Movies today, South Africa!
Six new films open in South Africa today, and these are my top 2 picks for the weekend.
1) Law Abiding Citizen - If you're a Gerard Butler fan, you must be in heaven right now. With the release of Law Abiding Citizen there will be 3 movies showing in local cinemas that star your favourite man! The other 2 are The Ugly Truth and Gamer. Action Thriller Law Abiding Citizen also stars Jamie Foxx, and centres on an apparently ordinary man (Butler) who is let down by the justice system after the murder of his wife and child. He embarks on a cunning revenge plan to ensure the criminals responsible, as well as the judiciary who softened their punishment, pay for what they've done.
Personally I thought this film looked pretty good in the trailer, and it's been happily sitting near the top of the US box office since it's release in mid October. It is however only 24% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, with the majority of critics calling it ridiculous and overly brutal.
2) Disney's A Christmas Carol - I feel like I've been blogging a lot recently about this new CGI-animated family film! The umpteenth movie adaptation of Charles Dickens' beloved festive morality tale, this take on miserly Ebenezer Scrooge's change of heart has been made using performance capture technology. It comes from director Robert (Forest Gump, Back to the Future) Zemeckis, who previously gave us Beowulf and The Polar Express in the same style, and stars Jim Carrey and Gary Oldman in multiple roles.
A Christmas Carol is screening locally in conventional format as well as 3D. It's NOT showing at IMAX locally as it initially appeared it would be. Anyway, judging by the trailer, the filmmakers' desire to capitalise on gimmicky 3D means that the movie's action quotient has been drastically pumped up to the point of ridiculousness - making the film a hefty departure from Dickens' original tale. Some critics at Rotten Tomatoes (where the film currently has a 54% Fresh rating) have commented on this point, stating that the film prioritises "the hectic over the heartfelt." Other critics however, have praised this new take on A Christmas Carol for being both vivid and emotionally engaging.
Given the way it's splitting critics then, you may have to ignore the reviews and check out A Christmas Carol for yourself. Ho ho ho!
Your other new movie releases this weekend are:
Fireflies in the Garden - The major selling point of this melodrama is its all-star cast, which includes Ryan Reynolds, Willem Dafoe, Emily Watson, Carrie-Anne Moss and Julia Roberts. The film centres on a Midwestern American family whose apparent success hides a very different truth. 25% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
Departures - Winner of the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film at this year's Academy Awards. This Japanese drama focuses on a recently retrenched cellist who returns to his rural hometown and, through a mistaken interpretation of a job ad, finds himself working as a funeral professional. 81% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
Tosca (Giacomo Pucci) - A high definition recording of the famous Pucci opera, about a singer, painter and police chief entangled through love and politics. Filmed at New York's Metropolitan Opera this September and starring celebrated soprano Karita Mattila, as well as Marcelo Alvarez and George Gagnidze. If you have 4 hours to kill, you can check this one at at Ster Kinekor Cinema Nouveaus nationwide.
Trevor Noah: The Daywalker - A recording of award-winning South African comedian Trevor Noah performing his first ever one-man show at the Lyric Theatre in Johannesburg. Noah delves into a wide range of topics, entertaining in his trademark clean-cut, no-cursing style. Screening at Nu Metro cinemas across the country.
1) Law Abiding Citizen - If you're a Gerard Butler fan, you must be in heaven right now. With the release of Law Abiding Citizen there will be 3 movies showing in local cinemas that star your favourite man! The other 2 are The Ugly Truth and Gamer. Action Thriller Law Abiding Citizen also stars Jamie Foxx, and centres on an apparently ordinary man (Butler) who is let down by the justice system after the murder of his wife and child. He embarks on a cunning revenge plan to ensure the criminals responsible, as well as the judiciary who softened their punishment, pay for what they've done.
Personally I thought this film looked pretty good in the trailer, and it's been happily sitting near the top of the US box office since it's release in mid October. It is however only 24% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, with the majority of critics calling it ridiculous and overly brutal.
2) Disney's A Christmas Carol - I feel like I've been blogging a lot recently about this new CGI-animated family film! The umpteenth movie adaptation of Charles Dickens' beloved festive morality tale, this take on miserly Ebenezer Scrooge's change of heart has been made using performance capture technology. It comes from director Robert (Forest Gump, Back to the Future) Zemeckis, who previously gave us Beowulf and The Polar Express in the same style, and stars Jim Carrey and Gary Oldman in multiple roles.
A Christmas Carol is screening locally in conventional format as well as 3D. It's NOT showing at IMAX locally as it initially appeared it would be. Anyway, judging by the trailer, the filmmakers' desire to capitalise on gimmicky 3D means that the movie's action quotient has been drastically pumped up to the point of ridiculousness - making the film a hefty departure from Dickens' original tale. Some critics at Rotten Tomatoes (where the film currently has a 54% Fresh rating) have commented on this point, stating that the film prioritises "the hectic over the heartfelt." Other critics however, have praised this new take on A Christmas Carol for being both vivid and emotionally engaging.
Given the way it's splitting critics then, you may have to ignore the reviews and check out A Christmas Carol for yourself. Ho ho ho!
Your other new movie releases this weekend are:
Fireflies in the Garden - The major selling point of this melodrama is its all-star cast, which includes Ryan Reynolds, Willem Dafoe, Emily Watson, Carrie-Anne Moss and Julia Roberts. The film centres on a Midwestern American family whose apparent success hides a very different truth. 25% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
Departures - Winner of the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film at this year's Academy Awards. This Japanese drama focuses on a recently retrenched cellist who returns to his rural hometown and, through a mistaken interpretation of a job ad, finds himself working as a funeral professional. 81% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
Tosca (Giacomo Pucci) - A high definition recording of the famous Pucci opera, about a singer, painter and police chief entangled through love and politics. Filmed at New York's Metropolitan Opera this September and starring celebrated soprano Karita Mattila, as well as Marcelo Alvarez and George Gagnidze. If you have 4 hours to kill, you can check this one at at Ster Kinekor Cinema Nouveaus nationwide.
Trevor Noah: The Daywalker - A recording of award-winning South African comedian Trevor Noah performing his first ever one-man show at the Lyric Theatre in Johannesburg. Noah delves into a wide range of topics, entertaining in his trademark clean-cut, no-cursing style. Screening at Nu Metro cinemas across the country.
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