Before Push hits Irish cinemas this Friday, Movies.ie recommends the following paranormal pics to whet your appetite.
The big, bad government strikes again in this weekend’s paranormal pic “Push”. This time they strike in the form of a shadowy agency known as the Division. They have genetically transformed citizens into an army of psychic warriors, with tag names such as “Pushers,” “Shifters” and “Sniffers,” who brutally dispose those unwilling to participate in their reindeer games. Nick Grant (Chris Evans), a second-generation telekinetic or “Mover,” is one such rebel, hiding out in Hong Kong. He meets the tough-as-nails Cassie (Dakota Fanning), a 13-year-old second-generation clairvoyant or “Watcher,” also on the run, and through uncontrollable circumstances, reluctantly follows her on a quest to bring down the Division…
Wanted
Based on a graphic novel, the violent tale revolves around Wes (James McAvoy), a meek 25 year-old office worker who hates his life. His boss berates him, and he can’t even summon the balls to tell his slutty girlfriend to stop sleeping with his best buddy. But his world is suddenly rocked when Fox (Angelina Jolie)–a mysterious, tattooed woman with a gun and a red sports car–takes him on the ride of his life. She takes him straight to The Fraternity, a centuries old legendary group of hired assassins who live–and die–by their code: Kill one to save a thousand. Seems Wes’ long-lost father was a member who has just been whacked, and he is now summoned to join up and unleash the inner killer in his genes. After a rigorous training regimen in which he is almost beaten to a pulp, he emerges as the organization’s new golden boy and finds self-esteem in his new exciting alternative lifestyle. However, the group’s enigmatic leader Sloan (Morgan Freeman) may have other plans in store for Wes that he isn’t quite sharing at the moment.
The One
Former X-Files writer James Wong makes his sophomore feature as a director at the helm of this science fiction thriller. In the near future, a technology called “quantum tunneling” allows human beings to travel between parallel universes. The abuse of this ability by criminal elements has led to the formation of the Multi-Verse Authorities or “MVA,” an agency of quantum travelling cops who apprehend violators of inter-dimensional laws. The MVA faces its greatest crisis when a former agent named Gabriel Yulaw (Jet Li) goes renegade, travelling between one universe and the next, murdering his own parallel selves and gaining enormous power with each slaying. It is believed that when Yulaw has become “the one,” the only version of himself to exist, he will be omnipotent, but the final Gabriel Yulaw exists in our plane of existence (the “magna universe”) and is also becoming stronger, though he doesn’t understand why. Hot on the evil Yulaw’s trail are his former partner Harry Roedecker (Delroy Lindo) and Harry’s new colleague Evan Funsch (Jason Statham).
The Gift
Supernatural horror meets character drama in this Sam Raimi-directed thriller. Set in Georgia, the film concerns a widowed mother named Annie (Cate Blanchett) who is blessed with the ability to have psychic visions. When Annie is asked to use her powers to investigate the murder of a rich society girl (Katie Holmes) who was engaged to a local high school principal (Greg Kinnear), she finds her “gift” is as destructive as it is helpful. Many of the townspeople have mixed regard for Annie’s abilities, including an abusive husband (Keanu Reeves) and his brutalized wife (Hilary Swank) (the former threatens Annie and her children with taunts that she is a devil) as well as a deeply troubled auto mechanic (Giovanni Ribisi) who may hold a key to the events in question. The Georgia residents soon find themselves all suspects in the investigation, and Annie is forced to confront past demons while still trying to help solve the mystery.
Clockstoppers
Frequent Star Trek actor and director Jonathan Frakes gets behind the camera again for this teen-sci-fi/action-drama in the Back to the Future (1985) mold. Jesse Bradford stars as Zak Gibbs, a teenager who discovers the latest invention to spring from the mind of his scientist father (Robin Thomas) and a research team that includes his dad’s eccentric colleague Dr. Earl Dopler (French Stewart). It seems that they have developed a wristwatch that manipulates “hypertime,” speeding up the passage of regular time 25 times for the wearer and those near him, making it appear that the rest of the world has become essentially “frozen” in time. Zak is delighted with the ability that he initially treats as the ultimate gag and superpower, until the National Security Agency begins pursuing both him and the device, intending to confiscate it for nefarious political purposes.
Push is in Irish cinemas from Friday, Feb 20th.