Showtime with Shannon Harvey, every Thursday at 10.30 on the Morning program.

Critique the Critic

Here is your chance to match your film review skills against one of the best in the business, Shannon Harvey. Click here to learn how you could win a double pass to experience the luxury of Reading Cinemas Belmont Gold Lounge.

Battleship

I thought Hollywood hit new lows with by turning 1980s toys Transformers into mindless CG spectacles. Then I saw The Green Lantern — one of the worst superhero films ever — but hold on to your ticket stubs because here comes Battleship.

The Raid: Redemption

It's been a violent couple of weeks at the movies. Last week I reviewed the big new blockbuster franchise, The Hunger Games, where kids kill kids for public entertainment - and didn't like it very much at all.

Margin Call

This sophisticated drama is set during the first 24 hours of the global financial crisis in 2008, almost entirely in the Wall St office tower of a global investment company.

The Artist

We've been treated to the top three Oscar front-runners in the past three weeks, with The Descendants, Hugo and now the silent black-and-white drama The Artist. It's the favourite for best picture, actor and director, with 10 nominations overall.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Based on Jonathan Safran Foer's controversial 2005 novel of the same name, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close has been accused of exploiting the 9/11 tragedy.

The Grey

Liam Neeson has quietly moved from playing real life figures, Oscar Schindler's List, Alfred Kinsey and Michael Collins, to playing lethal weapons in the likes of Batman Begins, The A-Team and Taken. He's so good at stoic, smart tough guys.

HUGO

It's no surprise that Martin Scorsese's new film, his first in 3D, leads the Oscar race with 11 nominations. It's a pure masterpiece from a master filmmaker at the top of his game. But it's more than that.

The Descendents

George Clooney's second awards season contender after The Ides of March (which he also wrote and directed) is The Descendents, a moving family saga about the pains of parenthood set and the tough decisions of adulthood.

The Iron Lady

With nothing great out at the movies today, lets take the opportunity to jump ahead to an Oscar contender out on Boxing Day.