Animation/ Adventure
Thursday 18 July, 11 am
Toy Story 4 (PG)
Featuring the voices of Tony Hale and Tom Hanks as Forky and Woody, Disney and Pixar’s Toy Story 4 ventures in to the James Theatre this July school holidays.
Woody has always been confident about his place in the world, and that his priority is taking care of his kid, whether that’s Andy or Bonnie. But when Bonnie adds a reluctant new toy called “Forky” to her room, a road trip adventure alongside old and new friends will show Woody how big the world can be for a toy. The adventurous journey turns into an unexpected reunion as Woody’s slight detour leads him to his long-lost friend Bo Peep. As Woody and Bo discuss the old days, they soon start to realise that they’re worlds apart when it comes to what they want from life as a toy.
©2019 Disney
Animation/ Adventure
Saturday 20 July, 3 pm
The Secret Life of Pets 2 (PG)
The Secret Life of Pets 2 follows summer 2016’s blockbuster about the lives our pets lead after we leave for work or school each day. Max faces some major changes after his owner Katie gets married and now has a child. On a family trip to the countryside, Max meets a farm dog named Rooster, and both attempt to overcome his fears. Meanwhile, Gidget tries to rescue Max’s favourite toy from a cat-packed apartment, and Snowball sets out on a mission to free a white tiger named Hu from a circus.
Illumination founder and CEO Chris Meledandri and his longtime collaborator Janet Healy produce this sequel to the comedy that had the best opening ever for an original film, animated or otherwise. The cast includes Harrison Ford, Kevin Hart, Eric Stonestreet, Garth Jennings, Jenny Slate, and Tiffany Haddish.
Drama/Music
Saturday 20 July, 7 pm
Rocketman (M)
Rocketman is an epic musical fantasy about the incredible human story of Elton John’s breakthrough years. The film follows the spectacular journey of transformation from shy piano prodigy Reginald Dwight into international superstar Elton John. This inspirational tale – set to Elton John’s most beloved songs and performed by Taron Egerton – tells the universally relatable saga of how a small-town boy became one of the most iconic figures in pop culture. Rocketman also stars Jamie Bell as Elton’s longtime lyricist and writing partner Bernie Taupin, Richard Madden as Elton’s first manager, John Reid, and Bryce Dallas Howard as Elton’s mother Sheila Farebrother.
Live Music
Sunday 28 July, 1–3 pm
Maitland City Brass Band in Concert
The Big Bold Sound of Brass. Get excited about trumpets, tubas and trombones with an afternoon of music from the 1930’s through to ABBA, with favourite tunes from movies, the stage and screen.
The award-winning Maitland City Brass Band performs at Dungog’s James Theatre, fresh from the Australian National Band Championships. $20 adults, $10 children
Action/Adventure
Saturday 17 August, 3 pm
The Lion King (PG)
Disney’s The Lion King, directed by Jon Favreau, journeys to the African savanna where a future king is born. Simba idolizes his father, King Mufasa, and takes to heart his own royal destiny. But not everyone in the kingdom celebrates the new cub’s arrival. Scar, Mufasa’s brother—and former heir to the throne—has plans of his own. The battle for Pride Rock is ravaged with betrayal, tragedy and drama, ultimately resulting in Simba’s exile. With help from a curious pair of newfound friends, Simba will have to figure out how to grow up and take back what is rightfully his. The all-star cast includes Donald Glover as Simba, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter as Nala, James Earl Jones as Mufasa, Chiwetel Ejiofor as Scar, Seth Rogen as Pumbaa and Billy Eichner as Timon.
Utilising pioneering filmmaking techniques to bring treasured characters to life in a whole new way, The Lion King roars into the James Theatre this August.
Music/Bio
Saturday 17 August, 7 pm
Mystify Michael Hutchence is a powerfully intimate and insightful portrait of the internationally renowned frontman of INXS, Michael Hutchence. Deftly woven from an extraordinary archive of rich imagery, Michael’s private home movies and those of his lovers, friends, and family, the film delves beneath the public persona of the charismatic ‘Rock God’ and transports us through the looking glass to reveal a multifaceted, intensely sensitive and complex man. For an all too brief time, we revel in Michael’s Dionysian beauty and sensuality on stage and off. We listen to the range of his extraordinary voice and witness the charmed way he travels through life as he is propelled to world acclaim.
But Michael struggled with the idea of success, the creative limits of pop stardom and how to express his integrity; a longing that shaped his life and music and gave birth to a desire to go far beyond the constraints of pop.
A violent event strikes Michael and changes his life dramatically, fracturing his sense of self and robbing him of his connection to life. Made vulnerable, he is unable to navigate the complex challenges he faces, and has little defence against the onslaught of the tabloid press that descend on his world. Amidst the darkness, Michael’s newborn daughter, Tiger, becomes his one bright light.
“An intimate snapshot… essential viewing” THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
**** “A phenomenal piece of documentary filmmaking… An absolute must-see doco” WEEKEND SUNRISE
Drama/ Bio
Sunday 18 August, 7 pm
The White Crow (M)
Co-starring and directed by Ralph Fiennes, The White Crow charts the iconic dancer Rudolf Nureyev’s famed defection from the Soviet Union to the West in 1961, despite KGB efforts to stop him
A young man of just 22, dressed in a black beret and a dark narrow suit, is on an aeroplane flying from St Petersburg to Paris for the first time. It is 1961 and Rudolf Nureyev does not know he will never return. From Nureyev’s poverty-stricken childhood in the Soviet city of Ufa, to his blossoming as a student dancer in Leningrad, to his arrival at the epicentre of western culture in Paris in the early 1960s and a nail-biting stand-off at Le Bourget airport, The White Crow is the true story of an incredible journey by a unique artist who transformed the world of ballet forever.
Written by David Hare (The Hours), starring Oleg Ivenko as the ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev, and directed by and co-starring Ralph Fiennes, this “elegant, impressive biopic” looks like one of the top movies of the year.
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