyrus, Susie Essman and Mark Walton) Rated * * * (out of 4): This entertaining canine road-trip movie should put Walt Disney Pictures back in the running for Top Dog in the animation stakes, instead of Underdog. (Reviewed below)

5. MADAGASCAR: ESCAPE 2 AFRICA (animated comedy voiced by Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith and Sacha Baron Cohen) Rated * * * (out of 4): It's not new but an improved sequel on the exploits of a bunch of zoo animals 'let loose' inbto the wild. Hearty laughs and shakin' music. (Reviewed below)

6. TRANSPORTER 3 (action thriller with Jason Statham, Natalya Rudakova, Francois Berleand, Robert Knepper and Jeroen Krabbe) Rated * * 1/2 (2.5 stars): If you want ridiculous stunts, chases and crashes, you got them all. Just don't expect director Olivier Megaton to top up on logic and intelligence. (Reviewed below)

6. THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL (sci-fi remake starring Keanu Reeves, Jennifer Connelly, Jaden Smith and Kathy Bates) Rated * * (Out of 4): A rather bland remake of the 1951 Robert Wise classic that is big on CGI effects but low on substance. (Reviewed below)

7. WILD CHILD (school girl drama with Emma Roberts, Natasha Richardson, Kimberley Nixon, Juno Temple, Sophie Wu, Alex Pettyfer, Georgia King, and Aidan Quinn) Rating * * 1/2 (2.5 stars): This tale about a rich Malibu brat being sent to a UK boarding school to learn some important life lesson, is as corny and cliched as 'Mean Girls'.