First-rate Home Entertainment for the whole family

The South African film My Father’s War is undoubtedly one of the best local films of the year.

This bilingual (Afrikaans/English) drama focuses on the heartbreaking broken relationship between a father and his rebellious teenage son with outstanding performances by Edwin van der Walt as a conflicted young man who is constantly at was with his father, a veteran of the Angola border war, with an equally powerhouse performance by Stian Bam as a man torn between a past that shattered his life, and a future that holds little promise. Erica Wessels is also superb  as the wife who is caught in the middle of their epic battle. The men don’t see eye to eye on anything, and there seems to be no hope for reconciliation between them.The films takes a refreshing turn when young Dap has a series of dreams in which he is a combat soldier in the Border War in the 1980s, and he meets his father at the same age.The haunting dreams turn young Dap’s perception – and life – completely upside down. There’s no going back. But what is the way forward? Writer-director Craig Gardner brings his potent script to life with great vision and understanding. Features: You can view the film in its original version, with English subtitles, or you can view it in English.  There is also an interesting behind the scenes featurette. Watch the trailer / Read an interview with writer-director Graig Gardner

Hardcore Keeping Room

Amid the rising suspense of three Southern women defending their besieged home, director Daniel Barber finds both grit and a deeply moving grace in the actions the women must take to stay alive in the face of desolate circumstances in The Keeping Room. Barber’s radically reimagined American Western is set towards the end of the Civil War, Southerner Augusta (Brit Marling, Arbitrage, The East) encounters two renegade, drunken soldiers (Sam Worthington, Avatar and Kyle Soller, BBC’s “Poldark”) who are on a mission  of  pillage  and violence. After escaping an attempted assault, Augusta races back to the isolated farmhouse that she shares with her sister Louise (Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit, Pitch Perfect 2) and their female slave Mad (newcomer Muna Otaru.) When the pair of soldiers track Augusta down intent on exacting revenge, the trio of women are forced to take up arms to fend off their assailants, finding ways to resourcefully defend their home––and themselves––as the escalating attacks become more unpredictable and relentless. This tense drama rife with jeopardy, is at its core an uncommon depiction of women boldly countering the impact of war on their lives; Augusta, Louise and Mad turn the very source of their vulnerability into a fierce drive to unite and survive. Watch the trailer.

A Classic Newsroom Drama At Its Best

Truth is a classic newsroom drama, a suspenseful behind-the-scenes procedural, a multi-character study—and also something more: In the words of former CBS News anchor Dan Rather, “This film is about what has happened to the reporting of news, how and why it’s happened, and why you should care.” For Writer-Director James Vanderbilt, a fascination with journalism initially drew him to the project. “Movie making and journalism are different ways of telling a story. I grew up with All the President’s Men and wrote and co-produced Zodiac, about the San Francisco Chronicle, and I’ve always been intrigued with what goes on in newsrooms. When a big story breaks on 60 Minutes, how does that happen? How does the sausage get made?” The film tells the story of The Killian Documents controversy (a.k.a. “Rathergate”) in the days leading up to the 2004 presidential election. When veteran newscaster Dan Rather and CBS News head Mary Mapes choose to air a segment on 60 Minutes exposing how President Bush avoided being drafted to Vietnam through his father’s political advantages, the resulting fallout ultimately costs them their jobs and reputations.  If there’s one reason to see this film, it’s Cate Blanchett’s commanding performance. Watch the trailer

Conflict Between Jesus And The Devil

Ewan McGregor is Jesus – and the Devil – in an imagined chapter from his forty days of fasting and praying in the desert. On his way out of the wilderness, Jesus struggles with the Devil over the fate of a family in crisis, setting for himself a dramatic test. The Last Days in the Desert follows Jesus on his way out of the wilderness, where he struggles with the Devil over the fate of an ordinary family in crisis, setting for himself a dramatic test with distinctly human conflicts. The film is written and directed by Rodrigo García with spectacular cinematography by Emmanuel Lubezki, who perfectly captures torment and drama.  Watch the trailer

The Terrifying Angst Of Cyber-Stalking

In this disturbing found footage drama, thriller and horror film written and directed by Branden Kramer, Emma (Ashley Benson) a graduate student living alone in New York City, is watched by a stalker on all of her technological devices. Eventually, the video feeds are not enough and he goes from a virtual to a physical stalker.The film is based on a short film also written and co-directed by Kramer titled Webcam and follows in the tradition of recent shockers like Unfriended.  Watch the trailer.

Thrilling action

Marauders is an action crime-thriller film directed by Steven C. Miller and written by Michael Cody and Chris Sivertson. FBI agents (Christopher Meloni, Dave Bautista) uncover a conspiracy while trying to nail a group of deadly bank robbers. This tale about a team of FBI agents — who are trying to catch a gang of ruthless bank robbers whose motivation appears to go well beyond money — throws in lengthy debates about the nature of evil, a subplot involving the war in Afghanistan and scenes of emotional upheaval to little dramatic effect. Watch the trailer.

In the action-packed Blunt Force Trauma John (Ryan Kwanten), a modern duelist, seeks a match with the reigning champion (Mickey Rourke) while Colt (Freida Pinto) seeks revenge for her dead brother. Watch the trailer

 

 

Fun For Kiddies

In The Swan Princess: Princess Tomorrow, Pirate Today! young Princess Alise must spend her time with Queen Uberta when her parents is away for the summer. Fun-loving Princess Alise gets training to be the perfect, proper royal…But what she really wants is to become a swashbuckling pirate! Princess Alise sets sail with Lord Rogers, Jean-Bob the frog and Speed the turtle on a bold, high seas journey filled with amazing adventure, danger and discovery. After a shipwreck leaves the brave crew stranded on a wild, mysterious island, they meet Lucas, a young boy who has been living in seclusion. Now the faithful friends must work together to escape the island and the ferociously hungry creatures that dwell there. Watch the trailer