Are you looking for the perfect outing this holidays? Whether it’s family time, chilling with your besties, or the perfect date night that you’re after, there is something for everyone to enjoy on the big screen at Ster-Kinekor.
For the thrill of the big IMAX 3D experience, nothing can beat watching the much-anticipated Avatar: The Way of Water on the biggest screen. The film, which released countrywide on Friday 16 December, is a generational family epic playing out against the brilliant colours and majesty of an expanded Pandoran landscape. Thirteen years in the making, the sequel to the original blockbuster picks up with Jake Sully living with his newfound family formed on the planet of Pandora. Once a familiar threat returns to finish what was previously started, Jake must work with Neytiri and the army of the Na’vi race to protect their planet.
In all his films, director and writer James Cameron creates a fully immersive cinema experience in which audiences feel they are right with the characters on their adventures. “You go into a movie theatre, and you’re being transported to a fictional fantasy world. The more you can suspend your disbelief, the more fun it is. There’s almost a contract between the movie and the audience – we’re all just gonna join hands and skip off to Pandora together. It’s gonna be fun,” said Cameron.
“We make movies for the big screen,” says Avatar producer Jon Landau. “Why do people turn to entertainment today? To escape. And you can only escape so far on your mobile device, or on a home big screen. When you go to the theatre, you get lost in the images on screen, the characters, and the world of that movie. There’s nothing like it.”
If it’s the younger members of the family who need entertaining, Ster-Kinekor has a few treats in store – and remember to try out the special Kids Cinemas at select sites for a fun-filled time at the movies. Showing now is Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, in which the wily cat discovers that his passion for adventure has taken its toll: he has burned through eight of his nine lives. Puss sets out on an epic journey to find the mythical Last Wish and restore his nine lives.
Follow the adventures of another animated cat in The Amazing Maurice, which released at cinemas on Friday 23 December. The story follows Maurice, a goofy streetwise cat, who has the perfect money-making scam. He finds a dumb-looking kid who plays a pipe and has his very own horde of rats, who are strangely literate.
If you love the music of Whitney Houston, be sure to catch the new biopic I Wanna Dance with Somebody starring Naomi Ackie in the title role. It was released on 23 December and follows the joyous, emotional and heart-breaking celebration of the life and music of Houston, the greatest female R&B pop vocalist of all time, tracking her journey from obscurity to musical super stardom.
A rollercoaster ride of a movie, and perfect for pure holiday escapism, is Shotgun Wedding starring Jennifer Lopez and Josh Duhamel. Giving a whole new meaning to the phrase “shotgun wedding”, a couple’s extravagant destination wedding is hijacked by criminals. In the process of saving their families, they rediscover why they fell in love in the first place. Catch it on the big screen from Friday 30 December.
