JENNIFER’S BODY (15)
SCREENWRITER Diablo Cody follows the deserved Oscar triumph of Juno with a horror comedy about a high-school hottie (Megan Fox) who develops a bloodthirsty taste for teenage boys.
Jennifer’s Body is a distinctly off-kilter teen horror that doesn’t quite find its rhythm. Fox confidently graduates from her eye-candy roles in the Transformers films to leading lady, but has wild-eyed competition from co-star Amanda Seyfried.
Rating: 3/5
MICHAEL JACKSON’S THIS IS IT (PG)
HASTILY constructed from hundreds of hours of backstage and rehearsal footage, Kenny Ortega’s documentary is a glowing tribute to the King Of Pop as he prepared for one of the most spectacular live shows of his career.
Screening for a limited two-week engagement, this is an opportunity for the fans to witness arguably one of the greatest pop concerts never staged, mixing regret with sadness over his death.
Rating: 4/5
AN EDUCATION (12A)
CAREY MULLIGAN positions herself as a serious Oscar contender with a mesmerising portrayal of a conflicted schoolgirl in Swinging Sixties London.
Based on a memoir by journalist Lynn Barber, An Education is a rites of passage story blessed with a touching and humorous script by Nick Hornby. Director Lone Scherfig beautifully evokes an era of mini-skirts, bouffant hair and childish innocence.
Rating: 4/5
9 (12A)
EXPANDED from his 11-minute, Oscar-nominated 2005 short film, Shane Acker’s 9 is a computer-animated odyssey set on a post-apocalyptic Earth devoid of humans.
The protagonists are a race of tiny, man-made sack people, voiced by Hollywood stars including Elijah Wood, Christopher Plummer and Jennifer Connelly, who seek to sow the seeds of a new humanity. Sadly, it is a triumph of dark, steampunk-styled visuals over plot and substance.
Rating: 3/5
