4 films to see on the week of February 2-9, 2018
A Better Tomorrow 2018
THIS IS THE fourth film in an a series that started with the original John Woo movie about a former drug smuggler who attempts to reform his life and reunite with his policeman brother. Directed by Sheng Ding, it stars Wang Kai, Tianyu Ma, and Darren Wang. Screen Daily’s John Berra writes, “For all of its individual qualities, A Better Tomorrow 2018 is destined to wind up as a footnote to a stone cold classic, but this is nonetheless solid genre fare that stands on its own two feet, with both guns blazing.”
MTRCB Rating: PG
Changing Partners
BASED on the PETA musical by Vincent de Jesus, the Cinema One Originals 2017 entry tells the romantic story of Cris and Alex a couple whose age difference is 15 years who are played by four different actors — Agot Isidro, Jojit Lorenzo, Anna Luna, and Sandino Martin. The story explores the nature of fidelity and issues faced by partners. Directed by Dan Villegas.
MTRCB Rating: R-13
Winchester
FIFTY miles outside of San Francisco stands the world’s most haunted house — seven stories tall with 500 hundred rooms — built by heiress Sarah Winchester. She did not build it for the living but as an asylum for vengeful souls. Directed by Michael and Peter Spierig, the film stars Helen Mirren, Jason Clark, and Sarah Snook.
MTRCB Rating: R-13
Paddington 2
AS Paddington scouts for a present to give his Aunt Lucy for her 100th birthday, he finds a unique pop-up book in Mr. Gruber’s antique shop and goes through a series of odd jobs to afford it. However, one day, the book is stolen. Paddington and the Brown family work together to catch the thief. Directed by Paul King, the film stars Hugh Grant, Ben Miller, Ben Whishaw, Julie Walters, Sally Hawkins, Hugh Bonneville, and Brendan Gleeson. The New Yorker’s Richard Brody remarks, “It has one out-loud laugh, plenty of sincere cleverness, vast technical ingenuity, a warm heart, lively performances and enough gyroscopic camera moves to make Max Ophüls (film director) jealous.”
MTRCB Rating: PG
