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Flight (15)

(Robert Zemeckis, 2012, Us) Denzel Washington, Don Cheadle, Kelly Reilly. 138 mins

A white-knuckle plane crash is just the beginning of Washington's troubles in this unorthodox drama, which finds his hero-pilot status compromised by the fact that he was high on duty. Between the demons of alcoholism and the aviation authority investigation, he goes into a personal tailspin – but it's not your typical rehab story and you'll want to see how he'll get out of it.

Hyde Park On Hudson (12A)

(Roger Michell, 2012, UK) Bill Murray, Laura Linney, 95 mins

Daniel Day-Lewis won't be losing any sleep over Murray's take on Franklin D Roosevelt. This directionless drama deals with the president's special relationships – first with an obliging cousin (Linney), then with Britain, via a visit from George VI.

★★★☆☆ Based on an original screenplay written by its star performer Jonnie Hurn, Do Elephants Pray? (2010) is something of a low-key British indie oddity from director Paul Hills. Any film in which its central character literally hugs trees could well extricate groans from a modern audience. Fortunately, this part rom-com, part treatise on embracing nature manages to successfully conquer (to an extent) a difficult balancing act. Its message of eschewing materialism is placed alongside surreal comedy, with supporting characters that are either grotesque or delightfully odd-ball, yet are never less than entertaining.

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Okay, Spider-Man puns aside, what we're talking about here is the new flick The Power, which was originally announced at Cannes. Not that dealing with Satan or real life Satanists doesn't come with its own set of responsibilities of course.

According to Screen Daily Grace Vallorani, Jonnie Hurn, Valentine Pelka, Constance Carter, Rosie Fellner and Earl Ling all star in Moviehouse Entertainment's The Power, which is currently under way in Norwich, England under the direction of Paul Hills.

Look for more on this one as it comes.

Synopsis

Abducted and imprisoned by a cult, Magda awakens in a filthy cell. Despite hearing distant voices, her screams for help go unanswered. She's a prisoner, seemingly without hope... In time, she befriends another hostage, a girl who provides some comfort. However, as the weeks pass, the cult members prepare Magda for participation in a dark ritual with demonic, religious and sexual overtones; and her despair grows.

Along with the news that Moviehouse Entertainment successfully nailed down Us distribution for its UK vampire flick Dead Cert, Screen Daily is reporting that the sales outfit is also promoting another upcoming horror film at the 2011 Cannes film market - The Power, which is in pre-production and will be in the same vein as the classic Rosemary's Baby.

Synopsis:

Abducted and imprisoned by a cult, Magda awakens in a filthy cell. Despite hearing distant voices, her screams for help go unanswered. She's a prisoner, seemingly without hope... In time, she befriends another hostage, a girl who provides some comfort. However, as the weeks pass, the cult prepares Magda for participation in a dark ritual with demonic, religious and sexual overtones; and her despair grows. Her only hope is she'll be rescued or find some way to escape, but in the meantime must face an horrific and terrifying ordeal.

Dig on...

Moviehouse Entertainment is drumming up interest in The Power at the Cannes film market. Produced by Mark Forstater - who may or may not be the same Forstater behind Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Xtro (the IMDb listing says he hasn't done anything since '95) - the film will be directed by Paul Hills. Here's a plot synopsis: Abducted and imprisoned by a Cult, Magda awakens in a filthy cell. Despite hearing distant voices, her screams for help go unanswered. She's a prisoner, seemingly without hope... In time, she befriends another hostage, a girl who provides some comfort. However, as the weeks pass, the Cult prepare Magda for participation in a dark ritual with demonic, religious and sexual overtones and her despair grows. Her only hope is she'll be rescued or find...

James Ivory’s "City of Your Final Destination” will be the opening night curtain raiser at the 12th annual Method Fest, which runs from March 25-31 in Calabasas, Ca. and Aguora Hills, Ca.

"City" stars Anthony Hopkins, Omar Metwally, Laura Linney and Charlotte Gainsbourg in Ruth Prawere Jhabvala's adaptation of Peter Cameron's novel.

Other titles in the line-up include Bruce Webb's "The Be All and End All," Paul Hills' “Do Elephants Pray?," Dagur Kari's "The Good Heart," Marc Rensing's "Parkour" and Jeff Phillips' "UrFrenz."

"We now have become a worldwide showcase of quality independent film," Don Franken, the festival's executive director said. "We also have many world premieres this year. But, even more importantly, we have films with captivating performances, and riveting stories that...

German star Jurgen Prochnow ("Air Force One") has joined stars Dougray Scott and Laura Elena Harring in the indie thriller "The Poet." Production is under way in Vienna, Austria, with shooting scheduled for Paris, Munich and Dusseldorf, Germany. Paul Hills is directing from a script by Leslie Ann Proctor, Emil Meyer and Robert Hammond. The story follows a professional assassin (Scott) who misses his target and accidentally kills the wrong man. In trying to rectify his wrong, he attempts to learn more about the life of his victim only to meet and fall in love with the man's sister (Harring). Prochnow stars as the relentless Inspector Vashon. Rounding out the cast are Andrew Lee Potts, Mavie Horbiger, Erika Marozsan and Miguel Herz-Kestranek. The project -- a Mediafonds1 and Film-Line production -- is being produced by Arno Ortmair, Jonathan English, Evan Todd and Tim Ney, with Arclight handling worldwide distribution. ICM is repping the film Stateside. Prochnow is repped by ICM. His credits include "Ripper," "Jack the Dog," "The Replacement Killers" and "The English Patient."...