SHORTCUTS

NEW RELEASES

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug: Behold the second instalment of Peter Jackson’s trilogy of movies. This time, Bilbo (Martin Freeman), with Gandalf (Ian McKellen) and the dwarves, soldiers on, avoiding the dangers of wood elves and big spiders before arriving at Lonely Mountain, the home of the menacing treasurehoarding dragon, Smaug. ★★★★★ Escape Plan: Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger can still carry an action flick, albeit one as flimsy as this. Yet there is modest pleasure to be had watching the Italian Stallion, at 67, and the 66-year-old Austrian Oak delivering justice to those who would disrupt their retirement. ★★★ The Fifth Estate: As a piece of filmed entertainment, this shows why things like authorial point of view and visual sensibility are essential in bringing such stories to life. Unlike its predecessor, The Social Network, this film doesn’t have much of either. ★★★ Serial Teachers (Les Profs): This glossy and brainless comic book adaptation follows the travails of seven first-rate losers who, having failed in almost every school they’ve taught in, are hired to save the sinking test scores of Lycee Jules Ferry. ★★★ Tyler Perry’s A Madea’s Christmas: Madea dispenses her unique form of holiday spirit on a rural town when she’s coaxed into helping a friend pay her daughter a surprise visit for Christmas. Not reviewed

ON CIRCUIT

Mud: As the slippery central figure of Jeff Nichols’s richly observed comingof-age fable, Matthew McConaughey injects a note of danger into a bayou noir story of youthful adventure that is lyrical yet sobering. ★★★★ Ender’s Game: There’s a moral heft that lends ballast to this science-fiction adventure about futuristic military academy cadets. ★★★★ Young and Beautiful: The mysteries of adolescence, and in particular the sense of control and power that can accompany an attractive girl’s discovery of her sexuality, are explored with hypnotic focus. ★★★★ Homefront: A former DEA agent (Jason Statham) seeking a quiet life tangles with a small-town drug lord (James Franco) in this pulpy, over-thetop thriller. It’s a guilty pleasure, in a low-rent, Southern Gothic way. ★★★ Black Nativity: Sensory pleasures abound in this story of family, faith and redemption. As the film opens, the teenage protagonist, Langston, is running amok on the streets of Baltimore. The film is grounded by Forest Whitaker and Angela Bassett’s performances as Langston’s strict, God-fearing grandparents. ★★★ Free Birds: Owen Wilson, Woody Harrelson and Amy Poehler lend their voices to a trio of animated turkeys determined to remove the traditional bird from the inaugural Thanksgiving menu. Although it seldom approaches the inspiration of its plucky premise, Free Birds avoids being branded a holiday turkey. ★★★ Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom: This has the potential to stir emotions, but it sacrifices historical accuracy for the sake of drama. ★★★★ Schuks! Your Country Needs You: Combining a loose script with Leon Schuster’s signature Candid Camera gags, this film adds a father-and-son element. The film’s gags are slightly more palatable than usual. ★★ Enough Said: This marks one of the final appearances by the late James Gandolfini, playing a frumpy academic who embarks on an awkward romance with a masseuse (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), who, like Albert, is divorced with a teen daughter. The film sparkles within and without. ★★★★ The Hunger Games: Catching Fire: The second instalment of the franchise further accentuates the Orwellian elements in the Suzanne Collins novels from which it is adapted, and benefits from another full-blooded performance by Jennifer Lawrence. Yet, Catching Fire is caught somewhere between nightmarish political allegory and adolescent escapism. ★★★ Thor: The Dark World 3D: Director Alan Taylor’s valiant attempt to balance the action with humour is helped by Tom Hiddleston’s sleekly malevolent performance as Loki. ★★★