In Cinemas this week (22 May – 28 May)

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

Coraline

A young girl walks through a secret door in her new home and discovers an alternate version of her life. On the surface, this parallel reality is eerily similar to her real life – only much better. But when her adventure turns dangerous, and her counterfeit parents (including Other Mother) try to keep her forever, Coraline must count on her resourcefulness, determination, and bravery to get back home – and save her family.

Voices:
Dakota Fanning (Coraline Jones)
Teri Hatcher (Mother / Other Mother)
Keith David (Cat)
Jennifer Saunders (Miss Spink)

Director: Henry Selick
Writer: Henry Selick
Runtime: 100 min
Genre: Animation
Rating: K
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

Star Trek

The fate of the galaxy rests in the hands of bitter rivals. One, James Kirk, is a delinquent, thrill-seeking Iowa farm boy. The other, Spock, was raised in a logic-based society that rejects all emotion. As fiery instinct clashes with calm reason, their unlikely but powerful partnership is the only thing capable of leading their crew through unimaginable danger, boldly going where no one has gone before.

Cast:
Chris Pine (James T. Kirk)
Zachary Quinto (Spock)
Eric Bana (Nero)
Winona Ryder (Amanda Grayson)

Director: J.J. Abrams
Writer: Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman
Runtime: 126 min
Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Rating: 12
Language:English
Production Year: 2009

Push

A group of young American ex-pats with telekinetic and clairvoyant abilities are hiding from a clandestine U.S. government agency. They must utilize their different talents and band together for a final job enabling them to escape the agency forever.

Cast:
Chris Evans (Nick Gant)
Dakota Fanning (Cassie Holmes)
Camilla Belle (Kira Hudson)
Djimon Hounsou (Henry Carver)

Director: Paul McGuigan
Writer: David Bourla
Runtime: 111 min
Genre: Sci-Fi, Thriller
Rating: 15
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

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

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

Marley & Me

A tale of a couple embarking on the adventure of marriage, career, family, and the world’s worst dog. At least that’s how writer and newlywed John comes to describe his blonde lab, Marley, when he takes the puppy home and finds that the fluff-ball has an uncanny ability to eat and/or destroy just about anything. As years go by, John and his wife, Jennifer, contemplate having babies and moving across the country, while Marley grows into 100 lbs. of funny, wild, completely untrainable canine companionship — as well as one of the most important people in the family.

Cast:
Owen Wilson (John Grogan)
Jennifer Aniston (Jennifer Grogan)
Eric Dane (Sebastian)
Kathleen Turner (Ms. Kornblut)

Director: David Frankel
Writer: Scott Frank, Don Roos
Runtime: 111 min
Genre: Comedy, Romance
Rating: K
Language: English
Production Year: 2008

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

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

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