Gavin Hood
The gruff, steel-clawed Marvel superhero Wolverine strikes out on his own in this X-Men spin-off starring series regular Hugh Jackman. The film is set up as an origin tale for the character, and will find him sharing the screen with Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds), Gambit (Taylor Kitsch), John Wraith (will.i.am), Victor Creed/Sabretooth (Liev Schreiber), and Col. William Stryker (Danny Huston). Academy Award-winning director Gavin Hood (Tsotsi) films a screenplay penned by Troy scribe David Benioff (Troy). Daniel Henney and Lost's Dominic Monaghan round out the supporting cast. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, (more)
The director of the Academy Award-winning 2006 crime drama Tsotsi returns to the helm with this tale of a Middle East CIA operative who begins to have doubts about his latest assignment after witnessing the interrogation of a suspected suicide bomber by secret police. When Egyptian-born chemical engineer Anwar El-Ibrahimi (Omar Metwally) mysteriously vanishes on a routine flight from South Africa to Washington, his wife, Isabella (Reese Witherspoon), embarks on a frantic international search for her missing husband. At the same time, a CIA analyst (Jake Gyllenhaal) arrives at a clandestine detention facility outside of United States. As the interrogation of El-Ibrahimi gets under way, the CIA analyst is profoundly shaken by the unorthodox methods used by the man's captors, and quickly begins to reevaluate his assignment. Peter Sarsgaard, Meryl Streep, and Alan Arkin co-star in this topical political thriller penned by Kelley Sane and produced by Steve Golin. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jake Gyllenhaal, Reese Witherspoon, (more)
An amoral teenager develops an unexpected paternal side in this powerful drama from South Africa. Tsotsi (Presley Chweneyagae) is the street name used by a young Johannesburg delinquent who has taken to a life of crime in order to support himself. Tsotsi comes from a blighted upbringing -- his mother died slowly from AIDS-related illnesses, and his father was torturously abusive -- and he has developed a talent for violence borne of necessity as well as taking strange pleasure in hurting other people. One evening, Tsotsi shoots a woman while stealing her car, and only later discovers that her infant son is in the back seat. Uncertain of what to do with the baby, Tsotsi takes the boy home and tries to care for it -- going so far as to force Miriam (Terry Pheto), a single mother living nearby, to nurse the baby. With time, Tsotsi learns the basics of child care, and the presence of the baby awakens a sense of humanity in him that life on the street had stripped away. Tsotsi was adapted from a novel by the award-winning South African writer Athol Fugard. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Presley Chweneyagae, Terry Pheto, (more)
This four-hour cable miniseries adaptation of H. Rider Haggard's classic adventure novel King Solomon's Mines dispenses with much of the original story in favor of a standard Indiana Jones-esque melodrama, complete with claim-jumping villains, snarling Russian soldiers, an ancient and deadly curse, and a damsel perpetually in distress. As played by Patrick Swayze, Haggard's hero, celebrated British safari hunter Allan Quartermain, is a born-again conservationist who returns to his former trade only to raise enough money to retain custody of his beloved son. Quatermaine accepts the assignment given him by toothsome Elizabeth Maitland (Alison Doody), to head into darkest Africa in order to rescue Elizabeth's father (John Standing), who had disappeared while searching for the fabled lost gold mines of King Solomon. This time around, the mines harbor another elusive treasure: the mysterious Stone of Power, which functions in much the same manner as the Ark of the Covenant the Indiana Jones pictures. Along for the ride are Quatermain's trusted friend Sir Henry (Ian Roberts), and loyal African guide Umbopa (Sideda Onylulo), who has traditionally been the story's most likeable and admirable character in all previous film and TV adaptations of the novel. The main villain, largely spun from whole cloth for the purposes of the miniseries, is Quatermain's greedy ex-partner Gavin Hood (Bruce McNabb). Debuting June 6, 2004, the two-part King Solomon's Mines posted some of the Hallmark channel's best-ever ratings. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Swayze, Alison Doody, (more)
Adventure awaits two siblings as they make their way across the African desert in this sumptuous family film from the director of Kickboxer 5. While traveling with their parents as they prepare work on the Suez Canal, the two youngsters are kidnapped and taken into the barren landscape of the country. While in hostage, the kids escape along with a few other African children and make their way back to civilization alone for a long-awaited reunion with their families. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Adam Fidusiewicz, Karolina Sawka, (more)
- 1999
In this drama, a man dealing with the ghosts of his past defends a child whose cultural dictates differ with the law. Sean Raine (Gavin Hood) was born and raised in South Africa, but during his time as a soldier in that nation's army, he killed a young black man by mistake while fighting in Angola and has been plagued with guilt ever since. He left South Africa soon after; in time, he studied law and became a successful corporate attorney. While visiting South Africa for the first time in nine years, Sean and his wife Jennifer (Janine Eser) meet a herd boy named Sipho (Loyiso Gxwala) during a canoe trip. As they're returning to camp, Sean and Jennifer meet Sipho again, but this time he's in shock, standing motionless with a bloody axe in his hand as his mother carries the body of a baby with a fatal head injury. When questioned, Sipho asserts that what he killed was not a human infant but a tikoloshe, a creature cursed with evil spirits. Sean offers to defend Sipho, and as he stands before the court, he tries to explain to the judge (Nigel Hawthorne) and jury that Sipho was acting sincerely, in accordance with his faith, and therefore did not truly commit a crime. Actor Gavin Hood made his debut as a writer and director with this film, as well as playing the leading role. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gavin Hood, Nigel Hawthorne, (more)
- 1998
Filmed in South Africa, this lengthy biographical drama details events in the life of 19th-century British imperialist Cecil Rhodes (Martin Shaw) through an extensive series of overlapping flashbacks. The BBC original ran for eight hours, but for telecasting in the United States, the BBC edited the film down to six hours. The U.S. premiere was on PBS' Masterpiece Theater on January 4-6, 1998. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Russell Baker, Martin Shaw, (more)
Living up to its tagline, "Payback can be deadly," this installment in the popular-on-video Kickboxer series follows the travails of a displaced fighter out to avenge his friend's death. Stepping in for former hero Sasha Mitchell -- who in turn stepped in for original Kickboxer Jean-Claude Van Damme -- is Mark Dacascos, playing Matt Reeves, the longtime buddy of David Sloan (formerly Mitchell, here played by an uncredited actor). When he finds out that Sloan was murdered after refusing to join a nefarious boxing organization, Reeves travels to South Africa to get Bollen (Greg Latter), the evil leader of the cult-like federation. Redemption: Kickboxer 5 was given the "Redemption" prefix upon its 2003 video release. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
After spending his time in jail for manslaughter, a formal world-champion kick boxer B.J. Quinn (John Barrett) is released after doing time and sets out to regain his former stature as a top-notch fighter. Unfortunately he begins his comeback at a drunken party (he's drunk) and he tangles with the current top-dog of kick boxing, Jacques Denard. Denard beats him to a pulp, which sends our hero Quinn into hiding where he teams up with another kick boxer, and together they begin to train for a real-time head-on with the champion Denard. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Barrett, Keith Vitali, (more)
- 1990
- R
While in Africa, a pregnant American (Jenilee Harrison) is cursed by a village witch doctor (Dumi Shongwe) after interrupting a tribal ceremony. Soon after, she is visited by a sea-demon who terrorizes her friends. The film, which shares little with the others in the series, was originally titled Panga. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
