Parental Guidance

If you are in a the mood for some light family laughter these holidays then Parental Guidance is the film for you. From the director of She's the Man and You Again, Parental Guidance uses the same sitcom style sense of humour of exaggeration to tickle your funny bone. Screenwriters , Lisa Addario and Joe Syracuse have been praised for really capturing an authentic portrayal of a longtime married couple with old-school rearing values that they put to the test on a new generation of kids, which proves to be a volitile mix for laughter. Overall the film is being critiqued as enjoyable but not an absolute riot, it's all round easy holiday entertainment for the whole family.

Adventures in Zambezia

From the Cape Town based studio Triggerfish comes ‘Adventures in Zambezia’, a delightful tale that centres around a young falcon journeying into the big bird city of Zambezia. Pleased with what the South African Studio produced, Sony Pictures scooped up the feature for worldwide distribution, making it the very first purely South African animated production to go global. It has already been well-received in Israel, Germany and Russia and is now scheduled to release to South African cinemas on the 28^th of December. Whether this film be fair or foul it has sent South African animation soaring to new heights and surely deserves our wholehearted support.

Release Date: 28 December 2012

Source: nfvf.co.za

Rise of the Guardians

Not to be confused as a sequel to ‘Legend of Guardians’, this animation puts a twist on your traditional holiday tale. Described as a “fairytale version of The Avengers”, DreamWork’s ‘The Rise of the Guardians’ takes us into a mystical realm where a group of recognizable heroes with extraordinary powers bind together to combat a growing threat to the safety of the world’s everywhere.

Although there has been a somewhat luke-warm response from critiques, ‘The Rise of the Guardians’ is an interesting spin-off from usual festive film releases and should offer an entertaining way to invigorate the holiday spirit. 

Released: 7 December 2012

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

In one week JRR Tolkien’s fabled world finds it’s way back to the big screen with ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’. As a prequel to the ‘ The Lord of the Rings’, Variety’s Peter Debruge firstly praises director Peter Jackon for delivering “more of what made his earlier trilogy so compelling -- colorful characters on an epic quest amid stunning New Zealand scenery” then goes on by criticizing the film’s lack of originality, making him skeptical that ‘The Hobbit’ will have the same substance that could extend the tale into 2 more riveting installments. Nevertheless, whatever the critics say, an escape that takes you on a journey through Tolkien's Middle Earth will always be a worthwhile adventure.

Source: boingboing.net

Release Date: 14 December