Film & TV Picks: The Projector’s Lunar New Year Showcase, The Day Of The Jackal, Unstoppable

The Projector’s Lunar New Year Showcase

Arthouse film aficionados can indulge in movies from China and Singapore that The Projector has curated for its Lunar New Year Showcase, which runs until Feb 13.

A highlight is a Mongrel fund-raising screening on Jan 26. Directed by Singaporean film-maker Chiang Wei Liang, the 2024 drama revolves around a migrant worker, played by Thai actor Wanlop Rungkumjad, who becomes a caregiver to the elderly and disabled in rural Taiwan.

The Singapore-Taiwan-France co-production received a special mention in the Cannes Film Festival Camera d’Or category and a Best New Director accolade at the Golden Horse Awards in 2024.

The screening ticket is priced at $18, with 50 per cent of the proceeds going to Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2), a non-profit organisation in Singapore dedicated to advocating for the fair treatment of migrant workers.

After the screening, Chiang and TWC2’s president Debbie Fordyce will hold a panel discussion on Mongrel and the invaluable role of migrant workers who work in caregiving in Singapore.

The showcase also includes Chinese director Gao Peng’s award-winning crime thriller A Long Shot (2023) and An Unfinished Film (2024), a docu-fiction filmed during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown in Wuhan, China, by Chinese cinema maverick Lou Ye.

There is also the premiere of Hong Kong film-maker Elizabeth Lo’s award-winning documentary Mistress Dispeller (2024), about a relationship specialist who goes undercover to end extramarital affairs.

The films in the Lunar New Year Showcase will be screened at both Golden Mile Tower and Cineleisure.

Where: The Projector, Cineleisure, 8 Grange Road; and Golden Mile Tower, 6001 Beach Road
MRT: Somerset/Nicoll Highway
When: Jan 22 to Feb 13, various times
Admission: From $11.50
Info:

 theprojector.sg/themes/lunar-new-year-showcase

The Day Of The Jackal (NC16)

Available on Max

Eddie Redmayne, best known as magizoologist Newt Scamander in the Fantastic Beasts fantasy films (2016 to 2022), plays against type as a cold-blooded killer in the spy thriller The Day Of The Jackal (2024 to present).

Based on Frederick Forsyth’s acclaimed 1971 novel of the same name, the 10-episode actioner revolves around a global cat-and-mouse chase where British intelligence agent Bianca Pullman (Lashana Lynch) is determined to arrest the elusive Jackal.

Redmayne, who underwent a major makeover to play scientist Stephen Hawking in the biopic The Theory Of Everything (2014), puts his chameleonic prowess to good use in The Day Of The Jackal. His assassin character is not just a superb marksman, but also a master of disguise.

The British actor was recently honoured with a Best Actor nomination for his portrayal of the Jackal at the Golden Globes, while the series bagged a Best Drama nomination.

Unstoppable (PG13)

123 minutes, available on Prime Video

★★★☆☆

American actor Jharrel Jerome plays Anthony Robles, an American wrestler born with just one leg who rose through the ranks of his high-school team and won the 2011 national collegiate championships.

This adaptation of Robles’ 2013 memoir on his difficult college years at Arizona State University leading up to his historic victory is that most cliched of sub-genres – the inspirational against-the-odds sport biopic.

Jerome – performing with a leg digitally erased and with Robles as his stunt double – nevertheless brings conviction to the stock messages about self-belief and chasing big dreams.

Don Cheadle, Michael Pena and Jennifer Lopez also deliver strong performances, scoring points despite the predictable underdog-athlete true story. - Whang Yee Ling