ARTHUR CHRISTMAS 3D (U)
SANTA (voiced by Jim Broadbent) has been the figurehead of the Yuletide season for decades and he proudly oversees this year’s delivery of presents in his hi-tech spacecraft, masterminded with military precision by eldest son Steve (Hugh Laurie). Down in the bowels of the craft, youngest son Arthur (James McAvoy) excitedly answers correspondence from the children of the world, including a young British girl called Gwen (Ramona Marquez). A malfunction in the loading bay goes unnoticed by the elves in mission control and Gwen doesn’t receive her pink bicycle. With time running out, Arthur joins forces with Grandsanta (Bill Nighy) and wrapping elf Bryony (Ashley Jensen) to deliver Gwen’s gift.
STAR RATING: ****
50/50 (15)
ADAM (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) works behind the scenes at Seattle Public Radio with best friend Kyle (Seth Rogen), who makes public his issues with Adam’s artist girlfriend, Rachael (Bryce Dallas Howard). A doctor’s appointment to determine the reasons for Adam’s acute back pain reveals the quietly spoken 27-year-old has a tumour that must be treated immediately. His chances of survival are 50%.
STAR RATING: ****
HAPPY FEET TWO (U)
MUMBLE the penguin (Elijah Wood), who learned to dance in the first film, has raised a son called Erik (Ava Acres) with his wife Gloria (Pink). Like his father, Erik is struggling to find his rhythm in Emperor-Land and he searches for answers with best friends Boadicia and Atticus in the company of wise-cracking Ramon (Robin Williams). Mumble chases after the little ones and returns home to discover a giant iceberg has slammed into their home, trapping all of the Emperor penguins to certain doom.
STAR RATING: **
NEW YEAR’S EVE (12A)
A STARRY cast of familiar faces hope to be struck by Cupid’s arrow before the clock strikes midnight in Times Square in New York. Randy (Ashton Kutcher) is stuck in an elevator with a beautiful stranger (Lea Michele), while Paul (Zac Efron) agrees to help record company secretary Ingrid (Michelle Pfeiffer) achieve all of her resolutions in exchange for tickets to the biggest party of the year. Elsewhere in the city, Tess (Jessica Biel) prepares to give birth, businessman Sam (Josh Duhamel) searches for his soul mate, and terminally ill Stan (Robert De Niro) clings onto life under the care of nurse Aimee (Halle Berry).
STAR RATING: **
HUGO (U)
TWELVE-year-old Hugo Cabret (Asa Butterfield) is raised by his father (Jude Law), who works at a museum and has a passion for cinema and mechanical devices. The old man dies, leaving behind an intricate automaton, and Hugo is forced to live secretly in the station with his hard-drinking Uncle Claude (Ray Winstone), who maintains the clocks. When the bottle claims Claude’s life, Hugo continues to tend the clocks while stealing food from the shopkeepers without attracting the attention of the station inspector (Sacha Baron Cohen). An encounter with bookish Isabelle (Chloe Grace Moretz), goddaughter of toy shop owner Papa Georges (Sir Ben Kingsley), catalyses a journey of self-discovery that Hugo hopes will lead to a message from beyond the grave from his father.
STAR RATING: ****
PUSS IN BOOTS 3D (U)
THE story begins with the young Puss (voiced by Antonio Banderas) being abandoned at an orphanage where kind Imelda (Constance Marie) raises the kitten as her own. Initially picked on by the boys, Puss learns to fight to survive and he helps protect fellow outcast Humpty Alexander Dumpty (Zach Galifianakis). Many years later, the surrogate brothers join forces with sexy pickpocket Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek) to steal magic beans currently in the possession of murderous outlaws Jack (Billy Bob Thornton) and Jill (Amy Sedaris). These beans are rumoured to grow a beanstalk that leads to the giant’s castle and the greatest treasure of all: the Golden Goose. However, old rivalries between Puss and Humpty jeopardise the daring enterprise.
STAR RATING: ***
THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 1 (12A)
THE final chapter of the Twilight series has been cleaved in two, with the concluding instalment due in November 2012. When we left Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart), she had chosen vampire Edward (Robert Pattinson) over werewolf Jacob (Taylor Lautner). Jacob is heartbroken, but Bella and Edward marry in front of her parents (Billy Burke, Sarah Clarke) and his blood-sucking clan. Bella falls pregnant during their honeymoon in Rio de Janeiro and her half-human, half-vampire child grows at an accelerated rate.
STAR RATING: ***
A VERY HAROLD & KUMAR 3D CHRISTMAS (18)
HAROLD (John Cho) has lost touch with his buddy Kumar (Kal Penn) and has turned his life around by ditching the reefers, clambering up the corporate ladder and marrying Maria (Paula Garces). Their attempts to get her pregnant on Christmas Eve are interrupted by the arrival of Maria’s father Carlos (Danny Trejo) and the entire Perez clan carrying a 12-foot Douglas fir tree that the formidable patriarch has been growing for the past eight years. Fate conspires to reunite the estranged buddies and a spark from Kumar’s discarded marijuana joint sets the beloved Christmas tree alight. Determined to impress Carlos, Harold heads into the night in search of a replacement fir with Kumar, buddy Todd (Thomas Lennon), teenager Adrian (Amir Blumenfeld) and Todd’s infant daughter in tow. As midnight approaches, when the Perezes are due to return from Christmas mass, they cross paths with an old acquaintance, actor Neil Patrick Harris (playing himself), who might be able to solve the tree dilemma.
STAR RATING: **
