So without futher ado, let’s see what the theatre has in store:

The Dictator

I remember seeing the trailer for this at the cinema a couple of weeks ago, and audibly wincing at how close to the bone the jokes were. With the downfall of Gaddafi still fresh in everyone’s mind, I don’t know if many people will find this offensive and/or badly timed.

However, the critics seem to like it (well most of them, anyway. I’m looking at you, UltraCulture). The film is quite funny, even though you might feel really guilty for laughing. But let’s face it, if you’re easily offended, you surely should know to stay away from the works of Baren Cohen by now.

The Raid: Redemption

This bad boy made quite a splash at the Imagine Film festival in Amsterdam a few weeks back, and is now about to go mainstream.

So what’s the deal? Well, 20 elite cops have to battle their way through 30 floors of horrors and henchmen in order to bring down a ruthless drug lord. The film comes from the same people who brought you Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Kung Fu Hustle, so you can be guaranteed a action-packed feast if you trust these guy’s track record.

2 Days in New York

However, if you prefer witty romantic comedies, then you should definitely consider seeing 2 Days in New York. The sequel to 2 Days in Paris, French photographer Marion (played by filmwriter Julie Delpy) is now living in New York with her current boyfriend Mingus (Chris Rock). However, chaos and hilarity ensues when her French family descends for a visit.

The trailer looks pretty funny and the reception has been pretty good. To be honest, it will probably be the film that I will be going to see this weekend.

What movies to you fancy seeing in the coming week? Give us a shout out in the comments section below!

Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth perform ‘Defying Gravity’. Following this, Menzel spent a few seasons on Glee, playing Rachel Barry’s mum. With THE most phenomenal voice on the big stage she deserves major kudos for her role as Elphaba in Wicked! The Musical. (skip into about 6.00 for the best bit!)

Christopher Sieber and the cast of Chicago sing ‘We Both Reached for the Gun’ in this 2011 Broadway production. Most of you have probably seen the most recent adaptation with the lovely Catherine Zeta Jones as Velma Kelly, Renee Zeweger, who gives a flawless performance as glamour-puss Roxie Hart and of course Mr Richard Gere as Billy Flynn. In this number, Roxie acts as Flynn’s puppet, as she learns to take his advice and fool the jury in her murder trial.

Maureen Nolan famously played the role of Mrs Johnson in the heartbreaking musical Blood Brothers. Mrs Johnson arrives home to find both her twins sons dead. I’ve seen 9 adaptations of this… yes 9, and this performance by Pierrot Productions is the best I’ve seen. In the final scene, Mrs Johnson sings “Tell me it’s not True”.

West End hit Les Miserables last year celebrated it’s 25th Birthday with an anniversary concert. This performance of ‘In My Life/ Heart Full of Love’ by Nick Jonas (cringe) and the very talented Katy Hall who gives a very vulnerable performance. The movie adaptation is set to hit our movie screens this year, starring Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried, Sasha Baron Cohen and the wonderfully creepy Helena Bonham Carter (with a name like that you were born to be on the stage).

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats became an overnight sensation in 1981 when it first opened on the West End. The London Production ran for a staggering 21- years and who could forget Elaine Paige’s unbelievable performance as Grizabella, one time glamour cat whose fame was dashed, and the song that made Cats famous, ‘Memory’.

Last but not least, recently named the highest earning show in Broadway’s history, Disney’s The Lion King boasts figures of £536.7 million sales since its opening in 1997. With phenomenal costumes and master puppetry, there is no best scene, it’s all brilliant, check this out!

Whats your favourite musical moment of all time? Don’t forget to let us know in the comments box below!

This is the first time the Spanish side of the franchise has broken away from the original apartment building in Barcelona. Instead, the film documents the wedding day of Clara and Koldo, which gets rudely interrupted by a violent zombie outbreak.

From the looks of the trailer, the feel of the film is very different, with the shaky hand-held camera style being swapped for a much slicker, higher production value look.

However, it keeps firmly rooted in its predececors, and promises to draw together the plot of the first two movies, while leaving the door open for the final installment, REC 4 Apocalypse.

I’m personally really excited about the news, the first two movies were excellent pieces of horror, and I can’t wait for more sleepless nights!

The film has already been released in Spain, with a release over here in the UK expected next month. But, if you can’t wait until then, it is currently being screened at the Imagine Film Festival in Amsterdam.

If you’re in the city at the moment, head over to the Kiterion where you’ll find some of the freshest and most exciting new releases. Besides REC 3, here’s a video playlist of our favourite trailers:

Remember it’s not too late to get a piece of the action – carriers like British Airways do last minute cheap flights to Amsterdam so if you have a bit of time spare, it’s definitely worth hopping over to the continent and checking it out!

Have you seen any decent films in the Imagine Film Festival? What do you think of the new REC 3 trailer? Tell us about them in the comments section below!

Source: The Washington Voices

Sadly, for millions of Twilight fans, this hugely popular franchise is taking its final bow later this year.

Breaking Dawn – Part 2 will hit cinemas on November 16th. Not many details have been released yet and the trailer is only 48 seconds long, but we can see than Bella has come to terms with her new life as a vampire and her marriage is going strong. Edward also tells her, “So beautiful. We’re the same temperature now”.

As to the plot, all we know at the moment is that the Cullens team up with their fellow vampires in order to protect their baby Renesmee from the Volturi. We can’t wait to find out what happens!

Up

Pixar creation Up was directed by none other than the animation genius responsible for Monsters Inc Pete Docter. In the amazing scene where Carl’s house takes off via a tonne of balloons, the production team used 20,622 real balloons to make the take-off scene happen.

The Nightmare Before Christmas

Danny Elfman stars as the voice of Jack Skellington, the pumpkin king of Halloween Town, who discovers the portal to Christmas Town, kidnaps Santa and takes to the skies on his coffin sleigh pulled by skeleton reindeer to deliver presents to the children of Christmas town. After being shot down by the army, he is sent back to Halloween Town, Jack gets the girl (Sally) and that’s that. If you’re a Burton fan, The Nightmare Before Christmas is a must- see, it has Tim’s eerie and unusual direction oozing from its pores.

Saw 3D

Alright so I’m throwing it out there, the Saw movies are pretty awful, but there’s something so disgustingly magical about blood, guts and 3D cinema that go so well together. Watch it, you’ll see.

Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland

Tim Burton’s remake of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland won a number of awards, including two Oscars for Best Achievement in Art Direction and Costume Design and three BAFTAS for Best Hair and Make Up and again Best Costume Design. You can see why. Watching this movie in 3D makes it every bit more obscure, as I’m sure Tim Burton intended it.

Avatar

I’m sensing a pattern here. They don’t give James Cameron the big bucks for nothing. Some say the storyline itself is reminiscent of Disney’s Pocahontas. Is actually the story of Jake Sully, a paraplegic Marine who takes on a mission to go to another planet (Pandora) and gets caught up between saving his home planet and following his orders. Following three Oscar wins including Best Achievement in Visual Effects, Avatar is the  best selling Blu- Ray of all time and it’s the first of a trilogy Cameron has agreed with 20th Century Fox- so watch this space!

Did we miss anything? Let us know in the comments!

Hunger Games Poster

The film is based on the book written by Suzanne Collins and attracts a teenage audience. Therefore it is undoubtedly going to be compared Twilight, but don’t be fooled! The only comparison we can make, is that there is a female lead. That’s about it! Other films which are of a more appropriate comparison are The Running Man and Battle Royale.

The film tells the story of post-Apocalyptic North America, now called Panem, where 12 districts of teenagers are set against each other in a state-sponsored public fight to the death.

Oscar nominee Jennifer Lawrence (recently seen as Raven/Mystique in X-Men: First Class) stars as Katniss Everdeen, the young woman who volunteers for the games as the female representative from her district, in order to protect her younger sister. She is taken, along with her male counterpart, Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson), to the Capitol. They, and the other 11 districts, are trained for the games.

Then, as a bit of contrast, they are fully groomed and styled in high fashion outfits, including a gorgeous pair of ‘Gold Faithful’ Alexander McQueen shoes. The contestants are then paraded in Saturday night style television with the Capitol’s favourite presenter Caesar Flickerman (Stanley Tucci).

The contestants are then flung into the arena; a forest full of cameras, weapons and challenges where only one contestant can survive. Let the battle commence…

The film has wowed critics with many saying that it is a smart blockbuster film which “is an essential science fiction film for our times” (Robbie Collin from the Telegraph). There is also a lot of praise for the director Gary Ross from Den of Geek: “Ross has done more than churn out a faithful adaptation of the book. His vision of the world of The Hunger Games is bigger, scarier, darker, and more political than the books ever dared to be.” Total Film’s Matthew Lyland says: “What’s remarkable is the lack of cheese. Tacky effects, corny dialogue and creaky performances are all shown the door. We repeat: not the new Twilight.”

Want to see it? Here is the trailer.

Overall the film looks dark, thrilling and exciting and we cannot wait to see it! If you go see it, let us know what you think!

Time to chase away those beginning-of-the-week blues by checking out the latest movie releases in theatres this weekend…

21 Jump Street

Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum) leave their adolescent problems behind and join the police force. However, when they’re forced to go undercover at a local high school, they have to confront the terror of being a teenager all over again.

This looks like it’s going to be a good’un, with the new slimline Jonah Hill still providing his full sized comic whallop, and Channing Tatum proving to be a rising comic star. If you enjoyed Pinapple Express, you should get your money’s worth out of this one.

We Bought a Zoo

This is very much a case of what you see is what you get. We Bought a Zoo tells the story of a single dad (played by Matt Damon) and his kids who, surprise surprise, buy a zoo. With the help of the eccentric staff, Matt Damon and the family work together to return the zoo to its former glory.

This heartwarming tale is directed by Cameron Crowe, who you may recognise from directing other films such as Jerry Maguire and Almost Famous. While it might not pack the full emotional punch as Crowe’s previous films, this is still quite a moving story and ideal if you’re just wanting a gentle evening at the cinema. A perfect film for Mother’s Day.

Contraband

In Contraband, Mark Wahlberg plays Chris Farraday: a rugged bad-guy-turned-good who gave up his criminal past to start a family. When his brother-in-law botches a drug deal, Chris is forced to go back to running contraband in order to settle the debt. Unfortunately, things quickly fall apart and Chris is a race against time to get the money before his wife and kids are put in danger.

If you like Mark Wahlberg action movies, this is unlikely to disappoint, as it’s pretty much just more of the same. However, if you’re looking for something a bit different this weekend, best to look elsewhere.

What are you planning to see this week? Let us know in the comments section below!

Image by: Pug50

The internets are abuzz about the upcoming release from Ridley Scott. Prometheus is to be released on the 8th of June 2012 and the promotion ship has well and truly taken off. The biggest debate is over whether the film is in fact a prequel to Ridley Scott’s genre-defining Alien. Even with the director apparently dismissing claims of it being a prequel, fans are still eager to hunt for clues to connect the films.

The plot for the new movie obviously takes its lead from Greek mythology, wherein Prometheus, a Titan, was in charge of moulding humans out of clay. As he attempted to improve the lives of the human race he would clash with Zeus, and in an act of betrayal he stole fire from the gods and gave it to man. For this he was chained to a rock and his constantly regenerating liver was eaten daily by an eagle. So what has this got to do with the film? Well, archaeological digs in Africa reveal alien artefacts that show that humans were genetically engineered by by an advanced alien race know as “space jockeys”, and amongst the artefacts are co-ordinates to the alien home world.

So our intrepid crew traipse off to meet our makers, and the alien gods are proud of their creation gaining such a level of intelligence. They share amazing bio-technologies with the crew but as in the old mythology one of them steals the bio-code, which is the source of the gods’ power. To say that they are unamused is an understatement and they unleash what is only described as a bio-weapon that is used to clean up planets before colonisation. There are some final twists and turns to the plot but I don’t want to give everything away!

Now as for the links to the Alien franchise there are a few that scream this is a prequel. The most obvious point is the company that is in charge of sending the ship to the further reached of space. Weyland Industries are the corporation responsible for the mission. Where have I heard that name before? Well in Alien the ill-fated mission was being commanded by none other than Weyland-Yutani. Is this just a coincidence? Twice involved with running into one of the most bad ass organisms in space? We feel that is more than just bad luck.

If you have a bit of spare time and fancy getting involved in the ongoing discussion about if this film is the alien prequel then you should check out the film’s homepage, which has more guessing and arguing than you can shake a stick at. In another interesting promotional move a video has been released mocking up a TED talk with Peter Weyland asking if he can change the world.

To be honest I am not sure how much of a prequel this film is, Ridley Scott has said it is definitely not. Perhaps this is all just a very well executed advertising campaign but at the same time there are too many similarities for it to have no link at all – perhaps it just happens in the same ‘universe’. I guess we will have to wait and see.

Do you think that Prometheus is a prequel? Or is this just a very good way to get buzz going for the film? Let us know what you think in the comments.

Mad Menis set in 1960’s America, and tells the story of a group of creative advertising directors on Madison Avenue, New York. Through Don Draper (John Hamm), key themes behind Mad Men highlight the racism, counterculture and sexism in the 60’s workplace. Whilst producer Matthew Weiner has rendered this is a very subtle manner, distinct divisions in the world of advertising are present throughout; women are undermined and seen as sex objects in a workplace where only secretarial roles are available to them, whilst the men get away with drinking and philandering.

Roger Sterling (John Slattery), senior partner of Sterling Cooper Draper Price, leaves his wife Mona for his young secretary Jane, only to find his ongoing love affair with newly married secretary Joan Holloway (Christina Hendricks) cannot be extinguished. A brief sexual encounter results in her becoming pregnant, but after claiming she aborted the baby, the final episode of season 4 sees her reveal to her husband that she is having a baby and he believes it to be his.

Image by Scott Smith via Flickr

Don’s wife Betty (January Jones) is a beautiful housewife and mother, whose impatient and emotionally immature nature is at the heart of their very turbulent marriage. After numerous infidelities on Don’s part, Betty goes in search of evidence and finds a shoe box filled with documents about his hidden identity. Don was born ‘Dick Whitman’, and explains that after massive guilt following his half- brother’s suicide, he decided to steal the identity of fallen Lieutenant Don Draper, whom he worked alongside in the Korean War.

Following their divorce, Betty marries New York governor Henry Francis and takes up residence with him in the previous Draper household. This makes Don incredibly angry and following a bitter row over custody of the children, a broken and defeated Don says he won’t stand in her way if she wants to marry Henry.

After a romantic moment with Megan (Jessica Pare), a new secretary at Stirling Coop Draper Price, lonely Don takes a recovery vacation with his children Sally and Bobby, leaving baby Eugene at home with Betty and Henry. He invites Megan along and after seeing how well she gets on with his children asks her to marry him. In the final episode Don tells Betty he is engaged in an emotional reunion as she prepares to move out of the Draper family home. With bittersweet backwards glances, they say goodbye.

We can’t wait for the return of handsome, troubled creative advertising executive Don Draper. What will happen to Joan’s baby? What will Roger say when he finds out she didn’t have an abortion? Will Don marry Megan or will he choose heartbroken Betty despite their past? Season 5 premiers on March 25^thon Sky Atlantic.

Action lovers are in for a treat this week, as this trio of films is all about the gunshots, explosions and badass one-liners. Let’s see what the cinema has in store for us over the next coming days!

Safe House

Denzel Washington plays a rogue CIA operative who comes to the fore after a decade on the run. After the South African safe house where he is being held is attacked, he escapes with rookie operative Ryan Reynolds. Now the pair must survive long enough to find out who wants them dead.

The critics are split on this one – some believe that Densel Washington’s performance is inspired, while others believe that the director spoils what would have otherwise been a pretty strong movie. But hey, at least from the trailer it looks pretty good:

Rampart

Woody Harrelson plays Dave Brown, a Vietnam vet who now works as a cop in the Rampart precinct. When he gets caught beating a suspect on camera, he heads on a personal and emotional downward spiral as his past sins and a department-wide corruption scandal finally catch up with him.

It has to be seen to be believed, but it looks like Woody Harrelson CAN act! Who knew?!

There were even murmurs of an Oscar nomination for a while… but luckily that fell through. I’m pretty sure that Woody Harrelson winning an Oscar is one of the first signs of the apocalypse.

One for the Money

When I heard that Janet Evanovich’s fab bounty hunter books were being adapted for the silver screen I was actually quite excited. I have read a lot of the Stephanie Plum series and was interested to see how the character would translate to the silver screen.

I needn’t have bothered. Although the trailer looks promising, the film smacks of something just knocked together in the hope of making a semi-successful franchise. The title is One for the Money, and sadly, that’s all this film seems to be. Shame.

What are you planning to see this weekend? Let us know in the comments section below!