Written by Yue Jie

Directed by: David O. Russell
Genre: Comedy/Drama/Romance
Running time: 122 min­utes
Classification: NC16 – Coarse Language & Some Nudity
Release date: 10 January 2013
Rating: 4/5

“I opened up to you, and you judged me.”

Silver Linings Playbook isn’t your typ­i­cal love story. It’s a roman­tic drama between 2 trou­bled char­ac­ters who try to shake each other off while irre­sistibly and inevitably grow­ing closer. On top of that, more char­ac­ters sur­round­ing the pro­tag­o­nists have prob­lems of their own, be it men­tally or psy­cho­log­i­cally. Adapted from the novel of the same name by Matthew Quick, David Owen Russell (The Fighter, 2010) scripts and directs an intel­li­gently crafted and deftly han­dled comedy-drama that promises to keep you fully engaged throughout.

Written by Yue Jie

Directed by: Andy Fickman
Genre: Comedy
Running time: 105 min­utes
Classification: PG
Release date: 3 January 2013
Rating: 3.5 / 5

The first thing to note about this film is its inter­est­ing title that takes cue from the all too famil­iar Parental Guidance (PG) clas­si­fi­ca­tion cat­e­gory, and don’t fret, it is indeed suit­able for its tar­get audi­ence. Directed by Andy Fickman of the com­edy You Again (2010), Parental Guidance shows a typ­i­cal American fam­ily from the grand­par­ents to their grand­chil­dren and how the folks need to adapt and learn new ways of the 21^st cen­tury so as to be able to care for the young ones.

Written by Nishanthini Ganesan

In 2012, Marvel enjoyed unprece­dented suc­cess with The Avengers (2012), a super­hero film that brought together the likes of super­heroes Iron Man, Thor, the Black Widow, Hawkeye, Captain America and the ever­green Hulk. Directed by Joss Whedon, The Avengers became the first film to make $200 Million in its open­ing week­end, com­pletely smash­ing the pre­vi­ous records set by The Dark Knight Rises (2012) and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011).

The Avengers then went on to become the first film to earn more than $100 mil­lion in its sec­ond week­end, as well as to cross the $1 bil­lion mark worldwide.

In 2013, Marvel brings fans of the Marvel Universe a slew of new movies based on their favorite comic book characters.

We begin with Thor 2: The Dark World

Written by Angela Tan

The well-received fan­tasy film since its open­ing on December 14, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey has lev­eled the bench­mark for ticket sales to $537.4 mil­lion world­wide. It also broke the record as the biggest Boxing Day open­ing when it was pre­miered in Australia on December 26.

Written By Cheng Hui Jie

Directed by: Rich Moore
Genre: Comedy/Animation
Running time: 108 min­utes
Classification: PG
Release date: 20 November 2012
Rating: 4 / 5

Video games are back for the sea­son but this time, for Walt Disney Pictures’ new ani­mated fam­ily com­edy, tables have turned and it is up to the BAD guys to save the day. Don’t be fooled by the badass title because Wreck-It Ralph is sug­ar­coated sweet! Let me tell you why. 

Written by Yue Jie

Directed by: Jackie Chan
Genre: Action/Adventure/Comedy
Running time: 123 min­utes
Classification: PG – Some Violence
Release date: 20 December 2012
Rating: 3/5

Mandarin with English subtitles

Jackie Chan needs no intro­duc­tion. The suc­cess­ful Asian super­star hail­ing from Hong Kong has had a life­time being part of movies since the 1960s. Come 2012 and the actor known for doing the stunts in all of his films is at his 101^st film, Chinese Zodiac, which also marks his 13^th direc­to­r­ial fea­ture. Also known as Armour of God III: Chinese Zodiac or CZ12 as it is known here in Singapore, Chinese Zodiac is sequel to Armour of God II: Operation Condor (1991) and to sum it all up, basi­cally a Jackie Chan show dis­play­ing his pre­cious tal­ent and flair for action movies.

Written by Yue Jie

Directed by: Christopher McQuarrie
Genre: Action/Crime/Drama/Thriller
Running time: 130 min­utes
Classification: PG13 – Brief Coarse Language And Some Violence
Release date: 20 December 2012
Rating: 3/5

The thought of hav­ing a sniper craft his own bul­lets, visit a far­away gun range weekly for prac­tice and show up at an empty carpark one day to kill five peo­ple at ran­dom while going com­pletely unno­ticed isn’t the newest idea. However, what’s inter­est­ing is the way the crime is inves­ti­gated. When a shoot­ing occurs at the start, police believe they’ve found the sus­pect, a sniper named Barr. He remains silent dur­ing inter­ro­ga­tion, only scrib­bling the words “Get Jack Reacher” on a notepad before falling into comatose. In comes Jack Reacher, a for­mer Army offi­cer deter­mined to clear the name of an inno­cent man and bring the killer to jus­tice through means that may oth­er­wise prove unlawful.