Nevil Gibson's summer cinema sampler

Contrary to many perceptions, the peak season for cinema-going also has a substantial offering for discerning viewers as well as those seeking family outings or unchallenging escapism.

The summer period in the southern hemisphere also coincides with the Hollywood awards seasons, when top releases gain maximum exposure.

They are listed in order of release in New Zealand cinemas:

DEC 26 (Boxing Day)
The Kids Are All Right Lisa Cholodenko raised eyebrows with this disarming story of families cope, even when the mother enters a same-sex marriage and the other is estranged from his children until, as teenagers, they go looking for him. The ménage a trois (among the adults) is not what you may expect, thanks to the strong acting by the three principals, Annette Bening, Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo. The offspring are equally endearing in their mix of idealism and cynicism, though the twee California pretensions can be offputting.

Little Fockers The third in the Meet the Parents turns up the star appeal but remains down in the toilet humour department. Warped families are a staple of slick Hollywood comedy and the taken-for-granted opulence of American middle class life is still a craw for critics and overseas audiences alike. The confusion of genealogy with gynaecology is another given, the little Focker kids are only tangential. Sexual performance among the aging senior members of the cast (De Niro, Hoffman, Streisand, among them) is a new obsession (the same gags arise in Love and Other Drugs, as is the obligatory use of Google). Jennifer Alba gets down to her undies as a drug company rep but infidelity, as ever, is thwarted in a good cause.

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest The final in the Swedish version of Stieg Larsson’s thriller trilogy brings the threads together as the fearsome computer hacker heroine recovers from being shot in the head and faces three charges of murder.

The Tourist A surprising choice in nominations for the Golden Globes, this is a star-packed (Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie) remake of the French thriller Anthony Zimmer. It is also the Hollywood debut of German director Florian von Donnersmarck, who made the brilliant East Germany-set political drama The Lives of Others.

Gulliver’s Travels 3D Confused and confounding updating of the Swift satire takes the easy route by emphasising the special effects (from Weta Digital) and allowing Jack Black to be, well, Jack Black. Some big-name Brits in the supporting cast, such as Emily Blunt, Billy Connolly and Catherine Tate, are wasted. Apart from the industrious Lilluptians putting too much faith in a solitary form of defence (think nuclear warfare), any modern relevance is hard to find.

JAN 1 (New Year's Day)
Love and Other Drugs A heady brew of at least three recognisable genres are rolled into one as an ambitious drug company salesman, charged with launching Viagra in 1996, becomes romatically entangled an incurably afflicted but lusted-after woman. He also has to deal with his career-challenged brother, who comes straight out of a gross-out Hollywood farce. Jake Gyllenhaal exudes the young Jim Carrey as the corporate climber who never sees a bed he doesn’t want to sleep in. Anne Hathaway goes beyond the call of duty in pleasing him, while also providing the pathos of a worthy medical melodrama. Drug company Pfizer has a starring role in a subplot of corporate intrigue that recalls The Insider and The Informant! There's something for everyone plus a morally-uplifting climax that will test the most jaded viewer.

JANUARY 6
Unstoppable No railroad company was damaged in the making of this straight-forward action show, which will appeal to the more mature males that prefer old-fashioned machines out of control than computer-created fantasy ones. In this case it’s a huge locomotive that ploughs its way through the Pennsylvanian boondocks, with Fox News helicopters in hot pursuit. While the train owner may be fictional the news show isn’t, giving Fox a double bang for their buck. Denzel Washington teams up again with director Tony Scott (The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3) but the real star is New Zealand cameraman Ben Seresin, whose photography heightens the high drama of real-life events.

JANUARY 13
The Fighter Based on the story of “Irish” Micky Ward, a former junior welterweight world champion from the meanest streets of Massachusetts. Has created the same buzz of other gritty fight-fest films, such as Raging Bull, Rocky and Million Dollar Baby, not to mention the more recent The Wrestler. took more than four years to make and that received six Globe nominations. Preview

Yogi Bear 3D New Zealand scenery features in this mostly live-action film that also integrates animated characters from the 50-year-old cartoon series. Strictly for the kids.