In Cinemas this week (6 – 12 May)

Fast Five

Former cop Brian O’Conner partners with ex-con Dom Toretto on the opposite side of the law. Since Brian and Mia Toretto broke Dom out of custody, they’ve blown across many borders to elude authorities. Now backed into a corner in Rio de Janeiro, they must pull one last job in order to gain their freedom. As they assemble their elite team of top racers, the unlikely allies know their only shot of getting out for good means confronting the corrupt businessman who wants them dead. But he’s not the only one on their tail. Hard-nosed federal agent Luke Hobbs never misses his target. When he is assigned to track down Dom and Brian, he and his strike team launch an all-out assault to capture them. But as his men tear through Brazil, Hobbs learns he can’t separate the good guys from the bad. Now, he must rely on his instincts to corner his prey… before someone else runs them down first.

Cast:
Vin Diesel (Dominic Toretto)
Paul Walker (Brian O’Conner)
Jordana Brewster (Mia)
Dwayne Johnson (Hobbs)

Director: Justin Lin
Writer: Chris Morgan, Gary Scott Thompson
Runtime: 130 min
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama
Rating: 12
Language: English
Production Year: 2011

The Lincoln Lawyer

L.A. criminal defense attorney Mickey Haller who works out of his Lincoln signs on to defend slick, suave playboy real estate agent Louis Roulet. Roulet has been charged with assault, and his overbearing mother will do anything to clear the son’s name. Cost is no issue – Mickey has his first high-paying client in years. Digging into the case, Mickey and P.I. Raul Levin reveal a blacker picture of Roulet’s personality and evidence of a sinister past. Another sudden death and new links to a notorious double-homicide, make Mickey question if he’s finally in over his head. His pursuit becomes a question of morality and a even a question of his own mortality.

Cast:
Matthew McConaughey (Mick Haller)
Marisa Tomei (Maggie McPherson)
Ryan Phillippe (Louis Roulet)
William H. Macy (Frank Levin)

Director: Brad Furman
Writer: John Romano, Michael Connelly
Runtime: 118 min
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Rating: 12
Language: English
Production Year: 2011

Κόκκινος Ουρανός (Red Sky)

Two close friends, Aris and Stelios, have their minds on a mutual goal; they “immigrate” to the south of Greece and together they begin a banana greenhouse business in Crete. There they live secluded in a house by the countryside, with a magnificent view of the Libyan Sea having as their sole amusement a nearby tavern. This is a place where mostly foreign tourists arrive; drown like magnets by the magic of the unknown, red African horizon. Determined to keep women out of their lives, they, and mostly Aris, are unfriendly towards the newly arrived Cordoba, a tourist from Germany. Stelios, after going on a casual stroll with her in the island’s market, will end up going to bed with her. In a mood of recklessness that “suits” summer affairs. But this “one night stand” will develop into a relationship and lead to Cordoba moving in the house the two friends share. Feeling antagonistic, mostly towards Stelios, Aris finds himself flirting with Cordoba. In his own way, being quite the opposite of Stelios’s, he fascinates her and finally wins her erotic interest as Cordoba finds in each one of them elements she is looking for in a man’s personality. This split in her desire and the hesitation to decide will trigger the crash between Aris and Stelios. What follows will put their friendship to the test and will overturn balances between them.

Cast:
Apostolis Totsikas (Stelios)
Orfeas Avgoustidis (Aris)
Pihla Viitala (Cordoba)
Efstathia Tsapareli

Director: Laya Yourgou
Writer: Laya Yourgou
Runtime: 105 min
Genre: Drama, Romance
Rating: 15
Language: Greek, English
Production Year: 2011

Once Upon a… Baby (Μια Φορά και ένα Μωρό)

Nodas, a man in his 50s, active in show-biz, stops his car somewhere to relieve himself, when he hears a familiar voice shout “man below!”. It turns out to be his friendly landlord Alkiviadis who has debts everywhere, cheats on his wife and never got any children. For all those reasons he now appears to have tied himself to the railway tracks to end his desperate life. Nodas, on his way to find the mother of Persephone, the baby he got stuck with. He releases Alkiviadis and takes him along, against his will. And so, mixed up somewhere between sexy lingerie, a former mistress, an unfaithful husband and a guilty best man, they get twisted in developments that turn them upside down.

Cast:
Petros Filippidis (Alkiviadis)
Sakis Mpoulas (Nondas)
Angeliki Pavlopoulou (The Baby)
Markela Giannatou (Dimitra)

Director: Nikos Zapatinas
Writer: Nikos Zapatinas
Runtime: 86 min
Genre: Comedy
Rating: K
Language: Greek
Production Year: 2011

Last Night

Joanna and Michael Reed are 7 years into a successful and happy relationship when Joanna meets Laura, the stunningly beautiful work colleague whom Michael never mentioned. While Michael is away with Laura on a business trip, Joanna runs into an old but never quite forgotten love, Alex and agrees to have drinks with him. As the night progresses and temptation increases for the couple, each must confront who they are inside and outside of their relationship. Last Night is ultimately a film about choices – the choice you make to be with someone, to give yourself physically and emotionally, and how to survive all three.

Cast:
Keira Knightley (Joanna Reed)
Sam Worthington (Michael Reed)
Eva Mendes (Laura)
Guillaume Canet (Alex Mann)

Director: Massy Tadjedin
Writer: Massy Tadjedin
Runtime: 90 min
Genre: Drama, Romance
Rating: K
Language: English
Production Year: 2010

Shanghai

An American man returns to a corrupt, Japanese-occupied Shanghai four months before Pearl Harbor and discovers his friend has been killed. While he unravels the mysteries of the death, he falls in love and discovers a much larger secret that his own government is hiding.

Cast:
John Cusack (Paul Soames)
Li Gong (Anna Lan-Ting)
Yun-Fat Chow (Anthony Lan-Ting)
Ken Watanabe (Tanaka)

Director: Mikael Håfström
Writer: Hossein Amini
Runtime: 105 min
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Romance
Rating: 18
Language: English
Production Year: 2010

Barney’s Version

Barney Panofsky is a seemingly ordinary man who lives an extraordinary life. A candid confessional, told from Barney’s point of view, the film spans four decades and two continents, taking us through the different “acts” of his unusual history. There is his first wife, Clara, a flame-haired, flagrantly unfaithful free sprit with whom Barney briefly lives la vie de Boheme in Rome. The “Second Mrs. P.” is a wealthy Jewish Princess who shops and talks incessantly, barely noticing that Barney is not listening. And it is at their lavish wedding that Barney meets, and starts pursuing, Miriam, his third wife, the mother of his two children, and his true love. With his father, Izzy as his sidekick, Barney takes us through the many highs, and a few too many lows, of his long and colorful life. Not only does Barney turn out to be a true romantic, he is also capable of all kinds of sneaky acts of gallantry, generosity, and goodness when we – and he – least expect it. His is a gloriously full life, played out on a grand scale. And, at its center stands an unlikely hero – the unforgettable Barney Panofsky.

Cast:
Paul Giamatti (Barney Panofsky)
Rosamund Pike (Miriam Grant-Panofsky)
Minnie Driver (The 2nd Mrs. P)
Dustin Hoffman (Izzy Panofsky)

Director: Richard J. Lewis
Writer: Mordecai Richler, Michael Konyves
Runtime: 134 min
Genre: Drama
Rating: 12
Language: English
Production Year: 2010

Thor

The powerful but arrogant warrior Thor whose reckless actions reignite an ancient war is cast down to Earth and forced to live among humans as punishment. Once here, Thor learns what it takes to be a true hero when the most dangerous villain of his world sends the darkest forces of Asgard to invade Earth.

Cast:
Chris Hemsworth (Thor)
Natalie Portman (Jane Foster)
Tom Hiddleston (Loki)
Anthony Hopkins (Odin)

Director: Kenneth Branagh
Writer: Ashley Miller, Zack Stentz
Runtime: 114 min
Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama
Rating: 12
Language: English
Production Year: 2011

The Rite

Inspired by true events, the film follows seminary student Michael Kovak, who is sent to study exorcism at the Vatican in spite of his own doubts about the controversial practice and even his own faith. Wearing his deep skepticism like armor, Michael challenges his superiors to look to psychiatry, rather than demons, in treating the possessed. Only when he’s sent to apprentice with the unorthodox Father Lucas – a legendary priest who has performed thousands of exorcisms – does Michael’s armor begin to fall. As he is drawn into a troubling case that seems to transcend even Father Lucas’s skill, he begins to glimpse a phenomenon science can’t explain or control…and an evil so violent and terrifying that it forces him to question everything he believes.

Cast:
Anthony Hopkins (Father Lucas Trevant)
Colin O’Donoghue (Michael Kovak)
Alice Braga (Angeline)
Rutger Hauer (Istvan Kovak)

Director: Mikael Håfström
Writer: Michael Petroni, Matt Baglio
Runtime: 114 min
Genre: Drama, Horror, Thriller
Rating: 15
Language: English
Production Year: 2011

Hop (English)

Blending state-of-the-art animation with live action, Hop tells the comic tale of Fred, an out-of-work slacker who accidentally injures the Easter Bunny and must take him in as he recovers. As Fred struggles with the world’s worst house guest, both will learn what it takes to finally grow up.

Cast:
James Marsden (Fred O’Hare)
Russell Brand (E.B.)
Kaley Cuoco (Sam O’Hare)
Hugh Laurie (E.B.’s Dad)

Director: Tim Hill
Writer: Cinco Paul, Ken Daurio
Runtime: 95 min
Genre: Animation, Family, Comedy
Rating: K
Language: English
Production Year: 2011

Rio

Set in the magnificent city of Rio de Janeiro and the lush rainforest of Brazil, the comedy-adventure centers on Blu, a rare macaw who thinks he is the last of his kind. When Blu discovers there’s another — and that she’s a she — he leaves the comforts of his cage in small town Minnesota and heads to Rio. But it’s far from love at first sight between the domesticated and flight-challenged Blu and the fiercely independent, high-flying female, Jewel. Unexpectedly thrown together, they embark on an adventure of a lifetime, where they learn about friendship, love, courage, and being open to life’s many wonders. RIO brings together a menagerie of vivid characters, a heart-warming story, colorful backdrops, energizing Latin and contemporary music, and family-friendly song and dance.

Voices:
Jesse Eisenberg (Blu)
Anne Hathaway (Jewel)
Leslie Mann (Linda)
Jamie Foxx (Nico)

Director: Carlos Saldanha
Writer: Don Rhymer
Runtime: 96 min
Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy
Rating: K
Language: English/Greek
Production Year: 2011

Open Season 3 (Greek)

Boog, Elliot and their forest friends return with an all-new adventure, this time in a Big Top Circus! The comedy begins when Boog’s pals choose their family obligations over the annual guys’ trip, and a disappointed Boog decides to take a trip of his own, which leads him right into the middle.

Voices:
Matthew J. Munn (Boog/Doug)
Dana Snyder (Alistair)
Matthew W. Taylor (Elliot)
Crispin Glover (Fifi)

Director: Cody Cameron
Writer: David I. Stern
Runtime: 85 min
Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy
Rating: K
Language: Greek
Production Year: 2011