Coming to Cinemas (17/1/2013)

After a less than motivating release week, things have finally started to pick up again this week with a solid array of releases that is really tempting for the serious or casual moviegoer alike. So let's get to it.

Here are the releases that are coming to cinemas this week:

3AM

Director: Patchanon Thammajira, Kirati Nakintanon, Isara Nadee
Cast: Apinya Sakuljaroensuk
Running Time: 1 Hour 36 Minutes
Language: Thai
Classification: 18
Synopsis: Thailand's second 3D horror, "3AM", following the Asian box office success of its first such production, "Dark Flight". The film comprises three separate short stories from established Thai directors: Patchanon Thammajira's "The Wig" follows two sisters haunted by evil dolls in a wig shop, and has brought on board DoP Teerawat Rujintham, whose credits include "Tom Yum Goong 2". Kirati Nakintanon's segment follows a man who gets an eerie job looking after the corpses of a bride and groom, while Isara Nadee's "The Blind Man" is about a man with severe myopia who starts to have strange visions.

Mama

Director: Andres Muschietti
Cast: Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Jessica Chastain, Megan Charpentier, Isabelle Nélisse
Running Time: 1 Hour 40 Minutes
Language: English
Classification: 18
Synopsis: Guillermo del Toro presents "Mama", a supernatural thriller that tells the haunting tale of two little girls who disappeared into the woods the day that their mother was murdered. When they are rescued years later and begin a new life, they find that someone or something still wants to come tuck them in at night. The day their father killed their mother, sisters Victoria and Lily vanished near their suburban neighbourhood. For five long years, their Uncle Lucas and his girlfriend, Annabel, have been madly searching for them. But when, incredibly, the kids are found alive in a decrepit cabin, the couple wonders if the girls are the only guests they have welcomed into their home. As Annabel tries to introduce the children to a normal life, she grows convinced of an evil presence in their house. How did the broken girls survive those years all by themselves? The new mother is about to find that the whispers she hears at bedtime are coming from the lips of a deadly presence.

Trailer Impression: I'm normally not a fan of the horror genre, but if there's reason enough to go see one, is one that is scary enough that it made a visionary director and producer like Guillermo del Toro want to make it a full length feature out of a short. This one seems to have some fresh spin on a familiar plot, and it would also be the first chance for audiences to judge the performance of Jessica Chastain, who was nominated for Best Actress at the Oscars in Zero Dark Thirty.

Paper Moon

Director: Stanley Law
Cast: Gordon Lam, Chrissie Chau, Tedd Chan
Running Time: 1 Hour 48 Minutes
Language: Mandarin
Classification: P13
Synopsis: "Paper Moon" tells the story of a poor kite maker, Chen Tian Song, who falls in love with Gao Shi Qin, the daughter of a wealthy family who is in line to inherit the family business. Their innocent and young love eventually evolves into infinite regret and a poignant love story. Many years later, suppressing his feelings of guilt, Tian Song expresses his painful longing for Shi Qin through the making of (WAU) kites, until that fateful meeting with Gao Man Hua.... In search of Gao Shi Qin's first love, Gao Man Hua travels all the way to Kelantan to learn about the man who has wounded her mother. The appearance of Man Hua evokes apprehension in the quiet and reserved Tian Song, bringing back yesterday's memories. Tian Song is uneasy about Man Hua's constant clinging, but at the same time, he finds himself attracted to her because of her uncanny resemblance to her mother. What consequences would Chen Tian Song's encounter with Gao Man Hua bring? Why is she so desperate to search for him?

Trailer Impression: Another new local Chinese director comes into the fray, but does something that very few local directors would dare to do; a serious romantic drama. I don't know anyone in the cast or know any previous works by Stanley Law (if any), so Paper Moon is certainly one that looks like it takes lots of guts to make, because one small slip could get him smacked with the narrow minded Malaysian label of 'why Malaysian movies suck'. Put this one in my curious list, as well as 'cautiously hoping to have something positive to say about' list, as well.

The Impossible

Director: Juan Antonio Bayona
Cast: Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor, Geraldine Chaplin, Tom Holland
Running Time: 1 Hour 54 Minutes
Language: English
Classification: P13
Synopsis: Maria (Naomi Watts), Henry (Ewan McGregor) and their three sons begin their winter vacation in Thailand, looking forward to a few days in tropical paradise. But on the morning of December 26th, as the family relaxes around the pool after their Christmas festivities the night before, a terrifying roar rises up from the center of the earth. As Maria freezes in fear, a huge wall of black water races across the hotel grounds toward her. Based on a true story, THE IMPOSSIBLE is the unforgettable account of a family caught, with tens of thousands of strangers, in the mayhem of one of the worst natural catastrophes of our time. But the true-life terror is tempered by the unexpected displays of compassion, courage and simple kindness that Maria and her family encounter during the darkest hours of their lives. Both epic and intimate, devastating and uplifting, "The Impossible" is a journey to the core of the human heart.

Trailer Impression: We are back to catching up on Oscar contenders with The Impossible. Although this one isn't likely going to turn a lot of heads with its only Oscar nomination for Best Actress for Naomi Watts (against Jessica Chastain), The Impossible had received some great reviews, despite the whitewashing of the family depicted in the true story. However from the trailer, this one seems flavored a little too much on the side of being a crowd-pleaser for my taste, much like The Lady was, rather than being an honest reenactment of the devastation from the 2004 tsunami and having real stakes human stakes from the tragedy.

The Last Stand

Director: Kim Ji-Woon
Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rodrigo Santoro, Zach Gilford, Forest Whitaker, Genesis Rodriguez, Johnny Knoxville, Jaimie Alexander
Running Time: 1 Hour 47 Minutes
Language: English
Classification: 18
Synopsis: Sheriff Owens is a man who has resigned himself to a life of fighting what little crime that takes place in the sleepy border town of Sommerton Junction after leaving his LAPD post following a bungled operation that left him wracked with failure and defeat as his partner was crippled. After a spectacular escape from an FBI prisoner convoy, the most notorious, wanted drug kingpin in the hemisphere is hurtling toward the border at 200 mph in a specially outfitted car with a hostage and a fierce army of gang members. He is headed, it turns out, straight for Sommerton Junction, where the whole of U.S. law enforcement will have their last opportunity to make a stand and intercept him before he slips across the border forever. At first reluctant to become involved, and then counted out because of the perceived ineptitude of his small town force, Owens ultimately accepts responsibility for the face off.

Trailer Impression: Finally, an action movie for the year. Arnold's first solo comeback looks like is in the good hands of Korean director Kim Ji-Woon, who is also making his English debut here. I haven't seen The Good, The Bad, The Weird yet, but reviews for it that I've heard are pretty positive. I'd probably know what to expect from this, but I'm also looking for a few surprises.

FilmBah's Pick of the Week 

It is a pretty tough week to make a choice. I have three different reasons to go see three different types of movies (Paper Moon, The Impossible and The Last Stand), so I guess I would be putting this one up to the wind when I go to the cinema this week. I'm suspecting that the showtimes would do a lot of favours for The Last Stand, but we'll see.

 Releases according to CinemaOnline.