129 minutes/4/5
Let it be stated up front that this Japanese drama has, at its heart, a love affair between a father and adoptive daughter. That fact is not merely alluded to, it is shown.
In the white drifts and ice floes of a perpetually snowy town in northern Japan, director Kazuyoshi Kumakiri (Kichiku, 1997) creates a world of deep romance and creeping horror, depending on whose point of view you take.
Starring Tadanobu Asano as the father Jungo and Fumi Nikaido as daughter Hana (above), the film is based on the best-selling Japanese novel of the same title. WHERE: The Projector, Golden Mile Tower MRT: City Hall WHEN: From tomorrow ADMISSION: $13 INFO: For bookings & schedule, go to theprojector.sg
John Lui
WAITING FOR MAMU(PG)
40 minutes/3.5/5
In Nepal, children of prisoners are put in jail with their parents if no one on the outside is willing to care for them. Singapore-based American film-maker Thomas Morgan travelled with a small team to capital Kathmandu to film the work of the energetic Ms Pushpa Basnet, a social worker who runs a home that houses, feeds and sends these children to school.
This short documentary includes interviews with jailed parents and the children rescued from a life behind bars by Ms Basnet. Part of the proceeds from the screening will go to her Butterfly Home. WHERE: The Projector, Golden Mile Tower MRT: City Hall WHEN: Sun, 7.20pm ADMISSION: Entry by donation at the door. For bookings, go to theprojector.sg
John Lui
JAPANESE FILM FESTIVAL 2015
Two contrasting movies to be shown tomorrow will make you crave Japanese food. Little Forest - Winter/Spring (PG, 120 minutes) follows the life of a woman who ditches life in the city for a retreat in a tiny village in Japan where she discovers the deep connection that locals have with the food they grow. Hibi Rock: Puke Afro And The Pop Star (NC16, 110 minutes, above) is a slapstick comedy based on a popular manga about a deadbeat hard rock musician who meets a cute pop idol at a concert. WHERE: Gallery Theatre, National Museum of Singapore, and The Projector, Golden Mile Tower MRT: Dhoby Ghaut/ Lavender WHEN: Now- Aug 8, various times ADMISSION: Free for Okamoto Kihachi retrospective. Limited to two tickets a person, first-come, first-served, available 45 minutes before screening session or 60 minutes before start of first film of the day. For full schedule, go to jpfilmfestival.com
John Lui
HOLLYWOOD ADVENTURES (NC16)
115 minutes/ 3.5/5
American director Timothy Kendall in his energetic debut feature winks at cliched Chinese perceptions of Los Angeles and American pop culture while gleefully playing with the idea that anything can happen in Hollywood.
After getting dumped over the telephone, the straight-laced Xiaoming (Huang Xiaoming, left) sets off for Los Angeles to win back his ex-girlfriend. He ends up on a Hollywood Adventures honeymoon package, together with the insistently chatty Dawei (Tong Dawei) on a tour led by the resourceful Wei Wei (Vicki Zhao Wei).
Something is not quite right, though, and Xiaoming is soon in the thick of his own adventures involving weaselly criminal Manny (Sung Kang), Hollywood star Gary Buesheimer (Rhys Coiro) and the trafficking of rhino horn powder.
Throw in car stunts, a superhero segue and a fabulous pink party, and one winds up with a madcap adventure that is quite a ride.
Boon Chan
