In Cinemas this week (1 May – 7 May)

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

James Logan aka Wolverine and his brother Victor Creed (who will later become Sabretooth) run away together as children in the mid 1850’s after Logan kills their biological father who had murdered Logan’s adoptive father. After serving together in many wars they are recruited by William Stryker to serve in a special unit made up of mutants. After wiping out an African villiage, Logan quits the unit and goes off to live a life of peace in the Canadian Rockies with his girlfriend later to be known as the Silver Fox.Six years pass for the both of them until Stryker shows up and asks Logan to come back and be a part of a new Weapon X project.

Cast:
Hugh Jackman (Logan / Wolverine)
Liev Schreiber (Victor Creed / Sabretooth)
Danny Huston (William Stryker)
Lynn Collins (Kayla Silverfox)

Director: Gavin Hood
Writer: David Benioff, Skip Woods
Runtime: 107 min
Genre: Action, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Rating: K
Language:English
Production Year: 2009

How to Lose Friends & Alienate People

Sidney Young is a disillusioned intellectual who both adores and despises the world of celebrity, fame and glamour. His alternative magazine, Post Modern Review, pokes fun at the media obsessed stars and bucks trends, and so when Young is offered a job at the diametrically opposed conservative New York based Sharps magazine its something of a shock! It seems Sharps editor Clayton Harding is amused by Young’s disruption of a post-BAFTA party with a pig posing as Babe. Thus begins Sidney’s descent into success – his gradual move from derided outsider to confidante of starlet Sophie Maes. Initially helping him out at Sharps is colleague Alison Olsen, who has her own secret. Wither their friendship?

Cast:
Simon Pegg (Sidney Young)
Kirsten Dunst (Alison Olsen)
Gillian Anderson (Eleanor Johnson)
Jeff Bridges (Clayton Harding)
Megan Fox (Sophie Maes)

Director: Robert B. Weide
Writer: Peter Straughan
Runtime: 110 min
Genre: Comedy, Romance
Rating: 15
Language:English
Production Year: 2008

Μικρό Έγκλημα (Small Crime)

Leonidas has just graduated from the Police Academy and is send to work in a beautiful but isolated island in the Aegean . His work is initially confined to affix signs “Nudism Prohibited” on the remote beaches of the island, but everything changes when he discovers the corpse of an old man, Zaharias.

Cast:
Aris Servetalis (Leonidas)
Vicky Papadopoulou (Angeliki)
Rania Ekonomidou
Antonis Katsaris

Director: Christos Georgiou
Writer: Christos Georgiou
Runtime: 85 min
Genre: Comedy
Rating: 12
Language: Greek
Production Year: 2009

S.E.X (Soula Ela Xana)

Soula fell in love and got disappointed many times in the past. She is now approaching thirty and has decided that she doesn’t want to spend the rest of her life alone. So she is going to meet again with her former lovers with the hope that one of them has now changed and transformed to the ideal partner. Things don’t turn out according to Soulas hopes, however.

Cast:
Zeta Makrypoulia (Soula)
Maria Androutsou
Faidra Drouka
Souli Sabah

Director: Vasilis Myrianthopoulos
Writer: Olga Michalopoulou, Vasilis Myrianthopoulos
Runtime: 85 min
Genre: Comedy, Romance
Rating: K
Language: Greek
Production Year: 2009

Duplicity

The Cold War has thawed, and for CIA agents seeking to make an easy mint, the real money is in multinational corporations. CIA officer Claire Stenwick and Ray Koval are both racing to secure the formula for a product that will bring untold wealth to the company that lands the patent first as the stakes begin to rise, and their passions start to flare. Meanwhile, their mutual employers, industry giant Howard Tully and trailblazing CEO Richard Garsik start resorting to some seriously underhanded tactics in hope of gaining an advantage over the competition. Loners by definition of their own careers, Claire and Ray engage in a series of schemes and double-crosses while contending with the fact that their mutual attraction could ultimately jeopardize their entire missions.

Cast:
Clive Owen (Ray Koval)
Julia Roberts (Claire Stenwick)
Tom Wilkinson (Howard Tully)
Paul Giamatti (Richard Garsik)

Director: Tony Gilroy
Writer: Tony Gilroy
Runtime: 125 min
Genre: Crime
Rating: K
Language:English
Production Year: 2009

Slumdog Millionaire

Eighteen year old Jamal Malik is having an amazing answering streak on “Kaun Banega Crorepati?”, the Indian version of the television game show “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire”. He’s only one correct question away from the big prize. However, some, including those associated with the game show, question how someone like Jamal, a self confessed non-genius who grew up in the slums of Mumbai, can be doing so well on the show when others who are brighter, more educated and wealthier than him have failed. Is Jamal cheating? Is it purely luck that they have asked him the questions to which he knows the answers? Seeing Jamal’s life journey to this point ultimately answers these questions. His life journey includes being orphaned at an early age; growing up with an older brother, Salim, who was both his guardian/protector and antagonist; and having a relationship since childhood with another orphaned child, a girl named Latika. His motivation for being on the show also may provide some answers to his success. Perhaps it was all just meant to be.

Cast:
Dev Patel (Jamal K. Malik)
Freida Pinto (Latika)
Anil Kapoor (Prem Kumar)
Saurabh Shukla (Sergeant Srinivas)

Director: Danny Boyle, Loveleen Tandan
Writer: Simon Beaufoy, Vikas Swarup
Runtime: 120 min
Genre: Crime, Drama, Romance
Rating: 12
Language: English
Production Year: 2008

Monsters vs Aliens (English)

When a meteorite from outer space hits a young California girl named Susan Murphy and turns her into a giant monster, she is taken to a secret government compound where she meets a ragtag group of monsters also rounded up over the years. As a last resort, under the guidance of General W.R. Monger, on a desperate order from The President, the motley crew of Monsters is called into action to combat the aliens and save the world from imminent destruction!

Voices:
Reese Witherspoon (Susan Murphy / Ginormica)
Seth Rogen (B.O.B.)
Kiefer Sutherland (General W.R. Monger)
Will Arnett (The Missing Link)

Director: Rob Letterman, Conrad Vernon
Writer: Maya Forbes, Wallace Wolodarsky
Runtime: 94 min
Genre: Animation
Rating: K
Language:English
Production Year: 2009

Monsters vs Aliens (Greek)

When a meteorite from outer space hits a young California girl named Susan Murphy and turns her into a giant monster, she is taken to a secret government compound where she meets a ragtag group of monsters also rounded up over the years. As a last resort, under the guidance of General W.R. Monger, on a desperate order from The President, the motley crew of Monsters is called into action to combat the aliens and save the world from imminent destruction!

Voices:
Danae Kalahora (Susan Murphy / Ginormica)
George Pyrpasopoulos (B.O.B.)
George Petrohilos (General W.R. Monger)
Christos Thanos (The Missing Link)

Director: Rob Letterman, Conrad Vernon
Writer: Maya Forbes, Wallace Wolodarsky
Runtime: 94 min
Genre: Animation
Rating: K
Language:Greek
Production Year: 2009

Fast & Furious 4

When a crime brings them back to L.A., fugitive ex-con Dom Toretto reignites his feud with agent Brian O’Connor. But as they are forced to confront a shared enemy, Dom and Brian must give in to an uncertain new trust if they hope to outmaneuver him. And from convoy heists to precision tunnel crawls across international lines, two men will find the best way to get revenge: push the limits of what’s possible behind the wheel.

Cast:
Vin Diesel (Dominic Toretto)
Paul Walker (Brian O’Conner)
Jordana Brewster (Mia Toretto)
Michelle Rodriguez (Letty)

Director: Justin Lin
Writer: Chris Morgan, Gary Scott Thompson
Runtime: 107 min
Genre: Action
Rating: 15
Language: English
Production Year: 2009

Gran Torino

Walt Kowalski is a widower who holds onto his prejudices despite the changes in his Michigan neighborhood and the world around him. Kowalski is a grumpy, tough-minded, unhappy old man, who can’t get along with either his kids or his neighbors, a Korean War veteran whose prize possession is a 1972 Gran Torino he keeps in mint condition. When his neighbor Thao, a young Hmong teenager under pressure from his gang member cousin, tries to steal his Gran Torino, Kowalski sets out to reform the youth. Drawn against his will into the life of Thao’s family, Kowalski is soon taking steps to protect them from the gangs that infest their neighborhood.

Cast:
Clint Eastwood (Walt Kowalski)
Christopher Carley (Father Janovich)
Bee Vang (Thao Vang Lor)
Brian Haley (Mitch Kowalski)

Director: Clint Eastwood
Writer: Nick Schenk, Dave Johannson
Runtime: 116 min
Genre: Crime, Drama
Rating: 15
Language: English
Production Year: 2008

Πεθαίνω για σένα! (Die for you!)

A family with communication problems is disrupted by a love triangle … or square. The mother is a former dancer who now teaches tango in a dance school. The teenage son is trying to find his sexual identity. The father is a traffic warden that likes to write lyrics for songs and has as a source of inspiration the lover of his wife. And there is also the deaf grandmother who is the only one who can see the storm coming.

Cast:
Eleni Randou (Zoe)
Fanis Mouratidis (Loukas)
Sifis Polyzoidis (Apostolis)
Michalis Iatropoulos (Babis)

Director: Nikos Karapanagiotis
Writer: Eleni Randou, Filippos Desillas
Runtime: 102 min
Genre: Comedy
Rating: 12
Language:Greek
Production Year: 2009

Race to Witch Mountain

For years, stories have circulated about a secret place in the middle of the Nevada desert known for unexplained phenomena and strange sightings. It is called Witch Mountain, and when Las Vegas cab driver Jack Bruno encounters two teens with supernatural powers in his cab, he suddenly finds himself in the middle of an adventure he can’t explain. Working together, Jack and his young passengers discover that the only chance to save the world lies in unraveling the secrets of Witch Mountain, and the race begins.

Cast:
Dwayne Johnson (Jack Bruno)
AnnaSophia Robb (Sara)
Alexander Ludwig (Seth)
Carla Gugino (Dr. Alex Friedman)

Director: Andy Fickman
Writer: Matt Lopez, Mark Bomback
Runtime: 98 min
Genre: Adventure, Comedy
Rating: 12
Language: English
Production Year: 2009

The Tale of Despereaux

The tale of three unlikely heroes – a misfit mouse who prefers reading books to eating them, an unhappy rat who schemes to leave the darkness of the dungeon, and a bumbling servant girl with cauliflower ears – whose fates are intertwined with that of the castle’s princess.

Voices:
Matthew Broderick (Despereaux)
Dustin Hoffman (Roscuro)
Emma Watson (Princess Pea)
Kevin Kline (Andre)

Director: Sam Fell, Robert Stevenhagen
Writer: Kate DiCamillo, Will McRobb
Runtime: 90 min
Genre: Adventure, Animation, Comedy, Family
Rating: K
Language:English
Production Year: 2008

Hotel For Dogs

When 16 year old Andi and her younger brother, Bruce, find themselves in a foster home with a strict "no pets" policy, Andi has to use her quick wit to help find a new home for their dog, Friday. The kids stumble upon an abandoned hotel and begin transforming it into the perfect home for Friday – as well as all the strays in the city. In no time, the kids have transformed the old hotel into something truly magical: a home for both the dogs and for themselves. But they have also aroused the suspicions of the police who want to know – who let the dogs in?

Cast:
Emma Roberts (Andi)
Jake T. Austin (Bruce)
Don Cheadle (Bernie)
Lisa Kudrow (Lois Scudder)

Director: Thor Freudenthal
Writer: Jeff Lowell, Robert Schooley
Runtime: 100 min
Genre: Comedy, Family
Rating: K
Language: English
Production Year: 2009

Bolt (Greek)

Bolt, an American White Shepherd, has lived his whole life on the set of his action TV show, where he believes he has superpowers. When separated from the studio by accident, he meets a female alley cat named Mittens and a hamster named Rhino. Along the way, he learns that he doesn’t have superpowers and that the show is not real.

Voices:
Katerina Tsavalou
Demetris Starovas
Smaragda Karidi
Chris William

Director: Byron Howard, Chris Williams
Writer: Dan Fogelman, Chris Williams
Runtime: 103 min
Genre: Animation, Comedy, Family
Rating: K
Language:Greek
Production Year: 2008