In Cinemas this week (8 – 14 February)

Anna Karenina (English / Russian)

Based on Leo Tolstoy’s 1877 novel of the same name, the film depicts the tragedy of married aristocrat and socialite Anna Karenina and her affair with the affluent Count Vronsky. The story powerfully explores the capacity for love that surges through the human heart. As Anna questions her happiness and marriage, change comes to all around her.

Cast:
Keira Knightley (Anna Karenina)
Jude Law (Karenin)
Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Vronsky)
Kelly Macdonald (Dolly)

Director: Joe Wright
Writer: Tom Stoppard, Leo Tolstoy
Runtime: 129 min
Genre: Drama
Rating: K
Language: English / Russian
Production Year: 2012

Argo

In 1979, the American embassy in Iran was invaded by Iranian revolutionaries and several Americans were taken hostage. However, six managed to escape to the official residence of the Canadian Ambassador and the CIA was eventually ordered to get them out of the country. With few options, exfiltration expert Tony Mendez devised a daring plan: to create a phony Canadian film project looking to shoot in Iran and smuggle the Americans out as its production crew. With the help of some trusted Hollywood contacts, Mendez created the ruse and proceed to Iran as its associate producer. However, time was running out with the Iranian security forces closing in on the truth while both his charges and the White House had grave doubts about the operation themselves.

Cast:
Ben Affleck (Tony Mendez)
Bryan Cranston (Jack O’Donnell)
John Goodman (John Chambers)
Alan Arkin (Lester Siegel)

Director: Ben Affleck
Writer: Chris Terrio, Tony Mendez
Runtime: 120 min
Genre: Drama, History, Thriller
Rating: 12
Language: English
Production Year: 2012

The Impossible

A regular family – Maria, Henry and their three kids – travel to Thailand to spend Christmas. They get an upgrade to a villa on the coastline. After settling in and exchanging gifts, they go to the pool, like so many other tourists. A perfect paradise vacation until a distant noise becomes a roar. There is no time to escape from the tsunami; Maria and her eldest are swept one way, Henry and the youngest another. Who will survive, and what will become of them?

Cast:
Naomi Watts (Maria)
Ewan McGregor (Henry)
Tom Holland (Lucas)
Samuel Joslin (Thomas)

Director: Juan Antonio Bayona
Writer: Sergio G. Sánchez, María Belón
Runtime: 114 min
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Rating: 12
Language: English
Production Year: 2012

Flight

In this action-packed mystery thriller, Academy Award winner, Denzel Washington stars as Whip Whitaker, a seasoned airline pilot, who miraculously crash lands his plane after a mid-air catastrophe, saving nearly every soul on board. After the crash, Whip is hailed as a hero, but as more is learned, more questions than answers arise as to who or what was really at fault and what really happened on that plane?

Cast:
Denzel Washington (Whip Whitaker)
Don Cheadle (Hugh Lang)
Kelly Reilly (Nicole)
John Goodman (Harling Mays)

Director: Robert Zemeckis
Writer: John Gatins
Runtime: 138 min
Genre: Drama
Rating: 18
Language: English
Production Year: 2012

Gambit

Curator Harry Deane is an expert in fine art, but he’s equally accomplished in taking abuse from his insolent boss. That’s about to change. The plan – trick the avid art collector into buying a fake Monet painting. To assist in the heist, Deane hires a rowdy Texas cowgirl to help him fool the richest man in England. But as the plan begins to unravel, Deane finds he is falling in love with the rodeo queen, ensuing further complications.

Cast:
Colin Firth (Harry Deane)
Cameron Diaz (PJ Puznowski)
Alan Rickman (Lionel Shahbandar)
Stanley Tucci (Martin Zaidenweber)

Director: Michael Hoffman
Writer: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Runtime: 89 min
Genre: Comedy, Crime
Rating: K
Language: English
Production Year: 2012

Sammy’s Adventures 2 (Greek)

Sammy and Ray, leatherback turtles and friends forever, are enjoying an atoll’s water and sand, shepherding new hatchlings Ricky and Ella out to sea. Suddenly, a poacher swoops in and ships them off to be part of a spectacular aquarium show for tourists in Dubai. The kingpin of the place, Big D the seahorse, enlists them in his plans for a great escape. But with their new friends Jimbo the bug-eyed blob fish and Lulu the snippy lobster, Annabel the sweet Octopus, and a whole family of penguins, Sammy and Ray hatch breakout plans of their own. That is when little Ricky and Ella arrive, determined to break in to rescue them. After a series of thrilling adventures and narrow escapes, our heroes head south to meet up with Shelly, Sammy’s first and only love.

Voices:
Othon Metaxas (Sammy)
Dimitris Menounos (Ray)
Vasiliki Souti (Ella)
Arsenios Chalkiopoulos (Ricky)

Director: Vincent Kesteloot, Ben Stassen
Writer: Domonic Paris
Runtime: 92 min
Genre: Animation, Adventure
Rating: K
Language: Greek
Production Year: 2012

This Is 40

Writer/director/producer Judd Apatow (The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Funny People) brings audiences This Is 40, an original comedy that expands upon the story of Pete and Debbie from the blockbuster hit Knocked Up as we see first-hand how they are dealing with their current state of life.

Cast:
Paul Rudd (Pete)
Leslie Mann (Debbie)
Jason Segel (Jason)
Megan Fox (Desi)

Director: Judd Apatow
Writer: Judd Apatow
Runtime: 134 min
Genre: Comedy
Rating: 18
Language: English
Production Year: 2012

Django Unchained

Former dentist, Dr. King Schultz, buys the freedom of a slave, Django, and trains him with the intent to make him his deputy bounty hunter. Instead, he is led to the site of Django’s wife who is under the hands of Calvin Candie, a ruthless plantation owner.

Cast:
Jamie Foxx (Django)
Christoph Waltz (Dr. King Schultz)
Leonardo DiCaprio (Calvin Candie)
Kerry Washington (Broomhilda)

Director: Quentin Tarantino
Writer: Quentin Tarantino
Runtime: 165 min
Genre: Action, Drama, Western
Rating: 15
Language: English
Production Year: 2012

Texas Chainsaw 3D

After the first massacre in 1974, the townspeople suspected that the Sawyer family were responsible. A vigilante mob of enraged locals surrounded the Sawyer house, burning it to the ground and killing every last member of the family. Decades later a young woman named Heather learns that she has inherited a Texas estate from her grandmother. she decides to bring her friends along on the road trip to investigate her inheritance. On arrival she uncovers she has inherited a mansion but is yet to uncover the terrors that lurk in the basement below it.

Cast:
Alexandra Daddario (Heather Miller)
Dan Yeager (Leatherface)
Scott Eastwood (Carl)
Tania Raymonde (Nikki)

Director: John Luessenhop
Writer: Adam Marcus, Debra Sullivan
Runtime: 92 min
Genre: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Rating: 18
Language: English
Production Year: 2012

Finding Nemo 3D/2D (Greek)

A clown fish named Marlin who lives in the Great Barrier Reef loses his son, Nemo, after he ventures into the open sea, despite his father’s constant warnings about many of the ocean’s dangers. Nemo is abducted by a boat and netted up and sent to a dentist’s office in Sydney. So, while Marlin ventures off to try to retrieve Nemo, Marlin meets a fish named Dory, a blue tang suffering from short-term memory loss. The companions travel a great distance, encountering various dangerous sea creatures such as sharks, anglerfish and jellyfish, in order to rescue Nemo from the dentist’s office, which is situated by Sydney Harbor. While the two are doing this, Nemo and the other sea animals in the dentist’s fish tank plot a way to return to Sydney Harbor to live their lives free again.

Voices:
Dinos Soutis
Thodoris Atheridis
Dimitra Papadopoulou
Sokratis Dounis

Director: Andrew Stanton, Lee Unkrich
Writer: Andrew Stanton
Runtime: 100 min
Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy
Rating: K
Language: Greek
Production Year: 2003

Les Misérables

Based on the novel by Victor Hugo, ‘Les Miserables’ travels with prisoner-on-parole, 24601, Jean Valjean, as he runs from the ruthless Inspector Javert on a journey beyond the barricades, at the center of the June Rebellion. Meanwhile, the life of a working class girl with a child is at turning point as she turns to prostitution to pay money to the evil innkeeper and his wife who look after her child, Cosette. Valjean promises to take care of the child. The fateful decision changes their lives forever.

Cast:
Hugh Jackman (Jean Valjean)
Russell Crowe (Javert)
Anne Hathaway (Fantine)
Amanda Seyfried (Cosette)

Director: Tom Hooper
Writer: Claude-Michel Schönberg, Alain Boublil
Runtime: 157 min
Genre: Drama, Musical, Romance
Rating: K
Language: English
Production Year: 2012

Jack Reacher

In an innocent heartland city, five are shot dead by an expert sniper. The police quickly identify and arrest the culprit, and build a slam-dunk case. But the accused man claims he’s innocent and says “Get Jack Reacher.” Reacher himself sees the news report and turns up in the city. The defense is immensely relieved, but Reacher has come to bury the guy. Shocked at the accused’s request, Reacher sets out to confirm for himself the absolute certainty of the man’s guilt, but comes up with more than he bargained for.

Cast:
Tom Cruise (Reacher)
Rosamund Pike (Helen)
Richard Jenkins (Rodin)
Werner Herzog (The Zec)

Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Writer: Lee Child, Christopher McQuarrie
Runtime: 130 min
Genre: Action, Crime, Thriller
Rating: 15
Language: English
Production Year: 2012

What If… (Αν…)

The story focuses on the lives of two young men Dimitris and Christina who meet in two parallel universes under different circumstances. In the first story their love is fierce and undeniable, yet they experience problems because of the economic crisis and these have an impact on them. But what IF they had met under different circumstances?

Cast:
Christoforos Papakaliatis (Dimitris)
Marina Kalogirou (Christina)
Maro Kodou (Elenitsa Kokovikou)
Giorgos Konstadinou (Antonakis Kokovikos)

Director: Christoforos Papakaliatis
Writer: Christoforos Papakaliatis
Runtime: 111 min
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Rating: 12
Language: Greek
Production Year: 2012

Life of Pi

Based on the best-selling novel by Yann Martel, is a magical adventure story centering on Pi Patel, the precocious son of a zoo keeper. Dwellers in Pondicherry, India, the family decides to move to Canada, hitching a ride on a huge freighter. After a shipwreck, Pi finds himself adrift in the Pacific Ocean on a 26-foot lifeboat with a zebra, a hyena, an orangutan and a 450-pound Bengal tiger named Richard Parker, all fighting for survival.

Cast:
Suraj Sharma (Pi Patel)
Irrfan Khan (Adult Pi Patel)
Gérard Depardieu (Cook)
Tabu (Gita Patel)

Director: Ang Lee
Writer: David Magee, Yann Martel
Runtime: 127 min
Genre: Adventure, Drama
Rating: K
Language: English
Production Year: 2012

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey 3D

Bilbo Baggins is swept into a quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor from the fearsome dragon Smaug. Approached out of the blue by the wizard Gandalf the Grey, Bilbo finds himself joining a company of thirteen dwarves led by the legendary warrior, Thorin Oakenshield. Their journey will take them into the Wild; through treacherous lands swarming with Goblins and Orcs, deadly Wargs and Giant Spiders, Shapeshifters and Sorcerers. Although their goal lies to the East and the wastelands of the Lonely Mountain first they must escape the goblin tunnels, where Bilbo meets the creature that will change his life forever … Gollum. Here, alone with Gollum, on the shores of an underground lake, the unassuming Bilbo Baggins not only discovers depths of guile and courage that surprise even him, he also gains possession of Gollum’s “precious” ring that holds unexpected and useful qualities … A simple, gold ring that is tied to the fate of all Middle-earth in ways Bilbo cannot begin to know.

Cast:
Ian McKellen (Gandalf)
Martin Freeman (Bilbo)
Richard Armitage (Thorin)
Ken Stott (Balin)

Director: Peter Jackson
Writer: Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens
Runtime: 169 min
Genre: Adventure, Fantasy
Rating: 12
Language: English
Production Year: 2012

Hotel Transylvania 3D/2D (Greek)

Welcome to the Hotel Transylvania, Dracula’s lavish five-stake resort, where monsters and their families can live it up, free to be the monsters they are without humans to bother them. On one special weekend, Dracula has invited some of the world’s most famous monsters – Frankenstein and his wife, the Mummy, the Invisible Man, a family of werewolves, and more – to celebrate his daughter Mavis’ 118th birthday. For Drac, catering to all of these legendary monsters is no problem – but his world could come crashing down when a human stumbles on the hotel for the first time and takes a shine to Mavis.

Voices:
Vassilis Charalambopoulos
Stefania Filiadi
Angelos Liagos
Elias Zervos

Director: Genndy Tartakovsky
Writer: Peter Baynham, Robert Smigel
Runtime: 91 min
Genre: Animation, Comedy, Family
Rating: K
Language: Greek
Production Year: 2012

Rise of the Guardians

When an evil spirit known as Pitch lays down the gauntlet to take over the world, the immortal Guardians must join forces for the first time to protect the hopes, beliefs and imagination of children all over the world.

Voices:
Chris Pine / Antinoos Albanis (Jack Frost)
Alec Baldwin / Costas Triandafillopoulos (North)
Jude Law / Christodoulos Stylianou
Hugh Jackman / Vassilis Milios

Director: Peter Ramsey
Writer: David Lindsay-Abaire, William Joyce
Runtime: 97 min
Genre: Animation, Adventure, Family
Rating: K
Language: English
Production Year: 2012