In Cinemas this week (14 – 20 August)

My Sister’s Keeper

Conceived by means of in vitro fertilization, Anna Fitzgerald was brought into the world to be a genetic match for her older sister, Kate, who suffers from acute promyelocytic leukemia. Because of her sister’s dependency on her, Anna is unable to live the life she wants; in and out of the hospital constantly, she cannot take part in extracurricular activities such as cheerleading or soccer. When Kate turns 13 she goes into renal failure. Knowing that she will have to donate one of her kidneys to her sister, Anna sues her parents for medical emancipation and the rights to her own body. Attorney Campbell Alexander agrees to work for Anna pro bono.

Cast:
Abigail Breslin (Andromeda ‘Anna’ Fitzgerald)
Sofia Vassilieva (Kate Fitzgerald)
Cameron Diaz (Sara Fitzgerald)
Alec Baldwin (Campbell Alexander)

Director: Nick Cassavetes
Writer: Jeremy Leven, Nick Cassavetes
Runtime: 109 min
Genre: Drama
Rating: 15
Language: English
Production Year: 2009

In the Electric Mist

New Iberia, Louisiana. Detective Dave Robicheaux is on the hunt of a serial killer who preys on young women. Driving home another gruesome crime scene, Dave meets glamorous Hollywood star Elrod Sykes. Sykes is in town shooting his new movie, with backing from local crime kingpin Baby Feet Balboni. He tells Dave he saw a body lying in a swamp – the decomposed corpse of a black man in chains. The discovery brings memories hurting out of Dave’s past. He senses the two cases are linked. But as Dave gets closer the murderer gets closer to Dave and his family.

Cast:
Tommy Lee Jones (Dave Robicheaux)
John Goodman (Julie ‘Baby Feet’ Balboni)
Peter Sarsgaard (Elrod Sykes)
Mary Steenburgen (Bootsie Robicheaux)

Director: Bertrand Tavernier
Writer: Jerzy Kromolowski, Mary Olson-Kromolowski
Runtime: 102 min
Genre: Drama, Mystery
Rating: 15
Language: English
Production Year: 2009

The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3

Four heavily armed men, led by a man who calls himself “Ryder” hijack a New York City subway train, holding the passengers hostage in return for a ransom, and turning an ordinary day’s work for dispatcher Walter Garber into a face-off with the mastermind behind the crime.

Cast:
Denzel Washington (Walter Garber)
John Travolta (Ryder)
John Turturro (Camonetti)
James Gandolfini (Mayor)

Director: Tony Scott
Writer: Brian Helgeland
Runtime: 121 min
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Rating: 15
Language: English
Production Year: 2009

Pains of Autumn

As the year 1955 is moving towards autumn, Turkey’s increasingly tense political atmosphere starts to cast its dark shadow on the glittering beauty of Beyoglu. Behcet is the only son of a man in whom the government takes a close interest due to his strong influence in Antakya. While working as a research assistant at the Faculty of Law in Istanbul, Behcet is falling under the sway of extreme nationalism as a result of his upbringing and the influential role model of his father. When Behcet falls for a Greek neighbour, Elena, he finds himself in a conflict between his feelings and politics under the shadow of the events of September 6th-7th in 1955.

Cast:
Murat Yildirim (Behcet)
Okan Yalabik (Suat)
Beren Saat (Elena)
Belcim Bilgin (Nemika)

Director: Tomris Giritlioglu
Writer: Ali Ulvi Hünkar
Runtime: 112 min
Genre: Drama
Rating: 12
Language: Turkish
Production Year: 2009

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

In the sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft, and in both wizard and muggle worlds Lord Volemort and his henchmen are increasingly active. With vacancies to fill at Hogwarts, Professor Dumbledor persuades Horace Slughorn, back from retirement to become the potions teacher, while Professor Snape receives long awaited news. Harry Potter, together with Dumbledore, must face treacherous tasks to defeat his evil nemesis.

Cast:
Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter)
Michael Gambon (Professor Albus Dumbledore)
Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley)
Emma Watson (Hermione Granger)
Alan Rickman (Professor Severus Snape)

Director: David Yates
Writer: Steve Kloves
Runtime: 153 min
Genre: Adventure, Fantasy
Rating: 12
Language: English
Production Year: 2009

17 Again

In 1989, Michael O’Donnell was a star athlete with a full college scholarship imminent. He seemingly had it all, when, right before the championship game, his girlfriend Scarlet informed him she was pregnant. In that moment, he made the decision to throw everything away (including basketball and a chance at a scholarship) and proposed to her. Twenty years later, Mike’s life has come to a standstill. Scarlet has separated from him, forcing him to move in with his geeky, but millionaire, best friend Ned Gold, his job is going nowhere, and his kids Maggie and Alex want nothing to do with him. While paying a visit to Hayden High School to reminisce about the life he threw away, he encounters the mysterious janitor. On the way home, Mike is magically transformed back into his 17-year old self. With Ned posing as his father, he re-enrolls in high school, believing he has been given the chance to live his life over again, “but to do it right”.

Cast:
Zac Efron (Mike O’Donnell (Teen))
Matthew Perry (Mike O’Donnell (Adult))
Leslie Mann (Scarlett O’Donnell)
Michelle Trachtenberg (Maggie O’Donnell)

Director: Burr Steers
Writer: Jason Filardi
Runtime: 102 min
Genre: Comedy
Rating: K
Language: English
Production Year: 2009

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (English)

After the events of “Ice Age: The Meltdown”, life begins to change for Manny and his friends: Scrat is still on the hunt to hold onto his beloved acorn, while finding a possible romance in a female sabre-toothed squirrel named Scratte. Manny and Ellie, having since become an item, are expecting a baby, which leaves Manny anxious to ensure that everything is perfect for when his baby arrives. Diego is fed up with being treated like a house-cat and ponders the notion that he is becoming too laid-back. Sid begins to wish for a family of his own, and so steals some dinosaur eggs which leads to Sid ending up in a strange underground world where his herd must rescue him, while dodging dinosaurs and facing danger left and right, and meeting up with a one-eyed weasel known as Buck who hunts dinosaurs intently.

Voices:
John Leguizamo (Sid)
Denis Leary (Diego)
Queen Latifah (Ellie)
Ray Romano (Manny)

Director: Carlos Saldanha
Writer: Peter Ackerman, Michael Berg
Runtime: 96 min
Genre: Animation, Action, Comedy, Romance
Rating: K
Language: English
Production Year: 2009

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (Greek)

After the events of “Ice Age: The Meltdown”, life begins to change for Manny and his friends: Scrat is still on the hunt to hold onto his beloved acorn, while finding a possible romance in a female sabre-toothed squirrel named Scratte. Manny and Ellie, having since become an item, are expecting a baby, which leaves Manny anxious to ensure that everything is perfect for when his baby arrives. Diego is fed up with being treated like a house-cat and ponders the notion that he is becoming too laid-back. Sid begins to wish for a family of his own, and so steals some dinosaur eggs which leads to Sid ending up in a strange underground world where his herd must rescue him, while dodging dinosaurs and facing danger left and right, and meeting up with a one-eyed weasel known as Buck who hunts dinosaurs intently.

Voices:
Petros Philippides
Yannis Bezos
Yannis Politakis
Leonidas Kakouris

Director: Carlos Saldanha
Writer: Peter Ackerman, Michael Berg
Runtime: 96 min
Genre: Animation, Action, Comedy, Romance
Rating: K
Language: Greek
Production Year: 2009

The Hangover

Doug Billings and Tracy Garner are about to get married. Two days before the wedding, the four men in the wedding party – Doug, Doug’s two best buddies Phil and Stu, and Tracy’s brother Alan – hop into Tracy’s father’s beloved Mercedes convertible for a 24-hour stag party to Las Vegas. The morning after their arrival in Las Vegas, they awaken in their hotel suite each with the worst hangover. None remembers what happened in the past twelve or so hours. The suite is in shambles. And certain things are in the suite that shouldn’t be, and certain things that should be in the suite are missing. Probably the most important in the latter category is Doug. As Phil, Stu and Alan try to find Doug using only what little pieces of information they have at hand, they go on a journey of discovery of how certain things got into the suite and what happened to the missing items. However they are on a race for time as if they can’t find Doug in the next few hours, they are going to have to explain to Tracy why they are not yet back in Los Angeles. And even worse, they may not find Doug at all before the wedding.

Cast:
Bradley Cooper (Phil Wenneck)
Ed Helms (Stu Price)
Zach Galifianakis (Alan Garner)
Justin Bartha (Doug Billings)

Director: Todd Phillips
Writer: Jon Lucas, Scott Moore
Runtime: 100 min
Genre: Comedy
Rating: 15
Language: English
Production Year: 2009

The Proposal

When high-powered book editor Margaret faces deportation to her native Canada, the quick-thinking exec declares that she’s actually engaged to her unsuspecting put-upon assistant Andrew, who she’s tormented for years. He agrees to participate in the charade, but with a few conditions of his own. The unlikely couple heads to Alaska to meet his quirky family and the always-in-control city girl finds herself in one comedic fish-out-of-water situation after another. With an impromptu wedding in the works and an immigration official on their tails, Margaret and Andrew reluctantly vow to stick to the plan despite the precarious consequences.

Cast:
Sandra Bullock (Margaret Tate)
Ryan Reynolds (Andrew Paxton)
Mary Steenburgen (Grace Paxton)
Craig T. Nelson (Joe Paxton)

Director: Anne Fletcher
Writer: Pete Chiarelli
Runtime: 108 min
Genre: Comedy, Romance
Rating: 12
Language: English
Production Year: 2009

The Last House on the Left

After kidnapping and brutally assaulting two young women, a gang led by a prison escapee unknowingly finds refuge at a vacation home belonging to the parents of one of the victims — a mother and father who devise an increasingly gruesome series of revenge tactics.

Cast:
Tony Goldwyn (John Collingwood)
Monica Potter (Emma Collingwood)
Sara Paxton Carter (Mari Collingwood)
Garret Dillahunt (Krug)

Director: Dennis Iliadis
Writer: Adam Alleca, Carl Ellsworth
Runtime: 110 min
Genre: Crime, Drama, Horror, Thriller
Rating: 18
Language: English
Production Year: 2009