In Cinemas this week (23 – 29 March)

John Carter 3D

Civil War vet John Carter is transplanted to Mars, where he discovers a lush, wildly diverse planet whose main inhabitants are 12-foot tall green barbarians. Finding himself a prisoner of these creatures, he escapes, only to encounter Dejah Thoris, Princess of Helium, who is in desperate need of a savior.

Cast:
Taylor Kitsch (John Carter)
Lynn Collins (Dejah Thoris)
Willem Dafoe (Tars Tarkas)
Thomas Haden Church (Tal Hajus)

Director: Andrew Stanton
Writer: Andrew Stanton, Mark Andrews
Runtime: 132 min
Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Rating: 12
Language: English
Production Year: 2012

The Hunger Games

In a not-too-distant future, North America has collapsed, weakened by drought, fire, famine, and war to be replaced by Panem, a country divided into the Capitol and 12 districts. Each year two young representatives from each district are selected by lottery to participate in The Hunger Games. Part entertainment, part brutal intimidation of the subjugated districts, the televised games are broadcast throughout Panem. The 24 participants are forced to eliminate their competitors, literally, with all citizens required to watch. When 16-year-old Katniss’ young sister, Prim, is selected as the mining district’s female representative, Katniss volunteers to take her place. She and her male counterpart Peeta, will be pitted against bigger, stronger representatives who have trained for this their whole lives.

Cast:
Jennifer Lawrence (Katniss Everdeen)
Josh Hutcherson (Peeta Mellark)
Woody Harrelson (Haymitch Abernathy)
Liam Hemsworth (Gale Hawthorne)

Director: Gary Ross
Writer: Gary Ross, Suzanne Collins
Runtime: 142 min
Genre: Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
Rating: 12
Language: English
Production Year: 2012

One for the Money

After losing her job Jersey girl Stephanie Plum is broke. Needing a job she is told that her cousin, a bail bondsman, needs someone to help out in the office. But all he has are skip tracers. She learns that Joe Morelli, a guy she knew intimately years ago, is one of them. She eventually finds him but wasn’t really prepared so he gets away. Another bounty hunter, Ranger, tries to teach her. Eventually she finds Morelli again but he claims he is innocent of the crime he is accused of and he is trying to prove his innocence, and Stephanie starts to believe he’s telling the truth.

Cast:
Katherine Heigl (Stephanie Plum)
Jason O’Mara (Joe Morelli)
Daniel Sunjata (Ranger)
John Leguizamo (Jimmy Alpha)

Director: Julie Anne Robinson
Writer: Stacy Sherman, Karen Ray
Runtime: 91 min
Genre: Action, Crime, Comedy
Rating: 12
Language: English
Production Year: 2012

Safe House

Tobin Frost is a CIA agent who’s believed to have turned rogue, in Capetown, South Africa. When he is pursued by men who want to kill him, he goes to the American Consulate where he knows he will be arrested. When the CIA learns of this, it’s decided to bring him to a safe house in Capetown, where they will interrogate him. Shortly after they arrive, the men who chased Frost storm the safe house and kill everyone there. Matt Weston, the agent who’s tasked with looking after the safe house, is the only one left, so he takes Frost and they go on the run. Now the unlikely partners must discover if their attackers have been sent by terrorists or someone on the inside who will kill anyone standing in the way. Now it’s up to Weston to figure out who he can trust before they’re both eliminated from the game.

Cast:
Denzel Washington (Tobin Frost)
Ryan Reynolds (Matt Weston)
Vera Farmiga (Catherine Linklater)
Robert Patrick (Daniel Kiefer)

Director: Daniel Espinosa
Writer: David Guggenheim
Runtime: 115 min
Genre: Action, Crime, Mystery
Rating: 15
Language: English
Production Year: 2012

The Iron Lady

Elderly and a virtual prisoner in her own home due to her concerned staff and daughter Carol, Margaret Thatcher, Britain’s first woman prime minister, looks back on her life as she clears out her late husband Denis’s clothes for the Oxfam shop. Denis is seen as being her rock as she first enters parliament and then runs for the leadership of the Conservative Party, culminating in her eventual premiereship. Now his ghost joins her to comment on her successes and failures, sometimes to her annoyance, generally to her comfort until ultimately, as the clothes are sent to the charity shop, Denis departs from Margret’s life forever.

Cast:
Meryl Streep (Margaret Thatcher)
Jim Broadbent (Denis Thatcher)
Anthony Head (Geoffrey Howe)
Richard E. Grant (Michael Heseltine)

Director: Phyllida Lloyd
Writer: Abi Morgan
Runtime: 105 min
Genre: Biography, Drama
Rating: K
Language: English
Production Year: 2011

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

In the early 1970s during the Cold War, the head of British Intelligence, Control, resigns after an operation in Budapest, Hungary, goes badly wrong. It transpires that Control believed one of four senior figures in the service was in fact a Russian agent – a mole – and the Hungary operation was an attempt to identify which of them it was. Smiley had been forced into retirement by the departure of Control, but is asked by a senior government figure to investigate a story told to him by a rogue agent, Ricky Tarr, that there was a mole. Smiley considers that the failure of the Hungary operation and the continuing success of Operation Witchcraft (an apparent source of significant Soviet intelligence) confirms this, and takes up the task of finding him. Through the efforts of Peter Guillam, Smiley obtains information that eventually leads him to Jim Prideaux, the agent at the heart of the Hungary fiasco…

Cast:
Gary Oldman (George Smiley)
Colin Firth (Bill Haydon)
John Hurt (Control)
Tom Hardy (Ricki Tarr)

Director: Tomas Alfredson
Writer: Bridget O’Connor, Peter Straughan
Runtime: 127 min
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Rating: 12
Language: English
Production Year: 2011

Beauty and the Beast 3D (Greek)

Prince Adam was cursed to a beast form by Enchantress who saw no love in his arrogant heart for others. The one way he could break the spell was to learn to love another and earn her love in return before the last petal from his enchanted rose fell, which would bloom until his twenty-first birthday. But who could ever learn to love a beast? Ten years later, Maurice, an inventor from a nearby village, becomes lost in the woods and seeks shelter in the Beast’s castle, the Beast imprisons him for trespassing. His daughter Belle, a bookworm who dreams of life outside her provincial village, finds him trapped in the castle and offers her place in his stead. The Beast accepts with a promise she’ll remain in the castle forever.

Director: Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise
Writer: Linda Woolverton, Roger Allers
Runtime: 84 min
Genre: Animation
Rating: K
Language: Greek
Production Year: 1991

The Woman in Black

Young lawyer Arthur Kipps leaves his son in London to settle the legal affairs of the recently deceased Alice Drablow. He discovers that a series of inexplicable accidents and suicides have forced the parents of her village to barricade their children indoors, as if protecting them from an unseen foe. When Arthur stays the night all alone at the Drablows’ foreboding house, he hears the screams of a drowning child and sees decaying children listlessly wandering the marshes. He will soon discover these haunting figures share the same date of death, and the same killer.

Cast:
Daniel Radcliffe (Arthur Kipps)
Ciarán Hinds (Daily)
Janet McTeer (Mrs. Daily)
David Burke (PC Collins)

Director: James Watkins
Writer: Susan Hill, Jane Goldman
Runtime: 95 min
Genre: Drama, Horror, Thriller
Rating: 15
Language: English
Production Year: 2012

Man on a Ledge

An ex-cop turned con threatens to jump to his death from a Manhattan hotel rooftop. The nearest New York Police officer immediately responds to a screaming woman and calls dispatch. More Officers arrive with SWAT and tactical command along with fire-fighters. The police then dispatches a female police psychologist personally requested to talk him down from the ledge. However, things aren’t as straightforward and clearcut as they appear to be.

Cast:
Sam Worthington (Nick Cassidy)
Jamie Bell (Joey Cassidy)
Elizabeth Banks (Lydia Mercer)
Anthony Mackie (Mike Ackerman)

Director: Asger Leth
Writer: Pablo F. Fenjves
Runtime: 102 min
Genre: Crime, Thriller
Rating: 12
Language: English
Production Year: 2012

Chronicle

Three high school students make an incredible discovery, leading to their developing uncanny powers beyond their understanding. As they learn to control their abilities and use them to their advantage, their lives start to spin out of control, and their darker sides begin to take over.

Cast:
Dane DeHaan (Andrew Detmer)
Alex Russell (Matt Garetty)
Michael B. Jordan (Steve Montgomery)
Michael Kelly (Richard Detmer)

Director: Josh Trank
Writer: Max Landis
Runtime: 84 min
Genre: Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
Rating: 15
Language: English
Production Year: 2012

Barbie in a Mermaid Tale 2 (Greek)

Surf’s up for Barbie as she returns as Merliah, the fun and fashionable surfing champion who’s also a magical mermaid princess! In this exciting sea-quel, Merliah makes a splash when she heads to Australia for the ultimate surfing competition. When the evil mermaid Eris escapes from her whirlpool with plans to take over the throne of Oceana, Merliah and her sea friends dive in to stop her. It’s a fresh new adventure where Merliah learns that anything is possible and she really can have the best of both worlds!

Cast:
Kelly Sheridan
Ashleigh Ball
Kathleen Barr
Nicole Oliver

Runtime: 72 min
Genre: Animation
Rating: K
Language: Greek
Production Year: 2012

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island 3D

In this follow-up to the 2008 worldwide hit Journey to the Center of the Earth, the new 3D family adventure Journey 2: The Mysterious Island begins when young Sean Anderson receives a coded distress signal from a mysterious island where no island should exist. It’s a place of strange life forms, mountains of gold, deadly volcanoes, and more than one astonishing secret. Unable to stop him from going, Sean’s new stepfather, Hank, joins the quest. Together with a helicopter pilot and his beautiful, strong-willed daughter, they set out to find the island, rescue its lone inhabitant and escape before seismic shockwaves force the island under the sea and bury its treasures forever.

Cast:
Dwayne Johnson (Hank)
Michael Caine (Alexander)
Josh Hutcherson (Sean)
Vanessa Hudgens (Kailani)

Director: Brad Peyton
Writer: Brian Gunn, Mark Gunn
Runtime: 94 min
Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy
Rating: K
Language: English
Production Year: 2012

Abduction

Nathan Harper is a teenager who lives with his parents, Kevin and Mara. He has a recurring nightmare, and consults a psychiatrist, Dr. Geraldine Bennett to discover why. One day, Nathan is partnered with his neighbor and longtime crush Karen Murphy on a school assignment about missing children. Karen finds a website that shows how the children would look like as adults, and Nathan discovers that a young boy named Steven Price would look exactly like him, when Price got older. Searching in his basement, he finds the same shirt that Steven is wearing in the picture and realizes that he and Steven are the same person. This revelation triggers a series of events and leaves Nathan running for his life.

Cast:
Taylor Lautner (Nathan)
Lily Collins (Karen)
Alfred Molina (Burton)
Sigourney Weaver (Dr. Bennett)

Director: John Singleton
Writer: Shawn Christensen
Runtime: 106 min
Genre: Action, Drama, Mystery
Rating: 12
Language: English
Production Year: 2011

Happy Feet Two 3D

Mumble, The Master of Tap, has a problem because his tiny son, Erik, is choreo-phobic. Reluctant to dance, Erik runs away and encounters The Mighty Sven – a penguin who can fly! Mumble has no hope of competing with this charismatic new role model. But things get worse when the world is shaken by powerful forces. Erik learns of his father’s “guts and grit” as Mumble brings together the penguin nations and all manner of fabulous creatures – from tiny Krill to giant Elephant Seals – to put things right.

Cast:
Elijah Wood (Mumble)
Robin Williams (Ramon / Lovelace)
Pink (Gloria)
Brad Pitt (Will the Krill)

Director: George Miller
Writer: George Miller, Warren Coleman
Runtime: 100 min
Genre: Animation, Comedy, Family
Rating: K
Language: English
Production Year: 2011

Shark Night 3D

A weekend at a lake house in the Louisiana Gulf turns into a nightmare for seven vacationers as they are subjected to shark attacks.

Cast:
Sara Paxton (Sara)
Dustin Milligan (Nick)
Chris Carmack (Dennis)
Katharine McPhee (Beth)

Director: David R. Ellis
Writer: Will Hayes, Jesse Studenberg
Runtime: 91 min
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Rating: 12
Language: English
Production Year: 2011

The Three Musketeers (3D)

The hot-headed young D’Artagnan along with three former legendary but now down on their luck Musketeers must unite and defeat a beautiful double agent and her villainous employer from seizing the French throne and engulfing Europe in war.

Cast:
Milla Jovovich (M’lady De Winter)
Logan Lerman (D’Artagnan)
Orlando Bloom (Duke of Buckingham)
Christoph Waltz (Cardinal Richelieu)

Director: Paul W.S. Anderson
Writer: Alex Litvak, Andrew Davies
Runtime: 110 min
Genre: Action, Adventure, Romance
Rating: K
Language: English
Production Year: 2011

Puss in Boots (English)

Years before meeting Shrek and Donkey, the adorable but tricky Puss in Boots must clear his name from all charges making him a wanted fugitive. While trying to steal magic beans from the infamous criminals Jack and Jill, the hero crosses paths with his female match, Kitty Softpaws, who leads Puss to his old friend, but now enemy, Humpty Dumpty. Memories of friendship and betrayal enlarges Puss’ doubt, but he eventually agrees to help the egg get the magic beans. Together, the three plan to steal the beans, get to the Giant’s castle, nab the golden goose, and clear Puss’ name.

Cast:
Antonio Banderas/Tilemahos Krevaikas (Puss in Boots)
Salma Hayek/Vicky Nikolaidou (Kitty Softpaws)
Zach Galifianakis/Vasilis Milios (Humpty Dumpty)
Billy Bob Thornton/Fotis Petrides (Jack)

Director: Chris Miller
Writer: Charles Perrault, Brian Lynch
Runtime: 90 min
Genre: Animation, Comedy, Adventure
Rating: K
Language: English
Production Year: 2011

Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chip-Wrecked (English)

Playing around while aboard a cruise ship, the Chipmunks and Chipettes accidentally go overboard and end up marooned in a tropical paradise. They discover their new turf is not as deserted as it seems.

Cast:
Jason Lee (Dave)
Justin Long (Alvin)
Matthew Gray Gubler (Simon)
Jesse McCartney (Theodore)

Director: Mike Mitchell
Writer: Jonathan Aibel, Glenn Berger
Runtime: 87 min
Genre: Animation, Comedy, Family
Rating: K
Language: English
Production Year: 2011