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Film

New Releases

The Silent War (IIA) (Cantonese)

See review on this page.

Madagascar: Europe's Most Wanted (I) (English and Chinese versions)

See review on this page.

Lacuna (IIA) (Putonghua and Cantonese)

Shawn Yue Man-lok and Zhang Jingchu star in a romantic comedy revolving around two strangers who wake up together after a drinking binge. Not reviewed.

Tatsumi (III) (Japanese)

Singaporean filmmaker Eric Khoo's animated tribute to manga artist Yoshihiro Tatsumi combines Tatsumi's short stories and events from the artist's life. CT

Total Recall (IIB)

Sci-fi action thriller centring on a factory worker (Colin Farrell) who becomes a hunted man after embarking on a 'mind trip' courtesy of a company that provides its clients with implanted fake memories of a life they would like to have lived. Not reviewed.

General Releases

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (IIB)

Timur Bekmambetov's horror actioner in which the 16th American President discovers vampires are planning to take over the country and makes it his mission to eliminate them. CT

The Amazing Spider-Man (IIA)

Marc Webb's reboot of the Marvel Comics' superhero saga has Peter Parker finding a clue that might help him understand why his parents disappeared when he was young, and sets him on a collision course with his father's former partner. CT

The Avengers (IIB)

Marvel Comics-inspired actioner in which Iron Man, the Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye and Black Widow team up to defeat an unexpected enemy threatening the world. CT

Beloved (III) (French, English and Czech)

Christophe Honore's musical romance about a woman (Catherine Deneuve) whose libertine lifestyle as a young woman affects the romantic life of her grown daughter (Chiara Mastroianni). CT

Chicken With Plums (IIB) (French)

Set in 1958 Tehran, Vincent Paronnaud and Marjane Satrapi's adaptation of Satrapi's graphic novel about a celebrated violin player who loses his will to live after his wife breaks his beloved violin. CT

Cold Fish (III) (Japanese)

Sion Sono's horror film about a tropical fish shop owner who befriends and entrusts his daughter to a mysterious man. CT

The Dark Knight Rises (IIA)

Crime actioner that sees Batman resurfacing to protect a city that views him as an enemy after an arch criminal arrives on the scene and threatens to overwhelm Gotham's finest. Starring Christian Bale. CT

Doraemon the Movie: Nobita and the Last Haven (I) (Cantonese)

The latest anime featuring earless robot cat Doraemon and his schoolboy buddy Nobita sees the duo journeying to an island protected by a golden beetle. CT

Elles (III) (French and Polish)

Juliette Binoche stars in a drama about a journalist who immerses herself in a prostitution ring run by university students for a story she's writing. CT

Hotaru: the Movie - It's Only A Little Light In My Life (I) (Japanese)

Romantic comedy spin-off from the television show in which the protagonist (Haruka Ayase) and her boss, and now husband, make plans to honeymoon in Rome. CT

Ice Age 4: Continental Drift (I) (English and Cantonese versions)

The fourth instalment of the animated comedy franchise has Manny the mammoth, Diego the sabre-toothed tiger and Sid the sloth embarking upon another adventure after their home is set adrift following an earthquake. LKW

Late Autumn (IIA) (Korean, English and Putonghua)

Tang Wei and Hyun Bin star in Kim Tae-yong's drama set in Seattle about a prison inmate granted a three-day parole to attend her mother's funeral who meets and bonds with a caddish man on the run. CT

Painted Skin: The Resurrection (IIB) (Putonghua)

Wuershan's period fantasy revolves around a scarred princess (Vicky Zhao Wei) who turns for help in winning the young general she loves (Chen Kun) to a fox demon (Zhou Xun) with supernatural powers. CT

Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall (I)

Tale about a bitter, deformed man who lives in the sewers underneath the Paris Opera House, and the young woman he falls for. CT

The Pirates! Band of Misfits (I) (English and Cantonese versions)

Aardman Animations' animated action comedy about a pirate captain on a quest to best his rivals and win the Pirate of the Year award that takes him and his crew from the shores of Blood Island to Victorian London. CT

Silenced (III) (Korean)

Thriller inspired by true incidents at a school for the hearing-impaired whose principal and some teachers sexually molested and abused their students. CT

Step Up: Revolution (IIA)

Dance musical-romantic drama centring on a young woman who aspires to be a professional dancer that bonds with the leader of a dance crew whose neighbourhood is threatened by her father's development plans. Not reviewed.

W.E. (IIB) (English, French and Russian)

Drama about the affair between King Edward VIII (James D'Arcy) and Wallis Simpson (Andrea Riseborough), and a contemporary tale about a woman (Abbie Cornish) married to a tycoon. CT

When Pigs Have Wings (IIA) (Arabic, English and Hebrew)

Sylvain Estibal's farcical comedy about a poor Gaza fisherman who one day discovers a pig tangled in his net. CT

Wu Dang (IIA) (Cantonese and Putonghua versions)

Vincent Zhao Wenzhou stars in a martial arts actioner revolving around seven Wudang treasures that various individuals are out to steal. YT

Art House

InDPolar International Animation Festival

InD Blue presents a selection of eight programmes of animated short films from around the world, including the following five programmes. Until Aug 8. Broadway Cinematheque, Prosperous Garden, 3 Public Square St, Yau Ma Tei, HK$65 www.cinema.com.hk. Inquiries: 2572 7202

Lovely Touching Little Stories

Programme of 13 animated shorts including: Makiko Sukikara's Walkin' On Snow Grass, about a dormouse who wakes up from hibernation to see the snow for the first time (no dialogue); and Dace Riduze's Pig's Happiness, about a family of city pigs that holiday in the countryside (no dialogue). Aug 2, 8pm, Broadway Cinematheque.

Closing Programme 2: The King Of Pigs + The Hell

Yeong Sang-ho's double bill of films consisting of: an animated drama about a bankrupt businessman-murderer and a struggling writer who look back on their childhoods for answers, only to realise that they have more questions than before they started thinking about their early days; and a two-part short film about a salaryman who is told by the Angel of Death that the guards of hell will come out to grab him at midnight and a 20-something-year-old woman who is told that she is about to die and is greatly upset about it. In Korean with English subtitles. Aug 3, 9.45pm, Broadway Cinematheque.

Closing Programme 1: Twilight Zone - Indefinite Edition

Programme of five short films including: Atsushi Wada's The Great Rabbit, a dreamlike film about worshippers of a profound and mysterious 'great rabbit' that comments on the confusion of the modern world (no dialogue); and David O'Reilly's The External World, about a boy who learns to play the piano (in English and Japanese with English subtitles). Aug 6, 9.45pm, Broadway Cinematheque.

Opening Programme 1: Love's Great Adventure

Programme of five animated shorts including: Albert'T Hooft and Paco Vink's Paul and the Dragon, a film based on the true life story of Paul Sanders, about a nine-year-old boy diagnosed with cancer whose doctor tells him that the cancer is like a dragon in his body that needs to be fought (no dialogue); and Jakob Schuh and Max Lang's The Gruffalo, based on Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler's illustrated book about a mouse taking a stroll through the woods who encounters three predators who all want to eat him (in English). Aug 7, 9.45pm, Broadway Cinematheque.

Opening Programme 2: It's A Wonderful World

Programme of 12 animated shorts from the mainland, Turkey, South Korea, the Netherlands, Britain, Japan, Russia and the US including: Lilian Fu's Fishing with Popo, about a girl who, while attending her grandmother's funeral, recalls the deceased's vivid storytelling and a curious dream involving her grandmother in the afterlife (in Cantonese with English subtitles); and William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg's The Fantastic Flying Books Of Mr Morris Lessmore, that tells the story of people who devote their lives to books and books that return the favour (no dialogue). Aug 8, 9.45pm, Broadway Cinematheque.

Actress, Singer, Opera Star: Leung So-kam

The HK Film Archive presents a Morning Matinee programme of five films featuring the versatile entertainer, including the following two films. Aug 3-31. HK Film Archive, 50 Lei King Rd, Sai Wan Ho, HK$20 Urbtix. Inquiries: 2739 2139

Top Singers Two

Leung So-kam stars with Sun Ma Si-tsang, Ho Fei-fan and Pak Suet-sin in a comedy revolving around a love rectangle involving neighbours with a passion for music and a singing star. In Cantonese. Aug 3, 11am, HK Film Archive.

A Poor Girl

Chiang Wai-kwong's adaptation of Chin Lei-kui's Cantonese opera about a pair of adulterers who scheme to silence a concubine's son who discovers their relationship and frame the crime on the concubine and her brother. In Cantonese. Aug 10, 11am, HK Film Archive.

International Children's Film Carnival 2012

The Leisure and Cultural Services Department presents a selection of 16 feature films and short film programmes for the young and young at heart, including the following nine films and programmes. Until Aug 19. HK Film Archive, 50 Lei King Rd, Sai Wan Ho; HK Cultural Centre, 10 Salisbury Rd, TST; HK Science Museum, 2 Science Museum Rd, TST East; and HK Space Museum, 10 Salisbury Rd, TST. HK$55 Urbtix. Inquiries: 2734 2900

The Gold Rush

Charlie Chaplin directs and stars in this 1925 comedy about a tramp who goes to Alaska in search of gold. With English narration and Chinese and English subtitles. Aug 3, 7.30pm, HK Science Museum, Aug 18, 5pm, HK Film Archive.

City Lights

Charlie Chaplin directs and stars in this 1931 romantic comedy-drama as a tramp who meets a blind flower-selling girl, then tries to earn money to pay for surgery that could restore her sight, and saves a rich man who is about to commit suicide. Also starring Virginia Cherrill. Silent with music and English intertitles. Aug 4, 2.30pm, HK Film Archive.

First Position

Bess Kargman's documentary that follows six ballet dancers from different backgrounds as they prepare for the Youth America Grand Prix. In English, Spanish, French and Hebrew with Chinese and English subtitles. Aug 4, 5pm, HK Film Archive.

The Crocodiles Strike Back

The 2010 sequel to 2009 drama, The Crocodiles, is a drama revolving around a boys' gang known as the Crocodiles who seek to find out if a series of freak accidents are part of a conspiracy to force the closure of a factory. In German with Chinese and English subtitles. Aug 4, 7.30pm, HK Space Museum, Aug 18, 2.30pm, HK Film Archive.

World Animation and Shorts 1

Programme of nine short animation films from Slovenia, Hong Kong, Belgium, France, Britain and Estonia including: Jessica Poon's Origin, a mother-and-son story told through two water droplets and the water cycle (in English with Chinese and English subtitles). With an interactive session in Cantonese. Aug 5, 2.30pm, HK Space Museum, Aug 11, 2.30pm, HK Film Archive.

World Animation and Shorts 2

Programme of six short films from Belgium, Hong Kong, the mainland, Germany and Israel including: Vincent Bruno's Cristiano's Shirt, about two boys who seek to get the same shirt as their idol, soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo (in French with Chinese and English subtitles). With an interactive session in Cantonese. Aug 5, 5pm, HK Space Museum, Aug 11, 5pm, HK Film Archive.

The Azemichi Road

Drama centring on a hearing-impaired girl whose life is changed after she joins a dance team that enters a competition. In Japanese with Chinese and English subtitles. Aug 5, 7.30pm, HK Space Museum.

Chubby Drums

Drama-comedy about a fat boy whose father opens a new restaurant in Thinhaven, where no one is outgoing or fat. The boy later falls for a girl who happens to be the town's prettiest and is skinny. In Dutch with English subtitles and live Cantonese interpretation. Aug 8, 7.30pm, HK Science Museum, Aug 19, 5pm, HK Film Archive.

Mai Mai Miracle

Sunao Katabuchi's drama about a young girl inspired by her grandfather's stories that embarks on wild flights of fancy about the history of the town she lives in. Dubbed into Cantonese with Chinese and English subtitles. Aug 10, 7.30pm, HK Science Museum.

Moon Beam - Dating with Documentary

Visual Record presents a showcase of eight Chinese-language documentary films, including the following two. Until Sept 1. Film Culture Centre, Flat A3, 11/F Tung Nam Factory Building, 40 Ma Tau Kok Rd, To Kwa Wan, free. Inquiries: 2540 7859

Though I Am Gone

Hu Jie's documentary in which Wang Qingyao, the widower of Bian Zhongyun (who was vice-principal of the Experimental High School attached to Beijing Normal University), recalls the horror of the Cultural Revolution, specifically his wife getting tortured to death by her students during the 'Red August' of 1966. In Putonghua with Chinese and English subtitles. Aug 4, 2.30pm, Film Culture Centre.

Farewell, Beijing

Documentary about Gong Fenghai, a fervent supporter of Mao Zedong, who returns to Beijing 40 years after the 'Down to the Countryside Movement' to find himself a stranger in his own hometown. Zhang Tianhui directs. In Putonghua with Chinese and English subtitles. Aug 4, 4.15pm, Film Culture Centre.

100 Must-See Hong Kong Movies

The HK Film Archive presents a programme of 100 Hong Kong films made between 1916 and 1999, including the following two films. Until 2014. Broadway Cinematheque, Prosperous Garden, 3 Public Square St, Yau Ma Tei, HK$55 www.cinema.com.hk; and HK Film Archive, 50 Lei King Rd, Sai Wan Ho, HK$30 Urbtix. Inquiries: 2734 2900

Blood in Snow

Li Lihua and Grace Chang (aka Ge Lan) stars in Li Han-hsiang's musical drama about a group of performers and their gloomy lives, animated by a troubling love rectangle. In Putonghua with Chinese and English subtitles. Aug 4, 7pm, HK Film Archive, Aug 12, 2pm, Broadway Cinematheque.

The Kids Are All Right

Annette Bening and Julianne Moore star in Lisa Cholodenko's drama about the challenges faced by a lesbian couple and their two children - who were conceived by artificial insemination - when one of the children finds their biological father. In English with Chinese subtitles. Aug 5, 11.50am, Broadway Cinematheque, Prosperous Garden, 3 Public Square St, Yau Ma Tei, HK$60 www.cinema.com.hk. Inquiries: 2388 0002

Restored Treasures

The Leisure and Cultural Services Department presents a continuing series of movies that have undergone restoration work, including the following two films. HK Film Archive, 50 Lei King Rd, Sai Wan Ho, HK$40 Urbtix. Inquiries: 2734 2901

The Love Parade

Set in the fictional European country of Sylvania, Ernst Lubitsch's 1929 musical romantic comedy centres on a courtier who finds his new life unsatisfying and without purpose after he marries his country's queen. Starring Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald. In English. Aug 5, 2pm, HK Film Archive.

My Kingdom for a Husband

Comedy inspired by and bearing the Chinese title of Ernst Lubitsch's The Love Parade about about a vagabond singer and the queen who falls for him. In Cantonese. Aug 5, 5pm, HK Film Archive.

Confession of a Concubine

Set in the Ming dynasty, this 1976 erotic period film revolves around the top draw at the Ching Hua House of pleasure and a handsome young scholar on his way to sit for the imperial examinations who become attracted to each other. In Putonghua with Chinese subtitles. Aug 5, 3.40pm, UA iSquare, 7/F iSquare, 63 Nathan Rd, TST, HK$70 Cityline. Inquiries: 2314 4228

Father and Son: Two Visionaries of Cinematic Dreams - A Tribute to Set Designers Chan Ki-yui and Chan King-sam

The HK Film Archive presents a programme of 45 films featuring the work of the father-and-son pair of designers, including the following film. Aug 10-Nov 18. HK Film Archive, 50 Lei King Rd, Sai Wan Ho, HK$40 Urbtix. Inquiries: 2739 2139

The Empress Dowager

The first of Li Han-hsiang's two-part historical epic about Empress Dowager Cixi, who ruled behind the scenes and practically brought the Qing dynasty to its end. Starring Lisa Lu Yan. Aug 10, 7.30pm, Oct 21, 2pm, HK Film Archive.

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