HDTV Movie Premieres: November 27-December 3

Mona Lisa Smile: Sky Movies Greats, 8.30pm Saturday.

This cliched, feminist life’s lessons twist on Dead Poets Society stars Julia Roberts as a radical ’50s arts teacher who inspires her pearls-and-twin set students at a posh girls’ college to see beyond motherhood and housekeeping. Kirsten Dunst and Julia Stiles are excellent but can’t disguise the fact they’re too old for their parts while Roberts’ character is a Jean Brodie before her prime. Mike Newell (Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time) directs. (2003)

Zombieland: Sky Movies, 8.30pm Sunday.

Welcome to the “United States of Zombieland,” in which the home of McDonald’s has been overrun by the living dead with an appetite for “human Happy Meals”. As stylish as it is stomach churning, Zombieland can’t match Shaun of the Dead for wit, pace and thrills but the special effects are better and Woody Harrelson hits a home run as a baseball bat-swatting, natural-born killer of the undead. Jesse Eisneberg, Abigail Breslin and Bill Murray co-star. (2009)

The Marine 2: Sky Movies, 8.30pm Monday.

Another pro-wrestler fills the shoes of original Marine John Cena in this direct-to-DVD sequel: Ted DiBiase Jr plays a Marine sniper holidaying in an Asian resort that’s overrun by rebels led by Temuera Morrison. ‘nuff said. (2009)

Say It Isn’t So: Sky Movies Greats, 8.30pm Sky Movies Greats.

The Farrelly Brothers (There’s Something About Mary) unwisely produced this bumpy road comedy about a young man who falls for a woman who, it turns out, could be his biological sister. Chris Klein, Orlando Jones, Heather Graham and Sally Field star; American Pie 2’s James B Rogers directs. (2001)

Jennifer’s Body: Sky Movies, 8.30pm Tuesday.

Big Love’s Amanda Seyfried plays Megan Fox’s nerdish “best friend forever” – or at least until Satanists turn her cheerleader pal into a boy-hungry demon. It’s a premise ripe for high school satire or slasher exploitation but Karyn Kusama (Girlfight, Aeon Flux) fails to maximise either possibility, largely because the screenplay is as schizophrenic as writer Diablo Cody’s heroine in TV’s The United States of Tara. (2009)

Away We Go: Sky Movies, 8.30pm Wednesday.

After the glossy hollowness of Revolutionary Road, director Sam Mendes is back on the right track with this captivating comedy about a couple on the cusp of parenthood criss-crossing America in search of a place to call home. Offbeat and observant, it has wondrous leads, memorable characters and a witty script, but is undermined by a fairy tale ending that seems at odds with the couple’s quest for equanimity. John Krasinski, Maya Rudolph and Maggie Gyllenhaal. Star. (2009)

Cheaper by the Dozen 2: TV3, 7.30pm Thursday.

Happily, the title of this half-baked sequel hasn’t proved to be the harbinger of a franchise starring Steve Martin as the father who never knows best. Adam Shankman (Bedtime Stories, Hairspray) directs; Eugene Levy, Hillary Duff and Carmen Electra co-star. (2005)