Category: NEW MOVIES: “One Life”

ONE LIFE

One Life is a 2023 biographical drama film directed by James Hawes.^[3] It is based on the true story of British humanitarian Sir Nicholas Winton as he looks back on his past efforts to help groups of Jewish children in German-occupied Czechoslovakia to hide and flee in 1938–39, just before the beginning of World War II. The film stars Anthony Hopkins and Johnny Flynn as Sir Nicholas, with Lena Olin, Romola Garai, Alex Sharp, Jonathan Pryce, and Helena Bonham Carter in supporting roles.^[4]

One Life had its world première at the Toronto International Film Festival on 9 September 2023, and its European première at the 2023 London Film Festival. It was released in the United Kingdom on 1 January 2024 by Warner Bros. Pictures.^[5]^[6]^[1] The film received mostly positive reviews, with praise for the performances of the cast, particularly Hopkins’.

Plot

When 29-year-old London stockbroker Nicholas Winton visits Czechoslovakia in 1938, just weeks after the Munich Agreement was signed, he encounters families in Prague who had fled the rise of the Nazis in Germany and Austria. They are living in poor conditions, with little or no shelter or food and in fear of the invasion of the Nazis. Winton is introduced to Doreen Warriner, head of the Prague office of the British Committee for Refugees from Czechoslovakia (BCRC). Horrified by the conditions in the refugee camps, Winton decides to save Jewish children himself. Actively supported by his mother Babette, herself a German-Jewish migrant who has since converted to the Church of England, he overcomes bureaucratic hurdles, collects donations and looks for foster families for the children brought to England. Many of them are Jews who are at imminent risk of deportation. A race against time begins as it is unclear how long the borders will remain open before the inevitable Nazi invasion.

Cast

Anthony Hopkins as Nicholas Winton
- Johnny Flynn as young Nicholas Winton
Helena Bonham Carter as Babi Winton
Lena Olin as Grete Winton
Jonathan Pryce as Martin Blake
- Ziggy Heath as young Martin Blake
Romola Garai as Doreen Warriner
Alex Sharp as Trevor Chadwick
Samantha Spiro as Esther Rantzen
Juliana Moska as Hana Hejdukova
Ella Novakova as Lenka
Samuel Finzi as Rabbi Hertz
Henrietta Garden as Vera Gissing
- Frantiska Polakova as young Vera Diamontova
Alzbeta Cerna as Eva Diamontova
Jolana Jirotkova as gap-toothed girl
Anna Darvas as Lady Milena Grenfell-Baines
Marthe Keller as Betty Maxwell
Michael Gould as Leadbetter
Adrian Rawlins as Geoff

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AMERICAN SOCIETY OF MAGICAL NEGROES

The American Society of Magical Negroes is a 2024 American satirical comedy film^[2] written, directed, and produced by Kobi Libii in his directorial debut. It stars Justice Smith, David Alan Grier, An-Li Bogan, Drew Tarver, Michaela Watkins, Aisha Hinds, Tim Baltz, Rupert Friend and Nicole Byer.

The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 19, 2024, and will be followed by a theatrical release by Focus Features in the United States on March 15, 2024.

Premise

Aren is recruited into a magical society of African Americans to follow their lifelong cause: to make the lives of white people easier.^[2]

Cast

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ARTHUR THE KING

Arthur the King is an upcoming American adventure film directed by Simon Cellan Jones, written by Michael Brandt, and starring Mark Wahlberg, Simu Liu, and Juliet Rylance. It is based on the 2016 non-fiction book Arthur – The Dog Who Crossed the Jungle to Find a Home by Mikael Lindnord. In the film, the captain of an adventure racing team befriends a wounded stray dog named Arthur, who accompanies the team on a grueling 435-mile (700-km) endurance race through the Dominican Republic.

The film was announced in 2019 as a Paramount Players release. It moved to Lionsgate in June 2020 and filming began in the Dominican Republic in January 2021. The film is scheduled to be released by Lionsgate on March 15, 2024.

Plot

A group of mountain climbers venture into the mountains to compete while coming face with a surviving stray who becomes attached to the head of the climbers.

Cast

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UNITING

College reunion dramedy led by Michelle Harrison and Jesse L. Martin. The film is set to premiere in select Cineplex theaters across Canada on Friday, March 15. Gravitas Ventures, an Anthem Sports & Entertainment Company, has acquired the U.S. rights to Re: Uniting and will then release the film on digital and cable on demand on June 4, 2024.

“When Rachel, played by Michelle Harrison, receives life-changing news, she secretly grapples with her mortality while playing host to her friends who have grown up and gone their separate ways since college. Carrie, a mother of 3, Natalie, a workaholic neurosurgeon, former football star turned sportscaster Collin, and playboy man-child Danny join Rachel and her husband at their picturesque home on the beautiful and secluded Bowen Island,” reads the movie’s synopsis.

“As soon as they are all together it’s like no time has passed; they laugh, drink and dance the night away. Rachel’s nostalgia is echoed by the group as they realize how much time has gone by, and how much they have all changed. As secrets are revealed, they are forced to change the way they look at their futures.”

Uniting was written and directed by Laura Adkin. The film stars Jesse L Martin (Law & Order, The Irrational, RENT), Michelle Harrison (The Flash), Roger Cross (War For the Planet of the Apes), David James Lewis (Child’s Play), Carmen Moore (Nancy Drew), and Bronwen Smith (Firefly Lane). The movie was produced by Krista Rand, while Stirling Bancroft served as director of photography.

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NEW MOVIES#”One Life,” “American Society of Magical Negroes,” “Arthur the King,” “Uniting”