WEEKEND PIC - July 9 - 11, 2010

YOUR GUIDE TO THE WEEKEND MOVIES

NEW THIS WEEK

a) DESPICABLE ME (animated comedy with Jason Segel, Steve Carell, Russell Brand, Will Arnett, Julie Andrews, Danny R. McBride, Kristen Wiig and Jack McBrayer) Rating * * * (3 stars): With its tale about a super villain named Gru (voiced by Carell), the story is quite the opposite of The Incredibles but just as wacky and fun. It represents the inaugural entry for Universal into the field of 3D CGI and will give Pixar a run for the money.

b) THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE (romantic fantasy with Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Ashley Greene, Peter Facinelli, Jackson Rathbone and Dakota Fanning) Rated * * 1/2 (2.5 stars): This third movie is a great improvement on New Moon with better performances and more action but for non-Twilight fans like me, the triangle love story is getting tiresome and silly. It would have helped if Stewart had made Bella more credible and sympathetic to the audience but she is just not up to it. (Reviewed below)

STILL GOING STRONG

1) TOY STORY 3 (Computer animated comedy in 3D with Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Don Rickles, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger and Estelle Harris) Rated * * * 1/2 (3.5 stars): This is a winner of a comedy for both young and old right from start to finish. I had not expected it but Pixar has done it again with this highly creative and mischievous sequel greatly enhanced by 3D. Yup, it is fun and enchanting to be back with the toys again.

2. THE KARATE KID (kungfu drama with Jackie Chan, Jaden Smith, Taraji P. Henson, Han Wenwen and Wang Zhenwei) Rated * * * (3 stars): Consider this remake as a warm-hearted but lightweight tribute to Jackie Chan and you will enjoy the movie which sort of updates the original, taking the venue to China and showing kungfu instead of karate. Jaden Smith may not act like a pro but he still has his boyish Happyness charm that clicks well with Jackie's. (Reviewed below)

3. KNIGHT AND DAY (action thriller with Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz, Maggie Grace, Peter Sarsgaard, Marc Blucas, Paul Dano and Viola Davis) Rated * * * (3 stars): Spiced with more action than reason , this is somewhat like a Mission: Impossible caper and Vanilla Sky put together. It is a typical summer action flick but with lots of bubbly screen chemistry from Cruise and Diaz. (Reviewed below)

4. THE BACK-UP PLAN (romantic comedy with Jennifer Lopez, Alex O'Loughlin, Eric Christian Olsen, Noureen DeWulf, Donal Logue, Melissa McCarthy, Harold Gould, Jennifer Elise Cox and Linda Lavin) Rated * * (2 stars): This one looks like a one-joke movie that loses its direction right from the start - and has to resort to irrelevant and ill-contrived measures to get the laughs. J-Lo looks fetching but she cannot carry the comedy and we lose interest in her halfway through the show. (Reviewed below)

5. SEX AND THE CITY 2 (Comedy with Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis, Cynthia Nixon, Chris Noth, David Eigenberg, Evan Handler, Jason Lewis, Mario Cantone and Willie Garson) Rated * * (2 stars): The first impression I got from watching this sequel is that the cast has aged so much since the first movie. Then I realised that even the comedy and gags are repetitive and dated. It was like watching an episode of the Pre-Golden Girls. And to make things worse, it is dragged to almost two-and-a-half hours long. (Reviewed below)