WEEKEND PIC - Jan 14 - 16, 2011

YOUR GUIDE TO THE WEEKEND MOVIES

NEW THIS WEEK

a) FASTER (crime thriller with Dwayne Johnson, Billy Bob Thornton, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Carla Gugino, Maggie Grace and Moon Bloodgood) Rated * * 1/2 (2.5 stars): Director George Tillman has apparently wanted to delve into themes of revenge and forgiveness instead of just a fast-paced action flick - and only succeeds partially. With Johnson and Thornton around, it is not easy to take the movie seriously. Even for an action thriller, there isn't much action. (Reviewed below)

STILL GOING STRONG

1. TRON: LEGACY (Jeff Bridges, Garrett Hedlund, Olivia Wilde, Bruce Boxleitner, Michael Sheen, James Frain and Beau Garrett) Rated * * 1/2 (2.5 stars): After all the promotion and hype, Tron: Legacy comes with good news and bad news. Good news is the state-of-the-art visuals and pulsating music score are awesome; bad news: the narrative sucks. So if you are curious to see how Disney revisits the Game Grid of the 1982 sci-fi, put your brain on neutral and keep your eyes and ears in gear. (Reviewed below)

2. THE TOURIST (romance thriller with Johnny Depp, Angelina Jolie, Paul Bettany, Timothy Dalton, Steven Berkoff and Rufus Sewell) Rating * * 1/2 (2.5 stars): With Jolie and Depp headlining this 'romantic thriller', their star power looks sure to churn the box-office waves. However, their talents and charm are not enough to overcome the weak plotting and ostentatious action sequences that recall Hitchcock's North By Northwest classic. After an hour of watching these two attractive stars, disappointment sets in. (Reviewed below)

3. GULLIVER'S TRAVELS (fantasy comedy with Jack Black, Jason Segel, Emily Blunt, Billy Connolly, Amanda Peet, Catherine Tate, James Corden and Olly Alexander) Rated * * 1/2 (2.5 stars): Essentially a Jack Black vehicle with the attendant butt and pee gags. The 3D does not enhance the thrills here but some of the stars do. They are Blunt, Connolly and Segel. (Reviewed below)

4. PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 2 (horror thriller with Katie Featherston, Micah Sloat) Rating: * * 1/2 (2.5 stars): Although there are more scares and plot than the first, the novelty is gone and we can't help feeling that this prequel-sequel is just an attempt to milk more box-office mileage out of the idea. Like the Blair Witch Project, repetitions can get stale pretty fast and the shaky cams heightens giddiness.

5. SEASON OF THE WITCH (fantasy thriller with Nicolas Cage, Ron Perlman, Stephen Campbell Moore, Stephen Graham, Ulrich Thomsen, Robert Sheehan, Claire Foy, Christopher Lee, Rebekah Kennedy, Andrew Hefler and Fernanda Dorogi) Rating: * * (2 stars): Cage looks out of place in this messy horror thriller about a couple of former Crusaders taking on a mission to transport a witch (Foy) who is believed to have started the plague, to an abbey. All sorts of crazy things happen along the way - and we sometimes don't know whether to laugh or walk out of the cineplex. (Reviewed below)

6. LITTLE FOCKERS (comedy with Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Blythe Danner, Teri Polo, Jessica Alba, Laura Dern, Harvey Keitel and Barbra Streisand) Rated * * (2 stars): This sequel is not as funny as it is cringe-worthy as we see Stiller going the rounds against De Niro. De Niro is a legend at menacing, villain roles but not in comedy, especially one that is so badly written as this which pokes fun at his former hits like Godfather and Taxi Driver. (Reviewed below)