The Spectacular Now, Delivery Man and Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs 2 get Leigh's view

AN unpolished gem, a safe Vince Vaughan vehicle and cartoon food - the flicks to pick this weekend, according to Leigh Paatsch.

NEVER TOO COOL, NOT TO BE SCHOOLED

The unpolished gem THE SPECTACULAR NOW finds new life and surprising depth in a genre most have written off as dormant and shallow. This might be a high-school romance affair, but it is one which doesn't play by the predictable rules. Aimee (Shailene Woodley) has never had a boyfriend like Sutter (Miles Teller) before. In fact, she has never had a boyfriend, full stop. She's led a sheltered life until now. As for Sutter, he's been out in the open for too long. The lad has the makings of a serious drinking problem. Like last year's Perks of Being a Wallflower, this excellent movie convincingly charts the many dramas that are part of being a teenager. The sincere chemistry that evolves between Woodley and Teller across the picture never lets its intensity nor intimacy flag for a moment. Viewers who lock into the precise storytelling frequency transmitted here will be rewarded with a connection that will continue to stir the emotions well after it is over. Co-stars Jennifer Jason Leigh, Bob Odenkirk. {General release.}

News_Rich_Media: An affable underachiever finds out he's fathered 523 children through anonymous donations to a fertility clinic 20 years ago. Courtesy: Dreamworks

HE SEEDED IT. BUT HE DON'T BELIEVE IT

Vince Vaughn (The Internship, Wedding Crashers) has crashed too many times before with lazy performances in lack-lustre laugh vehicles. Therefore some will not care the lanky funnyman finally finds himself in DELIVERY MAN, a good mainstream comedy that goes the distance. He plays a secret (and prolific) sperm donor who must decide if he wants to remain anonymous after a distribution error leaves him as the biological father of 533 children. It is a clever-ish premise that is not placed under pressure to generate too many dumb chuckles for the sake of it. The more directly sentimental scenes often bring the best out of Vaughn and the movie as a whole. File under "happy accident." Co-stars Chris Pratt, Cobie Smulders. {General release.}

News_Rich_Media: In this clip from Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs 2, Flint tries to transport the gang back to Swallow Falls with his own invention, the Grocery Deliverator!

KEEP WATCHING THOSE COLOURY CALORIES

A second helping of surrealistically silly gastronomy is ready to be gulped down in CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS 2. This solid sequel to the 2009 animated hit is failsafe entertainment for the kids in the run-up to Christmas. The story remains centred on hapless inventor Flint Lockwood (voiced by Bill Hader), whose prize gizmo is now manufacturing creatures known as "foodimals" : living hybrids of food and animals. If you've never savoured exotic creatures such as shrimpanzees, tacodiles, flamangoes, watermelephants and - why, of course! - meatballruses, then here is a veritable zoo for the taste buds. Co-stars the voices of Anna Faris, Andy Samberg, Neil Patrick Harris. {General release.}

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