AUSTRALIA
Director: Baz Luhrmann
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman, David Wenham
The country and its people star in the romantic epic of the year.
moreThe country and its people star in the romantic epic of the year.
Set in the 1930s, English aristocrat Lady Sarah Ashley (Nicole Kidman) travels to the faraway continent of Australia where she has inherited a sprawling cattle ranch. But when her new property is threatened, she's forced to make a pact with a local cattle drover (Hugh Jackman) to save the land. Together they embark on an epic journey, driving cattle across hundreds of miles of unforgiving, inhospitable terrain to the city of Darwin. When they arrive, they're caught up in the bombing of the city by the same Japanese forces that devastated Pearl Harbor. Director Baz Luhrmann - the man who gave us Romeo + Juliet (1996) and Moulin Rouge (2001) - spent two years creating this film about his native land. The result is an epic story that brings together romance, drama and adventure against a big, breathtaking backdrop.
hideBEDTIME STORIES
Director: Adam Shankman
Starring: Adam Sandler, Keri Russell, Guy Pearce, Courteney Cox, Russell Brand
When hotel handyman Skeeter Bronson tells bedtime stories, they really come to life.
moreWhen hotel handyman Skeeter Bronson (Adam Sandler) tells bedtime stories, they really come to life.
It all begins when his sister Wendy (Courteney Cox) needs to travel to Arizona to attend a job interview, so she asks Skeeter to take care of her kids. As they're settling down for the night, they ask their uncle to tell them a bedtime story, which they quickly start to embellish. The following day, Skeeter starts experiencing some of the incidents of the previous night's tale. It soon occurs to him - with the help of his friend Mickey (Russell Brand) - that whatever story he tells the kids will come true. Only problem is, he's not the one in control - the kids are. Much hilarity ensues as Skeeter tries to solve his family's problems through his ever more fanciful yarns while the kids keep putting (sometimes rather dangerous) obstacles in the way.
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Director: Seth Gordon
Starring: Jon Voight, Vince Vaughn, Reese Witherspoon, Jon Favreau
If you've ever had your Christmas plans wrecked by family obligations, then this is the comedy for you.
moreIf you've ever had your Christmas plans wrecked by family obligations, then this is the comedy for you.
When affluent and 'happily unmarried' San Francisco couple Kate (Reese Witherspoon) and Brad (Vince Vaughn) find their Christmas plans scuppered by fog, they are forced to scrap the exotic vacation they've been looking forward to and instead embark upon precisely the kind of 'family obligation' holiday they've always avoided. Unable to escape, they make their way to no less than four different relative-choked festivities, increasingly mortified to find childhood fears raised, adolescent wounds reopened - and even their very future together rendered uncertain. As Brad counts the hours to when he can get away from parents, step-parents, siblings and assorted nieces and nephews, Kate is starting to hear the ticking of a different kind of clock. By the end of the day, she is beginning to wonder if their crazy families' choices are really quite so crazy after allā?¦
hideINKHEART
Director: Iain Softley
Starring: Brendan Fraser, Andy Serkis, Eliza Bennett, Paul Bettan, Helen Mirren, Sienna Guillory
The story really comes to life in this fantasy adventure for the family.
moreThe story really comes to life in this fantasy adventure for the family. Meggie (Eliza Bennett) and her father Mo (Brendan Fraser) have a gift: whenever they read aloud, they bring the characters from the book to life.
But when Mo hears voices from a book he hasn't heard for years, it sends shivers up his spine. The voices are from Inkheart, a story of medieval castles, fairs and strange creatures - and it's the book he believes Meggie's mother Resa (Sienna Guillory) is trapped inside.
When the evil villain Capricorn (Andy Serkis) emerges from the pages of Inkheart, he takes Mo, Meggie and her great aunt Elinor (Helen Mirren) to a remote mountain lair and destroys his copy of the book. While there, they discover that Resa is out of the book and trapped inside the castle. It's now up to Meggie to use her powers to stop Capricorn's reign of terror, save Resa and reunite the family for good.
hideMADAGASCAR ESCAPE 2 AFRICA
Director: Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath
Starring: Ben Stiller, Jada Pinkett Smith, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Sacha Baron Cohen, Cedric the Entertainer
The much-anticipated sequel to mega-popular family comedy Madagascar is here.
moreThe much-anticipated sequel to mega-popular family comedy Madagascar is here.
The motley assortment of escaped New York City Zoo animals - Alex (Ben Stiller), Marty (Chris Rock), Melman (David Schwimmer), Gloria (Jada Pinkett Smith), King Julien (Sacha Baron Cohen), Maurice (Cedric the Entertainer), the penguins (Tom McGrath, Christopher Knights, Chris Miller) and the chimps (Conrad Vernon) - are marooned on the distant shores of Madagascar. With military precision, the ever-resourceful penguins repair an old crashed plane. Once the first flight of Air Penguin is aloft, its unlikely crew stays airborne just long enough to make it to the wildest place of all - the vast plains of continental Africa. Here, for the very first time, our intrepid zoo crew encounter species of their own kind. Africa seems like a truly great place - but is it better than their Central Park home? And how on earth will they ever get back?
hideTHE SPIRIT
Director: Frank Miller
Starring: Samuel L Jackson, Gabriel Macht, Scarlett Johansson, Eva Mendes
When a cop (Gabriel Macht) meets a premature demise on the streets of Central City, he returns from the dead, reborn as 'the Spirit' and resolving to fight crime from the shadows.
moreWhen a cop (Gabriel Macht) meets a premature demise on the streets of Central City, he returns from the dead, reborn as 'the Spirit' and resolving to fight crime from the shadows.
His arch-enemy is criminal mastermind the Octopus (Samuel L Jackson) - who aims to devastate the Spirit's beloved city as he pursues his own version of immortality. The Spirit hunts this cold-hearted killer from Central City's rundown warehouses, through its damp catacombs and across its windswept waterfront. All the while, our masked crusader faces a legion of beautiful women who either want to seduce him, fall in love with him - or kill him.
Written and directed by Frank Miller (creator of Sin City and 300), The Spirit is a stylish slice of action-adventure-romance adapted from Will Eisner's legendary film noir-esque comic strip. Its stellar supporting cast features a bevy of screen goddesses including Scarlett Johansson, Eva Mendes, Jaime King and Paz Vega.
hideTWILIGHT
Director: Catherine Hardwicke
Starring: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Billy Burke, Cam Gigandet
A teenage girl falls for a handsome vampire in this adaptation of the best-selling series.
moreA teenage girl falls for a handsome vampire in this adaptation of the best-selling series.
When her mother remarries, quirky teen Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) is sent to live with her father in the dreary little town of Forks, Washington. She doesn't expect much to happen, but then she meets the enigmatic and handsome Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) and they embark on a passionate, forbidden romance. However, Edward is no ordinary boy. He is, in fact, a vampire (although he doesn't have fangs and he and his family choose not to drink human blood). He's been waiting 90 years to meet a girl like Bella but their budding affair is soon to be disrupted when James (Cam Gigandet) and his clan of bloodthirsty vampires come to the town. They quickly realise there's a human among them, and it's up to Edward to do all he can to protect his soulmate...
hideYES MAN
Director: Peyton Reed
Starring: Terence Stamp, Jim Carrey, Zooey Deschanel
For Carl Allen, life is going nowhere until he learns to say 'Yes!'.
moreFor Carl Allen (Jim Carrey), life is going nowhere until he learns to say 'Yes!'.
Based on the book by Danny Wallace (and bearing a passing resemblance to classic '70s novel The Dice Man), director Peyton Reed's comedy follows the cantankerously negative Carl, who has always refused every opportunity put in from of him. All this changes when he decides to sign up for a self-help programme based on a single premise - say 'yes' to anything and everything. It's not long before Carl discovers that using this tiny little word opens up a whole new world of opportunity for him. From all-night parties and taking Korean language lessons to bungee jumping and learning to fly, Carl's existence turns into one big adrenalin rush. It's also working wonders on his career and personal life. But could his new and relentlessly upbeat approach to living actually be too much of a good thing?
hideROLE MODELS
Director: David Wain
Starring: Elizabeth Banks, Seann William Scott, Paul Rudd, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Jane Lynch, Ken Jeong
Two salesmen are forced to wise up and behave like true role models to a bunch of young delinquents.
moreTwo salesmen are forced to wise up and behave like true role models to a bunch of young delinquents.
Paul Rudd and Seann William Scott star as Danny and Wheeler, two energy drinks reps that visit schools promoting their merchandise as a safe alternative to drugs. But when the duo trashes a company truck after a lunchtime binge on their own product, they are forced by court to face jail or enter Sturdy Wings, a mentorship program for kids. Choosing the latter, the pair soon realise they may have landed the tougher option when they come face to face with super geek Augie (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) and teen gangster Ronnie (Bobb'e J. Thompson). And with an ex-con centre director (Jane Lynch) also on their case, the guys are forced to adapt their immature 'wisdom' and teach their charges the real lessons of life in this quirky mix of teensploitation comedy and buddy movie.
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