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At the Movies: Nov 5 / 12

Some old TV faces feature in films reviewed this week: Wendy Hughes, Guy Pearce and even Grant Dodwell.

The View from Greenhaven, the winning film from Movie Extra’s Project Greenlight Australia script contest gets a review tonight from Margaret and David. The film stars Chris Haywood and Wendy Hughes as a grumpy old couple.

Also reviewed tonight are new films for Richard Gere, Diane Lane, Guy Pearce, Don Cheadle, and even a flick with William Zappa and Grant Dodwell (there’s a blast from the past).

Next week catch a new film with Shane Jacobsen and the Tribeca hit from Leigh Whannell, Dying Breed.

At the Movies airs 10pm Wednesday on ABC1.

November 5 – ep 39
NIGHTS IN RODANTHE – based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks. A story of two unhappy people whose lives become entwined as they develop a life changing romance. Adrienne (Diane Lane) is a woman who’s trying to decide whether or not to stay in her loveless marriage. Her life changes forever when Paul (Richard Gere), a doctor travelling to reconcile his relationship with his estranged son, checks into an inn in a North Carolina beach town where she is staying.

TRAITOR – Academy Award® nominee Don Cheadle (Hotel Rwanda, Crash) and Guy Pearce (Memento, L.A. Confidential) star in Traitor, a taut international thriller set against a jigsaw puzzle of covert counter-espionage operations. Traitor is written and directed by Jeffrey Nachmanoff (screenwriter of The Day After Tomorrow). When straight arrow FBI agent Roy Clayton (Guy Pearce) heads up the investigation into a dangerous international conspiracy, all clues seem to lead back to former U.S. Special Operations officer, Samir Horn (Don Cheadle). A mysterious figure with a web of connections to terrorist organizations, Horn has a knack for emerging on the scene just as a major operation goes down. The inter-agency task force looking into the case meets with Carter (Jeff Daniels), a veteran CIA contractor who seemingly has his own agenda and Max Archer (Neal McDonough), a fellow FBI agent. The task force links Horn to a prison break in Yemen, a bombing in Nice and a raid in London, but a tangle of contradictory evidence emerges, forcing Clayton to question whether his quarry is a disaffected former military operative—or something far more complicated. Obsessed with discovering the truth, Clayton tracks Horn across the globe as the elusive ex-soldier burrows deeper and deeper into a world of shadows and intrigue.

MEN’S GROUP + INTERVIEW WITH CO-WRITER/ DIRECTOR MICHAEL JOY AND CO-WRITER/PRODUCER – JOHN L SIMPSON— Men’s Group stars seven extraordinary actors; Grant Dodwell, Paul Gleeson, Steve Le Marquand, Don Reid, Steve Rodgers, Paul Tassone and William Zappa. Paul runs a men’s group from his home in the suburbs. Freddy, Cecil, Lucas, Moses and Alex are complete strangers when they begin their journey together, they have very little in common with each other and would never normally have cause to speak, let alone share their inner most fears and desires. They soon discover that they do have something in common, being male. As trust grows between them they gradually begin to share as they learn to listen to each other. They discover that they are not quite so alone in their fears as they had presumed. It takes a tragedy for the men to finally understand that they must take responsibilities for their own lives and those of their loved ones.

THE VIEW FROM GREENHAVEN – Directors: Kenn and Simon Macrae, winner of the second Project Greenlight Australia, stars Chris Haywood and Wendy Hughes about a grumpy old couple, Dot and Dash, living in an idyllic coastal town who don’t realise that they have the perfect life…

CROSSED TRACKS – Best-selling author Judith Ralitzer is researching unlikely places to find characters for her next bestseller. As luck would have it, a serial killer with a penchant for magic tricks has just escaped from a high-security prison, providing the perfect source material for an intricately plotted, moody mystery. Deceptively layered and intriguingly misleading, this highly anticipated new film from Oscar®-winning director Claude Lelouch stars Dominique Pinon (A Very Long Engagement, Amelie) and Fanny Ardant (Paris, je t’aime, Callas Forever, 8 Women) as an unlikely pair caught up in a game with high stakes — and deadly consequences.

EP 40 – TX 12 NOVEMBER
SEX DRIVE – Directed by SEAN ANDERS Starring JOSH ZUCKERMAN (Lions for Lambs), AMANDA CREW (She’s The Man), JAMES MARSDEN (Enchanted), CLARK DUKE (Greek) and SETH GREEN (The Italian Job) Eighteen-year-old Ian Lafferty (Zuckerman) sets out on a cross country drive with his best friends Lance (Duke) and Felicia (Crew) in order to lose his virginity to a red-hot babe he met on the Internet. The onlycatch: He has to drive 500 miles from Chicago to Knoxville to consummate the deal. But the journey, filled with hilarious misadventures, raunchy escapades and a buggy tow with an Amish farmer (Green), teaches all three more than they expected about life and love.

THE WACKNESS – Director: JONATHAN DEVINE, STARRING Academy Award(r) Winner SIR BEN KINGSLEY, JOSH PECK, OLIVIA THIRLBY, FAMKE JANSSEN, MARY-KATE OLSEN. New York City, 1994: a city pulsing with hip hop, a city whose new mayor, Rudy Giuliani, is using controversial methods to address homelessness and crime. Much like the city, Luke (Peck) and Dr. Squires (Kingsley) are at a crossroads: Luke considers himself semi-suicidal, bemoaning his high school social status and the fact that his family is on the verge of eviction; Dr. Squires and his rehab-addicted wife (Janssen) can barely tolerate each other. Together, Luke and Squires agree to help each other find happiness. However, Luke’s attention turns to Dr. Squires’ stepdaughter, Stephanie (Thirlby), which in turn, causes the already fragile Doctor to lose it completely… Set against the backdrop of the greatest year in hip hop history – 1994

NEWCASTLE – It’s a week before the Junior Surf Pro final. Jesse (Lachlan Buchanan) is determined to snatch the title from his best mate, Andy (Kirk Jenkins). Victory would mean a one-way ticket out of Newcastle and a career beyond his pre-destined future – working on the coal barges with his father Reggie (Shane Jacobson) and older half-brother Victor (Reshad Strik), the local bad boy. Jesse resolves to succeed where Victor failed – to become a world-class champion surfer. Yet before Jesse gets his chance, he is disqualified for reckless surfing in the lead-up trial. As a diversion, Jesse’s surfing mates Andy, Scotty (Israel Cannan) and Nathan (Ben Milliken) plan a weekend of waves and hedonism with some local girls Debra (Debra Ades) and Leah (Rebecca Breeds). Much to Jesse’s dismay, Fergus (Xavier Samuels), Jesse’s geeky, fraternal twin brother who has never even set foot on a surfboard, gets to tag along. Upon reaching the sand dunes, the teenagers swim, surf, flirt and party. Fergus is entranced by Andy, who is not at all threatened and accepts Fergus for who he is. First light and the posse hit the waves. Andy introduces the painfully uncoordinated Fergus to surfing. Fergus manages to catch a wave after many attempts and is elated but not for too long. When Victor and his gang arrive at the isolated beach and decide to claim the surf break, an unofficial contest ensues. The angry waves close out on the inexperienced Fergus. Victor, Andy and Jesse struggle under a rogue wave. Boards fly in the white water. Fergus desperately reaches the surface, only to discover a tragedy unfolding. A devastated Jesse struggles to find his own identity and a reason to surf

DYING BREED – The eagerly anticipated Tribeca smash hit Starring Leigh Whannell (SAW) and Nathan Phillips (WOLF CREEK) Directed by Jody Dwyer. Tasmania, the world’s most isolated island. It is rumoured deep within Tasmania’s wilderness an ancient species known as the Tasmanian Tiger is alive and breeding. Yet modern science refuses to acknowledge such a creature now exists since no witnesses have ever been able to prove it. That is until Zoology student, Nina (Mirrah Foulkes), claims she can breach Tasmania’s impenetrable forests and reveal the tiger’s existence to be true. Driving Nina’s quest is one critical piece of proof: a paw print taken by her sister just before she met with a fatal accident eight years before. But what Nina doesn’t know is how Tasmania became the world’s most dangerous island in the 19th century when the murderous convict Alexander Pearce (aka “The Pieman”) broke out of prison only to eat his fellow escapees. Soon Nina and her friends discover that in the wild whilst one species may have died out another has thrived – in the form of the Pieman’s descendants. When she sets out with her partner, Matt (Leigh Whannell), his old mate Jack (Nathan Phillips) and his girlfriend Rebecca (Melanie Vallejo), their little expedition encounters the island’s reigning breed, but one who stands on two legs, not four.

GLASS: A PORTRAIT OF PHILIP IN 12 PIECES. – doco about Compposer Philip Glass, directed by Scott Hicks (Shine)

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