Beasts of the Southern Wild: Enchanting story set in the Louisiana bayou, of a disappearing way of life, as seen through a six-year-old little girl’s eyes. **** TS
Monster in Paris: Animated film set in 1910 Paris about a giant flea who happens to be a really good guitarist. (Not Reviewed)
Red Dog: Australia’s movie of the year for 2011, this dog drama, set in 1970s Northwestern territories is surprisingly sweet without sinking into melodrama. *** TS
Resident Evil: Retribution: The fifth film in the franchise gives us Milla Jovovich shooting up more monsters, lots of explosions and atmospheric smoke. * TS
Brave 3D: Disney/Pixar’s first heroine is a fiery redhead who uses magic to change her mother and then, bearly a moment later, regrets it. *** HH
Dark Tide: Halle Berry swimming with the sharks in Cape Town means great boob shots and bad Xhosa. * HH
Die Wonderwerker: Katinka Heyns directs a stellar cast of Afrikaans actors in a period piece about Eugene Marais which paints a picture of the man, not the icon. **** TS
Eye of the Storm: It’s almost annoying when you have such dynamic actors (Charlotte Rampling, Geoffrey Rush, Judy Davis) based on the book of a Nobel prize winner (Patrick White) and it doesn’t fly. Sadly, director Fred Schapisi (Cry In The Dark) goes into melodramatic mode and loses the substance. HH DdB
Haywire: MMA champ Gina Carano gets to beat up a lot of screen stars in a convoluted Steven Soderbergh action movie. *** TS
Ice Age 4: The Continental Drift: The prehistoric crew is back for a side-splitting adventure of fun, humour and heartfelt messages that make for winning family entertainment. **** TG
Katy Perry: Part Of Me 3D: Pop music, lots of pink and the part of Perry that she keeps hidden away: a failed marriage. **** HH
La tête en friche (My Afternoons with Margueritte): Gentle drama about affection between a mother and a son and the love of words, starring Gerard Depardieu. **** TS
Mad Buddies: Leon Schuster teams up with Kenneth Nkosi for a slapstick road trip movie. Crass humour and poo jokes abound. *** if you’re a six-year-old boy; * if you’re not. TS
Madea’s Witness Protection: Tyler Perry attempts to broaden his target audience by bringing a white family into Madea’s home. It's not funny, or novel. ** HH
Marley: A surprisingly revealing documentary about the music and man behind the legend of Bob Marley. *** HH
Searching for Sugarman: Narratively satisfying, Swedish director Malik Bendjelloul’s canny documentary tells the tale of the search for Detroit-born Mexican musician Sixto Diaz Rodriguez. **** WP
Step Up: Revolution: The dance franchise hits us once again. This time it’s all about flash mobs. Expect elaborate dance moves set to a chest thumping soundtrack. *** TG
Ted: Crass but funny comedy about a man whose best friend is, and has always been, a teddy bear that came to life. Seriously. *** TS
The Amazing Spider-Man: You have seen this story before but you have never seen it told this way. Director Marc Webb chooses character development over meaningless CGI giving you a heartfelt story. The superb acting helps too. ****H MV
The Dark Knight Rises: Intelligent, morals-questioning epic third and final installment in the Chris Nolan directed film franchise starring Christian Bale. *** HH
The Expendables 2: Back for War: The team of special soldiers returns for another paying mission that gets botched when one of them is killed. Driven by revenge Ross and gang go after their comrade’s killers. If you love mindless action then this is for you. HH MV
The Lady: Michelle Yeoh stars as Aung San Suu Kyi, the Burmese political activist who spent over a decade under house arrest. *** HH
The Savages: Oliver Stone pits a ménage a trois of pretty people growing pot against Salma Hayek sinking her teeth into being the baddie for a change. *** TS
The Watch: Sci-fi comedy misfire starring Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn. ** HR
This Must be the Place: Sean Penn’s eccentric performance as an aging rocker is the central attraction of this rather erratic film. ** HR
Tinkerbell: The Secret of Her Wings 3D: Cute and sweet, this is squarely aimed at four-year-olds, with lots of Disney wholesomeness and solid animation. *** TS
To Rome With Love: Woody Allen picks the best team of actors including himself and travels to Rome where he writes a story of love to a city he falls in love with. With Penelope Cruz, Alec Baldwin, Roberto Benigni, Ellen Page and more, what’s not to love? **** DdB
Total Recall: Len Wiseman remakes the cheesy Arnie classic into an action-heavy wit-lite sci-fi popcorn muncher. *** TS
Where Do We Go Now?: Nadine Labaki (Caramel) has a strong individual voice as both filmmaker and star. She tells of the dismantling of male power but tackles the heartache with too much laughter which doesn’t always gel. *** DdB