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Ratings: ***** Must See   **** Excellent  *** Entertaining   ** Average    * Dull                   

Rising Stars ***  A fun teen musical drama  with heart, Rising Stars explores the sacrifices that come with fame in reality television-obsessed culture. Challenged with creating songs and music videos, three musical acts find more than their futures on the line when the competition gets fierce and their lives are caught on tape broadcast to the nation. Egos clash and worlds collide as these teens find how far they will go to win the coveted prize and achieve stardom.  The film was directed by Dan Millican and stars Kyle Riabko, Lauren Ashley Carter, Leon Thomas III, Fisher Stevens, Barry Corbin, and Rebecca St. James.  Visit the website

Happythankyoumoreplease *****
An exceptional and truly enriching film from actor, producer, director, and writer Josh Radnor, best known for portraying the main character Ted Mosby on the popular, Emmy Award-winning CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother. A story of relationships, happythankyoumoreplease  deals with the struggles facing a group of 20-somethings who are learning to navigate life and love in New York. If you need a kickstart in life or feel lost and trapped in a mundane existence, this unique film will restore your faith in people and re-evaluate your relationships with friends and lovers. The well developed script, characters and film through the spirit and passion of independent filmmaking results in a meaningful and rewarding viewing experience that offers first rate entertainment. Radnor's sensitive direction is never obtrusive but allows his fantastic cast a wonderful opportunity to bring the charming characters to life and fully explores their unique lives, hopes and aspirations. It is one of those rare films you need to share with loved ones and guarantees to become a favourite in your DVD collection. Alhough the title might seem strange at first, you will definitely by happy, say thank you will ask for more at the end of the film.

The story On his way to a meeting with a publisher, aspiring novelist Sam Wexler (Radnor) meets Rasheen (Michael Algieri), a young boy separated from his family on the subway. When he realizes that Rasheen has already been in several previous foster homes before this one, he lets the boy stay with him for a few days. During that time, the boy meets Sam's friends, including Annie (Malin Akerman), who has the auto-immune disorder alopecia, Mary-Catherine (Zoe Kazan) and Charlie (Pablo Schreiber), whose possible move to Los Angeles threatens their relationship, and Mississippi (Kate Mara), a waitress who also happens to be an aspiring singer that catches Sam's eye, but also tests his fear of commitment when she wants him to open up to her.

Interview with Josh Radnor
At the film's press day, Josh Radnor talked about how the film came about for him, how excited he is for audiences to finally get to see it, what he learned from the experience of writing and directing that will help him in the future.
American actor, producer, director, and writer, is best known for portraying the main character Ted Mosby on the popular, Emmy Award-winning CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, for which he has received worldwide fame and recognition.
He made his writing and directorial debut with the 2010 comedy-drama film happythankyoumoreplease, for which he won the Sundance Film Festival Audience Award and was nominated the Grand Jury Prize. He is currently producing his second film, entitled Liberal Arts, which he again wrote and directed. Radnor wrote the film while working on the first and second seasons of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother. He then had actors read for roles, wrote revisions, and sought financing for two years.

How did this come about? Did it start with a specific idea?
I wanted to write a movie that I could act in. I wanted to write a great part for myself, so that was the genesis of it. But, I knew I wanted to make an ensemble film. I wanted lots of different characters, and I wanted it to be authentic and real. I didn't want to make a cynical movie. I wanted to make a sincere, open, honest movie about people having real problems and working through them.
I knew I wanted to open the movie with this guy who was late for a meeting, and who was a charming, irresponsible guy that sees a kid get separated from his family on the subway and ends up taking the kid in. And then, I knew I want to end the movie with this Candor & Ebb song, called "Sing Happy." And, I knew I wanted to base a character on my dear friend Rachel, who has alopecia. I had these tent pole ideas that were these bookends, and then I just found my way towards this story and filled in the blanks.
I distinguish sentiment from sentimentality. Sentimentality makes your skin crawl. It's like too much sugar. But, sentiment is a great feeling. As a filmmaker and a writer, how can you get the audience to go along with those things without rejecting it as something that smells phoney and feels manipulative? How can you earn those moments? That's really interesting to me.

What's it been like, waiting for this to come out since it premiered at Sundance in 2010? Are you excited that wider audiences will finally get to see it?
I'm excited for people to see it. There's obviously the nail-biting fear that no one will go. It's almost like being a salesman, but I trust the product. I trust that these knives are sturdy. I'm not selling you something that I don't believe in. A lot of times, we're just sold these movies that are really cynically conceived and marketed, and they just want you there opening weekend, before everybody finds out it's not so good. I'm very proud of this movie and I hope a lot of people find their way to it. In some ways, the delay of coming out is almost like your kid not going to school for another year. You get another year at home with your kid and you get to watch them grow and they're yours, before they get turned out into the world. I also feel like there's no mistakes with all this stuff. It's coming out exactly when it should.

Having written and directed this, what did you learn from this experience that you can carry over to the next film that you do?
I think I surrounded myself with really great people, all of whom I intend to bring back for my next movie. If I did anything right, I think I picked the right people to be in front of the camera and behind the camera to make me look really good. Picking the right people is a skill. Knowing when to say something and when not to say something is important. I learned to choose my battles. Sometimes I let my producer deal with something that I didn't want to deal with. I just really focused on the best use of me, to make sure that what gets put on film is the truest version or vision of what I had in the script and in my imagination.

Was there something that you found yourself spending the most time tweaking while you were in the editing room?
The balance among the stories was a big deal, and also finding what we didn't need. In writing scripts now, having made a film, I'm much more conscious of what it means to shoot and edit a movie, and that affects the writing. The scene where he brings the kid to the publishing meeting was a little more madcap. He chased him through the hall and took him to the bathroom and then popped his head back into the meeting. I got a great note from one of the producers who said, "Just have him come in and put the kid down, right away." He panics and just brings the kid into the meeting. That solved a logistical problem that I was having. The tone just didn't feel right. There were different things like that. We also lost a few scenes that I thought were the most pivotal scenes in the movie. I was like, "No, this is where the theme of the movie comes out," and it was like, "No, that's not what the movie needs to be." We cut about 45 or 50 minutes off the movie, from the first assembly to the final cut.

Latest releases

South African Films
Getroud Met Rugby -Die Onvertelde Storie *****A first-rate and highly entertaining film that showcases proudly South African filmmaking at its best. Director Cobus Rossouw's inspired vision draws a stirring emotional truth from the potent script he co-wrote with Deon Opperman, featuring powerhouse performances by Altus Theart and Izak Davel as two broken people whose paths cross in order to find themselves. You don't have to be a sports fan to enjoy this touching human drama that shows the power of forgiveness. Read more
Roepman **** An epic drama, based on the Jan van Tonder novel with the same title. It tells the story of a 1966 railway community, told through the eyes of an eleven year old boy, called Timus. Read more
Superhelde *** Albert and Peet - two wannabe Superheroes - have been struggling since their early school days to fit in. The only place where they feel at home is at the comic store, Dimensie Komieks. Unfortunately, Dimensie Komieks is deep in debt. As if that's not bad enough, the store is being threatened by Albert and Peet's school enemy, the Lex Luthor clone, JJ van Tonder. Money vultures, JJ and his father (JJ Senior), are the owners of the commercial Boulevard across from Dimensie Komies, and are in desperate need of more parking spaces. Superhelde tells the story of truth, love and discovery… Bonus features: Music Video, Behind the scenes.  Read more about the film
Ek Joke Net It follows and re-invents a long South African history of candid camera movies. From the shoe saleman with a foot fetish, the drunken driving instructor, mistaking ordinary people for celebrities at the airport, to the terrifying hanuted house: these gags are made for the big screen. The gags are brought to life by a group of panksters who punk ordinary, unexpecting victims, turning the ordinary into unusual and sometimes daring escapades!
Comedy
It's a Wonderful Afterlife  ****  In the tradition of Blithe Spirit and The Ladykillers, comes this wicked British afterlife laugh-fest. It tells an Indian mother taking her obsession with marriage into frighteningly funny territory. When Mrs Sethi can no longer stomach the rudeness of families who refuse her daughter, she takes matters into her own hands with the only way she knows.. Read more

Human Drama
Another Year ***** An outstanding British drama film written and directed by Mike Leigh. A married couple (Jim Broadbent, Lesley Manville) who have managed to remain blissfully happy into their autumn years are surrounded over the course of the four seasons of one average year by friends, colleagues, and family who all seem to suffer some degree of unhappiness. Writer-director Mike Leigh talks about Another Year
Beautiful Boy **** An unconventional love story that explores the journey of a married couple on the verge of separation who must live with unimaginable heartbreak, and find healing through the darkest days of their lives. Bill (Michael Sheen) and Kate (Maria Bello) hopelessly try to find some hint of an explanation after finding out that their only son committed a mass shooting at his university before taking his own life.   Read more
Brotherhood **** The winner of the Audience Award at the 2010 SXSW Film Festival in Texas, it explores the darker side of university and college party culture and explores themes such as justice, integrity and redemption. Read more
The Conspirator *****  Robert Redford's riveting thriller tells a powerful and true story about America then and now.In the wake of Abraham Lincoln's assassination, seven men and one woman are arrested and charged with conspiring to kill the President, Vice President, and Secretary of State. Read more
The Fighter **** The stark realism and gritty rawness of this evocative portrait of a blue-collar family, and the clash between two headstrong boxing- brothers, explodes vividly. It provides ideal entertainment for those seeking a boxing film that delivers an emotional knockout and not only a superficial visceral spectacle. It tells the story of family of losers who ultimately want to become champions. At the heart of this melting pot of despair and deprivation pulsates the emotive story of two brothers who battle to come to terms with the differences that tear them apart and divide their loyalty to their family and loved ones, particularly that of the Queen-bee matriarch (Melissa Leo), and an outsider girlfriend (Amy Adams). Under astute direction of David O. Russell, it features commanding performances from Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale as the two brothers, with great support from Leo and Adams. It is based on the life of professional boxer "Irish" Micky Ward (Wahlberg) and his older half-brother Dicky Eklund (Bale). Read more   Interview with David O. Russell     
The Life before her eyes **** Based on author Laura Kasischke's novel The Life Before Her Eyes, House of Sand and Fog director Vadim Perelman's provocative study of memory, morality, and conscience stars Uma Thurman as the guilt-ridden survivor of a harrowing, Columbine-like high-school shooting. To any outsider, Diana (played as a young girl by actress Evan Rachel Wood) and Maureen (Eva Amurri) were polar opposites; Diana was always questioning authority, while Maureen quietly went about fulfilling the expectations of her devoutly religious family. Yet it was precisely theses differences that drew the two girls to one another and found them gradually growing to become best friends. As with any anxious high-school student, Diana and Maureen both existed in that strange grey zone between childhood and adulthood that found them constantly pondering the endless possibilities that awaited them in the outside world. Flash forward years later, and Diana's (played as an adult by Thurman) life isn't anything like she imagined it would be as a young girl. As Diana's traumatic past gradually comes into focus, it soon becomes obvious that she was profoundly affected by a pivotal event that occurred just prior to her high-school graduation
The King's Speech ***** This dignified masterwork features phenomenal performances from Colin Firth as a prince who has suffered from a debilitating speech impediment all his life and is suddenly crowned King George VI of England; with Helena Bonham Carter as the future Queen Mother,  and Geoffrey Rush as an eccentric speech therapist. Read an interview with Tom Hooper     
Winter's Bone ***** When all hope seems lost and life is unbearable, the passion and willpower of a dirt-poor 17-year-old girl to save her home and family lies at the heart of this powerful and gut wrenching exploration of the human condition. Director Debra Granik gives us a heartfelt glimpse into the lives of a rural community living on the edge of darkness and shows the tremendous impact the kindness of strangers have om broken lives. Read an interview with Debra Granik
Welcome to the Rileys **** If there's one reason to see this outstanding exploration of the human condition and our longing to heal broken lives and relationships, it's for the powerful performance of Kirsten Stewart (the Twilight Girl), as a teenager who has lost herself and works as a stripper in a seedy joint, well supported by James Gandolfini (Sopranos) as a plumber whose marriage is down the drain and tries to find new meaning in life, and Melissa Leo (The Fighter) as his wife, a woman whose life has stopped after the death of their daughter.   Read more


Music drama
Broken Hill **** In the tradition of "Save The Last Dance", Billy Elliott and August Rush comes this charming Australian musical drama. Tommy (Luke Arnold) was born and raised on a rocky, drought-ridden sheep station in the middle of the Australian Outback. He works at the station and does all he can to appease his demanding father (Timothy Hutton) but in his heart wants to be a great musician. That all changes when Tommy meets his new class mate Kat (Alexa Vega), a bold and brash beauty, who at first doesn't notice him at all. As Tommy tries desperately to get her attention his antics cause him to fall into hot water with the local police. He luckily escapes jail and chooses to do community service at the nearby prison to stay out of trouble. Soon the stakes for Tommy are raised when his music teacher and mentor lands him an audition for the elite music con servatorium. Against all odds, Tommy gains the affections of Kat, finds a way to reconcile with his father and conducts the concert of his life. Directed and written by Dagen Merrill
Footloose *****  Classic tale of teen rebellion and repression features a delightful combination of dance choreography and realistic and touching performances. When teenager Ren (Kevin Bacon) and his family move from big-city Chicago to a small town in the West, he's in for a real case of culture shock.
Romance
The American **** As an assassin, Jack (played by George. Clooney) is constantly on the move and always alone. After a job in Sweden ends more harshly than expected, he retreats to the Italian countryside and takes an assignment to construct a weapon for a mysterious contact. When he pursues a torrid liaison with a beautiful woman, he is forced to step out of the shadows, but may be tempting fate. The Bonus features include deleted scenes, audio commentary by director Anton Cotbijn, a making of featurette 'The Journey to Redemption)  Read more
Greetings from the shore *** In this sentimental coming-of-age story, a girl named Jenny (Kim Shaw) heads down to the New Jersey Shore town of Lavallette for the summer, hoping to scrape up tuition for her first semester at Columbia University. She renews a tenuous relationship with a crusty local named Catch (Paul Sorvino), and lands a job at a yacht club, teaching the immigrant kitchen staff some rudimentary English. Jenny falls for one of the surly busboys, the hunky Benicio (David Fumero). The dreams of Jenny and her band of summer scruffs all come down to a high-stakes poker game between Catch and the nasty owner of the yacht club (Jay O. Sanders).Directed by Greg Chwerchak.
Jane Eyre **** In the 19th Century-set story, Jane Eyre (Mia Wasikowska) suddenly flees Thornfield Hall. As she recuperates in the Rivers' Moor House and looks back upon the tumultuous events that led to her escape, Jane wonders if the past is ever truly past…The superb bonus features include audio commentary by director Cary Joji Fukunaga, deleted scenes, A look inside Jane Eyre,  To Score Jane Eyre and The Mysterious Light of Jane Eyre.  Go behind the scenes of Jane Eyre
Love and other impossible pursuits **** Natalie Portman (Black Swan) lights up the screen in this frank, funny, and heart-wrenching adaptation of bestselling author Ayelet Waldman's novel about life, loss, and family. Emilia (Portman) is a Harvard law school graduate and a newlywed, having just married Jack (Scott Cohen), a high-powered New York lawyer, who was her boss - and married - when she began working at his law firm. Unfortunately, her life takes an unexpected turn when Jack and Emilia lose their newborn daughter. Emilia struggles through her grief to connect with her new stepson William (Charlie Tahan), but is finding it hard to connect with this precocious child.   Emilia is also trying to overcome a long-standing rift in her relationship with her father caused by his infidelity.   
Love, wedding, marriage *** An entertaining romantic comedy-drama with Mandy Moore as a successful marriage counselor who discovers that sometimes there's no cure for marriages on the rocks. When she marries a sexy husband (Kellan Lutz) everything seems heavenly until she finds out that her own parents (Jane Seymour and Janes Brolin) are heading for a divorce, and that her own  hubby has some secrets that rocks their marriage. Her perfect world begins to crumble and she questions whether true love is more than a fairy tale or that marriage really is just an institution for the committed?
Yes ****The story of a passionate love affair between an American woman (Joan Allen) and a Middle-Eastern man (Simon Abkarian) in which they confront some of the greatest conflicts of our generation - religious, political and sexual. Sam Neill plays the betrayed and betraying politician husband, Sheila Hancock the beloved aunt and Shirley Henderson the philosophical cleaner who witnesses the trail of dirt and heartbreak the lovers leave behind them, as they embark on a journey that takes them from London and Belfast to Beirut and Havana. Read more  Read an interview with writer-director Sally Potter

Horror
Frozen ****  Absolutely terrifying! This is fear at its most extreme. This is not the boogeyman or supernatural elements, but man versus Mother Nature at her most unforgiving. A typical day on the slopes turns into a chilling nightmare for three snowboarders when they get stranded on the chairlift before their last run. As the ski patrol switches off the night lights, they realize with growing panic that they've been left behind dangling high off the ground with no way down.With the resort closed until the following weekend and frostbite and hypothermia already setting in, the trio is forced to take desperate measures to escape off the mountain before they freeze to death. Once they make their move, they discover with horror that they have much more to fear than just the frigid cold. As they combat unexpected obstacles, they start to question if their will to survive is strong enough to overcome the worst ways to die?  Read interview with writer-director Adam Green
Needle *** Fear explodes in this mindbending horror when a college student (Michael Dorman) inherits from his father a mysterious 18th century box, called Le Vaudou Mort. Soon after he reveals his Inheritance to his closest friends, they start dying in weird ways. The Le Vaudou Mort is actually a "voodoo" machine designed as a tool for revenge. When the target's photograph is put into the box, a wax doll is created, giving the user power to kill or physically harm the represented person. A killer has started to use the device against Ben's friends. Unaware of the evil nature of the box, the student shows some picture of Le Vaudou Mort to Professor Banyon, his archaeology teacher, seeking and uncovers some clues on the origins and uses of the box. Ben and his brother Marcus (Travis Fimmel), who has not been forgiven by Ben since their father died in a car accident after a harsh discussion with him, figure out the power of the device and search for the killer.
The Reef ***Four friends are hunted by a great white shark when they are stranded in the sea in this independent film from Australian writer-director Andrew Traucki.Cast as the fish's co-stars are Gyton Grantley and Damian Walshe-Howling, who've had previous experience of swimming with sharks via their roles in TV's Underbelly series. Here, they're playing much more benign characters. Walshe-Howling's Luke is a yachtsman who makes his living delivering boats to their new owners. He's just picked up one on a marina near Townsville and he's invited some friends to join him for a week's sailing and snorkelling before he and Warren (Kieran Darcy-Smith), his crewman, take it to Indonesia. Matt (Grantley) and his girl, Suzie (Adrienne Pickering), have recently flown from London and with them is Matt's sister, Kate (Zoe Naylor), who also happens to be Luke's ex-girlfriend. The hapless group is allowed a brief taste of paradise. There's a rapturous snorkelling session, followed by some sunbathing. Then as they climb back on board and head for deeper water, the crisis comes. The boat hits something and capsizes. Scrambling up on to the hull, they find that the keel has been torn away. The dinghy, too, has mysteriously gone AWOL. There are now two alternatives. They can stay on the sinking boat or head for the nearest island, which Luke estimates to be about three hours away. Much agonising ensues. At the end of it, Warren, the crewman, decides to stay and the others slide into the water with one mask between them and some makeshift kickboards
Scream 4 ****  A savvy and witty return to Woodsboro where nothing is what it seems and everything is filled with surpirsing twists. 15 after they launched the succesful Scream trilogy, horror guru Wes Craven and screenwriter Kevin Williamson cook up another delicious plot that rewards fans with an entertaining and clever plot. Read more about the film
The Thaw *** A team of ecology students led by a famous environmental advocate discovers that some secrets are better left buried when they unearth the perfectly preserved remains of a frozen wooly mammoth and discover that an ancient parasite has been incubating inside the beast for centuries. Dr. David Krupien (Val Kilmer) is examining a melting ice cap in the Arctic when he unearths a prehistoric specimen the likes of which researchers have never seen. Elated by the possibilities of such a remarkable find, Dr. Krupien hastily summons four of his brightest students to the base to take part in the excavation. But something isn't right; soon after extracting the massive prehistoric creature from the ice, the students are besieged by a swarm of unidentified insects that burrow deep into the flesh, and lay eggs in their host to reproduce. With each new infection, the prospect of containing the parasitic bane decreases. Now, stranded in the Arctic with their numbers quickly dwindling, the desperate students realize that their only hope of preventing the parasite from reaching the general population is to quarantine the base, even if it costs them their lives.

Suspense thriller
The boy she met online *** The film deals with a true problem in today's society: online predators.It tells of a teenage girl (Tracy Spiridakos) who has a troubled relationship with her mother (Alexandra Paul) and turns to the internet where she finds a handsome college student that seems to be Mr. Right (Jon Cor). When she discovers that he is an ex-con wanting to start a new life, it turns into a tragic romance where love could conquer all.
Fireball A former football superstar harnesses the power to create fire with his mind while serving hard time, and embarks on an infernal rampage of revenge in this sci-fi action thriller starring Ian Somerhalder. Tyler "The Fuse" Draven was a gridiron giant. But giants have a way of falling, and Tyler fell hard. But now he's discovered a power that can help him get revenge on everyone who ever wronged him, and when the flames start to fly, his enemies will fry.
The Perfect Host ***** David Hyde Pierce delivers an outstanding performance as a twisted and consummate host who carefully prepares an impeccable dinner party. Clayne Crawford is eually superb as the naïve career criminal who finds himself as one the the host's uninvited guests.Cowriter/director Nick Tomnay takes us on a suspense-filled ride where nothing is as it seems. This slippery psychological thriller that exposes true human nature and reveals just how far we're willing to go to satisfy our needs.  Read more

Distaster/ adventure
Arctic Blast *** When a solar eclipse sends a colossal blast of super chilled air towards the earth, it sets off a catastrophic chain of events that threatens to engulf the world in ice! A US research vessel sits on a calm Antarctic Ocean just 100 miles off the coast of Australia studying the thinning of the ozone. Suddenly a blast of sub zero air strikes the vessel, flash freezing the scientists and crew, bodily fluids turning to ice, skin splitting as ice crystals expand in muscle and tissue - the deaths are horrific and instant…A brilliant, yet troubled physicist specializing in Earth Sciences (Michael Shanks) concludes that all of these elements have combined to create the ultimate disaster--a new ICE AGE! Jack puts his unconventional methods into action. As the deadly and ever growing ice cold air mass envelops cities, flash freezing every living thing in its path, Jack becomes the planet's last chance to stop the impending ice age!              HOME