Cinema Releases: March 2012

Released 2nd March:

Project X (18) Running time: 88 minutes

Director: Nima Nourizadeh   Writers: Matt Drake, Michael Bacall

Starring: Thomas Mann, Oliver Cooper, Jonathan Daniel

3 high school seniors throw a birthday party to make a name for themselves. As the night progresses, things spiral out of control as word of the party spreads.

This Means War (12A)  Running time: 98 minutes

Director: McG   Writers: Timothy Dowling, Simon Kinberg

Starring: Reese Witherspoon, Tom Hardy, Chris PineAbigail Spencer

Two of the world’s top secret agents are best friends who never let anything come between them — until they inadvertently fall for the same woman. It’s all-out war, as the two spies battle each other with high-tech surveillance, advanced tactics, and an arsenal capable of bringing down a small country.

Released 9th March:

Bel Ami (15) Running time: 102 minutes

Directors: Declan Donnellan, Nick Ormerod   Writers: Guy de Maupass, Rachel Bennette

Starrng: Robert Pattison, Christina Ricci, Uma Thurman, Kristin Scott Thomas

A chronicle of a young man’s rise to power in Paris via his manipulation of the city’s most influential and wealthy women.

Cleanskin (15) Running time: 108 minutes

Director: Hadi Hajaig,  Writer: Hadi Hajaig

Starring: Sean Bean, Charlotte Rampling, Abhin Galeya

Cleanskin: Ewan (Sean Bean) is a Secret Service Agent faced with the task of pursuing and eliminating a suicide bomber Ash (Abhin Galeya) and his terrorist cell, whilst Ash wrestles with his conscience and reflects on his journey to terrorism.

John Carter (12A) Running time: 132 minutes

Director: Andrew Stanton,  Writers: Edgar Rice Burroughs, Andrew Stanton

Starring: Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins, Willem Dafoe, Mark Strong, Ciaran Hinds

Civil War vet John Carter is transplanted to Mars, where he discovers a lush, wildly diverse planet whose main inhabitants are 12-foot tall green barbarians. Finding himself a prisoner of these creatures, he escapes, only to encounter Dejah Thoris, Princess of Helium, who is in desperate need of a savior.

The Raven (15) Running time: 111 mins

Director: James McTeigue, Writers: Ben Livingston, Hannah Shakespeare

Starring: John Cusack, Alice Eve, Luke Evans, Brendan Gleeson

When a mother and daughter are found brutally murdered in 19th century Baltimore, Detective Emmett Fields makes a startling discovery: the crime resembles a fictional murder described in gory detail in the local newspaper—part of a collection of stories penned by struggling writer and social pariah Edgar Allan Poe. But even as Poe is questioned by police, another grisly murder occurs, also inspired by a popular Poe story.

Realizing a serial killer is on the loose using Poe’s writings as the backdrop for his bloody rampage, Fields enlists the author’s help in stopping the attacks. But when it appears someone close to Poe may become the murderer’s next victim, the stakes become even higher and the inventor of the detective story calls on his own powers of deduction to try to solve the case before it’s too late.

Released 16th March:

21 Jump Street (15) Running time: 109 mins

Directors: Phil Lord, Chris Miller,  Writers: Jonah Hill, Michael Bacall

Starring: Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum, Ice Cube

A pair of underachieving cops are sent back to a local high school to blend in and bring down a synthetic drug ring.

Contraband (15) Running time: 110 minutes

Director: Baltasar Kormakur,  Writer: Aaron Guzikowski

Starring: Mark Whalberg, Kate Beckinsale, Giovanni Rabisi, Ben Foster

‘Mark Wahlberg’ leads the cast of Contraband, a white-knuckle action-thriller about a man trying to stay out of a world he worked hard to leave behind and the family he’ll do anything to protect. Set in New Orleans, the film explores the cutthroat underground world of international smuggling – full of desperate criminals and corrupt officials, high-stakes and big payoffs-where loyalty rarely exists and death is one wrong turn away. Chris Farraday (Wahlberg) long ago abandoned his life of crime, but after his brother-in-law, Andy (Caleb Landry Jones), botches a drug deal for his ruthless boss, Tim Briggs (Giovanni Ribisi), Chris is forced back into doing what he does best-running contraband-to settle Andy’s debt. Chris is a legendary smuggler and quickly assembles a crew with the help of his best friend, Sebastian (Ben Foster), to head to Panama and return with millions in counterfeit bills. Things quickly fall apart and with only hours to reach the cash, Chris must use his rusty skills to successfully navigate a treacherous criminal network of brutal drug lords, cops and hit men before his wife, Kate (Kate Beckinsale) and sons become their target.

The Devil Inside (15) Running time: 83 minutes

Director: William Brent Bell,    Writers: William Brent Bell, Matthew Peterman

Starring: Fernanda Andrade, Simon Quaterman, Evan Helmuth, Ionut Grama

In 1989, emergency responders received a 9-1-1 call from Maria Rossi (Suzan Crowley) confessing that she had brutally killed three people. 20 years later, her daughter Isabella (Fernanda Andrade) seeks to understand the truth about what happened that night. She travels to the Centrino Hospital for the Criminally Insane in Italy where her mother has been locked away to determine if her mother is mentally ill or demonically possessed. When she recruits two young exorcists (Simon Quarterman and Evan Helmuth) to cure her mom using unconventional methods combining both science and religion, they come face-to-face with pure evil in the form of four powerful demons possessing Maria. Many have been possessed by one; only one has been possessed by many.

We Bought a Zoo (PG)  Running time: 124 minutes

Director: Cameron Crowe,  Writers: Aline Brosh McKenna, Cameron Crowe

Starring: Matt Damon, Scarlett Johansson, Thomas Haden Church

Set in Southern California, a father moves his young family to the countryside to renovate and re-open a struggling zoo.

Released 23rd March:

 The Hunger Games (12A) Running time: 142 minutes

Director: Gary Ross,  Writers: Suzanne Collins, Gary Ross

Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth

In a not-too-distant future, North America has collapsed, weakened by drought, fire, famine, and war to be replaced by Panem, a country divided into the Capitol and 12 districts. Each year two young representatives from each district are selected by lottery to participate in The Hunger Games. Part entertainment, part brutal intimidation of the subjugated districts, the televised games are broadcast throughout Panem. The 24 participants are forced to eliminate their competitors, literally, with all citizens required to watch. When 16-year-old Katniss’ young sister, Prim, is selected as the mining district’s female representative, Katniss volunteers to take her place. She and her male counterpart Peeta, will be pitted against bigger, stronger representatives who have trained for this their whole lives.

Wild Bill (15) Running time: 98 minutes

Director: Dexter Fletcher, Writer: Dexter Fletcher, Danny King, Andy Serkis

Starring: Charlie Creed-Miles, Will Poulter, Liz White

Out on parole after 8 years inside Bill Hayward returns home to find his now 11 and 15 year old sons abandoned by their mother and fending for themselves. Unwilling to play Dad, an uncaring Bill is determined to move on. Although Dean the older boy has found a job and is doing his best to be a father to his younger brother Jimmy, the arrival of Bill has brought them to the attention of social services. With the danger of being put into care looming, Dean forces his feckless Dad to stay by threatening to grass him up for dealing. If there’s one thing Bill doesn’t want it’s to go back to prison. He reluctantly agrees to stay for a week o help fool social services that the boys are being cared for. Having never really grown up himself Bill quickly connects with Jimmy and through this new bond starts to realize what he’s been missing. He has a family, a place in the world. He is a father. However, their happy family set up is short lived when Jimmy gets into trouble with Bill’s dangerous old cohorts. To sort it out would breach the terms of his license and risk sending him back to Jail. Bill’s next steps will show what sort of a Dad he wants to be. A good one or a free one.

Released 28th March:

The Pirates: In an Adventure with Scientists (TBC) Running time: 88 minutes

Directors: Peter Lord, Jeff Newitt,  Wirter: Gideon Defoe

Starring: Hugh Grant, Salma Hayek, Jeremy Piven, Brian Blessed, Brendan Gleeson, Lenny Henry

Pirate Captain sets out on a mission to defeat his rivals Black Bellamy and Cutlass Liz for the Pirate of the year Award. The quest takes Captain and his crew from the shores of Blood Island to the foggy streets of Victorian London.

Released 30th March:

Babycall (TBC)  Running time: 96 mins

Director: Pal Sletaune   Writer: Pal Sletaune

Starring: Noomi Rapace, Kristoffer Joner, Henrik Rafaelson

Anna and her eight year old son Anders are under the witness protection program following a difficult relationship with Anders’ father. They move into a large apartment complex. Anna becomes overprotective of her son and even buys a babycall to keep track of him. Soon, strange noises from other apartments appear on the monitor, and Anna overhears what might be the murder of a child. Meanwhile, Anders’ mysterious new friend starts visiting at odd hours, claiming that he has keys for all the doors in the building … Does this new friend know anything about the murder? And why is Anders’ drawing stained with blood? Is Anna’s son still in danger?

Wrath of the Titans (12A)  Running time: 99 minutes

Director: Jonathan Liebesman,  Writers: Dan Mazeau, David Johnson, Greg Berlanti, Beverly Cross

Starring: Liam Neeson, Sam Worthington, Ralph Fiennes, Rosamund Pike, Bill Nighy, Toby Kebel, Danny Huston

A decade after his heroic defeat of the monstrous Kraken, Perseus-the demigod son of Zeus-is attempting to live a quieter life as a village fisherman and the sole parent to his 10-year old son, Helius. Meanwhile, a struggle for supremacy rages between the gods and the Titans. Dangerously weakened by humanity’s lack of devotion, the gods are losing control of the imprisoned Titans and their ferocious leader, Kronos, father of the long-ruling brothers Zeus, Hades and Poseidon. The triumvirate had overthrown their powerful father long ago, leaving him to rot in the gloomy abyss of Tartarus, a dungeon that lies deep within the cavernous underworld. Perseus cannot ignore his true calling when Hades, along with Zeus’ godly son, Ares (Edgar Ramírez), switch loyalty and make a deal with Kronos to capture Zeus. The Titans’ strength grows stronger as Zeus’ remaining godly powers are siphoned, and hell is unleashed on earth. Enlisting the help of the warrior Queen Andromeda (Rosamund Pike), Poseidon’s demigod son, Argenor (Toby Kebbell), and fallen god Hephaestus (Bill Nighy), Perseus bravely embarks on a treacherous quest into the underworld to rescue Zeus, overthrow the Titans and save mankind.