Five new movies open on 1 February countrywide. With one of the world’s greatest love stories, spectacular surfing, Brit teen comedy, local romance in the Klein Karoo to Daniel Day-Lewis’ mesmerising portrayal of America’s 16th president on the movie menu, it’s time to smell the popcorn!
Anna Karenina
Anna Karenina (Keira Knightley) is married to righteous St Petersburg government official, Alexei Karenin (Jude Law). After eight years of marriage and one son she betrays him with a man that ultimately makes her question her own sanity. Leo Tolstoy’s tragic tale of married aristocrat and socialite Anna Karenina and her affair with the affluent Count Vronsky (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) is ambitiously brought to the big screen by Joe Wright . The movie explores “the themes of hypocrisy, jealousy, faith, fidelity, family, marriage, society, progress, carnal desire and passion’.
Chasing Mavericks
Gerard Butler is back and this time he’s tackling the surf. Chasing Mavericks is the inspirational true story of real life surfing phenomenon Jay Moriarity (played by newcomer Jonny Weston). At the age of 15, Jay discovers that the mythic Mavericks surf break, one of the biggest waves in the world, is real and just a few miles from his Santa Cruz home. Enters local legend Frosty Hesson (Gerard Butler) to train Jay how to survive the wave. The movie was made with the help of the biggest names in the surfing world and features some of the most astonishing real wave footage ever captured on film.
Directed by Curtis Hanson. Also with Elisabeth Shue, John Weston and Taylor Handley.
The Inbetweeners
Based on the highly popular BBC series, The Inbetweeners is about four geeky high school friends who set out on a wild sun and booze-filled vacation in Malia, a notorious Mediterranean hotspot. The film, with out-of-control party scenes and cheeky rude behaviour follows the quartet of sex-obsessed nerds as they try to break their lifelong losing streak with the ladies and learn about life along the way.
Directed by Ben Palmer. Starring Simon Bird, James Buckley, Blake Harrison and Joe Thomas.
Klein Karoo
A young teacher from Oudsthoorn, Cybil Ferreira, will do anything in her power to ensure the success of providing a safe haven for struggling local children in the Swartberg Valley. Her fiance, Meyer Labuschagne is pre-occupied with his own endeavours… and then Frans Coetzee shows up. A filmmaker with a broken heart, he is making a documentary about social upliftment work in the area. When Cybil and Frans meet, their worlds are turned upside down.
Directed by Regardt van den Bergh. With Donnalee Roberts, Tim Theron, Hykie Berg, Amalia Uys, Anel Alexander, Pierre Breytenbach and Sisanda Henna.
Lincoln
This long-awaited movie is a revealing drama that focuses on Abraham Lincoln’s tumultuous final months in office that he carried out with moral courage and fierce determination to succeed. In a nation divided by war and the strong winds of change causing havoc, Lincoln takes a course of action designed to end the war, unite the country and abolish slavery. Abraham Lincoln’s choices during this critical moment in history would change the fate of generations to come…
Starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, David Strathairn, Joseph-Gordon Levitt and Tommy Lee Jones.
