Gemma Arterton in a scene from the wartime drama Summerland.
Pic: BTG080221REG2 Caption: Gemma Arterton in a scene from the wartime drama Summerland.
Pic: BTG080221REG3 Caption: Penguin the Magpie brings hope to the traumatised Bloom family in Penguin Bloom.
Opening this Thursday at Pahiatua's Regent Upstairs Cinema is the British wartime drama Summerland.
Gemma Arterton stars as Alice, a reclusive writer, resigned to a solitary life on the seaside cliffs of southern England while World War II rages across the channel.
One day she's informed that as a wartime measure, she's obliged to take in a young London boy evacuee. She insists she knows nothing about raising a child. However it's not long before she realises she and the boy have a lot in common. Penelope Wilton and Tom Courtenay also star in this moving story of love's endurance in trying times.
The next attraction to the Regent will be the Australian family drama, Penguin Bloom. It's the true story of Sam Bloom (Academy Award® nominated Naomi Watts), a young mother whose world is turned upside down after a near-fatal accident leaves her unable to walk.
Sam's husband (Andrew Lincoln), her three young boys and her mother (Academy Award® nominated Jacki Weaver) are struggling to adjust to their new situation when an unlikely ally enters their world in the form of an injured baby magpie they name Penguin. The bird eventually makes a profound difference in the family's life. Penguin Bloom will open on Thursday, February 18.
Opening on Thursday, February 25 is the romantic comedy/drama Wild Mountain Thyme, set in the emerald green countryside of rural Ireland. Headstrong farmer Rosemary Muldoon (Emily Blunt) has her heart set on winning her neighbour Anthony Reilly's (Jamie Dornan) love.
But the two families are caught up in a feud over a hotly contested patch of land that separates their two farms and Anthony seems to be oblivious to the overtures of his admirer. To complicate things, further Anthony's father (Christopher Walken) threatens to sell the family farm to his American nephew Adam.
Heading next month's line-up at the Regent is the Australian historical drama High Ground. Set against the stunning landscapes of 1930s Arnhem Land in Australia's far north, High Ground chronicles young Aboriginal man Gutjuk, who, in a bid to save the last of his family, teams up with ex-soldier Travis to track down Baywara - the most dangerous warrior in the Territory - and also Gutjuk's uncle.
As they journey through the outback Travis and Gutjuk begin to earn each other's trust, but when the truths of Travis' past actions are suddenly revealed, it is he who becomes the hunted.
Further attractions in March will include the British romantic drama Supernova, the New Zealand drama Cousins, and the musical event Mick Fleetwood & Friends, a recorded concert featuring Mick Fleetwood, Neil Finn, Noel Gallagher, Billy Gibbons, David Gilmour, Kirk Hammett, John Mayall, Christine McVie, Jeremy Spencer, Zak Starkey, Pete Townshend, Steven Tyler and Bill Wyman, recorded live at the London Palladium shortly before lockdown last March.
For more information please visit: www.regentupstairs.co.nz.