Haywire (2011)

Haywire is Steven Soderbergh's homage to Quentin Tarrantino's homages to 70s sepia-toned B-grade action flicks.

Real-life MMA artist Gina Carano plays the former marine turned assassin whose betrayal by unknown forces leads to a whole load of asskicking vengeance.

Soderbergh is too engrossed in the technicalities of re-creating genre here that he forgets to make an entertaining action pic.

Read my full review at Fridae, first published on 18 January 2012.

Journey 2: The mysterious island (2012)

Michael Caine joins the returning team of Josh Hutcherson and "The Rock" Dwayne Johnson in another Jules Verne inspired adventure.

The plot makes little sense and you'll feel everything leads either to a setpiece or a chase scene but you'll marvel at how many classic adventure stories and authors get referenced despite the Verne inspiration.

Watch this for: Amazing outdoors scenes created by CGI, stage sets, and on location flora.

Read my full review at Fridae, first published on 18 January 2012.

Jack and Jill (2011)

Adam Sandler is back in another "romcom" where his protagonist is an insufferable, bullying, passive-aggressive man-child.

Jack and Jill is actually watchable because its script - unlike all other Sandler comedies - actually acknowledges the assholery of the male protag.

Watch this for: Adam Sandler in drag, playing the protag's bullied twin sister, and a crazy cameo by Al Pacino.

Read my full review at Fridae, first published on 18 January 2012.

A Happy Event (Un heureux événement) (2011)

Pregnancy and parenthood seem to inspire the best comedies in Hollywood. In this film, pregnancy and childhood are tacked together like a Frankenstein's monster: one half of it is a quirky comedy, the other half is a melodrama that just goes on and on.

It doesn't work at all because the director doesn't understand the logic of film.

Pregnancy is pretty much the same for everyone but child-rearing and parenthood is so varied, that's where the fun should be. Consequently, quirky pregnancy comedy cannot fail to be generic; parenthood melodrama cannot fail to be myopic and tedious.

Read my full review at Fridae, first published on 11 January 2012.

The Great Magician (大魔术师) (2011)

Imagine The Illusionist remade as a Chinese warlords era thriller.

Here, Tony Leung Chiu-Wai stars as a stage magician who must rescue his childhood sweetheart and betrothed from the attentions of a bullying but inept warlord.

One-upping The Illusionist, the film reminds us that the con job is a common feature of both stage magic, politics, and filmmaking. Watch this for: a rare showcase of Tony Leung's comic talents.

Read my full review at Fridae, first published on 11 January 2012.

Special Forces (Forces spéciales) (2011)

Bunch of tough military guys are sent in to retrieve a journalist from a war zone.

Of course this is a war propaganda film that justifies unilateral, unsanctioned military action for the sake of saving innocent lives.

Worth watching because it's a successful propaganda film that ditches most of the narrative styles and conventions of the genre.

Read my full review at Fridae, first published on 4 January 2012.

Machine Gun Preacher (2011)

A gang member finds Jesus, reforms himself, then smuggles arms and equipment to Africa to save war-ravaged kids kidnapped and gang-pressed into a militia army. By mowing down the army. And its child soldiers.

The premise points towards a very disturbing film but the filmmaker plays it very, very straight.

What you get is an inspirational biopic of a chilling, psychotic character that's good for laughs if you're in on the joke that apparently the director isn't.

Read my full review at Fridae, first published on 4 January 2012.

My week with Marilyn (2011)

Once upon a time, Marilyn Monroe starred in the same film as Sir Laurence Olivier, which bombed. Both did not enjoy their time together. Both came out the better for it.

Sadly, the emerging genre of the limited biopic isn't championed well by this film.

Being a snippet of a story from the point of view of a bit player, the film does not illuminate on the careers and personalities of Monroe or Olivier or offer penetrating insights into filmmaking or even show off its magic.

Read my full review at Fridae, first published on 4 January 2012.