Films opening in South Africa this {long} weekend….

Films all open tomorrow, which is Thursday….

Iron Man

The big-screen adaptation of Marvel’s legendary superhero, Iron Man, is a must see – I honestly think it is going to rock. Oscar® nominee Robert Downey Jr. stars as Tony Stark, a.k.a. Iron Man, in the story of a billionaire industrialist and genius inventor who is kidnapped by terrorists and forced to build a devastating weapon.

Instead, using his intelligence and ingenuity, Tony builds a high-tech suit of armour and escapes captivity. When he uncovers a nefarious plot with global implications, he dons his powerful armour and vows to protect the world as Iron Man. And we get it a day, less than a day for those going to midnight screenings, than the US. Just thought I’d throw that out there

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The 61st Cannes Film Festival website reports:

“Opening the Festival, and in Competition, on Wednesday May 14th: Blindness by Fernando Mereilles, with Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Danny Glover, Gael García Bernal.

- A third French film in Competition: Entre les murs by Laurent Cantet, with François Begaudeau.

- Another film in Competition: Two Lovers by James Gray, with Joachim Phoenix and Gwyneth Paltrow

Furthermore, Hunger by Steve McQueen will open Un Certain Regard, on Thursday May 15th.

The Jury, presided by Sean Penn, welcomes two new members, the French actress Jeanne Balibar and the Iranian author-director Marjane Satrapi.

Finally, Robert de Niro will present the Palme d’or, awarded by the Jury, on Sunday May 25th.

At this occasion, and to close the Festival, will be screened What Just Happened by Barry Levinson with Robert de Niro, Bruce Willis, Robin Wright Penn, John Turturro and Sean Penn.”

Stupid me for my anticipations: 2008’s Little Miss Sunshine/Juno?

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Bob Dylan defies categorization, and his refusal to become attached to any notion, name or even general suggestion as to who or what he was is as elusive as the Todd Haynes’ film itself. Every time a name or an image tried to attach itself to him, he ran and morphed into what would eventually become a series of mythical identities or personas, portrayed by six different actors in the film. Without trying to make any sort of cohesive statement about the lives and times of Bob Dylan, Haynes successfully illuminates the indefinable chameleon-like quality of the musical legend by creating a near perfect work of surrealism, a kaleidoscopic anti-biopic, a visual poem. All without mentioning Dylan’s name even once, that in itself is a bold statement.
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He’s shaping up for the love of his life.

British comedian, Simon Pegg, sure is making his way into mainstream cinema. Proof of this is in the role he plays in “Run, Fat Boy, Run.” Before you dismiss the film, it may have something to do with the dismal title, give it a chance; you won’t be seeing the film of your life, but one with big laughs and an even bigger heart that shouldn’t disappoint. It all boils down to your expectations. It may not be “Shaun of the Dead” or “Hot Fuzz,” this time Pegg goes solo, but it sure is a fair debut by loveable actor David Schwimmer, of televisions “Friends.”
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And I thought it was Anne who couldn’t keep her mouth shut…

It would be too easy to mock “The Other Boleyn Girl” for its flirtations with, among many other things, historical inaccuracy. For the most part the film succeeds at being entertaining and visually alluring, proving most quarrels about how the balance between lust and historical details could have been achieved to be irrelevant. It defines exact genre categorisation and, in the end, what you take away from the film depends on your need for history to be direct and to the point or if you can simply enjoy this sumptuous melodrama for what it is, an ornate and passionate take, with a feminist back bone, on a story not so well known.
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“Unbearable” is a far more appropriate title… 

So called “Torture-porn,” not exactly something anyone other than horror fan boys enjoy, is given a Hollywood twist, or so Gregory Hoblit would like to believe, by casting a lovely leading lady, in this case Diane Lane, as the lead character and “modernising” is with the use of the “Internet.” Someone forgot to tell him, among other things, it has all been done before. Lane is only one component of an actual skilled cast trying to deliver some of the most poorly written material of the year so far. Hints, or stolen attempts at creating something truly terrifying, of “Se7en,” “Saw” and “Silence of the Lambs” aside, this is film is, without a doubt, to be missed.
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The next Barry Ronge preview, which I find odd, is the film 21. Since when does he screen commercial crap? I can think of a TON of other films he can screen. Damn it.

The film is, besides a lame adaptation apparently, the true story of a bunch of math students who figured out how to beat the odds at the Blackjack tables in Las Vegas. Apparently a “must see” for gamblers.

It is to be screened at Monte Casino on the 27th of April, at 17:00 for 17:30.

To Book: Nu Metro Website

The film opens on the 9th of May, and I can sure as hell wait before I see it.

Yesterday afternoon, Peter Jackson, and Fran Walsh, New Line president Toby Emmerich and Mary Parent announced that del Toro has agreed to direct “The Hobbit” and its sequel, hoping to release them in late 2011 and 2012. Rumours be gone…

Films opening in South Africa this {long} weekend

I’m Not There

Visionary Velvet Goldmine and Far from Heaven director Todd Haynes returns to the big screen with a film produced by long-time champion of independent filmmakers, Christine Vachon that is as groundbreaking and revolutionary, or so I have heard.
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