In Cinemas this week (29 May – 4 June)

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

The Wrestler

Twenty years ago, Randy ‘The Ram’ Robinson was a successful wrestler; now he is decadent, living alone in a trailer, working part time in a supermarket and wrestling in the weekends. As he faces health problems that may end his wrestling career for good he attempts to come to terms with his life outside the ring: by working full time at the grocery store, trying to reconcile with the daughter he abandoned in childhood and forming a closer bond with a stripper he has romantic feelings for. He struggles with his new life and an offer of a high-profile rematch with his 1980s arch-nemesis, The Ayatollah, which may be his ticket back to stardom.

Cast:
Mickey Rourke (Randy ‘The Ram’ Robinson)
Marisa Tomei (Cassidy)
Evan Rachel Wood (Stephanie)
Mark Margolis (Lenny)

Director: Darren Aronofsky
Writer: Robert D. Siegel
Runtime: 111 min
Genre: Drama
Rating: 18
Language:English
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

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

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