With thanks to the Gravel Road Distribution Group, we are giving away a Double ticket to the South African VIP Premiere of Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now: Final Cut.

Francis Ford Coppola’s exhilarating masterpiece of 1979, Apocalypse Now, returns to the big screen in all its cinematic glory with a striking brand-new 4K, Dolby Atmos©, Dolby Vision © version.

Digitally remastered in 4K UHD and Dolby Atmos, under the direct supervision of Mr. Coppola himself, this is the film he wanted to make 40 years ago.

Tickets up for grabs are for the Red Carpet premier of the 40^th Anniversary release of Apocalypse Now, re-titled Apocalypse Now: Final Cut, to be held at the Mall of Africa in Midrand, on 14 August 2019.

Winners will come to experience this Masterpiece, on the IMAX Screen.

Apocalypse Now Competition is now closed.

Please Note:

1. This competition Closes on 13 August 2019.
2. Tickets are only valid for the specified dates and performance times.
3. Seat allocations are up to the discretion of the promoters.
4. Tickets may not be upgraded, or exchanged for cash, or for alternate performances.
5. The prize comprises of two tickets per prize winner.
6. No-Shows will not receive replacement tickets.
7. By entering this competition, the participant agrees to the terms and conditions.
8. Prizes does not include accommodation and / or travel to and from the event.
9. Winners will be notified by mail.
10. One Entry per Email Address will be entered into the draw.

The post Win Tickets to the SA Premiere of Apocalypse Now appeared first on Stage and Screen.

Francis Ford Coppola’s exhilarating masterpiece of 1979, Apocalypse Now, returns to the big screen in all its cinematic glory with a striking brand-new 4K, Dolby Atmos©, Dolby Vision © version.

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Oscar-winning Vietnam cult war epic this summer, Gravel Road Distribution Group will release a special, never-before-seen cut, restored with breath-taking realism by Coppola himself, to the highest and finest audio and visual standards, for a truly visceral cinematic experience.

Forty years after its original release, South African audiences will get the chance to experience Apocalypse Now: Final Cut, a never-before-seen and newly restored cut of Coppola’s spectacular cinematic masterpiece in a way which the director believes “looks better than it has ever looked and sounds better than it has ever sounded“. Coppola said that he is “thrilled beyond measure to present the best version of the film to the world.” It will release in all seven IMAX theatres in Gauteng, the Western Cape and Kwa-Zulu Natal, from 23 – 29 August 2019.

Restored from the original negative for the first time ever, Apocalypse Now: Final Cut is Coppola’s most complete version of his multi-awarded classic, a haunting journey into madness that fascinated generations of movie lovers and now feels even more monumentally alive than ever before. Ranked as one of the best films of all times, the film stars Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, Martin Sheen, Albert Hall, Laurence Fishburne, Harrison Ford, G.D. Spradlin, Dennis Hopper, Sam Bottoms and Frederic Forrest.

Apocalypse Now was nominated for 8 Academy Awards® (including Best Picture) and won 2 Academy Awards® for Best Cinematography and Best Sound, 2 BAFTAs for Best Direction and Best Best Supporting Actor and the Palme d’Or in Cannes. Starring Academy Award winner Marlon Brando (1972, Best Actor, The Godfather), Academy Award winner Robert Duvall (1983, Best Actor, Tender Mercies), Golden Globewinner Martin Sheen (2001, Best Actor – TV Series, “The West Wing”), Academy Award nominee Dennis Hopper (1986, Best Supporting Actor, Hoosiers), Academy Award nominee Laurence Fishburne (1993, Best Actor, What’s Love Got to Do with it), and Academy Award nominee Harrison Ford (1985, Best Actor, Witness).

The film follows Army Captain Willard (Martin Sheen), a troubled man sent on a dangerous and mesmerizing odyssey into Cambodia to assassinate a renegade American colonel named Kurtz (Marlon Brando), who has succumbed to the horrors of war and barricaded himself in a remote outpost.

The best visual and sound technologies have been used to present Coppola’s true vision of the film: one that delivers deep, visceral visual and auditory impact. “The audience will be able to see, hear and feel this film how I always hoped it could be—from the first ‘bang’ to the final whimper” said Coppola.

This is the first time the original negative has ever been scanned and over 11 months and 2,700 hours were spent on cleaning and restoring the film’s 300,173 frames. The Apocalypse Now: Final Cut restoration has been brought to life through ultra-vivid picture quality with Dolby Vision®, delivering spectacular colours never before seen on a screen, with highlights that are up to 40 times brighter, and blacks that are 10 times darker.

Apocalypse Now Final Cut has been mixed in Dolby Atmos® to offer a truly immersive sound experience and it has been enhanced Meyer Sound Laboratories’ newly developed Sensual SoundTM, a technology engineered to output audio below the limits of human hearing.

The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on 28th April 2019 and will celebrate its 40th anniversary in the following IMAX theatres, in South Africa on 23 August 2019: Bay West, Cape Gate, Cradlestone Mall, Eastgate, Gateway, the Grove and Mall of Africa.

The post Apocalypse Now: Final Cut appeared first on Stage and Screen.

The contemporary psychological thriller from Academy Award-winning director Neil Jordan, Greta, will open in SA cinemas nationwide this Friday, 5 July 2019.  Co-written by Jordan and Ray Wright, it tells the story of Frances McCullen, played by Chloë Grace Moretz, a young woman struggling to fit into New York life.

She has a job as a waitress in an upscale Manhattan restaurant, misses her deceased mother, and feels estranged from her newly married father. Her only true friend is Erica Penn, Maika Monroe’s character,  a boisterous 20-something from a wealthy family with whom she shares an apartment.

After discovering a handbag on a New York subway train, Frances sets about returning it to its rightful owner. This good deed places her in the orbit of an enigmatic middle-aged widow named Greta, played by the unstoppable Isabelle Huppert.

In between dog-shopping and cosy dinners, Frances makes an alarming discovery that changes her perspective on her new friend. When she tries to sever ties with Greta, things get stranger and more sinister and Frances’ once innocent remarks take on a very ironic resonance as Greta unleashes her inner stalker.

As a game of cat and mouse ensues, the legendary French actress gives a masterclass in crazy. She takes all the neuroses of her troubled characters in The Piano Teacher and Elle and amps them up a notch.

The film also stars Stephen Rea as a private investigator hired to investigate Greta and Colm Feore Frances’ estranged father, while Zawe Ashton plays a mysterious woman with important information about Greta’s past.

In Greta, Jordan is doing what he does best: subverting genre expectations and creating a unique and unexpected experience.

Greta is a contemporary thriller in the vein of films such as Fatal Attraction and Misery, with various twists and turns that the audience might not see coming. It is dubbed a psychological thriller that balances terror with comedy, making it hard to resist… like an unattended bag on the subway that’s just begging you to look inside.

Greta releases in South Africa on July the 5^th, and is distributed by Flimfinity.

The post Greta appeared first on Stage and Screen.

It’s hard to imagine how difficult it had to be for someone to invent all the things we now can’t live without, which is why the charged battle over rival electricity systems, fought between two brilliant visionaries, is so illuminating.

Fuelled by the intense rivalry between electricity titans Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse, The Current War tells the epic story of the cutthroat competition that literally lit up the modern world.

Directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon and executive produced by Martin Scorsese, the film stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Thomas Edison, the celebrity inventor who, backed by JP Morgan, as played by Matthew Macfadyen, is on the verge of bringing electricity to Manhattan with his radical new direct current (DC) technology.

On the eve of triumph, his plans are upended by the charismatic businessman George Westinghouse, played by Michael Shannon, who, aided by the legendary genius and scientific maverick Nikola Tesla played by Nicholas Hoult, here just a young upstart, has discovered fatal flaws in Edison’s DC design. Igniting a war of currents, Westinghouse and Tesla bet everything on a risky and dangerous idea for how to rapidly electrify America: with alternating current (AC).

Hostilities boil and lives are lost as the rivalry plays out on a thrilling, world-changing scale. As Edison and Westinghouse vie for the right to power the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, they spark one of the first and greatest corporate feuds in American history, establishing for future Titans of Industry the need to break all the rules.

When considering the look and feel of the film, the rules weren’t in Gomez-Rejon’s playbook, either. Rather than a stuffy period piece, he wanted to juice up The Current War with energy and bring a modern spirit to its telling.

Written by playwright Michael Mitnick, The Current War is high-minded and poised; it shows that while Edison and Westinghouse had vastly different personalities, they also had a lot in common.

In the film, Edison is intoxicated by his own genius. He is a lone wolf who takes his employees’ dedication for granted and refuses to share credit. While he loves his wife Mary, as played by Tuppence Middleton, and their children, he is too consumed by work to provide the attention they crave.

Westinghouse, by contrast, is devoted to his supportive spouse, Marguerite, played by Katherine Waterston, whose drive and ambition might even exceed his own. He treats his workers with gratitude and respect and values his collaboration and friendship with electrical engineer Franklin Pope, as portrayed by Stanley Townsend.

The cast is rounded out by Tom Holland, who plays Edison’s young confidant and personal secretary, Samuel Insull.

That said, The Current War looks beyond the attempt to understand loss and instead offers a feeling of rebirth through creativity, spontaneity, invention – a love of making things and a chance to explore the true nature of winning.

The Current War is a stylised historical drama, with a well-flowing narrative supported by gorgeous cinematography and a rousing score. While its sheds some light on the late 19th century battle between Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse to control the power grid, the film offers more than that – it is an inspirational tale about the wonder of invention.

The film is distributed by Filmfinity (Pty) Ltd. and will be released nationwide on 26 July 2019.

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