JACK AND JILL

Adam Sandler has been in movies since 1995, working as both an actor and director. He has tried to get out his comedy mode to make more serious films like “Punch-drunk Love” (2002) and “Reign Over Me” (2006), but he can’t resist reverting to the lavatorial, slapstick farces that have been a huge success with the mass audience. He keeps pushing the envelope, and his latest, “Jack and Jill”, has garnered the worst reviews of his career.

THE DESCENDANTS

At the Golden Globe awards, George Clooney won a “Best Actor” award and director Alexander Payne won a “Best Film” award for “The Descendants”. The film went on to win five Oscar nominations, including Best Actor for George Clooney and Best Director for Alexander Payne, which makes it a film that has caught the attention of movie-goers, and for good reason.

THE MUPPET MOVIE

Now here’s a sweet deal. “The Muppet Show” started its life in 1974 on TV, under the guidance of Jim Henson. It started slowly but by 1976 but the TV-series was a major hit that lasted up to 1981. The show’s creator, Jim Henson, created quirky characters and great fun that pleased adults just as much they did kids. Henson’s death in 1990 signalled what seemed like the termination of the series, but now it’s back in the careful hands of the Disney Company.

MACHINE GUN PREACHER

This film is a strange hybrid. It’s a tough, violent drama; it has a strong religious theme about a born-again sinner who becomes a warrior for Jesus; but it is all set in Africa where a pitifully small community of local Ugandans, who are trying to survive a brutal conflict between long-suffering Ugandan citizens who are being slaughtered by a ruthless Army run by a war-lord. At the centre of the film stands an American missionary, who was once a destructive drug-user, who is trying to become

J. Edgar

Clint Eastwood is a prolific artist with a string of movies to his name. His earliest films were B-Grade horror movie, then onto the great urban-action thrillers of “Dirty Harry” etc. His more recent films have become more thoughtful, more interested in the power and personal courage of human nature. His World War 2 movies, “Million Dollar Baby”, “Invictus” and “Hereafter” explored powerful themes and even though “J. Edgar” is about politics, it’s also about a man wrestling with his personal de

THE SKIN I LIVE IN

At the age of 63, with 18 films to his credit, Pedro Almodovar has received major awards from Germany, France and Spain, plus two American Oscars. Antonio Banderas and Penelope Cruz achieved international success in his films. Her is a unique, always surprising director but even by his own standards “The Skin I Live In” is a dazzling, complicated film that is, even by Almodovar’s own standards – this film is both shocking and compelling.

WE BOUGHT A ZOO

British journalist Benjamin Mee wrote the book “We Bought a Zoo” after the tragic loss of his wife. He changed his life, which also meant changing the lives of his kids. He wrote the book as a personal remembrance of his family but when it was published, the public loved it. It became popular, caught the eye of Hollywood director, Cameron Crowe and now it has become a sweet, sentimental family film.

31 MILLION REASONS

The South African film industry is bedevilled by politics and slick compilers of “Candid Camera” farces. The meagre funds for film-makers are inevitably placed in the hands of “approved” South African film-makers. “31 Million Reasons” took a more independent course, told a unique South African story and ended up making a good film, but not a great one.

A LITTLE BIT OF HEAVEN

This is another of Hollywood’s “disease-of-the-week” movies. It has the format of a raunchy sexy comedy, and then it dissolves into a dreary, somewhat coarse comedy that wastes the talents of some genuinely gifted actors who do their best to lighten the load of this clumsy tragic-comedy but it turns out a sloppy chunk of Hollywood hell.

MARGIN CALL

First-time director J. C. Chandor brings great insight and tension to this story of greed, power and manipulation. It’s about a huge investment bank that faces a huge financial meltdown, and it follows the stories of the men and women who see their lives and fortunes crashing into ruins and their determination to survive – by fair means or foul – makes for laid-back but powerful viewing.

A DOLPHIN'S TALE

This true story took place in December 2005 off the Florida coast. A bottlenose dolphin became caught up in the trailing ropes and crab traps that were dragging behind a crab hunter’s boat. In the process, the dolphin’s tale was amputated and the story revolves around the team of well-wishers who work to save his life.

THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO

It’s unusual to see a re-make of a successful film, a mere two years after it was released. The Swedish film “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” (2009) scored an international hit, winning eight foreign-language awards, including a UK BAFTA. This glossy re-make is by David Fincher, who made a couple of dark, twisted movies, like “Fight Club” and “Se7en” but is this re-make of a sinister, dynastic thriller merely a cheap Hollywood rip-off? Or does Hollywood’s glossy star-power add something to the

MIDNIGHT IN PARIS

The theme of "Americans in Paris" runs through the history of France and the USA. It was Thomas Jefferson who went to Paris to observe how to run a revolution. Centuries later Hollywood started making films because they saw what the Lumiere brothers and George Melies were creating in France, and through two World Wars, Americans in Paris were a major theme.Now Woody Allen offers his exquisite isight into that relationship.

SHERLOCK HOLMES 2: A GAME OF SHADOWS

Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes, wrote 56 short stories and four full-length novels. Over the decades they have been repeatedly filmed and televised to a point that Holmes has become the Victorian equivalent of James Bond or Hercule Poirot, who also live on, in films and TV series. In 2009, action-director Guy Ritchie offered a fresh, muscular twist on the Holmes legend, and scored a major hit. Now he is back, with his original cast in place, but with a devious new villain