Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit Director: Nick Park Voicers: Peter Sallis, Ralph Fiennes, Helena Bonham Carter Prelude: Cheese-loving inventor Wallace and his faithful hound Gromit made their film debut 16 years ago in A Grand Day Out, a project that started off as Park's film school graduation assignment. The short ended up being nominated for an Oscar in 1990. Park's second and third Wallace and Gromit films, The Wrong Trousers and A Close Shave, both won Oscars for Best Animated Short. The story: Gung-ho Wallace (voiced by Sallis) and his intelligent canine Gromit have launched a humane pest control business. As the annual Giant Vegetable Competition approaches, a mysterious veggie-munching beast starts terrorising the neighbourhood's gardens. Wallace and Gromit are called into action by Lady Tottington (Carter), whose snooty suitor Victor (Fiennes) prefers shooting rabbits instead of dispatching them humanely. Behind the scenes: Park's collaborator Steve Box has compared producing an 85-minute Wallace and Gromit movie to 'making the Great Wall of China with matchsticks'. Each second of film time has 24 frames, so each clay puppet in a one-second scene may have had up to 24 separate poses that needed to be shot. Things to watch: Rich details, such as the subtle expressions of Gromit, who uses his eyes and eyebrows to convey his emotions. How will it fare? It's the first full-length Wallace and Gromit feature and will likely to be a fun experience for viewers of all ages. Flightplan Director: Robert Schwentke Starring: Jodie Foster, Peter Sarsgaard, Erika Christensen The story: Foster plays Kyle, a woman who has boarded a plane with her young daughter for a long flight. To Kyle's horror, her daughter vanishes during the flight, but crew and fellow passengers say she was never on the plane. The gist: It sounds like an airborne version of Foster's Panic Room, but her intense and slightly over-the-top acting works magic with anxious female characters that are on the brink of a nervous breakdown. How will it fare? Red Eye - a brilliant thriller by Wes Craven that also takes place on a plane - failed to attract much attention locally. But Foster's star power may help to pull in audiences.
