SPOTLIGHT | Maverick blasts onto big screens; family fun in 'Marmaduke'; and win prizes

'Top Gun: Maverick' sees Tom Cruise's iconic character return, 'Marmaduke' provides laughter and warms hearts, and check out 'Kedibone', now on Netflix

Spotlight is our entertainment bite-sized snapshot featuring new entertainment releases in SA, exclusive film trailers and much more. New episodes are out every Thursday on Sunday Times Lifestyle, Sowetan Entertainment and on YouTube, plus you can follow Spotlight on Facebook.

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Buckle up your cinema and IMAX seat belts: the time has arrived for the release of Top Gun: Maverick — hailed as a “barrier-breaking sequel” to the original 1986 fighter pilots movie. Spotlight was out and about at the Ster-Kinekor IMAX pre-release screenings this week, and the conclusion among movie lovers, ourselves and critics worldwide is synonymous: “This is as thrilling as blockbusters get”, and “Absurdly exciting!” were some of the comments.

Maverick (Tom Cruise) returns to the Top Gun tactical flight school — this time as an instructor in charge of training a new generation of pilots. Cruise stars with Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Miles Teller, Monica Barbaro, Danny Ramirez, with Val Kilmer (Iceman) and Ed Harris reprising their characters. With cameras inside cockpits and nose cones, director Joseph Kosinski delivers a stratospheric monster of an aviation movie.

Spotlight also has a look at the beautiful people and film industry insiders celebrating the return of cinema to movie lovers’ agendas, with extravagant red carpet premieres and the business deals expanding the SA film industry.

This week’s episode features a new animated movie for families. The endearingly mischievous Great Dane Marmaduke teams up with a legendary dog trainer to prove he is worthy of winning a prestigious dog show. Pre-screenings with younger movie fans drew many belly laughs.

If you missed the riveting local drama Kedibone at cinemas, you can now stream Thomas Gumede’s film on Netflix. It stars Natasha Thahane, Wright Ngubeni, Kenneth Nkosi and Busisiwe Mtshali.

Don’t miss the winter holiday line-up show reel on Spotlight this week — from Elvis and Lightyear to Jurassic World Dominion and more, there is something for everyone’s mood.

For full interviews, breaking news, trailers, clips and competition details, visit our Spotlight Facebook page. See you at the movies!

Presenter Collette Prince is styled and dressed by We Are Egg. Shop online.

We Are Egg is a beautifully curated, experiential department store of local and international fashion, beauty, home, jewellery and food. More details on Instagram about Collette's look of the week here.


Win 'Top Gun' merch and pet grooming vouchers

This week Spotlight is giving away some Top Gun: Maverick movie merchandise, as well as pet grooming vouchers from Clean Paws mobile pet grooming:

 To enter, visit the Spotlight South Africa Facebook page.

Terms and conditions apply.

Winners will be drawn randomly and notified by SMS after the competition has closed.  Entrants’ personal details will not be retained for marketing purposes. Winners have to provide proof of age (ID/driver’s licence) and cover their own travel and accommodation expenses. By entering participants agree to have their names published on TimesLIVE, SowetanLIVE and Spotlight South Africa on Facebook. Employees of Arena Holdings and their family members are not eligible to enter.



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