FOR the first time ever, all five films being screened this weekend at the Renoir complex in Palma are going to be showing in English and two of them are tipped for glory at the Oscars.
Probably the film most people will be longing to see, both for its content, its cast and the publicity it has been receiving is Invictus.
Directed by Clint Eastwood, the film is a biographical drama film based on Nelson Mandela's life during the 1995 Rugby World Cup in South Africa.
The film stars Morgan Freeman as South African President Mandela, and Matt Damon as François Pienaar, the South African team captain who led his team to glory against the All Blacks.
The story is based on the John Carlin book Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Changed a Nation and since its release it has received a host of nominations and awards.
However, The Hurt Locker, the dark horse movie of the past year, is also going to be opening at the Renoir tomorrow. The low-budget Iraq War drama has taken the international film industry by storm and The Hurt Locker was recently named best picture at the Producers Guild of America Awards, a key boost to the underdog movie's Oscar campaign and the winner of the trade group's top award has gone on to take the best picture Oscar in 13 of the past 20 years, including the two most recent events.
The film, which is already out on DVD after a low-key run in cinemas, revolves around a squad of American bomb-disposal experts serving in the Iraq War.
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The story was written by Mark Boal, a freelance writer who was embedded with a bomb squad.
It stars Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, and Brian Geraghty as members of a U.S. Army EOD unit in Iraq and follows their tour together as they contend with defusing bombs, the threat of insurgency, and the tension that develops among them.
The film was shot in the Middle East, specifically in Jordan, within miles of the Iraq border.
The Hurt Locker has also already won the best picture prize at the Critics Choice Awards, which has had an 80 percent success rate at the Oscars in the last 10 years and The New York Times called The Hurt Locker the year's most critically acclaimed American film. Its biggest competition during the current awards season appears to be box-office behemoth and recent Golden Globe winner Avatar, which was coincidentally produced and directed by James Cameron, the ex-husband of Kathryn Bigelow who produced The Hurt Locker.
The third new release to hit the screens in English this weekend is Chéri, a French/British/German drama film directed by Stephen Frears.
Starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Rupert Friend, it is an adaptation of the novel by French author Colette. Set in 1900s Belle Époque Paris, Chéri tells the story of the end of a six-year affair between an aging retired courtesan, Léa, and a flamboyant young man, Fred, nicknamed Chéri (Dear). Turning stereotypes upside-down, it is Chéri who wears silk pyjamas and Léa's pearls.
The two believe their relationship is casual until they are separated by Chéri's marriage, at which point they realize they are in love.
Something for everyone to watch while Michael Moore's Capitalism: A Love Story and the Coen brothers A Serious Man are still showing at the Renoir.
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