APRIL 3

Bringing Down The House (M): National. Buena Vista. 100 mins, 214 screens. Comedy. Steve Martin, Queen Latifah, Eugene Levy, Joan Plowright, Missi Pyle, Jean Smart, Betty White, Kimberly J. Brown, Michael Ensign, Aengus James, Angus T. Jones, Matt Lutz, Victor Webster. D: Adam Shankman (The Wedding Planner). Centers on a man (Martin) who uses the Internet to find a date. He strikes up an online relationship with a woman in jail (Latifah) who has multiple stories about her background. When she gets out of jail, she proceeds to wreak havoc on the man's orderly upper-middle-class life.

Dreamcatcher (MA): National. Sci-fi. Roadshow. 134 mins. 155 screens. Morgan Freeman, Tom Sizemore, Thomas Jane, Jason Lee, Damian Lewis, Timothy Olyphant, Donnie Wahlberg. D: Lawrence Kasdan (Grand Canyon).  Dreamcatcher tells of four young friends who perform a heroic act - and are changed forever by the uncanny powers they gain in return. Years later the friends, now men, are on a hunting trip in the Maine, USA, woods when they are overtaken by a blizzard, a vicious storm in which something much more ominous moves... Challenged to stop an alien force, the friends must first prevent the slaughter of innocent civilians by a military vigilante, then overcome a threat to the bond between them. In the end, the friends confront an unparalleled horror, with the fate of the world in the balance.

Looking For Mr Perfect (M): Selected, Sydney. Yu Enterprisese. 1 screen. Friday April 4 Melb. Shu Qi, Simon Yam. D: Ringo Lam. Grace (Shu Qi) is a spirited, enthusiastic detective. She is dedicated to everything she does, except love. However, she is not short of potential suitors as two men, Ken and Vincent, have expressed their affections for her. Grace does not have feelings for either of them, though. After getting injured, Grace decides to take a vacation in Malaysia, where she finally meets her Prince Charming. However, because of their differences in lifestyle, Grace and her "Mr. Perfect" find it difficult to be together. For Grace, looking for Mr. Perfect is easy; keeping him is the hard part.

Punch Drunk Love (M): Selected, Can/ Syd/ Bris/ Adel/ Melb/ Perth. Columbia. 29 screens. Drama. 94 mins. Adam Sandler, Emily Watson, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Luis Guzmán, Mary Lynn Rajskub. D: Paul Thomas Anderson (Hard Eight).  This "sweet romantic comedy" is about a man (Sandler) addicted to a phone-sex business (run by Hoffman), who also has seven abusive sisters, who soon finds that three thugs are chasing him (because he's not paying his phone sex bills). Meanwhile, one of his sisters tries to set him up on a blind date with a woman who plays the harmonium (Watson), but it doesn't quite work out. Eventually, his hobby of collecting pudding coupons pays off, and he's able to win enough frequent flyer miles to take a trip to Hawaii, in a quest to find the mysterious girl...

Read My Lips (M): Selected, Syd, Melb. April 16: Perth, Brisb. Palace. 6 screens. Drama. Subtitled- France. 115 mins. Vincent Cassel, Emmanuelle Devos, Olivier Gourmet, Olivier Perrier, Olivia Bonamy, Bernard Alane, Céline Samie, Pierre Diot, François Loriquet. D: Jacques Audiard (A Self Made Hero). Just released to wide acclaim in the UK and the US, one of the most intriguing French dramas in years – a hearing impaired woman (Devos) manipulates a street thug (Cassell) to wreck revenge in her workplace. She teaches him good manners; he teaches her some bad ones.

What A Girl Wants (G): National. Warner Bros (Roadshow). 170 screens. 105 mins. Drama. Amanda Bynes, Colin Firth, Kelly Preston, Jonathan Pryce, Dame Eileen Atkins. D: Dennie Gordon (Joe Dirt). This is the story of a 19-year-old girl (Bynes) who has been raised in New York City by her mother (Preston), a professional singer, who decides that she wants to find her long-lost British father (Firth) in London, who's part of a very hoity-toity British aristocratic social circle. 

APRIL 10

All Or Nothing (MA): Selected, Syd/ Bris/ Adel/ Perth. Palace. 6 screens. Drama. 128 mins. Timothy Spall, Lesley Manville, Alison Garland, James Corden, Ruth Sheen, Marion Bailey. D: Mike Leigh (Secrets And Lies). A taxi driver endures a sad existence with his long-time partner on a London council estate.  Their two post-teen children inhabit the same airless family space, in which no one seems to communicate until a sudden crisis brings the family together. Syd Palace Verona, Palace Norton St. Bris Palace Centro. Adelaide Nova East End. Perth Luna & Luna on SX

Bugs 3D (G): Selected, Melb.  IMAX. 2 screens. Doco. D: Mike Slee. Bugs are bizarre, beautiful, and an endless source of fascination. Bugs will magnify the miniscule world of insects and explore the miracle of their success. From metamorphosis to mastery, predator to prey and community to concealment, extraordinary large-format 3D images will bring audiences face-to-face with this amazing universe of creatures. Melb Imax Carlton Gardens. 

Chaos (MA): Selected, Syd/ Melb. Potential. 3 screens. Subtitled:- France. Drama. 109 mins. Catherine Frot, Vincent Lindon, Rachida Brakni, Line Renaud.  D: Coline Serreau (The Crisis). Hélène, a "petite bourgeoise", gets her life turned upside down when she witnesses the beating of Noémie, a prostitute. From that moment Hélène's life won't be the same, as the film becomes a plea for women's freedom denouncing physical and psychological abuse from men. Syd Valhalla. Melb Lumiere. 

Fat Pizza (MA): National. Roadshow. 101 screens. Comedy. Australia. 97 mins. Paul Fenech, Paul Nakad, Johnny Boxer, Thair Bilig, Rob Shehadie, Maria Venuti, Jabba, Annalise Braakensiek.  D: Paul Fenech (Somewhere In The Darkness). Based on the SBS TV series Pizza, pizza chef Fenech marries his mail order refugee wife, and a pizza boy's first day on the job.  It's big, its fat and it's cheesy.  Excessive violence and sex guaranteed.  

Johnny English (PG): National. UIP. 252 screens. 87 mins. Comedy. Rowan Atkinson, John Malkovich, Natalie Imbruglia, Ben Miller (II), Douglas McFerran, Tim Pigott-Smith, Radha Mitchell. D: Peter Howitt (Sliding Doors). "Johnny English" stars Rowan Atkinson as an accident-prone MI-7 agent on a mission to rescue Britain's crown jewels and save the country and the monarchy from a Machiavellian French business magnate. John Malkovich portrays the scheming Sauvage and Ben Miller is Johnny's sidekick Bough. Natalie Imbruglia makes her feature film debut as special agent Lorna Campbell, the object of English's desires.

Jungle Book 2 (G): National. Buena Vista. 261 screens. Animation/ musical/ family. V: John Goodman, Haley Joel Osment, Tony Jay. D: Steve Trenbirth (debut). “Jungle Book 2” is the all new animated chapter of Disney’s classic “Jungle Book”. We continue the story as Mowgli now lives in a village but longs for the carefree days in the jungle with his pal Baloo. When he heads off to his former home, little does he know that Shere Khan is still around. But with the help of some old friends, and some new ones, Mowgli returns to the jungle for some fun, music and adventure.   

Kangaroo Jack (PG): National. Warner Bros (Roadshow). 179 screens. Comedy. 94 mins. Jerry O'Connell, Anthony Anderson, Estella Warren, Christopher Walken, Dyan Cannon, Michael Shannon, Marton Csokas, David Ngoombujarra. D: David McNally (Coyote Ugly). Two childhood friends, a New York hairstylist and a would-be musician, get caught up with the mob and are forced to deliver $100,000 to Australia, but things go haywire when the money is lost to a wild kangaroo. (aka Down and Under.)

Shanghai Knights (M): National. Buena Vista. 183 screens. 114 mins. Action/ comedy. Jackie Chan, Owen Wilson, Donnie Yen, Gemma Jones, Fann Wong. D: Dave Dobkin (Clay Pigeons).  After taming the wild west in the comedy, Shanghai Noon, Chon Wang (Chan) and Roy O'Bannon (Wilson) are back in the saddle, but off the range this time, they're out to settle a score in civilized London in the sequel, Shanghai Knights.  The "Shanghai Noon" team journey to 1880's England to rescue Chan's kidnapped sister, and also uncover a worldwide conspiracy to overthrow the Chinese and British empires.  

Why Me, Sweetie?! (PG): Selected. Yu Enterprises. April 11. Louis Koo, Charlene Yin. D: Jingle Ma.  American Chinese Ding Ding studies drama in Beijing. One day, she bumps into Dong and soon after they bid farewell. The next day, Ding visits Dong, who, strangely enough, denies their acquaintance, as if nothing had happened and this irritates Ding. Ding later finds out that Dong suffers from temporary loss of memory triggered off when he lost his girlfriend. His love for her was so strong then that the self-defense mechanism in him had caused him to lose his memory. 

Wild Thornberies (G): Selected, Syd/ Melb/ Adel. April 17- Brisbane/ Perth. UIP. 228 screens.  85 m. Animated.  Talent: Brenda Blethyn, Jodi Carlisle, Lacey Chabert, Tim Curry, Rupert Everett, Lynn Redgrave, Marisa Tomei Director: Cathy Malkasian, Jeff McGrath. Based on the TV show. The Thornberrys are a family that travels the world making nature documentaries. Their daughter Eliza has the amazing ability to speak to animals... this movie finds her traveling to Africa's Serengeti where she meets Akela, a mother cheetah.

(Warning: This film contains wild hot scenes of animal animation action)

APRIL 17

Anger Management (M): National. Columbia. 325 screens. 106 mins. Comedy. Mild-mannered businessman Dave Buznik (Adam Sandler) is wrongly accused of a crime and sentenced to an anger management program, where he discovers that his instructor, Buddy Rydell (Jack Nicholson), is a crazy psycho with his own serious anger management problem, and is probably the one man in the world most capable of making his new student blow his lid...

The Magdalene Sisters (MA): Selected. Dendy. Syd/ Melb/ Perth. 16 screens. 119 mins. Geraldine McEwan, Anne-Marie Duff, Nora-Jane Noone, Dorothy Duffy. D: Peter Mullan (Orphans). Golden Lion and Toronto Press Award Winner The Magdalene Sisters, written and directed by Peter Mullan (Orphans) is a potent and moving drama portraying the shocking true experience of 3 young women in the Magdalene Asylums in 1954 rural Ireland. Actor-turned-director Peter Mullan¹s portrayal of the abuse and cruelty suffered by single pregnant women at the hands of the nuns is riveting and resonant.  SYD:- Palace Academy Twin Paddington, Cremorne Orpheum. MELB:- Nova, Carlton, The George St Kilda, Brighton Bay Brighton. PERTH:- Cinema Paradiso Northbridge. 

Nowhere In Africa (MA): Selected, Syd/ Adel/ Melb. Hopscotch. 12 screens. 134 mins. Drama. Germany- subtitled. Merab Ninidze, Juliane Köhler.  D: Caroline Link (Beyond Silence). A sort of Little House on the Savannah, this impressively scaled German film is based on a popular autobiographical novel by Stefanie Zweig and directed by Oscar nominee Caroline Link (Beyond Silence). In 1938 Germany, Jettel Rendlich (Juliane Köhler) abandons her well-to-do Jewish family to join her ailing lawyer husband, Walter (Merab Ninidze), on his farm in Kenya, accompanied by their young daughter, Regina (Lea Kurka). 

Pulse: A Stomp Odyssey (TBA): Selected, Melb. IMAX. 1 screen. 40 mins. Documentary. It is a celebration of the global beat, an exploration of the sights and sounds of continents and cultures, guided by the internationally acclaimed performers of the sensational stage show STOMP. Audiences will travel a world brought brilliantly alive on the large-format screen and will discover the universal language of rhythm. MELB: Imax Carlton Gardens. 

Real Women Have Curves (M): Selected. Syd/ Melb/ Perth. Rialto. 6 screens. 86 mins. America Ferrera, Michelle Moretti, Lupe Ontiveros, Ingrid Oliu, George Lopez, Brian Sites, Soledad St. Hilaire, Sandie Torres, Dona Carlota, Dale E. Turner. D: Patrica Cardoso (Kingdom of Heaven). This is the story of Ana, a first generation Mexican-American teenager on the verge of becoming a woman. She lives in the predominately Latino community of East Los Angeles. Freshly graduated from high school, Ana receives a full scholarship to Columbia University. Her very traditional, old-world parents feel that now is the time for Ana to help provide for the family, not the time for college. 

Ripley's Game (TBA): Selected, Syd/ Brisb/Melb/ Perth. Roadshow. 34 screens. Thriller. John Malkovich, Dougray Scott, Ray Winstone, Chiara Caselli, Lena Headey. D: Liliana Cavani (The Guest). The continuing story of Tom Ripley, a career criminal who has amassed his wealth through various illicit activities, including murder. He is married and living in France, when the necessity arises to silence two foes who could reveal his dark past. Concocting an assassination plan, he makes a deal with a terminally ill English aristocrat desperate for money to rid him of his two enemies.

APRIL 24

The Good Girl (TBA): Selected. Fox. 10 screens. Drama. 93 mins. Jennifer Aniston, Jake Gyllenthall, John C Reilly, Tim Blake Nelson, Zooey Deschannel, Mike White. D: Miguel Arteta (Chuck & Buck). A young married woman who's boring life (and unable to conceive) gets worse when she starts an affair with an odd-ball discount store stock boy who thinks he's Holden Caufield.  Initially full of emotional and sexual awakening, a poisonous obsession soon develops. Can: GU Manuka. Syd: GU Hoyts Village Compex, Hoyts Broadway, Palace Verona Paddington, Hoyts Mandarin Centre, Palace Norton St Leichhardt.  Bris: Schonell St Lucia.  Melb: Como South Lara, Hoyts City, Classic Elsternwick. 

How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days (PG): National. 115 mins. UIP. 241 screens. Comedy. Matthew McConaughey, Kate Hudson, Adam Goldberg, Kathryn Hahn, Thomas Lennon, Michael Michele, Annie Parisse. D: Donald Petrie (Ritchie Rich).  Romantic comedy loosely based on the longer titled book How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days. While the book was simply an illustrated parody of those endless heaps of relationship advice books, the movie plans to expand on this concept. McConaughey will play a ladies' man who makes a bet with his best friend (Goldberg) that he can stay in a relationship with one girl for more than ten days. Hudson plays the girl in question, who consequently tries to dump him immediately, presumably using the rules from the original book.

APRIL 30

X Men 2 (M): National. Fox. 330 screens (358 by the weekend). 133 mins. Sci-fi action. Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Famke Janssen, James Marsden, Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Anne Paquin, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, Bruce Davidson, Alan Cumming. D: Brian Singer (Apt Pupil). Mutants continue their struggle against a society that fears and distrusts them. Their cause becomes even more desperate following an incredible attack by an as yet undetermined assailant possessing extraordinary abilities. The shocking attack renews the political and public outcry for a Mutant Registration Act and an anti-mutant movement now led by William Stryker, a wealthy former Army commander who is rumoured to have experimented on mutants. Stryker's mutant "work" is somehow tied to Logan's mysterious and forgotten past.