In Cinemas this week (30 Jan – 5 Feb.)

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

On the day that Hurricane Katrina hits New Orleans, elderly Daisy Williams nee Fuller is on her deathbed in a New Orleans hospital. At her side is her adult daughter, Caroline. Daisy asks Caroline to read to her aloud the diary of Daisy’s lifelong friend, Benjamin Button. Benjamin’s diary recounts his entire extraordinary life, the primary unusual aspect of which was his aging backwards, being born an old man who was diagnosed with several aged diseases at birth and thus given little chance of survival, but who does survive and gets younger with time.

Cast:
Brad Pitt (Benjamin Button)
Cate Blanchett (Daisy)
Julia Ormond (Caroline)
Tilda Swinton (Elizabeth Abbott)

Director: David Fincher
Writer: Eric Roth
Runtime: 166 min
Genre: Mystery, Romance
Rating: 12
Language: English
Production Year: 2008

The Spirit

Rookie cop named Denny Colt returns from the beyond as The Spirit, a hero whose mission is to fight against the bad forces from the shadows of Central City. The Octopus who kills anyone unfortunate enough to see his face however has other plans. He’s going to wipe out the entire city. The Spirit tracks this cold hearted killer from the city’s rundown warehouses, to the catacombs, to the windswept waterfront all the while facing a bevy of beautiful women who either want to seduce, love or kill the masked crusader.

Cast:
Gabriel Macht (The Spirit / Denny Colt)
Samuel L. Jackson (The Octopus)
Scarlett Johansson (Silken Floss)
Eva Mendes (Sand Saref)

Director: Frank Miller
Writer: Frank Miller, Will Eisner
Runtime: 108 min
Genre: Action, Comedy, Thriller
Rating: 12
Language: English
Production Year: 2008

Beverly Hills Chihuahua

Chloe is a Beverly Hills Chihuahua who is just so pampered, with clothes, jewelery, and a life style anyone would die to have. Her owner, Vivian, has to go away on a business trip and leaves her party girl niece, Rachel, to watch Chloe. When they go to Mexico, Chloe is kidnapped and put into a dog fight… she is then saved by another dog, Delgado, who is going to help her get back to Beverly Hills. But when the man who runs the dog fights finds out that Chloe is worth something, he sends his Doberman dog, Diablo, after her. Rachel, the land scaper, Sam, and his dog, Pepi who is also in love with Chloe, are on the hunt to find her and get her home safe and sound.

Cast:
Drew Barrymore (Chloe – voice)
Piper Perabo (Rachel Ashe Lynn)
Andy Garcia (Delgado – voice)
George Lopez (Papi – voice)

Director: Raja Gosnell
Writer: Analisa LaBianco, Jeffrey Bushell
Runtime: 91 min
Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Family
Rating: K
Language: English
Production Year: 2008

Changeling

As Christine said goodbye to her son, Walter, and departed for work, she never anticipated that this was the day her life would be forever changed. Upon returning home, Christine was distressed to discover that Walter was nowhere to be found. Over the course of the following months, the desperate mother would launch a search that would ultimately prove fruitless. Yet just when it seemed that all hope was lost, a nine-year-old boy claiming to be Christine’s son seemed to appear out of thin air. Overcome with emotions and uncertain how to face the authorities or the press, Christine invites the child to stay in her home despite knowing without a doubt that he is not her son.

Cast:
Angelina Jolie (Christine Collins)
Gattlin Griffith (Walter Collins)
John Malkovich (Rev. Gustav Briegleb)
Colm Feore (Chief James E. Davis)

Director: Clint Eastwood
Writer: J. Michael Straczynski
Runtime: 141 min
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Rating: 15
Language: English
Production Year: 2008

Underworld: Rise of the Lycans

The prequel story traces the origins of the centuries-old blood feud between the aristocratic vampires and their onetime slaves, the Lycans. In the Dark Ages, a young Lycan named Lucian emerges as a powerful leader who rallies the werewolves to rise up against Viktor, the cruel vampire king who has enslaved them. Lucian is joined by his secret lover, Sonja, in his battle against the Vampire army and his struggle for Lycan freedom.

Cast:
Michael Sheen (Lucian)
Bill Nighy (Viktor)
Rhona Mitra (Sonja)
Steven Mackintosh (Tannis)

Director: Patrick Tatopoulos
Writer: Danny McBride, Dirk Blackman
Runtime: 92 min
Genre: Action, Thriller
Rating: 18
Language: English
Production Year: 2009

Twilight

Bella Swan has always been a little bit different, never caring about fitting in with the trendy girls at her Phoenix high school. When her mother re-marries and sends Bella to live with her father in the little town of Forks, she doesn’t expect much of anything to change. Then she meets the mysterious and dazzlingly beautiful Edward Cullen, a boy unlike any she’s ever met. Edward is a vampire. Soon, they are swept up in a passionate, thrilling and unorthodox romance. But the closer they get, the more Edward must struggle to resist the primal pull of her scent, which could send him into an uncontrollable frenzy. But what will Edward and Bella do when a clan of new vampires come to town and threaten to disrupt their way of life?

Cast:
Kristen Stewart (Bella Swan)
Robert Pattinson (Edward Cullen)
Billy Burke (Charlie Swan)
Ashley Greene (Alice Cullen)

Director: Catherine Hardwicke
Writer: Melissa Rosenberg, Stephenie Meyer
Runtime: 122 min
Genre: Drama, Romance, Thriller
Rating: 12
Language: English
Production Year: 2008

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (Greek)

The sequel to 2005’s “Madagascar”, in which New York Zoo animals, Alex the Lion, Marty the Zebra, Melman the Giraffe and Gloria the Hippo, still stranded on Madagascar, start to leave the island. All of a sudden, they land in the wilderness of Africa, where Alex meets the rest of his family, but has trouble communicating with them after spending so much time at the Central Park Zoo.

Voices:
Gerasimos Gennatas
Diamantis Karanastasis
Katerina Girgis
Thanos Kalliris

Director: Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath
Writer: Etan Cohen
Runtime: 89 min
Genre: Animation, Action, Adventure, Comedy, Family
Rating: K
Language:Greek
Production Year: 2008

Igor (Greek)

Igor may have been born with a brilliant mind, but unfortunately everyone around him is too distracted by his pronounced hunchback to notice. Forced to serve as a lowly lab assistant to nefarious scientist Dr. Glickenstein, Igor longs for the day he will become a mad scientist, take top prize at the Evil Science Fair, and finally win the heart of village vixen Gretchen. Every year, mad scientists from all of the local villages converge on Malaria to compete in the annual Evil Science Fair, an event that always features an abundance of death rays, earthquake generators, and man-eating plants.

Voices:
Vassilis Charalampopoulos
Costas Darlasis
Demetris Kotsaris
Giannis Stefopoulos

Director: Anthony Leondis
Writer: Chris McKenna
Runtime: 87 min
Genre: Animation, Comedy, Family
Rating: K
Language:Greek
Production Year: 2008

Bank Bang

Two brothers, Michalis and Nondas, work at a funerals office. Nondas has trouble with the Greek mafia and should immediately find a large amount of money. Thus, he proposes to Mihalis to start robbing banks. The situation gets out of control when Mihalis falls deeply in love with a bank clerk.

Cast:
Vassilis Charalampopoulos (Michalis)
Dimitris Imelos (Nondas)
Thanos Samaras (Doukas)
Costas Voutsas (Ermolaos)
Marissa Triantafillidou (Lena)

Director: Argyris Papadimitropoulos
Writer: Vassilis Charalampopoulos
Runtime: 90 min
Genre: Comedy
Rating: K
Language:Greek
Production Year: 2008

Role Models

After being arrested for trashing a company truck on an energy drink-fueled bender two salesmen, Danny and Wheeler, are given a choice: do hard time or spend 150 hours with a mentorship program. After one day with the kids, however, jail doesn’t look half bad. Once the center’s ex-con director gives them an ultimatum, Danny and Wheeler are forced to tailor their brand of immature wisdom to their charges, Augie and Ronnie. And if they can just make it through probation without getting thrown in jail, the world’s worst role models will prove that, sometimes, it takes a village idiot to raise a child.

Cast:
Seann William Scott (Wheeler)
Paul Rudd (Danny Donahue)
Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Augie Farks)
Bobb’e J. Thompson (Ronnie Shields)

Director: David Wain
Writer: Paul Rudd, David Wain
Runtime: 99 min
Genre: Comedy
Rating: 15
Language: English
Production Year: 2008

Bedtime Stories

Skeeter Bronson is a hotel handyman whose life is changed forever when the bedtime stories he tells his niece and nephew start to mysteriously come true. He attempts to take advantage of the phenomenon, incorporating his own aspirations into one outlandish tale after another, but it’s the kids’ unexpected contributions that turn Skeeter’s life upside down, such as when his niece says that he will die.

Cast:
Adam Sandler (Skeeter Bronson)
Keri Russell (Jill)
Guy Pearce (Kendall)
Courteney Cox (Wendy)

Director: Adam Shankman
Writer: Matt Lopez, Tim Herlihy
Runtime: 95 min
Genre: Comedy, Family, Fantasy
Rating: Κ
Language: English
Production Year: 2008

City of Ember

For generations, the people of the City of Ember have flourished in an amazing world of glittering lights. But Ember’s once powerful generator is failing … and the great lamps that illuminate the city are starting to flicker. Now, two teenagers in a race against time, must search Ember for clues that will unlock the ancient mystery of the city’s existence, and help the citizens escape before the lights go out forever.

Cast:
Bill Murray (Mayor Cole)
Tim Robbins (Loris Harrow)
Harry Treadaway (Doon Harrow)
Lucinda Dryzek (Lizzie Bisco)

Director: Gil Kenan
Writer: Caroline Thompson, Jeanne Duprau
Runtime: 95 min
Genre: Adventure, Family, Fantasy
Rating: K
Language: English
Production Year: 2008

Australia

In northern Australia at the beginning of World War II, an English aristocrat inherits a cattle station the size of Maryland. When English cattle barons plot to take her land, she reluctantly joins forces with a rough-hewn stock-man to drive 2,000 head of cattle across hundreds of miles of the country’s most unforgiving land, only to still face the bombing of Darwin, Australia, by the Japanese forces that had attacked Pearl Harbor only months earlier.

Cast:
Hugh Jackman (Drover)
Nicole Kidman (Lady Sarah Ashley)
Shea Adams (Carney Boy)
Tony Barry (Sergeant Callahan)

Director: Baz Luhrmann
Writer: Baz Luhrmann, Stuart Beattie
Runtime: 165 min
Genre: Adventure, Drama, War
Rating: 12
Language: English
Production Year: 2008

High School Musical 3

As seniors in high school, Troy and Gabriella struggle with the idea of being separated from one another as college approaches. Along with the rest of the Wildcats, they stage a spring musical to address their experiences, hopes and fears about their future.

Cast:
Zac Efron (Troy Bolton)
Vanessa Hudgens (Gabriella Montez)
Ashley Tisdale (Sharpay Evans)
Lucas Grabeel (Ryan Evans)

Director: Kenny Ortega
Writer: Peter Barsocchini
Runtime: 112 min
Genre: Comedy, Musical, Romance
Rating: K
Language: English
Production Year: 2008