Reel to reel

TRANSIT CITIES

(12+, First Group Theatre, 1pm)

After 14 years Laila returns home and attempts to pick up her former life. Returning to Amman, disillusioned by life abroad, Laila tries to create a new life.

But the simple hometown of her past is now a very different place. Beset by tensions on all sides, the city is facing not only the threat of fundamentalism but also the all-pervading influence of globalisation.

(Arabic dialogue with English subtitles)

NORWEGIAN WOOD

(18+, Mall of the Emirates, 9pm)

It has been dubbed the Japanese Catcher In The Rye, and now Haruki Murakami’s classic novel has been turned into a sumptuous feature from Tran Anh Hung. It’s 1969 and Toru Watanabe (Kenichi Matsuyama) is a 19-year-old student in Tokyo, besotted by Naoko (Rinko Kikuchi), a beautiful and introspective young woman. But their mutual passion is complicated by the tragic death of their best friend years before. Watanabe lives with the influence of death everywhere, while Naoko feels as if some integral part of her has been permanently lost. It is at that time Midori (Kiko Mizuhara), a girl who is everything that Naoko is not - outgoing, vivacious, supremely self-confident - marches into Watanabe’s life, forcing him to choose between his future and his past. Score by Johnny Greenwood of Radiohead.

(Japanese dialogue with English subtitles)

TRON: LEGACY

(PG, Madinat Arena, 8pm)

The sequel to the 1982 sci-fi classic Tron, this 2010 redux is a 3D action-packed adventure set in a digital world unlike anything previously captured on the big screen. Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund), a rebellious 27-year old, is haunted by the mysterious disappearance of his father Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges), a man once known as the world’s leading video-game developer. When Sam investigates a strange signal sent from the abandoned Flynn’s Arcade that could have only come from his father, he finds himself pulled into the world where Kevin has been trapped for 20 years. With the help of the fearless warrior Quorra (Olivia Wilde), father and son embark on life-or-death journey across a visually stunning digital universe - created by Kevin himself - which has become far more advanced with never-before-imagined vehicles, weapons, landscapes and a ruthless villain who will stop at nothing to prevent their escape. Dive in for an exhilarating and exciting 3D trip to parallel worlds of the computer imagination.

(English dialogue with Arabic subtitles)

THE HOUSE UNDER THE WATER

(15+, Mall of the Emirates, 3.15pm)

Thirty years ago, Morteza and his best friend Taher were involved in a tragic accident, in which Taher’s younger brother drowned. Fast-forward three decades and we meet Morteza again, freshly-released from prison and looking to rebuild his life. But soon the past catches up with him when he is suspected of the death of another drowned child. The police officer investigating the case turns out to be none other than Taher. Taher initially believes Morteza to be guilty but as the common, private bond between the two men comes to the fore, he becomes increasingly convinced of his old friend’s innocence - and sets out to prove it. But does the long shadow of the pair’s past obscure the truth or is Morteza really guilty of murder?

(Farsi dialogue with English subtitles)

CORRIDOR

(15+, Mall of the Emirates, 11.59pm)

This dark, Scandinavian psycho-horror has geeky student Frank moving into a new apartment and preparing himself for his imminent exams at medical college. Not long after a chain of disturbing, unsettling events take place, involving Lotte, the strange girl living upstairs and the flotilla of damaged, dangerous people who inhabit her world. It doesn’t take Frank long to find himself not only going out of his mind in panic and confusion but finding his life in real danger. Is Lotte the cause of the mayhem - or is there a deeper, more sinister reason?

(Swedish dialogue with English subtitles)

THE RED EAGLE

(18+, Mall of the Emirates, 10.15pm)

The thrilling new action movie The Red Eagle is a long-awaited reboot of the 1960s Thai superhero franchise, originally starring Mitr Chaibancha (who died in an on-set accident on the final original Red Eagle film). It’s been revived by acclaimed director Wisit Sasanatieng, casting Ananda Everingham in the title role, updating the action quota with a tense plot, sharply-drawn dynamic characters and lashings of super-stylised violence against a coolly ironic, wryly humorous backdrop that frames the action superbly. A nuclear power plant is about to be commissioned, a symptom of the power held by corrupt and power-hungry politicians. The citizens are furiously opposed to the scheme, but are powerless. Then in response, the superhero appears, fearlessly dispatching the crooks and leaving only a calling card bearing the legend, The Red Eagle. However, whilst the townspeople are delighted, the crooked authorities are naturally mightily peeved and so deploy their own weapon, soon to become our hero’s arch-nemesis - he Black Devil!

(Thai dialogue with English subtitles)