#OnTheBigScreen: Faith, fashion and Bolshoi Ballet

The Roar

South African producer, writer, director and actor Frans Cronjé’s brand-new is about the life of Louise du Preez, a farm-girl dreaming about the fulfilment of her unique singing and dancing talent on the international stage. Firmly believing that if you dream it you really can do it, her life and dreams are shattered when the expectations of her fiancé André and her stubborn dad, Ranger turn out to be solid obstacles. It’s about a woman realising that willpower is the difference between success and the disaster of never start living your unique purpose. Even the negativity of her fiancé and the stubbornness of her dad turn into stepping stones when life is left to God’s will and timing.

“I see The Purpose Campaign as an awareness movement that will be a trigger to community transformation in South Africa. It’s not an event or organisation. It belongs to everyone who has a passion to see people live purpose-driven lives. When individual people know their purpose, their communities are healthy. The opposite is also true.”

Phantom Thread

Paul Thomas Anderson paints an illuminating portrait both of an artist on a creative journey, and the women who keep his world running.

Set in the glamour of 1950s post-war London, renowned dressmaker Reynolds Woodcock (Daniel Day-Lewis) and his sister Cyril (Lesley Manville) are at the centre of British fashion, dressing royalty, movie stars, heiresses, socialites, debutants and dames with the distinct style of The House of Woodcock. Women come and go through Woodcock’s life, providing the confirmed bachelor with inspiration and companionship, until he comes across a young, strong-willed woman, Alma (Vicky Krieps), who soon becomes a fixture in his life as his muse and lover. Once controlled and planned, he finds his carefully tailored life disrupted by love.

Red Sparrow

Dominika Egorova (Jennifer Lawrence) is many things. A devoted daughter determined to protect her mother at all costs. A prima ballerina whose ferocity has pushed her body and mind to the absolute limit. A master of seductive and manipulative combat. When she suffers a career-ending injury, Dominika and her mother are facing a bleak and uncertain future. That is why she finds herself manipulated into becoming the newest recruit for Sparrow School, a secret intelligence service that trains exceptional young people like her to use their bodies and minds as weapons.

After enduring the perverse and sadistic training process, she emerges as the most dangerous Sparrow the programme has ever produced. Dominika must now reconcile the person she was with the power she now commands, with her own life and everyone she cares about at risk, including an American CIA agent who tries to convince her he is the only person she can trust

Directed by Francis Lawrence, Red Sparrow is based on the book of the same name, written by Jason Matthews.

Gnome Alone

Chloe and her mom are moving again. Forced to move into a decrepit old house filled with garden gnomes. Chloe soon discovers that this house is hiding something terrifyingly big. While home alone after school, Chloe and a nosy neighbour named Liam discover that the gnomes are actually alive!
As it turns out, for years the gnomes have been protecting the planet from menacing little monsters called Troggs, who have invaded the house through a portal from another world. When the only solution that will stop ‪the Troggs falls into the wrong hands at school, Chloe and Liam will have to team up with the rag-tag group of gnomes, to fight off the Trogg invasion and save the world!‬

This computer-animated comedy film directed by Peter Lepeniotis and written by Michael Schwartz and Zina Zaflow from a story by Robert Moreland, and Jared Micah Herman and Kyle Newman.

Game Night

Jason Bateman and Oscar nominee Rachel McAdams team up in this action comedy.

Bateman and McAdams star as Max and Annie, whose weekly couples game night gets kicked up a notch when Max’s charismatic brother, Brooks, arranges a murder mystery party, complete with fake thugs and faux federal agents. So, when Brooks gets kidnapped, it’s all part of the game…right?

But as the six uber-competitive gamers set out to solve the case and win, they begin to discover that neither this ‘game’- nor Brooks - are what they seem to be. Over the course of one chaotic night, the friends find themselves increasingly in over their heads as each twist leads to another unexpected turn. With no rules, no points, and no idea who all the players are, this could turn out to be the most fun they’ve ever had…or, it’s game over.

It was was directed by Horrible Bosses and Spider-Man: Homecoming writers John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, who last collaborated on the comedy Vacation. The film was written by Mark Perez.

Bolshoi Ballet’s Romeo and Juliet

The tragedy of two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately reconcile their feuding families comes alive in the Bolshoi Ballet’s Romeo and Juliet from 3 March as part of the 2017-2018 Bolshoi Ballet season.

This classic play was among Shakespeare’s most popular plays during his lifetime, and now you can enjoy this beautiful story being told through ballet.

Alexei Ratmansky, former artistic director of the Bolshoi Ballet, stages the company’s premiere of his production with dramatic urgency and a fresh re-telling of Shakespeare’s beloved classic. His brilliant and detailed adaptation set to Prokofiev’s romantic and cinematic score reignites the story of literature’s most celebrated lovers like no other classical ballet choreographer today.

Limited screenings will take place at Cinema Nouveau Rosebank, Brooklyn, Gateway Commercial, and Cinema Nouveau V&A Waterfront.

Read more about the latest film releases: www.writingstudio.co.za