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Edmund Lee

Click on the film titles to read SCMP.com reviews.


1. Hindi Medium
A box office success in India and China, this lively comedy of manners from Bollywood – about a garment merchant’s family who try hard to get their daughter into a prestigious school – should resonate with Hong Kong audiences already attuned to their own absurd education system. (Opens on August 30)


2. Mirai
While Mamoru Hosoda may be more admired overseas for action fantasies such as The Boy and the Beast , the Japanese animation director is no stranger to intimate human dramas. Don’t miss this heart-warming story about a young boy who learns, thanks to a vivid imagination, to live harmoniously with his newborn sister. (Now showing)


3. Tully
Director Jason Reitman and screenwriter Diablo Cody have previously garnered critical acclaim for their teenage pregnancy drama Juno. Here, the pair have come up with another frank and funny movie about parenthood, starring an outstanding Charlize Theron as a mother of three who bonds with her new night nanny. (Opens on August 30)


4. Believer
It goes without saying that Johnnie To’s 2012 crime thriller Drug War – arguably the Hong Kong filmmaker’s best movie in 10 years – doesn’t call for a remake. Still, this sleek and vibrantly coloured take on To’s film by South Korean director Lee Hae-yeong, packed with larger-than-life performances, does offer its own pleasures. (Opens on August 30)


5. Mile 22
Mark Wahlberg’s fourth collaboration with filmmaker Peter Berg is a little dead inside. But for audiences looking merely for an hour-and-a-half of gory and at times exhilarating violence, this simple tale of an elite US paramilitary unit leader forced to traverse a Southeast Asian city populated with killers is right on the money. (Now showing)
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Film reviews

Top five films to watch in Hong Kong this week (August 30-September 5), from Hindi Medium to Believer

A Bollywood comedy of manners, a Japanese animator’s family drama, another parenthood tale from the team behind Juno, a Korean remake of Johnnie To’s Drug War, and a gore-splattered 90 minutes of Mark Wahlberg make up our top five this week

A still from Believer, South Korean director Lee Hae-yeong’s remake of Johnnie To’s 2012 crime thriller Drug War.

The Hayao Miyazaki succession: what’s the big deal, asks Mamoru Hosoda, acclaimed animation director behind new film Mirai

Filmmaker acknowledges debate about who is the successor to Studio Ghibli’s king of animation, but says directors must not merely replicate his success but pursue their own ideas, as he certainly has with Mirai, premiered at this year’s Cannes festival

A still from The Boy and the Beast, Mamoru Hosoda's 2015 film.

Kun (front) visits a futuristic train station in Mirai.

Kun (right) meets a regal prince who may actually be his family dog in a scene from Mirai.

The parents in Mirai. Its story was inspired by the birth of the director’s second child and his son’s reaction to gaining a sibling.

‘The only cool thing about getting older’: Tully scriptwriter Diablo Cody, a mother-of-three, on how life experiences help her tell stories

Cody, Oscar winner for Juno, reunites with director Jason Reitman for film about a mother, played by Charlize Theron – who put on 23kg for the role – battling postnatal depression and the night nurse who helps her through it

Ellen Page (left) and Olivia Thirlby in Juno (2007).

Mackenzie Davis in Tully.

PARK CITY, UT - JANUARY 25: Director Jason Reitman and screenwriter & producer Diablo Cody attend a surprise screening of "Tully" during the 2018 Sundance Film Festival at Eccles Center Theatre on January 25, 2018 in Park City, Utah. Michael Loccisano/Getty Images/AFP

Charlize Theron and Ron Livingston in Tully.

Culture

Film & TV

A Bollywood comedy of manners, a Japanese animator’s family drama, another parenthood tale from the team behind Juno, a Korean remake of Johnnie To’s Drug War, and a gore-splattered 90 minutes of Mark Wahlberg make up our top five this week


A Bollywood comedy of manners, a Japanese animator’s family drama, another parenthood tale from the team behind Juno, a Korean remake of Johnnie To’s Drug War, and a gore-splattered 90 minutes of Mark Wahlberg make up our top five this week.
