WEEKEND PIC Aug 14 - 16, 2009

YOUR GUIDE TO THE WEEKEND MOVIES

NEW THIS WEEK:

a) DISTRICT 9 (sci-fi thriller with Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope, David James, Mandla Gaduka, William Allen Young, Vanessa Haywood, Kenneth Nkosi and Devlin Brown) Rated * * * (3 out of 4 stars): This South African 'apartheid with aliens' film works like Cloverfield but it's special effects is top class. It is also a great feature debut for director Neill Blomkamp, a protege of Peter Jackson. (Reviewed below)

b) ALIENS IN THE ATTIC (fantasy comedy with Ashley Tisdale, Robert Hoffman, Kevin Nealon, Tim Meadows, Austin Robert Butler, Doris Roberts, Gillian Vigman, Carter Jenkins, Ashley Boettcher, Henri Young and Regan Young) Rated * * 1/2 (2.5 stars): If District 9 is an alien film for the adult action fan, this one is for kids below 9. It has High School Musical alumni Tisdale in bikini and pesky gremlin-type aliens in combat with a bunch of children. (Reviewed below)

STILL GOING STRONG:

1. G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA (fantasy action thriller with Channing Tatum, Marlon Wayans, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Christopher Eccleston, Sienna Miller, Dennis Quaid and Rachel Nichols) Rated * * * 1/2 (3.5 out of 4 stars): Like Transformers, the movie is based on a Hasbro toy line but the action is even more intense and involving than 'Revenge Of The Fallen'. There is also a little love story embedded... (Reviewed below)

2. OVERHEARD (cop drama with Lau Ching Wan, Daniel Wu, Louis Koo, Zhang Jinghu) Rated * * * (3 out of 4 stars): From Felix Chong and Alan Mak (the guys who wrote Infernal Affairs) we have another gripping drama about how three cops probing into insider trading allow themselves to succumb to their own greed. Informative as well as captivating.

3. THE TAKING OF PELHAM 123 (hostage drama with Denzel Washington, John Travolta, John Turturro, Luis Guzman, Michael Rispoli and James Gandolfini) Rated * * * (3 out of 4 stars): An updated remake of the 1974 movie by Tony Scott, this one is a seat-gripper right from the start. Thanks to top class performances from Washington, Travolta and Gandolfini. (Reviewed below)

4. THE PROPOSAL (romantic comedy with Sandra Bullock, Ryan Reynolds, Mary Steenburgen, Craig T. Nelson, Betty White, Denis O'Hare and Malin Akerman) Rated * * 1/2 (2.5 stars): A serviceable by-the-book rom-com that works on the strength of its cast, especially Bullock and Reynolds. Don't expect anythimng more, though. (Reviewed below)

5. THE GHOSTS OF GIRLFRIENDS PAST (romantic comedy with Matthew McConaughey, Jennifer Garner, Michael Douglas, Breckin Meyer, Robert Forster and Anne Archer) Rated * * 1/2 (2.5 stars): Again McConaughey seems to ride rough-shod over the script adapted from Charls Dickens 'A Christmas Carol' as the modern anti-romantic Scrooge. A charmless effort. (Reviewed below)

6. LAND OF THE LOST (comedy with Will Ferrell, Danny R. McBride, Anna Friel, Jorma Taccone, Raymond Ochoa, Pollyanna McIntosh and Logan Manus) Rated * * (2 stars): Another remake, this time from a 70s TV series. However, unlike Pelham, this misguided effort really gets lost in the land of Trite, Mediocrity and Ridicule. (Reviewed below)

7. COWEB (martial arts drama with Jiang Lu Xia, Kane Kosugi, Mike Moller, Sam Lee and Siu Fai Cheung) Rated * 1/2 (1.5 star): Mindless and utterly amateurish, this one is not only a lame effort but also taxing on our intellect and patience. It features a newcomer heroine (Jiang) who just can't act. (Reviewed below)