Coming To Cinemas (18/4/2013)

On the third week of April, we have a couple of hard 18-rated thrillers from the east and west and a couple of horrors from southeast Asia.

Here are the trailers for this week's releases.

Broken City

Director: Allen Hughes
Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Russell Crowe, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Jeffrey Wright, Barry Pepper, Alona Tal
Running Time: 1 Hour 49 Minutes
Language:: English
Classification: 18
Synopsis: In a city rife with injustice, NYPD detective Billy Taggart is arrested for the murder of Mikey Tavarez, who raped and murdered the sixteen-year-old sister of Taggart's girlfriend Natalie Barrow, only for Mayor Nicholas Hostetler to eliminate the evidence. Taggart is forced to leave the police and become a private detective. Seven years later, on the verge of bankruptcy, Taggart is hired by Hostetler to find out who his wife Cathleen Hostetler is having an affair with, which gives Taggart the perfect chance for revenge.
Trailer Impressions: A pair up for a thriller that looks very nice. Directed by Allen Hughes who I can remember him for doing From Hell, I could see that this has some great potential. However, some reviews of this has put it into a position where the expectations of the cast outshines the plot, which might not have the payoff that you'd expect. Go for this cautiously.

Drug War (毒戰)

Director: Johnnie To
Cast: Louis Koo, Sun Honglei, Huang Yi, Wallace Chung
Running Time: 1 Hour 46 Minutes
Language:: Cantonese
Classification: 18
Synopsis: Sun Honglei stars as Zhang, a police captain who partners up with a drug lord named Timmy Choi (Louis Koo) after he is arrested. Choi agrees to the partnership to reveal information about his partners who operate a cocaine ring to avoid the death penalty. However, Zhang grows suspicious of Choi's honesty as several police officers began a a raid on the drug ring...

Trailer Impressions: While the chemistry between the leads is probably not as strong as the ones in Broken City, this one has a far better director in the form of veteran Johnnie To, who last made the award-winning Life Without Principles. I could say that I didn't like Life Without Principles as much as I would like to, but going by this trailer of Johnnie going back to his gangster roots, does inspire some confidence. Early reviews for this has been good so far, so that makes expectations for this even higher.

Long Weekend

Director: Taweewat Wantha
Cast: Shin Chinawut, Namcha Sheranat, Sean Jindachote, Nott Akaranat, Kittilpat Korasutraiwan, Natpassara Adulyametahsiri
Running Time: 1 Hour 35 Minutes
Language:: Thai
Classification: 18
Synopsis: Thongsook is a shy, nerdy, childlike teenager who's always harassed and made fun of by his friends since he was a boy. Luckily Thongsook has a best friend in Nam, a girl who's grown up with him and looks after him whenever she can. When Thongsook and Nam enter college, they hang out with a new group of friends: Boy, Jack, Beam and Pui. As usual, these new friends enjoy making fun of Thongsook, a fate that the young man has to endure with hardly a protest. But one long weekend during school break, these bullies will experience something so terrifying that will forever change their idea about Thongsook. The whole gang take a trip to a deserted island in the middle of a lake but Thongsook is not invited despite Nam's insistence. However, once they arrive at the island, Thongsook shows up mysteriously. The pleasant vacation turns horribly wrong on the second night - it is Friday the 13th, known as The Night of the Devouring Ghosts.

Kecoh! Hantu Raya Tok Chai

Director: Opie Zami
Cast: Saiful Apek, Intan Ladyana, Sathia, Azrul Raja Lawak, Kuswadinata, Amir Raja Lawak, Sobri Anuar
Running Time: 1 Hour 30 Minutes
Language:: Malay
Classification: P13
Synopsis: Deep within a small distant village, lives a humble Tok Chai who rears a "Hantu Raya" that provides him an easy life in return. But alas, as all good things eventually come to an end. In "Kecoh! Hantu Raya Tok Chai", the story picks up when Tok Chai passes on, leaving behind his beloved "Hantu Raya". For the uneducated "Hantu Raya", the burying of Tok Chai means the end of him, thus the "Hantu Raya" tries to stop the villagers from burying Tok Chai. With the wisdom of Tok Imam, and the efforts of Ebby, Corporal Lisa, Tok Penghulu, Sargent, Tok Imam and his followers are determined to bury Tok Chai before dawn breaks. Will "Hantu Raya" successfully stop Tok Imam and his followers from completing Tok Chai's funeral? Who will turn victim to placate "Hantu Raya"? Most importantly, who will care for ol' "Hantu Raya" when all is said and done?

FilmBah's Pick of the Week

It is a pretty slow week of releases, but I'm sure there's plenty of blockbusters to catch up on from previous weeks. But for me, Drug War has been on my radar for a while, and so I'm glad that it's finally reached Malaysian shores, and it's good that we finally have a decent Hong Kong gangster movie for the year.

Releases according to CinemaOnline and check your nearest screenings at Showtimes.