MOTHER'S DAY

Jennifer Aniston , playing a woman whose ex-hubby just got hooked to someone looking as young as a tween, meets Jason Sudeikis, a single Mr Mom with two teenage daughters, in a super- market. How sweet.

Kate Hudson's mum and dad give her a surprise visit, which leads to awkward loo moments. How cute.

Tomorrowland's Britt Robertson, an adopted chick, meets busy writer Julia Roberts who could possibly be her real mother. How lovely. In a cameo, Hector Elizondo imparts pearls of wisdom to Roberts just like he did eons ago in 1990's Pretty Woman. How sentimental.

Oh, you know this kind of wholesome, aw-shucks Garry Marshall comedy, right? Everybody smiles gigantic smiles in something that passes for a movie.

Marshall has been ticking off special days to commemorate - Valentine's Day (2010), New Year's Eve (2011) - as though he's Mr Calendar. What's next? April Fools' Day? Halloween? And yet, every time, we fall for this feel-good mush like suckers.

OUR KIND OF TRAITOR

What is it about actor Damian Lewis and traitors?

He was the American soldier- turned-terrorist in TV's Homeland and here, he's the British intelligence handler who instructs a mild- mannered teacher (Ewan McGregor) on the task of bringing in an asylum-seeking Russian oligarch- money-launderer-mobster (Stellan Skarsgard).

Lewis, reverting to his real Brit accent, sounds like a bespectacled pompous fuddy-duddy here since this spy thriller isn't James Bond or Jason Bourne, but is born out of a John le Carre novel. That means it is strictly old-school chat-and-stare. McGregor, as the reluctant go- between, is caught up in dangerous intrigue.

"Give this to your MI6", the gangster hands a USB drive to the teacher, which leads to crooked British politicians and bankers. The teaching profession just isn't what it used to be.

Tay Yek Keak