It’s a three-day weekend in South Africa, in celebration of National Women’s Day this Friday, and that means a trio of new big screen releases in addition to more specialist offerings. The latter includes topical documentary (Africa) Mom’s Rising, The Goonies as this week’s Throwback Cinema release at Ster Kinekor, and My Neighbour Totoro as part of the country’s first-ever Anime Festival.
Featuring big Guardians of the Galaxy ensemble energy is video game adaptation Borderlands. With Eli (Hostel, Thanksgiving) Roth in the director’s chair, Borderlands follows Lillith (Cate Blanchett), an infamous outlaw who returns to her home planet and teams up with a band of misfits to find a missing girl. The all-star cast includes Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ariana Greenblatt, Gina Gershon, and Jack Black as the voice of robot Claptrap. In addition to conventional cinemas, you can also watch Borderlands at IMAX.
Look out for our Borderlands review soon.
Appropriate for a Women’s Day release is biographical drama Widow Clicquot. Based on a true story, the film centres on the “Grande Dame of Champagne,” Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin Clicquot, who, in the late 18th and early 19th Century flouted convention by assuming the reins of the fledgling wine business she had nurtured with her deceased husband. Widowed at 27, Clicquot was to become one of the world’s great businesswomen, revolutionising champagne production. Starring Haley Bennett and Tom Sturridge.
Finally, with raucous action and prestige historical drama out the way, there’s something for young families in the form of The Big Trip 3: Race Around the World. In this Russian animated adventure, the third in the Big Trip series, the animal heroes from the original film team up from characters in the second movie. With enemies Python and Vulture in pursuit, Mick Mick the Bear and his friends Oscar the Hare, Duke the Pelican, and Panda journey across the globe in pursuit of a missing child.