The Smurfs 3D attempts to tackle the ultimate question: what DO you do when cuddly blue money-spinners get lodged in your toilet? It turns out the answer is: get self-referential, mother SMURFERS. Harmless, silly fun along the lines of Elf and Enchanted, Smurfs 3D does a fair job of appealing to humans big and small – but it does feel like everyone’s aware that this is fluff and nothing more. Nothing smurf? Smurfing more? You’ll pick it up.

The Colour of Pomegranates, Sergei Paradjanov’s tribute to Armenian poet Sayat Nova, is a deeply unconventional take on the traditional biography. Universally praised and widely held as a dreamlike masterpiece, naturally I’d never heard of it.

It’s summer, the kids are bored and the grown-ups are too warm for Twister – it’s time for family cinema gold. Why not bring out yet another movie in which animals can talk, couple it with a lack-lustre storyline, and a mish-mash of actors. Cook it for about a year, let it cool for a month and what are we left with? Zookeeper.

This serviceable scrapyard slasher has a bit of poke in the engine and a few nice body mods, but the plot’s had a few too many miles on the clock…

After Kevin Deakin returns home from combat after being presumed dead, his loved ones are overjoyed to see him. But as rumours of desertion abound, how long can his warm welcome last? Paul Greengass at his pre-Bourne best in a film that attempts to get to grips with the psychology of a man broken by war.

Australian cinema has given us some cult classics over the years, proving that the country’s cinematic output isn’t all Baz Luhrmann. The Castle, now being re-released 15 years after it was made, is perhaps the best of the bunch. Hilarious and touching – just get it, it’s a ripper! (That’s Australian for “good”).

What’s your favourite Pixar film? Gotta be Toy Story hasn’t it, the first one you watched? Or wait, what about Up, or Wall-E, or maybe you’re partial to a bit of Mrs Incredible? Lord knows I am. Anyway, point is, nobody knows what they’re favourite Pixar film is, but everyone knows what their least favourite Pixar film is: Cars. Well ladies and gentlemen, trust me, Cars is practically The Godfather compared to its sequel. Prepare to be thoroughly disappointed.

A ghost story by design and a human drama at its core, Lake Mungo explores the painful psychology of loss, and our collective inability to explain the blurred space between life and death. It’s rather good.

The Lost Bladesman is based on the real life of ancient Hong Kong warrior Guan Yo as he reluctantly fights his way through the civil war that ended in the collapse of the Han Dynasty. Packed with gore, fighting and fancy swordplay, it has everything that a self-respecting Hong Kong action movie should have.

Wasted On The Young is a tense high school drama about sex, drugs and the unfortunate world of high school hierarchy. If you hate the bright, colourful, cutesy-poo teen flicks that we are regularly faced with, then this will be a welcome change.