#OnTheBigScreen: Alien monsters, McDonald's and Tchaikovsky

Alien: Covenant

In space, no one can hear you scream. After nearly four decades, those words remain synonymous with the sheer, relentless intensity of Ridley Scott’s masterpiece of futuristic horror, Alien. Now, the father of the iconic franchise returns once more to the world he created to explore its darkest corners with Alien: Covenant, a pulse-pounding new adventure that pushes the boundaries of R-rated terror.

Set ten years after the events depicted in Scott’s 2012 hit, Prometheus, Alien: Covenant returns to the roots of the director’s groundbreaking saga with a uniquely terrifying tale filled with white-knuckle adventure and monstrous new creatures. With this, the sixth instalment in the blockbuster series, the visionary director edges ever closer toward revealing the mysterious origins of the mother of all aliens, the lethal Xenomorph from the original film.

All is quiet aboard the spaceship Covenant. The crew and the rest of the 2,000 souls aboard the pioneering vessel are deep in hyper-sleep, leaving the synthetic Walter to walk the corridors alone. The ship is en route to the remote planet Origae-6, where, on the far side of the galaxy, the settlers hope to establish a new outpost for humanity. The tranquility is shattered when a nearby stellar ignition shreds Covenant’s energy-collection sails, resulting in dozens of casualties and throwing the mission off course.

Bound for a remote planet on the far side of the galaxy, members (Katherine Waterston, Billy Crudup) of the colony ship Covenant discover what they think to be an uncharted paradise. While there, they meet David (Michael Fassbender), the synthetic survivor of the doomed Prometheus expedition. The mysterious world soon turns dark and dangerous when a hostile alien life-form forces the crew into a deadly fight for survival.

The Founder

The true story of how Ray Kroc (Michael Keaton), a struggling salesman from Illinois, met Mac (John Carroll Lynch) and Dick McDonald (Nick Offerman), who were running a burger operation in 1950s Southern California. Kroc was impressed by the brothers’ speedy system of making the food and saw franchise potential. Kroc soon manoeuvres himself into a position to be able to pull the company from the brothers and create a multi-billion-dollar empire. Directed by John Lee Hancock and written by Robert Siegel.

The Resurrection of Gavin Stone

Former child star Gavin Stone (Brett Dalton) must perform 200 hours of community service after trashing a hotel in his Illinois hometown. Temptation strikes when Stone learns that the church he’s assigned to clean is staging a lavish religious production. After landing the lead role of Jesus Christ, Gavin finds himself drawn to the show’s director (Anjelah Johnson-Reyes), a young woman who also happens to be the daughter of the affable pastor (D.B. Sweeney).

Ozzy

The idyllic life of Ozzy, a lovable, placid beagle who has always been pampered, is about to be turned upside down. When his family, Susan, Ted and their daughter Paula, can’t take him on a long trip away from home, they leave him in what seems to be the best canine spa, Blue Creek. But the place’s perfect appearance turns out to be a façade concocted by its villainous owner, Mr. Robbins. Ozzy will soon discover that Blue Creek is, in reality, a jail for dogs, inhabited mainly by tough street mongrels and where it’s a case of survival of the fittest. Once inside there, Ozzy will have to avoid danger, find strength where he didn’t think he had any and learn to rely on Chester, Fronky and Doc, his new friends who will accompany him on this adventure as he tries to get back home safe and sound.

Diary Of A Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul

A Heffley family road trip to attend Meemaw’s 90th birthday party goes hilariously off course thanks to Greg’s (Jason Ian Drucker) newest scheme to get to a video gaming convention. Based on the record-breaking book series book of the same name by Jeff Kinney, it is the fourth instalment in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid film series and a sequel to 2012's Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days.

Eugene Onegin

The next production from the Met in the current Live in HD season, acclaimed English director, Deborah Warner’s production of Tchaikovsky’s romantic tragedy, Eugene Onegin, releases at Nouveau and select Ster-Kinekor cinemas from Saturday, 20 May, for limited screenings. Soprano Anna Netrebko reprises one of her most acclaimed roles as Tatiana, the naïve heroine of Tchaikovsky’s opera, which the composer adapted from Pushkin’s classic verse novel. Peter Mattei stars opposite her as the self-confident title character, Eugene Onegin, who rejects Tatiana’s love until it’s too late.

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