Matrix comes to VIDI

VIDI, the South African on-demand entertainment service, has announced that the Matrix trilogy will join its lineup of movies-on-demand from June 11.

The Matrix remains one of the top-ten all time science fiction movies among critics and cinema-goers. Keanu Reeves stars as a computer hacker who learns from mysterious rebels about the true nature of his reality and his role in the war against its controllers. Laurence Fishburne and Carrie-Anne Moss also star. All three actors reprise their roles in the two sequels, The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions.

Says Taryn Uhlmann, VIDI’s GM Marketing, “Even if you have seen all three movies before, a Matrix binge-watch is one of the best ways to spend six hours!

From June 1, all three movies in The Mummy trilogy will also be available for viewing. This includes The Mummy, The Mummy Returns and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. In the original film, Brendan Fraser stars as an American serving in the French Foreign Legion who, while on an archaeological dig in Egypt accidentally awakens a Mummy. The film also stars Rachel Weisz and South African Arnold Vosloo in the title role. All three go on to reprise their roles in the sequel while Fraser teams up with Jet Li for the third instalment.

Other movies that will be added to VIDI’s library in June include:

• Speed Racer Рfrom the Wachowski brothers who brought you the aforementioned Matrix movies, comes this action-packed film starring Emile Hirsch as a young driver, who aspires to be champion of the racing world with the help of his family and his high-tech Mach 5 automobile. Susan Sarandon co-stars. (from June 11)

‚Ä¢ Fracture – a tense, gripping film about an attorney who, intent on climbing the career ladder toward success, finds an unlikely opponent in a manipulative criminal he is trying to prosecute. An all star cast including Anthony Hopkins, Ryan Gosling, Rosamund Pike and South Africa’s Embeth Davidtz. Not to be missed! (from June 27)

‚Ä¢ For the kids there is Jim Carrey in Dr Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas as well as the fantasy adventure Peter Pan, in which the Darling family children receive a visit from Peter Pan, who takes them to Never Never Land where an ongoing war with the evil Pirate Captain Hook is taking place. (Both films from June 1)

VIDI’s made-for-television offerings starting in June include:

Considered by many to be the best ever television comedy series, season one of Fawlty Towers, starts on VIDI on June 15. Monty Python’s John Cleese stars as hotel owner Basil Fawlty whose incompetence, short fuse, and arrogance form a combination that ensures accidents and trouble are never far away. Prunella Scales plays his long-suffering wife and Andrew Sachs as the dim-witted waiter Manuel.

Alias – in this brilliant action adventure series, Jennifer Garner stars as Sydney Bristow, a young, athletic, college graduate who was recruited her freshman year as a secret agent for SD-6, a top-secret branch of the CIA. After a few years – after Sydney confides her lifestyle to her boyfriend, the evil head of SD-6 – Arvin Sloan has him killed. Sydney learns that SD-6 is part of a rogue international agency called the Alliance of 12, out to rule the world. So she becomes a double agent, working with the real CIA to bring down SD-6 with the assistance of her handler and her estranged father who also happens to be a double agent. Along the way, Sydney fights various rival agents, rival terrorist groups, and traitors all the while keeping her cloak-and-dagger lifestyle a secret from her friends. This series is from JJ Abrams (Lost, the Star Trek movie reboots, Mission Impossible movies and producer of the new Star Wars movie). It also features a fresh Bradley Cooper who plays Sydney’s murdered boyfriend.

Here’s a little known fact. When the makers of Doctor Who started working on a new series, they were stumped when it came to a title for the show. So they played around with the letters from Doctor Who and came up with the anagram Torchwood. John Barrowman, currently starring in the hit TV series Arrow, plays Captain Jack Harkness, a former Time Agent and con man from the 51st century who travels to early 21st century Cardiff, Wales. There, he becomes a member of a renegade criminal investigation group which battles hostile extraterrestrials and supernatural threats. (Season 1 from June 24)

Finally, also launching on VIDI in June are seasons three of Downton Abbey, In Plain Sight and Call the Midwife as well as season two of Whitechapel

* Follow Gadget on Twitter on @GadgetZA