WEEKEND PIC - Jan 22 - 24, 2010

YOUR GUIDE TO THE WEEKEND MOVIES

NEW THIS WEEK:

a) TOOTH FAIRY (fantasy comedy with Dwayne Johnson, Ashley Judd, Stephen Merchant, Julie Andrews, Billy Crystal and Ryan Sheckler) Rated * * (2 stars): A flimsy plot and kiddie humour mark this second comedy outing by The Rock Johnson (after The Game Plan). The one-joke set-up has Johnson being 'sentenced' to serve as a Tooth Fairy by Andrews for crashing a child's dream. (Reviewed below)

b) LEGION (apocalyptic thriller with Paul Bettany, Dennis Quaid, Tyrese Gibson, Doug Jones, Jon Tenney, Charles S. Dutton, Lucas Black, Kate Walsh and Adrianne Palicki): Sorry, I have not been able to catch the movie yet. The Skinny: God has lost faith in humanity and sends his legion of angels to wipe out the human race for the second time. Mankind's only hope lies with a group of misfits holed up in a diner in the desert and they are aided by the archangel Michael.

STILL GOING STRONG

1. AVATAR (sci-fi adventure with Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez, Sigourney Weaver and Giovanni Ribisi) Rated * * * * (4 stars out of 4): A happy marriage of form and function, James Cameron has gone one up on his Titanic. The plot may be a bit derivative but the setting, in a futuristic and fictional planet of Pandora, is a visual feast. The action sequences, augmented by CGI and motion-capture techniques, are mind-boggling. Soon to beat Titanic as the world's top-grosser. (Reviewed below)

2. SHERLOCK HOLMES (action adventure with Robert Downey Jr, Jude Law, Rachel McAdams, Mark Strong, Eddie Marsan, Kelly Reilly and William Hope) Rated * * * (3 stars): The world-famous detective gets a blockbuster-style makeover by Guy Ritchie in this robust and entertaining but irreverent rendition of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Holmes. (Reviewed below)

3. PARANORMAL ACTIVITY (horror thriller with Micah Sloat, Katie Featherston, Mark Fredrichs, Amber Armstrong, Tim Piper and Randy McDowell) Rating * * * (3 stars): Made like The Blair Witch Project, this supernatural docudrama is about horror in a house. It was last year's sleeper that became a runaway hit. Scary too.

4. CARRIERS (thriller with Lou Taylor Pucci, Chris Pine, Piper Perabo, Emily VanCamp, Christopher Meloni and Kiernan Shipka) Rated * * * (3 stars): An engaging tale of how four youngsters set out on a road trip in a post-pandemic America where a viral infection has claimed almost all its population. Commendable cast with good chemistry. (Reviewed below)

5. THE SPY NEXT DOOR (comedy with Jackie Chan, Amber Valletta, Madeline Carroll, Will Shadley, Alina Foley, Magnus Scheving and Katherine Boecher) Rating: * * (2.5 stars): Another greasy kids' stuff the likes of The Pacifier and Old Dogs, with Chan reduced to playing an undercover CIA spy who has to take care of his neighbour's three kids. Yup, the trite, sentimental crap that Chan is now good for.

6. CASE 39 (horror thriller with Renée Zellweger, Jodelle Ferland, Ian McShane, Kerry O'Malley, Callum Keith Rennie, Bradley Cooper and Adrian Lester) Rated * * (2 stars): Derivative and predictable horror about a family services officer who takes her case to her own home. Expect lots of stuffed borrowed from The Omen, The Orphan, et al. (Reviewed below)