In Cinemas this week (12 – 18 April)

Oblivion

Jack Harper is one of the last few drone repairmen stationed on Earth. Part of a massive operation to extract vital resources after decades of war with a terrifying threat known as the Scavs, Jack’s mission is nearly complete. Living in and patrolling the skies from thousands of feet above, his existence is brought crashing down when he rescues a stranger from a downed spacecraft. Her arrival triggers a chain of events that forces him to question everything he knows and puts the fate of humanity in his hands.

Cast:
Tom Cruise (Jack)
Morgan Freeman (Beech)
Olga Kurylenko (Julia)
Andrea Riseborough (Victoria)

Director: Joseph Kosinski
Writer: Joseph Kosinski, Karl Gajdusek
Runtime: 126 min
Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Rating: 12
Language: English
Production Year: 2013

Silver Linings Playbook

Life doesn’t always go according to plan. Pat Solatano has lost everything – his house, his job, and his wife. He now finds himself living back with his mother and father after spending eight months in a state institution on a plea bargain. Pat is determined to rebuild his life, remain positive and reunite with his wife, despite the challenging circumstances of their separation. All Pat’s parents want is for him to get back on his feet – and to share their family’s obsession with the Philadelphia Eagles football team. When Pat meets Tiffany, a mysterious girl with problems of her own, things get complicated. Tiffany offers to help Pat reconnect with his wife, but only if he’ll do something very important for her in return.

Cast:
Bradley Cooper (Pat)
Jennifer Lawrence (Tiffany)
Robert De Niro (Pat Sr.)
Chris Tucker (Danny)

Director: David O. Russell
Writer: David O. Russell, Matthew Quick
Runtime: 122 min
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Rating: 12
Language: English
Production Year: 2012

Zero Dark Thirty

Maya is a CIA operative whose first experience is in the interrogation of prisoners following the Al Qaeda attacks against the U.S. on the 11th September 2001. She is a reluctant participant in extreme duress applied to the detainees, but believes that the truth may only be obtained through such tactics. For several years, she is single-minded in her pursuit of leads to uncover the whereabouts of Al Qaeda’s leader, Osama Bin Laden. Finally, in 2011, it appears that her work will pay off, and a U.S. Navy SEAL team is sent to kill or capture Bin Laden. But only Maya is confident Bin Laden is where she says he is.

Cast:
Jessica Chastain (Maya)
Jason Clarke (Dan)
Joel Edgerton (Patrick)
Mark Strong (George)

Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Writer: Mark Boal
Runtime: 157 min
Genre: Drama, History, Thriller
Rating: 15
Language: English
Production Year: 2012

Beautiful Creatures

Ethan longs to escape his small Southern town. He meets a mysterious new girl, Lena. Together, they uncover dark secrets about their respective families, their history and their town.

Cast:
Alden Ehrenreich (Ethan Wate)
Alice Englert (Lena Duchannes)
Jeremy Irons (Macon Ravenwood)
Viola Davis (Amma)

Director: Richard LaGravenese
Writer: Richard LaGravenese, Kami Garcia
Runtime: 124 min
Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Romance
Rating: 12
Language: English
Production Year: 2013

Pitch Perfect

The Barden Bellas are a collegiate, all-girls a cappella singing group thriving on female pop songs and their perfect looks. After a disastrous failing at last year’s finals, they are forced to regroup. Among the new recruits is freshman Beca, an independent, aspiring DJ with no interest in the college life. But after she meets Jesse, from the rival all-male a cappella group, Beca has a new outlook and takes it upon herself to help the Bellas find their new look and sound and get back into the competition.

Cast:
Anna Kendrick (Beca)
Skylar Astin (Jesse)
Brittany Snow (Chloe)
Rebel Wilson (Fat Amy)

Director: Jason Moore
Writer: Kay Cannon, Mickey Rapkin
Runtime: 112 min
Genre: Comedy, Music, Romance
Rating: 12
Language: English
Production Year: 2012

G.I. Joe: Retaliation

Framed for crimes against the country, the G.I. Joe team is terminated by the President’s order, and the surviving team members face off against Zartan, his accomplices, and the world leaders he has under his influence.

Cast:
Dwayne Johnson (Roadblock)
Channing Tatum (Duke)
Bruce Willis (General Joe Colton)
Byung-hun Lee (Storm Shadow)

Director: Jon M. Chu
Writer: Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick
Runtime: 110 min
Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Rating: 12
Language: English
Production Year: 2013

The Sessions

At the age of 38, Mark O’Brien, a man who uses an iron lung, decides he no longer wishes to be a virgin. With the help of his therapist and his priest, he contacts Cheryl Cohen-Greene, a professional sex surrogate and a typical soccer mom with a house, a mortgage and a husband. Inspired by a true story, The Surrogate, follows the fascinating relationship which evolves between Cheryl and Mark as she takes him on his journey to manhood.

Cast:
John Hawkes (Mark)
Helen Hunt (Cheryl)
William H. Macy (Father Brendan)
Moon Bloodgood (Vera)

Director: Ben Lewin
Writer: Ben Lewin, Mark O’Brien
Runtime: 95 min
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Rating: 15
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

Jack the Giant Slayer 3D/2D

The ancient war is reignited when a young farmhand unwittingly opens a gateway between our world and a fearsome race of giants. Unleashed on the Earth for the first time in centuries, the giants strive to reclaim the land they once lost, forcing the young man, Jack into the battle of his life to stop them. Fighting for a kingdom, its people, and the love of a brave princess, he comes face to face with the unstoppable warriors he thought only existed in legend-and gets the chance to become a legend himself.

Cast:
Nicholas Hoult (Jack)
Ewan McGregor (Elmont)
Stanley Tucci (Roderick)
Eleanor Tomlinson (Isabelle)

Director: Bryan Singer
Writer: Darren Lemke, Christopher McQuarrie
Runtime: 114 min
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
Rating: 12
Language: English
Production Year: 2013

The Last Stand

Sheriff Owens is a man who has resigned himself to a life of fighting what little crime takes place in sleepy border town Sommerton Junction after leaving his LAPD post following a bungled operation that left him wracked with failure and defeat after his partner was crippled. After a spectacular escape from an FBI prisoner convoy, the most notorious, wanted drug kingpin in the hemisphere is hurtling toward the border at 200 mph in a specially outfitted car with a hostage and a fierce army of gang members. He is headed, it turns out, straight for Sommerton Junction, where the whole of U.S. law enforcement will have their last opportunity to make a stand and intercept him before he slips across the border forever. At first reluctant to become involved, and then counted out because of the perceived ineptitude of his small town force, Owens ultimately accepts responsibility for the face off.

Cast:
Arnold Schwarzenegger (Ray Owens)
Forest Whitaker (Agent John Bannister)
Johnny Knoxville (Lewis Dinkum)
Luis Guzmán (Mike Figuerola)

Director: Jee-woon Kim
Writer: Andrew Knauer, Jeffrey Nachmanoff
Runtime: 107 min
Genre: Action, Crime, Thriller
Rating: 15
Language: English
Production Year: 2013

Oz the Great and Powerful 3D

Oscar Diggs, a small-time circus magician with dubious ethics, is hurled away from dusty Kansas to the vibrant Land of Oz. At first he thinks he’s hit the jackpot – fame and fortune are his for the taking. That all changes, however, when he meets three witches, Theodora, Evanora and Glinda, who are not convinced he is the great wizard everyone’s been expecting. Reluctantly drawn into the epic problems facing the Land of Oz and its inhabitants, Oscar must find out who is good and who is evil before it is too late. Putting his magical arts to use through illusion, ingenuity – and even a bit of wizardry – Oscar transforms himself not only into the great and powerful Wizard of Oz but into a better man as well.

Cast:
James Franco (Oz)
Mila Kunis (Theodora)
Rachel Weisz (Evanora)
Michelle Williams (Glinda)

Director: Sam Raimi
Writer: Mitchell Kapner, David Lindsay-Abaire
Runtime: 130 min
Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Rating: 12
Language: English
Production Year: 2013

Mama

The day their father killed their mother, sisters Victoria and Lilly vanished near their suburban neighborhood. For five long years, their Uncle Lucas and his girlfriend, Annabel, have been madly searching for them. But when, incredibly, the kids are found alive in a decrepit cabin, the couple wonders if the girls are the only guests they have welcomed into their home.

Cast:
Jessica Chastain (Annabel)
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Lucas)
Megan Charpentier (Victoria)
Isabelle Nélisse (Lilly)

Director: Andrés Muschietti
Writer: Neil Cross, Andrés Muschietti
Runtime: 100 min
Genre: Horror
Rating: 15
Language: English
Production Year: 2013

Barbie in the Pink Shoes (Greek)

Dance your way to a magical adventure with Barbie as Kristyn, a ballerina with big dreams! When she tries on a pair of sparkling pink shoes, she and her best friend, Hailey, are whisked away to a fantastical ballet world. There, Kristyn discovers she must dance in her favorite ballets in order to defeat an evil Snow Queen. With performances to the legendary Giselle and Swan Lake ballets, it’s a wonderful journey where if you dance with your heart, dreams come true!

Voices:
Sia Koskina
Ino Stefani
Fivos Rimenas
Marilou Katsafadou

Director: Owen Hurley
Runtime: 75 min
Genre: Animation
Rating: K
Language: Greek
Production Year: 2013

Sammy’s Adventures 2 (Greek)

Sammy and Ray, leatherback turtles and friends forever, are enjoying an atoll’s water and sand, shepherding new hatchlings Ricky and Ella out to sea. Suddenly, a poacher swoops in and ships them off to be part of a spectacular aquarium show for tourists in Dubai. The kingpin of the place, Big D the seahorse, enlists them in his plans for a great escape. But with their new friends Jimbo the bug-eyed blob fish and Lulu the snippy lobster, Annabel the sweet Octopus, and a whole family of penguins, Sammy and Ray hatch breakout plans of their own. That is when little Ricky and Ella arrive, determined to break in to rescue them. After a series of thrilling adventures and narrow escapes, our heroes head south to meet up with Shelly, Sammy’s first and only love.

Voices:
Othon Metaxas (Sammy)
Dimitris Menounos (Ray)
Vasiliki Souti (Ella)
Arsenios Chalkiopoulos (Ricky)

Director: Vincent Kesteloot, Ben Stassen
Writer: Domonic Paris
Runtime: 92 min
Genre: Animation, Adventure
Rating: K
Language: Greek
Production Year: 2012