Ghafla! Movies This Weekend (13th April 2012)
The weekend is officially here for all the movie lovers and as usual, Ghafla! at the movies seeks to keep you in the loop on whats happening at leading movie theatres across the city: highlighting each title with a Ghafla! rating as well as a brief synopsis on what the movie is about.
The highlights for this week include the much anticipated premiere of the Hunger Games in Kenya. This movie is the highest grossing title (outside a sequel) in box office history, having clocked over $300 million in under 3 weeks. Then there is still the phenomenon that is Nairobi’s brand new IMAX theatre showing the spectacular sequel to the Clash of the Titans; the Wrath of the Titans in IMAX.
There’s also the classic ‘Titanic’ featuring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, back for a 3D special as the world observes the centenial of the planet’s most famous shipping disaster.
Read about the IMAX theatre opening here >>
Below is the bouquette you can enjoy with your special ones at the theatres this weekend of April 13th 2012:
THE KENYA RELEASE of:
THE HUNGER GAMES
Genre: Fantasy, Adventure, Action
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemswerth
Ghafla Rating: 8.5/10
In a dystopian future, the totalitarian nation of Panem is divided between 12 districts and the Capitol. Each year two young representatives from each district are selected by lottery to participate in The Hunger Games. Part entertainment, part brutal retribution for a past rebellion, the televised games are broadcast throughout Panem. The 24 participants are forced to eliminate their competitors while the citizens of Panem are required to watch. When 16-year-old Katniss’s young sister, Prim, is selected as District 12’s female representative, Katniss volunteers to take her place. She and her male counterpart Peeta, are pitted against bigger, stronger representatives who have trained for this their whole lives.
SHOWING AT:
Fox Theatres, Sarit Centre
*****
TITANIC IN 3D
Genre: Drama, Romance
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet
Ghafla Rating: 9/10
84 years later, a 100-year-old woman named Rose DeWitt Bukater tells the story to her granddaughter Lizzy Calvert, Brock Lovett, Lewis Bodine, Bobby Buell and Anatoly Mikailavich on the Keldysh about her life set in April 10th 1912, on a ship called Titanic when young Rose boards the departing ship with the upper-class passengers and her mother, Ruth DeWitt Bukater, and her fiancé, Caledon Hockley. Meanwhile, a drifter and artist named Jack Dawson and his best friend Fabrizio De Rossi win third-class tickets to the ship in a game. And she explains the whole story from departure until the death of Titanic on its first and last voyage April 15th, 1912 at 2:20 in the morning.
SHOWING AT:
Fox Theatres, Sarit
Nu Metro Westgate
*****
WE BOUGHT A ZOO
Genre: Comedy, Adventure
Starring: Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson
Ghafla Rating: 7/10
Benjamin has lost his wife. In a bid to start his life over, he purchases a large house that has a zoo. This is welcome news for his daughter, but his son is not happy about it. The zoo is need of renovation and Benjamin sets about the work with the head keeper, Kelly, and the rest of the zoo staff. But, the zoo soon runs into financial trouble. The staff must get the zoo back to it’s former glory, pass a zoo inspection, and get it back open to the public.
SHOWING AT:
Straflix Village Market
*****
HUGO IN 3D
Genre: Adventure, Family
Starring: Asa Butterfield and Christopher Lee
Ghafla Rating: 7.5/10
Hugo is an orphan boy living in the walls of a train station in 1930s Paris. He learned to fix clocks and other gadgets from his father and uncle which he puts to use keeping the train station clocks running. The only thing that he has left that connects him to his dead father is an automaton (mechanical man) that doesn’t work without a special key which Hugo needs to find to unlock the secret he believes it contains. On his adventures, he meets with a shopkeeper, George Melies, who works in the train station and his adventure-seeking god-daughter. Hugo finds that they have a surprising connection to his father and the automaton, and he discovers it unlocks some memories the old man has buried inside regarding his past.
SHOWING AT:
Fox Theatres, Sarit
*****
GHAFLA! HIGHLY RECOMMENDS >
WRATH OF THE TITANS in 3D
Genre: Action, Fantasy, Adventure
Starring: Sam Worthington and Rosamund Pike
Ghafla Rating: 8.5/10
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.
SHOWING AT:
IMAX 20th Century
Fox Theatres, Sarit Cinemax
****
AMERICAN REUNION
Genre: Comedy
Starring: Jason Biggs, Alison Hannigan and Sean William Scott
Ghafla Rating: 7/10
Over a decade has passed and the gang return to East Great Falls, Michigan, for the weekend. They will discover how their lives have developed as they gather for their high school reunion. How has life treated Michelle, Jim, Heather, Oz, Kevin, Vicky, Finch, Stifler, and Stifler’s mom? In the summer of 1999, it was four boys on a quest to lose their virginity. Now Kara is a cute high school senior looking for the perfect guy to lose her virginity to.
SHOWING AT:
Fox Theatres, Sarit Centre
*****
JOHN CARTER OF MARS
Genre: Adventure, Fantasy, Action
Starring: Taylor Kitch, Lynn Collins
Ghafla Rating: 6/10
Transplanted to Mars, a Civil War vet discovers a lush planet inhabited by 12-foot tall barbarians. Finding himself a prisoner of these creatures, he escapes, only to encounter a princess who is in desperate need of a savior.
SHOWING AT:
Fox Theatres: Capital Centre
*****
JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH 2
Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy
Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Michael Caine, Vanessa Hudgens and Josh Hutcherson
Ghafla Rating: 6/10
Sean Anderson partners with his mom’s husband on a mission to find his grandfather, who is thought to be missing on a mythical island.
SHOWING AT:
Starflix Theatres: Prestige Plaza and Village Market
*****
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST IN 3D
Genre: Animation
Starring: (voices of)Paige O’Hara and Robbie Benson
Ghafla Rating: 8/10
Belle is a girl who is dissatisfied with life in a small provincial French town, constantly trying to fend off the misplaced “affections” of conceited Gaston. The Beast is a prince who was placed under a spell because he could not love. A wrong turn taken by Maurice, Belle’s father, causes the two to meet.
SHOWING AT:
Fox Theatres: Sarit Centre
*****
MACHINE GUN PREACHER
Genre: Action
Starring: Gerard Butler
Ghafla Rating: 8/10
Sam Childs is a real-life ex-biker gang member. He decides to turn his life around by heading to East Africa to help repair homes that have been destroyed by civil war. He is affected by the plight of the people, especially the children. Against advice, he begins building an orphanage in militia territory. He also goes on an armed mission to rescue the children who have been kidnapped by the militia – who are being taken and forced to become child soldiers.
SHOWING AT:
Starflix Prestige
*****
MAN ON A LEDGE
Genre: Thriller, Crime
Starring: Sam Worthington and Elizabeth Banks
Ghafla Rating: 8/10
An ex-cop turned con threatens to jump to his death from a Manhattan hotel rooftop. The nearest New York Police officer immediately responds to a screaming woman and calls dispatch. More Officers arrive with SWAT and tactical command along with fire-fighters. The police then dispatches a female police psychologist personally requested to talk him down from the ledge. However, things aren’t as straightforward and clearcut as they appear to be.
SHOWING AT:
Nu Metro Westgate
*****
MY WEEK WITH MARYLIN
Genre: Docu Film, Drama
Starring: Michelle Williams, Eddie Reydman
Ghafla Rating: 6.5/10
Colin Clark, an employee of Sir Laurence Olivier’s, documents the tense interaction between Olivier and Marilyn Monroe during production of The Prince and the Showgirl.
SHOWING AT:
Starflix Theatres, Village Market
*****
THE VOW
Genre: Romance
Starring: Channing Tatum and Rachel McAdams
Ghafla Rating: 6/10
A car accident puts Paige (McAdams) in a coma, and when she wakes up with severe memory loss, her husband Leo (Tatum) works to win her heart again.
SHOWING AT:
Fox Theatres, Sarit
*****
THIS MEANS WAR
Genre: Romance, Action, Comedy
Starring: Reese Witherspoon, Chris Pine and Tom Hardy
Ghafla Rating: 6.5/10
Two top CIA operatives wage an epic battle against one another after they discover they are dating the same woman.
SHOWING AT:
Starflix Theatres, Village Market
*****
MARGIN CALL
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Starring:Kevin Spacey and Paul Bettany
Ghalfa Rating: 8/10
Follows the key people at an investment bank, over a 24-hour period, during the early stages of the financial crisis.
SHOWING AT:
Starflix Theatres, Prestige Plaza
*****
A release (in Kenya) to look forward to next week is:
GHOST RIDER: SPIRIT OF VENGEANCE IN 3D
Genre: Thriller, Action, Fantasy
Starring: Nicholas Cage Idris Elba
Johnny Blaze, a man who made a deal with the Devil who called himself Roarke at the time, is on the run trying to make sure no-one is harmed by his alter ego, The Ghost Rider. He is approached by a Monk named Moreau who tells him that he can help be him free of the Rider, but first, he needs Johnny’s help to protect a boy, whom Roarke has plans for.
