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    #OnTheBigScreen: Christmas Rogue

    There are three new films to watch this week, including Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Office Christmas Party and The Nutcracker Ballet.

    Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

    Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is the first in a new series of Star Wars standalone films set in the universe fans know and love, an all-new epic adventure where a group of unlikely heroes band together on a mission to steal the plans to the Death Star, the Empire’s ultimate weapon of destruction. This key event in the Star Wars timeline brings together ordinary people who choose to do extraordinary things, and in doing so, become part of something greater than themselves. Directed by Gareth Edwards and written by Chris Weitz, Tony Gilroy and Gary Whitta, from a story idea by visual effects supervisor John Knoll. It will be the first stand-alone Star Wars Anthology film. Set in the Star Wars universe sometime after the events of Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith and shortly before the events of the original Star Wars.

    Says Edwards: “With Rogue One, I tried to combine the best of both worlds. We had sets, like the spaceships, where you’d literally get sealed in so you could shoot 360 degrees and the only time you could open the door was when we said we were finished. We would do 40-minute takes sometimes, just repeat the scene over and over and get all of these different angles. It felt like a real vehicle that was really going somewhere. Outside, through the windows, was a 180-degree view of LED screens that had pre-rendered flight sequences on them. It was trying to create that feeling of really being in a real place. All of the happy accidents that happen from reality…when you make a CG-heavy movie, something so fantastical has to have a lot of CG, that planning and that contrivance can often make it feel fake and not as real as other movies. And so I was desperate on this one to make it as authentic as we could and have the audience really believe this was a real city or town and that this must really be unfolding, because I don’t quite understand how they’ve done this.”

    Office Christmas Party

    When the CEO (Jennifer Aniston) tries to close her hard-partying brother’s branch, he (T.J. Miller) and his chief technical officer (Jason Bateman) must rally their co-workers and host an epic office Christmas party in an effort to impress a potential client and close a sale that will save their jobs. The latest comedy from directors Will Speck and Josh Gordon (Blades of Glory) co-stars Olivia Munn, Jillian Bell, Vanessa Bayer, Courtney B. Vance, Rob Corddry, Sam Richardson, Jamie Chung, Randall Park and Kate McKinnon in the funniest movie of the holiday season.

    The Nutcracker Ballet

    Just in time for the Festive Season, the magical Christmas ballet, The Nutcracker from the Bolshoi Ballet company of Russia, will come to the big screen at Cinema Nouveau, with limited screenings from Saturday, 17 December. Christmas would not be complete without the enchanting tale of young Marie and her Nutcracker prince! Danced by the Bolshoi’s principals, E.T.A. Hoffmann’s fairytale, choreographed by Russian ballet master Yuri Grigorovich to the beautiful musical composed by Tchaikovsky, promises to transport children and adults alike to a world of magic and wonder for the holiday season.

    For more information on the latest releases, visit www.writingstudio.co.za

    About Daniel Dercksen

    Daniel Dercksen has been a contributor for Lifestyle since 2012. As the driving force behind the successful independent training initiative The Writing Studio and a published film and theatre journalist of 40 years, teaching workshops in creative writing, playwriting and screenwriting throughout South Africa and internationally the past 22 years. Visit www.writingstudio.co.za
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