JAPANESE FILM FESTIVAL 2015
This weekend features a coming-of-age story of sorts in Tamako In Moratorium (NC16, 78 minutes), in which Tamako (Maeda Atsuko, above) is a slacker who, after college, goes back home to live with her father and generally does nothing. She is prodded out of her slump when her single dad says he wants to start meeting women.
WHERE: Gallery Theatre, National Museum Of Singapore; The Projector, Golden Mile Tower MRT: Nicoll Highway WHEN: Till Aug 8, various times ADMISSION: $13, $12 (Singapore Film Society members), $10 (students, seniors, national servicemen). Free for the Okamoto Kihachi retrospective (limited to two tickets a person, available 45 minutes before the screening session or 60 minutes before the start of the first film of the day) INFO: For full schedule, go to jpfilmfestival.com
THE ROOM (M18)
99 minutes
This movie is in a class of its own: mocked and loved in equal measure, and screened regularly around the world as a movie to be enjoyed ironically for its unironic awfulness. Writer-director-producer-lead actor Tommy Wiseau (left) is responsible for this trainwreck of a vanity project. He plays Johnny, a man in a love triangle, just one of the several confusing and unresolved plot threads in this tutorial on how not to act or write a movie.
WHERE: The Projector, Golden Mile Tower MRT: Nicoll Highway WHEN: Tomorrow, 9.30pm ADMISSION: $13, at theprojector.sg
MARVEL'S ANT-MAN (PG)
117 minutes/Now showing/4/5
Pacy, confident and as funny as anything you will see this summer season, this sci-fi flick about a crumb-sized human punches far above its weight in cast performances, characters and story. Cat burglar Scott Lang (Paul Rudd, left), after serving time in jail, finds it hard to make ends meet, especially as he has child-support payments. Close friend Luis (Michael Pena) tells him of a safe in a house owned by an old man, Dr Hank Pym (Michael Douglas). Lang decides to raid the home, using his skills in electronics and wall-climbing. Driven by solid performances and strong writing, this is a welcome return to storytelling-first principles, at a time when superhero flicks sell on convoluted lore and computer-generated battles.
THE LITTLE DEATH (M18)
96 minutes/3.5/5
Five couples on the surface appear to have perfect suburban lives, but under the sheets, dissatisfaction rules. This gentle farce about the modern quest for sexual wellness and its absurd consequences trips lightly from start to finish. It makes the audience forget about the "sex" part of "sex comedy", and stands in contrast to Hollywood, which sees sex humour from the point of view of a middle-schooler.
WHERE: The Projector, Golden Mile Tower MRT: Nicoll Highway WHEN: Various times ADMISSION: $13, at theprojector.sg
