Movies Monday!

The spoiler debate continues with the new five-minute-plus trailer for Cloud Atlas, which by dint of its length gives a great deal away about the centuries-spanning epic starring Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugo Weaving, Susan Sarandon, Hugh Grant and Jim Broadbent. We hate to think what they’re paying the talent!
Based on David Mitchell’s 2004 novel of the same name, it’s described as “an epic story of humankind in which the actions and consequences of our lives impact one another throughout the past, present and future as one soul is shaped from a murderer into a savior and a single act of kindness ripples out for centuries to inspire a revolution.”
It’s chopped and changed a couple of times, but the latest release date is October 26.
 

 
Movies Monday will be first in the queue for Branded, a Cronenberg-esque sci-fi nightmare of a film “set in a dystopian future where corporate brands have created a disillusioned population. One man's effort to unlock the truth behind the conspiracy will lead to an epic battle with hidden forces that control the world.”
 

 
Neil Blomkamp follows up District 9 with Elysium, which fast-forwards to 2159 where the super-rich live on a giant man-made space station and the rest of the population resides on a ruined earth. This teaser give you a taste of what to expect when it hits screens in 2013.
 

 
Busy lady that she is, Susan Sarandon also lines up alongside Richard Gere and Tim Roth in the highly topical Arbitrage.
 
“A troubled hedge fund magnate desperate to complete the sale of his trading empire makes an error that forces him to turn to an unlikely person for help in this gripping thriller,” is the sales pitch.
 

 
 
Kylie Minogue resumes her acting career in Jack & Diane, a little cinematic ditty about two teenage girls who meet in New York and spend the night ferociously kissing – sounds like our kind of film! Múm provide original music for the romantic horror, which drops on September 28 and also has a werewolf element to it.
 
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Having had their thunder stolen these past few years by vampires and zombies, it seems that lycanthropes are in vogue again. Including Stephen Rea in its cast, Werewolf: The Beast Among Us is a deliciously camp, Hammer Horror-style romp, which looks like it might be going straight to DVD.
 

 
Yann Martel’s fantasy best-seller, Life of Pi, gets the megabucks Hollywood treatment courtesy of Ang Lee. The story focuses on a zookeeper’s son who has some unusual lifeboat companions after a shipwreck.
 

 
Tommy Lee Jones and the always fabulous Meryl Streep share top billing in Hope Springs, a new, cough, dramedy from the makers of The Devil Wears Prada.
 
“Kay and Arnold are a devoted couple, but decades of marriage have left Kay wanting to spice things up and reconnect with her husband,” the storyline reads. “When she hears of a renowned couple's specialist in the small town of Great Hope Springs, she attempts to persuade her sceptical husband, a steadfast man of routine, to get on a plane for a week of marriage therapy. Just convincing the stubborn Arnold to go on the retreat is hard enough – the real challenge for both of them comes as they shed their bedroom hang-ups and try to re-ignite the spark that caused them to fall for each other in the first place.”
 

 
From the mainstream to the niche – the sumptuous looking Samsara takes the form of “a nonverbal, guided meditation.”
 
“Filmed over a period of almost five years and in twenty-five countries, Samsara transports us to sacred grounds, disaster zones, industrial sites, and natural wonders,” they elaborate. “By dispensing with dialogue and descriptive text, Samsara subverts our expectations of a traditional documentary, instead encouraging our own inner interpretations inspired by images and music that infuses the ancient with the modern.”
 

 
We’re very much liking the look of You’ve Been Trumped, another indie documentary about the titular American billionaire’s plans for an exclusive Scottish golf resort.
 
“In this David and Goliath story for the 21st century, a group of proud Scottish homeowners take on a celebrity tycoon.   At stake is one of Britain's very last stretches of wilderness,” we’re told. “American billionaire Donald Trump has bought up hundreds of acres on the northeast coast of Scotland, best known to movie-lovers as the setting for the 1983 classic film Local Hero. And like the American oil tycoon played by Burt Lancaster, he needs to buy out a few more locals to make the deal come true.  In a land swimming with golf courses, Trump is going to build two more – alongside a 450-room hotel and 1,500 luxury homes.  The trouble is, the land he has purchased occupies one of Europe’s most environmentally sensitive stretches of coast, described by one leading scientist as Scotland’s Amazon rain forest. And the handful of local residents don't want it destroyed.”
 

 
Ashley Hinshaw stars in About Cherry, the story of an 18-year-old girl finishing high school who becomes involved in the San Franciscan porn industry.
 

 
Remember that Bollywood movie they filmed last year in Dublin? Well, the first Ek Tha Tiger trailer has just surfaced on YouTube and most entertaining it looks too with Trinity College, Kilkenny GAA shirts and leprechaun hats all making for, ahem, a highly authentic Irish feel.
Starring two of the biggest Bollywood box-office attractions around, Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif, it hits Indian screens on August 15 with a UK – and possibly Irish – release to follow.
 

 
The build-up to the new Bond movie, Skyfall, continues with this featurette on 007’s iconic Aston Martin.
 

 
Finally this week, we bring you a look at Harold’s Going Stiff – not a porno but the story of “the first man to suffer from a new neurological disease that is slowly turning him into a zombie-like state. Harold’s hermit-like existence is shaken up when a vivacious nurse, is sent along to alleviate his stiffness. Her ‘special’ massage techniques work a treat on Harold and they become close friends.”
A Shallow Grave-style pseudo horror, it gets its DVD release on September 24,
 

 
Which is where Movies Monday must leave you for another action-packed, popcorn-munching week. Thoughts, observations and ruminations should be sent to [email protected]