Fresh Movies

• The Book Thief

  

  Drama based on the award-winning novel by Australian author Markus Zusak. Set in Nazi Germany, the story follows young Liesel (newcomer Sophie Nélisse) and her relationships with her foster parents (Oscar-veterans Geoffrey Rush and Emily Watson) and the Jewish man who hides in their home. From the BAFTA-winning director of Downton Abbey.

• Saving Mr. Banks

  

  Feel-good biopic dramedy about Walt Disney's (Tom Hanks) 20-year pursuit of the film rights to British author P.L. Travers' (Emma Thompson) novel Mary Poppins. Travers visits California in 1961, but Disney struggles to convince her of his screen vision and to crack her prim exterior. From the director of The Blind Side, co-starring Colin Farrell, Paul Giamatti and Jason Schwartzman.
  P.L Travers reflects on her childhood in 1906 Australia, a trying time for her family which not only molded her aspirations to write but one that also inspired the characters in her beloved 1934 book. None more so than the her caring father (Farrell), a tormented banker who, before his untimely death that same year, instills the youngster with both affection and enlightenment (and would be the muse for the story's patriarch, Mr. Banks, the character that the famous nanny comes to aid). While reluctant to grant Disney the rights, Travers comes to realise that the acclaimed storyteller has his own motives for wanting to make the film - which, like the author, hints at the relationship he shared with his own father.

   

• The Railway Man

  

• Based on a true story, Colin Firth is former prisoner of war Eric Lomax who, years after his torture at the hands of the Japanese, sets off to confront the man responsible. Co-stars Nicole Kidman, Stellan Skarsgård, Jeremy Irvine and Hiroyuki Sanada. Lomax (Firth), a British Army signals officer who was captured by Japanese soldiers in World War II, was brutally tortured when his love of the railway made him a spy suspect. Many years later, Lomax is persuaded by his wife Patti (Kidman) to find his torturers. Accompanied by his best friend (Stellan Skarsgård), he returns to the scene of his incarceration and abuse, seeking out his captor (Sanada) in an attempt to let go of a lifetime of bitterness and hate.
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