Film Screening 18th February, 2006

Poster for Flightplan

Flightplan 

8:00 PM, 18th February, 2006

  • M
  • 98 mins
  • 2005
  • Robert Schwentke
  • Peter A. Dowling, Billy Ray
  • Jodie Foster, Peter Sasgaard, Sean Bean, Kate Beahan

When my movie partner first told me about this film, I imagined it to be one of those typical terrorist-plane stories, like Turbulence or Air Force One. It was therefore only on Jodie Fosters account that I decided to watch the movie.

Grieving for her late husband, who recently committed suicide, Kyle Pratt (Foster) is flying from Berlin to New York with her daughter in a 474 aircraft to take her husband's body home. Her nightmare begins when she wakes up from a sleep in the plane to find the girl missing. With the help of Captain Rich (Bean), Air Marshal Gene Carson (Sasgaard), and the crew, almost the entire plane is searched but the girl is nowhere to be found. The worst part is that no one on board has seen the girl. A check with ground staff further reveals that the girl has not been checked in. Feeling increasingly distressed, Pratt now demands that every inch of the aircraft be searched, including areas that are inaccessible to passengers, and, being familiar with the entire design of the aircraft, is prepared to do it on her own. At this point, the Captain and the Air Marshal begin to suspect that she has lost her mind.

Although the setting of this movie is not entirely original, it makes an excellent thriller as the audience is kept in suspense almost until the end. Foster, Bean, and Sarsgaard are all worth watching.

Jock Wong

Poster for Cinderella Man

Cinderella Man 

10:24 PM, 18th February, 2006

  • M
  • 144 mins
  • 2005
  • Ron Howard
  • Cliff Hollingsworth, Akiva Goldsman
  • Russell Crowe, Ren((eacute))e Zellweger, Paul Giamatti, Craig Bierko

When I told friends I was going to this movie, everyone told me about the horrible reviews it had received. I was going with a friend, so went nevertheless. I ended up enjoying the movie - much more than I expected. This movie is about Mae and Jim Braddock, a married couple battling life in the Great Depression. Jims career as a boxer is not going as planned, so to make a few dollars, he takes on any job he can. Meanwhile, a friend organises a couple of fights for him... and these fights lead to more and more. Mae is miserable, trying to feed their children, and hoping that Jim will give up boxing. A championship match against Max Baer is organised - Baer has killed two boxers already, leading to some edge-of-your-seat drama, as you wonder whether the fight will go ahead, and what will happen. I recommend this movie; however, I should warn you that there is some violent fighting - it is a boxing movie after all! The gasps in the cinema when I saw the movie led me to believe that many people were not prepared for this.

Raechel Hughes