Film News South Africa

#OnTheBigScreen: Slenderman, The Nutcracker, and The Tokoloshe

There are eight new big screen releases on 2 November 2018: There are two new South African films on the box office circuit this week: The supernatural thriller The Tokoloshe tells the story of a terrifying predator, and a man must decide how far he is prepared to go to protect his family in the gangster tale Mayfair. Elsewhere: Disney's The Nutcracker And The Four Realms is an epic big-screen adventure; in the supernatural horror Slender Man a group of friends perform a ritual in an attempt to debunk the lore of a tall, thin, horrifying figure whose face has no discernible features; in Nobody's Fool a woman discovers that her sister is in an online relationship with a man who may not be what he seems; Juliet, Naked is a comic account of life's second chances; all hell breaks loose in the prison break actioner Escape Plan 2: Hades; and the Metropolitan Opera's award-winning series of live high-definition cinema simulcasts launches with the Met's grand production of Verdi's Aida.

The Tokoloshe

The supernatural thriller The Tokoloshe, a tale about a terrifying predator, tells the story of Busi, a young woman who is desperate for money and takes the night shift at the local hospital. When she starts working there, she befriends a young girl, Gracie (Kwande Nkosi), who believes that she is being terrorised by a supernatural being called the Tokoloshe. When the children start being taken, Busi is forced to ask if the Tokoloshe is responsible.

Writer-director Jerome Pikwane/co-writer Richard Kunzmann.

Read more about The Tokoloshe here.

Mayfair

Gangster tale Mayfair is a new film by award-winning director Sara Blecher and writer Neil McCarthy.

Mayfair takes the classic gangster film – one that peels back the layers of moral hypocrisy beneath the crime boss’s veneer of respectability – and locates it in Mayfair, Johannesburg in 2016. This is a suburb that was once defined as ‘Indian’ by the architects of apartheid but has since become a melting pot of new migrants from across the continent.

Mayfair tells the story of prodigal son Zaid Randera (Ronak Patani) who returns home to Mayfair in Johannesburg, where his overbearing father Aziz (Rajesh Gopie) – a businessman and occasional money launderer – is facing death threats.

The Nutcracker and The Four Realms

There is majesty. There is magic. There are mice. And Sugar Plum Fairy is most definitely delicious. But this is not the Nutcracker you know.

All Clara (Mackenzie Foy) wants is a key – a one-of-a-kind key that will unlock a box that holds a priceless gift from her late mother. A golden thread, presented to her at godfather Drosselmeyer’s (Morgan Freeman) Christmas party, leads her to the coveted key—which promptly disappears into a strange and mysterious parallel world. It’s there that Clara encounters a soldier named Phillip (Jayden Fowora-Knight), a gang of mice and the regents who preside over three Realms: Land of Snowflakes, Land of Flowers and Land of Sweets. Clara and Phillip must brave the ominous Fourth Realm, home to the tyrant Mother Ginger (Helen Mirren), to retrieve Clara’s key and hopefully return harmony to the unstable world.

Directed by Lasse Hallström and Joe Johnston and written by Ashleigh Powell and Tom McCarthy. It is based on ETA Hoffmann‘s The Nutcracker and the Mouse King and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky‘s balletThe Nutcracker.   

Read more about The Nutcracker And The Four Realms here.

Slenderman

Small-town best friends Hallie, Chloe, Wren, and Katie go online to try and conjure up the Slender Man — a tall, thin, horrifying figure whose face has no discernible features. Two weeks later, Katie mysteriously disappears during a class trip to a historic graveyard. Determined to find her, the girls soon suspect that the legend of the Slender Man may be all too real.

This supernatural horror was directed by Sylvain White and written by David Birke, based on the character of the same name.

Nobody’s Fool

Trying to get back on her feet, wild child Tanya (Tiffany Haddish) looks to her buttoned-up, by the book sister Danica (Tika Sumpter) to help her get back on track. As these polar opposites collide with hilarious and sometimes disastrous results, Tanya discovers that Danica’s picture-perfect life including her mysterious boyfriend may not be what it seems.

Written and directed by Tyler Perry.

Escape Plan 2: Hades

Years after Ray Breslin (Sylvester Stallone) fought his way out of the escape-proof prison called The Tomb, he’s organised a new top-notch for-hire security force. But when one of his team members goes missing inside a computerised techno-terror battle-maze known as Hades, Breslin together with Trent DeRosa (Dave Bautista) must now decipher a way to break into the world’s best-hidden prison, release their kidnapped team, and make it out alive.

Directed by Steven C Miller.

Juliet, Naked

A comic account of life’s second chances.

Annie (Rose Bryne) is stuck in a long-term relationship with Duncan (Chris O’Dowd) – an obsessive fan of obscure rocker Tucker Crowe (Ethan Hawke). When the acoustic demo of Tucker’s hit record from 25 years ago surfaces, its release leads to a life-changing encounter with the elusive rocker himself.

Based on the novel by Nick Hornby (About a Boy, High Fidelity), the film is directed by Jesse Peretz from a screenplay crafted by Evgenia Peretz, Tamara Jenkins, and Jim Taylor.

Read more about Juliet, Naked here.

Aida

The Metropolitan Opera’s award-winning series of live high-definition cinema simulcasts will begin its 13th season on 3 November 2018, with the Met’s grand production of Verdi’s Aida.

Operatic superstar Anna Netrebko needs little introduction to opera buffs. The celebrated soprano takes centre stage in Verdi’s Aida – one of the world’s most popular operas – along with Anita Rachvelishvili as Amneris and Aleksandrs Antonenko as Radamès and conducted by Maestro Nicola Luisotti.

For more information and to make bookings visit the website at www.sterkinekor.com or download the Ster-Kinekor app.

Read more about the latest film releases: www.writingstudio.co.za.

About Daniel Dercksen

Daniel Dercksen has been a contributor for Lifestyle since 2012. As the driving force behind the successful independent training initiative The Writing Studio and a published film and theatre journalist of 40 years, teaching workshops in creative writing, playwriting and screenwriting throughout South Africa and internationally the past 22 years. Visit www.writingstudio.co.za
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