A movie critic suffers many disappointments in the dark, but the Star?s Peter Howell remains optimistic about the year ahead.

The suburban melodrama Revolutionary Road takes us to a dead end we've been to many times before, nearly falling prey to the stifling conformity it seeks to explode.

Marley amp; Me is a dog movie, but it's assuredly no bowser .

quot;You never know what's coming for you,quot; goes the mantra of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button , but viewers of this exceptional love story need have no doubt.

The bedevilling thing about making movies based on history is engaging an audience that knows exactly how it will end. Which is not to say it can't work.

They are sad seekers of truth in a sport notorious for fakery.

At which exact point The Spirit hits rock bottom is a matter of debate. Maybe it's when we first see our eponymous hero scampering across rooftops in a fashion less appropriate to a movie superhero than to a cast member of Guys and Dolls .

A family friendly Disney movie is far from a natural habitat for the sort of crude, belligerent characters that have long been Adam Sandler's forte. Nope, wings night at Hooters is more their style.

To Stuart Little, Ratatouille and that made-in-Canada hamster with a heart of gold, Hammy, we can add rodent hero Despereaux Trilling, the smallest of mice with the biggest of ears.

The toughest hombre at the bijou this holiday season makes gun gestures with his hands and has a steed that barely moves.