Cinematheque: Funeral frenzy á la Frank Oz (and other film news)

FILM EVENTS

• Alliance Française de Shanghai, Crossed Movies: Illegal immigration:

  Welcome, 2009, Philippe Lioret, France, 95 min, in Kurdish, English and French with Chinese subtitles. Simon (Vincent Lindon), a middle-aged swimming instructor with a dejected spirit, who is privately reeling in turmoil as he dreads an imminent divorce from his wife. He tries to win her back, by helping Bilal, a 17-year-old Kurdish refugee who wants to reunite with his girlfriend who recently emigrated to England. To do so, Bilal will have to cross the English Channel swimming.
  Sin Nombre, 2009, Cary Fukunaga, Mexico - United States, 90 min, in Spanish with English and Chinese subtitles. Honduran teenager Sayra reunites with her father, an opportunity for her to potentially realize her dream of a life in the U.S. Moving to Mexico is the first step in a fateful journey of unexpected events. El Casper is a member of a terrible South-American gang. To avenge his fiancée’s death, he kills the leader of his gang, and flees. On the roof of the train leading to the US, Sayra and Casper meet each other.



• Hollywood Movie Night: Wednesdays at 18:00 Hollywood Movie Night - Action movies, Dramas, Romantic Comedies -watch a new Hollywood movie each week on a 5-meter screen. English subtitles, vocabulary worksheets, and discussion afterward. All events are free and open to college students and working adults.

ENGLISH LANGUAGE MOVIES

• The Twilight Saga: The New Moon (暮光之城): The supernatural tale of star-crossed lovers continues as the Cullen family flees Forks in order to protect Bella (Kristen Stewart), and the heartbroken high-school senior discovers that vampires aren't the only creatures in town.
• G-Force (豚鼠特攻队): The story is about a team of trained secret agent guinea pigs that takes on a mission for the US government. A specially trained squad of guinea pigs is dispatched to stop a diabolical billionaire, who plans to taking over the world with household appliances.
• 2012: Ever get chills from the Mayan prophecy that predicts the world will end on December 21, 2012? Sony Pictures’ upcoming disaster drama 2012 simulates the catastrophic happenings of the last days of the earth with plenty of epic floods and destruction. The Day after Tomorrow director Roland Emmerich helms. John Cusack and Amanda Peet star. The film boasts a sky-high US$200 million budget and breath-taking special effects. In English with Chinese subtitles.
• District 9: This sci-fi flick delivers an amazing story about extraterrestrials who come to live on Earth. Instead of being hostile attackers, these aliens are actually refugees from space who seek asylum. They get set up in the temporary “home”: District 9 in South Africa. The film’s special effects are jaw-dropping and the alien guns are simply ridiculous. In English with Chinese subtitles.
• Michael Jackson´s This Is It (迈克尔·杰克逊：就是这样): Fans of Michael Jackson: get a glimpse of the King of Pop’s last days with this documentary. Pieced together from more than 100 hours footage of Jackson’s rehearsals of his comeback London concert tour, this highly anticipated film offers you a private look into the late superstar’s life through on-stage and behind-the-scene material. In English with Chinese subtitles.
• Knowing (神秘代码): Nicolas Cage continues his action thriller career in Alex Proyas’ latest production. The plot focuses on elementary school student Caleb and his father John as they discover a string of numbers that match with dates of disasters over the past 50 years, including the numbers of people who died. In Mandarin or English depending on the cinema.
• Astro Boy (阿童木): An origin story set in futuristic Metro City, Astro Boy is about a young robot with incredible powers created by a brilliant scientist, Dr. Tenma, in the image of the son he had lost. Unable to fulfill the grieving man's expectations, our hero embarks on a journey in search of acceptance, becoming part of a group of rowdy kids led by a girl named Cora, experiencing betrayal, and a netherworld of robot gladiators led by the greedy ring master, Ham Egg...

CHINESE LANGUAGE MOVIES

• Park Shanghai: Local director Huang Kai’s debut film explores the life of China’s post '80s generation. The romantic drama follows former lovebirds Dong and Rerei as they meet again at their high school reunion years after graduation. Huang Kai himself will attend the screenings. Call for more information. Mandarin, Shanghainese and English dialogue with Chinese and English subtitles.
• Jump: This comedy follows a girl who pursues her dream as a hip-hop dancing queen, but instead becomes a janitor in a big city dancing school. Produced by Stephen Chow, this flick originally featured Edison Chan as the leading actor, but later the production team re-shot the whole film and replaced Chan with Leon Jay Williams after Chan’s scandal broke out. In Mandarin or Cantonese depending on the cinema.
• Mulan (花木兰): Mulan, the old Chinese tale that was made into a Disney movie in 1998, is finally finding its way back home to its original country. When the country is threatened by invaders, a young girl defends her father by sneaking away from home and dressing up as a man to join an all-male army where she eventually assumes a historically critical role in defending the nation in a time of war.
• Mars Baby (火星没事): This is family entertainment, aimed especially at children. Mars Baby is about a boy from Mars who is adopted by a benevolent man on earth. With the name of "OK", the boy is unbelievably lucky. This is noticed by a greedy businessman who kidnaps the boy to make use of his superpower. The kidnapping opens the door to plenty of humor and action in the film.
• The Robbers/Tang Dynasty Brothers (我的唐朝兄弟): A pair of amoral thieves end up defending a tiny village they initially came to pilfer in "The Robbers," a rambunctious black comedy in period duds that plays like a Chinese riff on "Seven Samurai."
• Panda Express (熊猫大侠): In Panda Express, a flying dagger vendor is mistakenly contracted to ship a dancing panda to the capital city.
• The Message (Feng Sheng, 风声): "The Message" is set in Japanese-occupied China in 1942. It tells a story of a Japanese spy chief trying to identify a Chinese agent from a group of suspects. Produced by China's leading entertainment producer Huayi Brothers, the film is the company's tribute to the 60th birthday of the People's Republic of China. Riding the popularity of the TV series and play of the same name, this espionage flick features Zhou Xun, Zhang Hanyu and Li Bingbing. Mandarin only.
• The Warrior and The Wolf (狼灾记, Lang zai ji): This costume fantasy drama is the latest production by China´s influential director and producer Tian Zhuangzhuang. Set in the Qing Dynasty, the plot follows a warrior and his foreign lover. Their romantic encounters lead to a supernatural event. Japanese star Joe Odagiri, Taiwanese actor Tuo Zonghua and American diva Maggie Q star. Mandarin only.
• The Foundation Of A Republic (建国大业): This offering from China Film Board chairman Sanping Han tells the story of the founding of the PRC, in celebration of the country's birthday. Chinese megacelebrities Chen Kaige, Jet Li, Jackie Chan, Andy Lau, Chen Daoming and Ge You star. Mandarin only.

OTHER LANGUAGE MOVIES

• Scandal Makers (非常主播): Head over to watch this ubiquitous Korean romantic comedy featuring Cha Tae-hyeon and Park Bao-young. Cha stars as a show talk presenter whose program gains instant popularity from a single mother's story. However, Cha's life is turned upside down when the single mother shows up at his home with her six-year-old son. Language TBD.
• Nepobedimyy (特工008): Chronicles the adventures of Russian special intelligence agent Yegor Kremnyov. It involves fugitive oligarchs, western crime syndicates and top-secret papers. Languages: Russian / English.