Every month, we’ll tell you what upcoming movies are screening in cinemas islandwide, and which are the ones that you must watch.
Overview of July’s releases
There are two Disney movies popping up this month, but fewer mainstream movies. For foreign movie lovers, there’s at least two Chinese/Korean/Japanese/Thai films out every week from a variety of genres. It’s mostly fantasy movies this month, and the hotly awaited “Ghostbusters.” Will it be a surprise hit? Will it tank like all the critics say? It’s going to be a close fight!
Cell (7 July)
In this highly anticipated adaptation of Stephen King’s bestselling apocalyptic thriller, John Cusack, Samuel L. Jackson and Isabelle Fuhrman star as three survivors fleeing Boston after a mysterious pulse turns cell phone users into vicious predators. Stacy Keach co-stars as the headmaster of a private boys’ academy where they stop along the way. Produced by Richard Saperstein (“Seven,” “1408”) and Michael Benaroya (“Margin Call,” “Lawless”) and directed by Tod “Kip” Williams (“Paranormal Activity 2”, “The Door in the Floor”), “Cell” is a frightening new take on the zombie genre for our digital era.
Mobile phones have literally turned people into zombies — something that scientists have been warning about us for years! If you think it’s a difficult premise to execute, then fret not because Samuel L. Jackson and John Cusack are helming the film as they make their way through a zombie apocalypse! It might be a heavy-handed metaphor, but it’s an incredibly entertaining one to be be turning into a book, and then a movie.
Ghostbusters (14 July)
Ghostbusters makes its long-awaited return, rebooted with a cast of hilarious new characters. Thirty years after the beloved original franchise took the world by storm, director Paul Feig brings his fresh take to the supernatural comedy, joined by some of the funniest actors working today—Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones, and Chris Hemsworth. This summer, they’re here to save the world!
Love it or hate it, you’re still going to recognise the familiar “Ghostbusters” theme song. While the original cast is probably far too old to run away blasting ghosts with proton packs, this new generation of female Ghostbusters is still spry and energetic enough to be fighting the supernatural. Preliminary reports have not been positive but I still have faith that these ladies will be able to save New York from yet another infestation of ghosts (what’s what now, one ghostly invasion per decade?). The question is: do you have faith?
Terraformars (14 July)
Slum-dwelling Shokichi takes responsibility for the crime of murder to protect Nanao, the girl he has grown up with and cares for. In a deal which would allow Shokichi and Nanao to avoid the conviction and receive a lavish reward, they agree to be a part of a top secret mission – Terraforming Project; 500 years ago, to resolve population explosion on Earth, cockroaches were sent to Mars with mosses to make the atmosphere habitable for humankind. Now in 2599, the mission is to exterminate the roaches and colonize Mars. Including Shokichi, 15 destitute people from all walks of life have been assembled for the task. They land on Mars with hopes of a better future that awaits them once the mission is completed and they are rewarded. However, the moment Shokichi sets foot, he finds out that cockroaches have evolved into huge creatures with unbelievable strength and mercilessly attack humans. In the midst of this danger, Shokichi is informed that all the crew members have actually undergone an operation to fight against the humanoid cockroaches. With this power, Shokichi and the crew members struggle to defeat those bugs with the hope of returning to Earth.
Super powers, outer space, underdog heroes, evil alien cockroaches and a giant spaceship. What more can you ask for from Japanese fantasy? This live action adaptation of the manga/anime of the same name promises to be as campy and larger than life as they come. But then, if you wanted to watch a realistic, gritty space movie, you wouldn’t be picking “Terraformars” now, would you?
6 July
Disney’s Alice Through The Looking Glass
Genre: Fantasy adventure
Cast: Mia Wasikowska, Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham, Michael Sheen, Sacha Baron Cohen, Rhys Ifans
7 July
Cell
Genre: Sci-fi horror
Cast: Samuel L. Jackson, Isabelle Fuhrman, John Cusack, Stacy Keach
Our Kind of Traitor
Genre: Thriller
Cast: Ewan McGregor, Stellan Skarsgard, Damian Lewis, Naomie Harris
Detective Conan: The Darkest Nightmare
Genre: Animation
Voice Cast:Minami Takayama, Wakana Yamazaki, Rikiya Koyama, Megumi Hayashibara, Yukiko Iwai, Ikue Ōtani, Wataru Takagi, Kenichi Ogata, Shūichi Ikeda
Haunting in Japan
Genre: Horror comedy
Cast: Supassara Thanachart, Charlie Trairat, Chaleumpol Tikumpornteerawong, Yok Teeranitayatarnq
The Handmaiden
Genre: Drama
Cast: Kim Min-hee, Ha Jung-woo, Kim Tae-ri, Jo Jin-woong
8 July
Cold War 2 (寒战 2)
Genre: Crime thriller
Cast: Chow Yun Fat, Aarok Kwok, Tony Leung Ka-Fai, Eddie Peng, Charlie Young, Janice Man, Aarif Rahman, Yo Yang, Fan Zhibo, Wu Yue
14 July
Ghostbusters
Genre: Action comedy
Cast:Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones, Charles Dance, Michael Kenneth Williams, Chris Hemsworth
Captain Fantastic
Genre: Drama
Cast: Viggo Mortensen, Frank Langella, Missi Pyle, Steve Zahn, Kathryn Hahn
The Purge: Election Year
Genre: Horror thriller
Cast: Frank Grillo, Edwin Hodge, Betty Gabriel, Kyle Secor, JJ Soria, Mykelti Williamson, Elizabeth Mitchell
Zero Days
Genre: Documentary
Cast: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, George W. Bush, Hillary Clinton
At Cafe 6 (六弄咖啡館)
Genre: Romance
Cast: Cherry Ngan, Dong Zijian, Nini Ouyang
Terraformars
Genre: Sci-fi
Cast:Hideaki Ito, Emi Takei, Tomohisa Yamashita, Takayuki Yamada, Kane Kosugi, Rinko Kikuchi, Masaya Kato, Eiko Koike, Kenichi Takito
Bounty Hunters
Genre: Action comedy
Cast: Lee Min Ho, Tiffany Tang, Wallace Chung, Karena Ng, Louis Fan, Jeremy Jones Xu
21 July
Disney’s The BFG
Genre: Fantasy adventure
Cast: Rebecca Hall, Bill Hader, Jemaine Clement, Penelope Wilton
Star Trek Beyond
Genre: Sci-fi adventure
Cast: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Idris Elba, Simon Pegg
For A Few Bullets (快手 枪手 快枪手)
Genre: Action adventure
Cast: Lin Gengxin, Liu Xiaoqing, Zhang Jingchu
One Night Only (天亮之前)
Genre: Romance
Cast: Aaron Kwok, Yang Zishan, Hao Lei
22 July
Skiptrace
Genre: Action comedy
Cast: Jackie Chan, Johnny Knoxville, Fan Bingbing, Eric Tsang, Eve Torres, Winston Chao, Lanxin Zhang, Michael Wong
28 July
Bad Moms
Genre: Comedy
Cast: Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell, Christina Applegate
Jason Bourne
Genre: Action thriller
Cast: Matt Damon, Julia Stiles, Alicia Vikander, Vincent Cassel, Tommy Lee Jones
Sing Street
Genre: Musical drama
Cast: Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, Lucy Boynton, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Aidan Gillen
The Neon Demon
Genre: Horror thriller
Cast: Elle Fanning, Karl Glusman, Jena Malone, Bella Heathcote, Abbey Lee, Christina Hendricks, Keanu Reeves
League of Gods (封神传奇)
Genre: Action
Cast: Jet Li, Louis Koo, Tony Leung Ka Fai, Fan Bing Bing, Huang Xiaoming, Angelababy, Wen Zhang
Girl of the Big House (小鬼当家)
Genre: Dramedy
Cast: Francis Ng, Angela Wan, Miriam Yeung
The Wailing
Genre: Horror
Cast: Hwang Jung-min, Kwak Do-won, Chun Woo-hee
This article was also published on Yahoo!.
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