YOUR GUIDE TO THIS WEEK'S NEW CINEMA RELEASES

Romantic comedy heads the list this week …

TOP PICK TO SEE

MAN UP is the story of a single woman who's mistaken for a stranger's blind date, and which leads to her finding the perfect boyfriend. MAN UP is delightfully fresh romantic comedy. Total Film’s Jamie Graham suggests that, while MAN UP is, Not up there with key US influences "Annie Hall," "When Harry Met Sally" and "Jerry Maguire," but a romcom Brits can be proud of. Make a date of it. I thoroughly enjoyed it. You can read my review here.

MAYBE/MAYBE NOT

Most of the other movies are in the maybe/maybe not category this week. First is the French romantic comedy drama, 5 TO 7, in which an aspiring novelist enters into a relationship with a woman, though there's just one catch: She's married, and the couple can only meet between the hours of 5 and 7 each evening. General audiences are rating this as about average but critics not so highly. The A.V. Club’s Mike D'Angelo says, It's a movie to be mildly enjoyed and then left behind - apropos [appropriate], given the subject matter.

Next is SCOUTS GUIDE TO THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE. This is a teen comedy horror about three scouts who, on the eve of their last camp-out, discover the true meaning of friendship when they attempt to save their town from a zombie outbreak. Slant Magazine’s Eric Henderson describes The flick [as] an artless, puerile shadow of the likes of Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg's Cornetto trilogy. Maybe so, but I thought it was good fun. I’ll post my review soon.

Finally, in this category, is FREEHOLD which is based on a true story when New Jersey police lieutenant, Laurel Hester, and her registered domestic partner, Stacie Andree, both battle to secure Hester's pension benefits when she is diagnosed with terminal cancer. This is another one where the general public rates it as average and the critics around 2.5 stars. Hitfix’s Gregory Ellwood complains that, An impressive cast and significant real-life events can't trump the fact it's a badly made movie. I’m a fan of Ellen Page (Inception, Juno, Hard Candy) so I’ll be giving this a go. I’ll let you know what I think after I have seen it.

TO AVOID

One movie to avoid this week — NOW ADD HONEY — a comedy of normal life imploding for a suburban family when their pop-star cousin comes to stay. It’s rating around less than 2.5 stars by the general viewer — and they usually rate a bit higher than the critics! Give it a miss.

That's it for this week. See you at the movies!

*NOTE* Movie summaries are adaptations of movie summary on IMDB. Opinions are mine unless credited. These updates are written from an Australian perspective so openings of the movies in cinemas may vary in other parts of the world.