In Cinemas this week (19 June – 23 June)

Crossing Over

Crossing Over is a multi-character canvas about immigrants of different nationalities struggling to achieve legal status in Los Angeles. The film deals with the border, document fraud, the asylum and green card process, work-site enforcement, naturalization, the office of counter terrorism and the clash of cultures.

Cast:
Harrison Ford (Max Brogan)
Ray Liotta (Cole Frankel)
Ashley Judd (Denise Frankel)
Cliff Curtis (Hamid Baraheri)

Director: Wayne Kramer
Writer: Wayne Kramer
Runtime: 113 min
Genre: Drama
Rating: 15
Language: English
Production Year: 2009

Hannah Montana: The Movie

With a crazy double life in California as an everyday teen with the secret pop-star persona Hannah Montana, Miley Stewart has forgotten who she really is. To get her back on track, Miley’s dad, Robby Ray Stewart, decides that she needs some time back on the family farm in Tennessee to celebrate Grandma Ruby’s birthday. At first, Miley is belligerent, but with the help of Travis, a former childhood crush who now works for Grandma Ruby as a farmhand, she begins to realize what is really important to her.

Cast:
Miley Cyrus (Hannah Montana / Miley Stewart)
Billy Ray Cyrus (Robby Ray Stewart)
Emily Osment (Lilly Truscott / Lola Luftnagle)
Lucas Till (Travis Brody)

Director: Peter Chelsom
Writer: Daniel Berendsen
Runtime: 102 min
Genre: Comedy, Family, Music
Rating: K
Language: English
Production Year: 2009

My Life in Ruins

Georgia is a Greek-American tour guide who leads an assorted group of misfit tourists around Greece. Tourists who would rather buy a T-shirt than learn about history. In a hysterical clash of personalities and culture, everything seems to go wrong. Until one day when a very special tourist, Irv Gordon, shows her how to have fun and take a good look at the last person she’d ever expect to find love with…her quiet and sexy Greek bus driver, Poupi.

Cast:
Nia Vardalos (Georgia)
Richard Dreyfuss (Irv)
Alexis Georgoulis (Poupi)
Alistair McGowan (Nico)

Director: Donald Petrie
Writer: Mike Reiss
Runtime: 95 min
Genre: Comedy
Rating: 15
Language: English
Production Year: 2009

Terminator: Salvation

Set in post-apocalyptic 2018, John Connor is the man fated to lead the human resistance against Skynet and its army of Terminators. But the future Connor was raised to believe in is altered in part by the appearance of Marcus Wright, a stranger whose last memory is of being on death row. Connor must decide whether Marcus has been sent from the future, or rescued from the past. As Skynet prepares its final onslaught, Connor and Marcus both embark on an odyssey that takes them into the heart of Skynet’s operations, where they uncover the terrible secret behind the possible annihilation of mankind.

Cast:
Christian Bale (John Connor)
Sam Worthington (Marcus Wright)
Helena Bonham Carter (Dr. Serena Kogan)
Moon Bloodgood (Blair Williams)

Director: McG
Writer: John D. Brancato, Michael Ferris
Runtime: 115 min
Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Rating: 12
Language: English
Production Year: 2009

Fanboys

It’s the Halloween party they’ve all been waiting for, to have fun with friends and hang out with fellow Star Wars fans and partners in crime. However, events take a turn when one of their bunch who long ago outgrew his old gang and took on adult responsibilities is suddenly in their midst again. Reconnecting is not easy. But soon, Eric, Windows, Hutch and Zoe realize that Linus will not live long enough to experience what’s been on their minds for ages: The long-awaited theatrical release of Star Wars – Episode I, which is still several months away. Linus once again suggests to his friends what he’s been scheming since fifth grade: Breaking into Skywalker Ranch, this time to steal a print of the movie. Crazy, right? But it might be the only way for Linus to see the movie before he dies. So as insane as it sounds, they take Hutch’s van and embark on a mission to drive across half the country to the Ranch.

Cast:
Sam Huntington (Eric)
Chris Marquette (Linus)
Dan Fogler (Hutch)
Jay Baruchel (Windows)

Director: Kyle Newman
Writer: Ernest Cline, Adam F. Goldberg
Runtime: 90 min
Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Crime, Drama
Rating: 15
Language: English
Production Year: 2008

Home

On 5 June, on the United Nations sponsored World Environment Day, every citizen on the planet will be able to watch Home, the latest film by Yann Arthus-Bertrand. The photographer, who has made it his speciality to show the earth viewed from the sky, has made a documentary intended to alert public opinion to the ecological disasters that threaten us.

Narrator:
Glenn Close

Director: Yann Arthus-Bertrand
Writer: Yann Arthus-Bertrand, Isabelle Delannoy
Runtime: 90 min
Genre: Documentary
Rating: K
Language: English
Production Year: 2009

State of Play

A petty thief is gunned down in an alley and a Congressman’s assistant falls in front of a subway – two seemingly unrelated deaths. But not to wisecracking, brash newspaper reporter Cal McAffrey who spies a conspiracy waiting to be uncovered. With a turbulent past connected to the Congressman and the aid of ambitious young rookie writer Della Frye, Cal begins uprooting clues that lead him to a corporate cover-up full of insiders, informants, and assassins. But as he draws closer to the truth, the relentless journalist must decide if it’s worth risking his life and selling his soul to get the ultimate story.

Cast:
Russell Crowe (Cal McAffrey)
Ben Affleck (Rep. Stephen Collins)
Rachel McAdams (Della Frye)
Helen Mirren (Cameron Lynne)

Director: Kevin Macdonald
Writer: Matthew Michael Carnahan, Tony Gilroy
Runtime: 127 min
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Rating: 12
Language: English
Production Year: 2009

Fly Me to the Moon 3D (Greek)

A preteen-aged fly named Nat and his two best friends, I.Q. and Scooter, build a “fly-sized” rocket in a field across from Cape Canaveral, Florida, where the Apollo 11 sits on its launch pad. From his earliest memory, Nat remembers his grandfather, Amos, telling him of his daring rescue of Amelia Earhart as she crossed the Atlantic Ocean on her historic flight. Wanting to be an adventurer like his Grandpa, Nat knows what he has to do. Defying the notion that “Dreamers get swatted!” he tells his friends his plan to get aboard the Apollo 11 and go to the moon.

Director: Ben Stassen
Writer: Domonic Paris
Runtime: 84 min
Genre: Animation, Adventure, Family
Rating: K
Language: Greek
Production Year: 2008

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian

When the Museum of Natural History is closed for upgrades and renovations, the museum pieces are moved into federal storage at the famous Washington Museums. The centerpiece of the film will be bringing to life the Smithsonian Institution, which houses the world’s largest museum complex with more than 136 million items in its collections, ranging from the plane Amelia Earhart flew on her non-stop solo flight across the Atlantic and Al Capone’s rap sheet and mug shot to Dorothy’s ruby slippers and Fonzie’s jacket from Happy Days. With a forwarded resume, Larry becomes another caretaker at the Smithsonian, where Kahmunrah, an evil Pharaoh will come to life with the reestablishing of a tablet as a magical force in the museum bringing the old and new exhibits back to life, and in conflict with each other. Larry enlists the help of Amelia Earheart, and together they try to put everything back in order.

Cast:
Ben Stiller (Larry Daley)
Amy Adams (Amelia Earhart)
Owen Wilson (Jedediah Smith)
Robin Williams (Teddy Roosevelt)

Director: Shawn Levy
Writer: Robert Ben Garant, Thomas Lennon
Runtime: 105 min
Genre: Action, Comedy
Rating: K
Language: English
Production Year: 2009

Angels & Demons

The Pope died and the conclave has been called for. Four candidates were chosen. However, before the voting, the four candidates are killed one by one. The killer leaves clues that seem to say that he/she is from the Illuminati. Strangely though, the Illuminati was long thought to be extinct. Who is the mastermind? Who revived the Illuminati? What do they want?

Cast:
Tom Hanks (Robert Langdon)
Ewan McGregor (Camerlengo Patrick McKenna)
Ayelet Zurer (Vittoria Vetra)
Nikolaj Lie Kaas (Assassin)

Director: Ron Howard
Writer: David Koepp, Akiva Goldsman
Runtime: 138 min
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Rating: 12
Language: English
Production Year: 2009

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: 15
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 (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

Inkheart

Mo has the special talent to bring characters out of books. One night he brings out three characters from Inkheart, a story set in medieval times and filled with magical beings, Capricorn and Basta, two villains, and Dustfinger, a fire-eater. Now, 10 years later Meggie discovers the truth and it’s up to her to escape Capricorn’s evil grasp.

Cast:
Brendan Fraser (Mo ‘Silvertongue’ Folchart)
Paul Bettany (Dustfinger)
Helen Mirren (Elinor Loredan)
Andy Serkis (Capricorn)

Director: Iain Softley
Writer: David Lindsay-Abaire
Runtime: 106 min
Genre: Adventure, Family, Fantasy
Rating: 12
Language: English
Production Year: 2008