In Cinemas this week (11 – 17 January)

Les Misérables

Based on the novel by Victor Hugo, ‘Les Miserables’ travels with prisoner-on-parole, 24601, Jean Valjean, as he runs from the ruthless Inspector Javert on a journey beyond the barricades, at the center of the June Rebellion. Meanwhile, the life of a working class girl with a child is at turning point as she turns to prostitution to pay money to the evil innkeeper and his wife who look after her child, Cosette. Valjean promises to take care of the child. The fateful decision changes their lives forever.

Cast:
Hugh Jackman (Jean Valjean)
Russell Crowe (Javert)
Anne Hathaway (Fantine)
Amanda Seyfried (Cosette)

Director: Tom Hooper
Writer: Claude-Michel Schönberg, Alain Boublil
Runtime: 157 min
Genre: Drama, Musical, Romance
Rating: 12
Language: English
Production Year: 2012

Hope Springs

Kay and Arnold are a middle-aged couple whose marriage has declined until they are now sleeping in separate rooms and barely interact in any meaningful loving way. Finally, Kay has had enough and finds a book by Dr. Feld which inspires her to sign them up for the Doctor’s intense week long marriage counseling session. Although Arnold sees nothing wrong with their 30 year long marriage, he reluctantly agrees to go on the expensive excursion. What follows is an insightful experience as Dr. Feld manages to help the couple understand how they have emotionally drifted apart and what they can do to reignite their passion. Even with the Doctor’s advice, Kay and Arnold find that renewing their marriage’s fire is a daunting challenge for them both.

Cast:
Meryl Streep (Kay)
Tommy Lee Jones (Arnold)
Steve Carell (Dr. Feld)
Jean Smart (Eileen)

Director: David Frankel
Writer: Vanessa Taylor
Runtime: 100 min
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Rating: 12
Language: English
Production Year: 2012

Jack Reacher

In an innocent heartland city, five are shot dead by an expert sniper. The police quickly identify and arrest the culprit, and build a slam-dunk case. But the accused man claims he’s innocent and says “Get Jack Reacher.” Reacher himself sees the news report and turns up in the city. The defense is immensely relieved, but Reacher has come to bury the guy. Shocked at the accused’s request, Reacher sets out to confirm for himself the absolute certainty of the man’s guilt, but comes up with more than he bargained for.

Cast:
Tom Cruise (Reacher)
Rosamund Pike (Helen)
Richard Jenkins (Rodin)
Werner Herzog (The Zec)

Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Writer: Lee Child, Christopher McQuarrie
Runtime: 130 min
Genre: Action, Crime, Thriller
Rating: 15
Language: English
Production Year: 2012

House at the End of the Street

Newly divorced Sarah and her daughter Elissa find the house of their dreams in a small, upscale, rural town. But when startling and unexplainable events begin to happen, Sarah and Elissa learn the town is in the shadows of a chilling secret.

Cast:
Jennifer Lawrence (Elissa)
Max Thieriot (Ryan)
Elisabeth Shue (Sarah)
Gil Bellows (Weaver)

Director: Mark Tonderai
Writer: David Loucka, Jonathan Mostow
Runtime: 101 min
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Rating: 15
Language: English
Production Year: 2012

Cloud Atlas

Everything is connected: an 1849 diary of an ocean voyage across the Pacific; letters from a composer to his friend; a thriller about a murder at a nuclear power plant; a farce about a publisher in a nursing home; a rebellious clone in futuristic Korea; and the tale of a tribe living in post-apocalyptic Hawaii, far in the future.

Cast:
Tom Hanks
Halle Berry
Hugo Weaving
Hugh Grant

Director: Tom Tykwer, Andy Wachowski
Writer: David Mitchell, Lana Wachowski
Runtime: 172 min
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Rating: 15
Language: English
Production Year: 2012

What If… (Αν…)

The story focuses on the lives of two young men Dimitris and Christina who meet in two parallel universes under different circumstances. In the first story their love is fierce and undeniable, yet they experience problems because of the economic crisis and these have an impact on them. But what IF they had met under different circumstances?

Cast:
Christoforos Papakaliatis (Dimitris)
Marina Kalogirou (Christina)
Maro Kodou (Elenitsa Kokovikou)
Giorgos Konstadinou (Antonakis Kokovikos)

Director: Christoforos Papakaliatis
Writer: Christoforos Papakaliatis
Runtime: 111 min
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Rating: 12
Language: Greek
Production Year: 2012

Wreck-It Ralph 3D (Greek)

Wreck-It Ralph longs to be as beloved as his game’s perfect Good Guy, Fix-It Felix. Problem is nobody loves a Bad Guy. But they do love heroes… So when a modern, first-person shooter game arrives featuring tough-as-nails Sergeant Calhoun, Ralph sees it as his ticket to heroism and happiness. He sneaks into the game with a simple plan – win a medal – but soon wrecks everything, and accidentally unleashes a deadly enemy that threatens every game in the arcade. Ralph’s only hope? Vanellope von Schweetz, a young troublemaking “glitch” from a candy-coated cart racing game who might just be the one to teach Ralph what it means to be a Good Guy. But will he realize he is good enough to become a hero before it’s “Game Over” for the entire arcade?

Voices:
Vasilis Axiotis
Cleopatra Rontiri
Othonas Metaxas
Iphigenia Staikou

Director: Rich Moore
Writer: Rich Moore, Phil Johnston
Runtime: 108 min
Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy
Rating: K
Language: Greek
Production Year: 2012

Life of Pi

Based on the best-selling novel by Yann Martel, is a magical adventure story centering on Pi Patel, the precocious son of a zoo keeper. Dwellers in Pondicherry, India, the family decides to move to Canada, hitching a ride on a huge freighter. After a shipwreck, Pi finds himself adrift in the Pacific Ocean on a 26-foot lifeboat with a zebra, a hyena, an orangutan and a 450-pound Bengal tiger named Richard Parker, all fighting for survival.

Cast:
Suraj Sharma (Pi Patel)
Irrfan Khan (Adult Pi Patel)
Gérard Depardieu (Cook)
Tabu (Gita Patel)

Director: Ang Lee
Writer: David Magee, Yann Martel
Runtime: 127 min
Genre: Adventure, Drama
Rating: K
Language: English
Production Year: 2012

Zarafa (Greek)

Under a baobab tree, an old man tells a story to the children around him: The story of the everlasting friendship between Maki, a little boy aged 10, and Zarafa, an orphaned giraffe, a gift from the Pasha of Egypt to the King of France, Charles X. Hassan, Prince of the Desert, is instructed by the Pasha to deliver Zarafa to France. But Maki has made up his mind to do everything in his power to stop Hassan from fulfilling his mission and to bring the giraffe back to its native land – even if it means risking his own life – because he must fulfill his promise to Zarafa’s late mother. During an epic journey that takes them from Sudan to Paris, passing on the way through Alexandria, Marseille and the snow-capped Alps, they have many adventures, crossing paths with the aviator Malaterre, a pair of unusual twin cows called Mounh and Sounh, and the pirate queen Bouboulina.

Director: Rémi Bezançon, Jean-Christophe Lie
Writer: Alexander Abela, Rémi Bezançon
Runtime: 78 min
Genre: Animation, Family
Rating: K
Language: Greek
Production Year: 2012

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey 3D/2D

Bilbo Baggins is swept into a quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor from the fearsome dragon Smaug. Approached out of the blue by the wizard Gandalf the Grey, Bilbo finds himself joining a company of thirteen dwarves led by the legendary warrior, Thorin Oakenshield. Their journey will take them into the Wild; through treacherous lands swarming with Goblins and Orcs, deadly Wargs and Giant Spiders, Shapeshifters and Sorcerers. Although their goal lies to the East and the wastelands of the Lonely Mountain first they must escape the goblin tunnels, where Bilbo meets the creature that will change his life forever … Gollum. Here, alone with Gollum, on the shores of an underground lake, the unassuming Bilbo Baggins not only discovers depths of guile and courage that surprise even him, he also gains possession of Gollum’s “precious” ring that holds unexpected and useful qualities … A simple, gold ring that is tied to the fate of all Middle-earth in ways Bilbo cannot begin to know.

Cast:
Ian McKellen (Gandalf)
Martin Freeman (Bilbo)
Richard Armitage (Thorin)
Ken Stott (Balin)

Director: Peter Jackson
Writer: Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens
Runtime: 169 min
Genre: Adventure, Fantasy
Rating: 12
Language: English
Production Year: 2012

Hotel Transylvania 3D/2D (Greek)

Welcome to the Hotel Transylvania, Dracula’s lavish five-stake resort, where monsters and their families can live it up, free to be the monsters they are without humans to bother them. On one special weekend, Dracula has invited some of the world’s most famous monsters – Frankenstein and his wife, the Mummy, the Invisible Man, a family of werewolves, and more – to celebrate his daughter Mavis’ 118th birthday. For Drac, catering to all of these legendary monsters is no problem – but his world could come crashing down when a human stumbles on the hotel for the first time and takes a shine to Mavis.

Voices:
Vassilis Charalambopoulos
Stefania Filiadi
Angelos Liagos
Elias Zervos

Director: Genndy Tartakovsky
Writer: Peter Baynham, Robert Smigel
Runtime: 91 min
Genre: Animation, Comedy, Family
Rating: K
Language: Greek
Production Year: 2012

Rise of the Guardians 3D/2D

When an evil spirit known as Pitch lays down the gauntlet to take over the world, the immortal Guardians must join forces for the first time to protect the hopes, beliefs and imagination of children all over the world.

Voices:
Chris Pine / Antinoos Albanis (Jack Frost)
Alec Baldwin / Costas Triandafillopoulos (North)
Jude Law / Christodoulos Stylianou
Hugh Jackman / Vassilis Milios

Director: Peter Ramsey
Writer: David Lindsay-Abaire, William Joyce
Runtime: 97 min
Genre: Animation, Adventure, Family
Rating: K
Language: English / Greek
Production Year: 2012