ARTICLE
Clover Films to Present Over 15 Asian Movies in the Next Half of 2017!
By Flora / 11 Jul 2017 (Tuesday)
From now till the end of 2017, expect an exciting lineup of 16 Asian and local movies that will be released in Singapore cinemas over the next few months.
Among its lineup are 6 highly anticipated Korean movies including war epic The Battleship Island starring Song Joong-Ki, horror thriller The Mimic and action movie The Fortress starring Lee Byung-Hun.
The Ah Boys are back in the hotly-anticipated sequel ‘Ah Boys To Men 4’ which is slated to open InCinemas later this year.
(We chat with the first 'Ah Girl', Apple Chan about her involvement in 'Ah Boys To Men 4'!)
Jackie Chan will be sparring with Pierce Brosnan in The Foreigner and pitting against Show Lo in Bleeding Steel. Both action blockbusters are aiming for late 2017 release.
(Watch the 1st explosive trailer of 'The Foreigner!)
Thai martial arts guru - Tony Jaa will exhibit his action prowess alongside Louis Koo and Gordon Lam in Paradox directed by Wilson Yip. Hong Kong directors John Woo and Dante Lam will also present their newest works in Manhunt and Operation Red Sea respectively.
“We have had a great 12 months at the box office and hope to continue our winning streak with this exciting lineup of movies. Our aim is to bring the best of Asian cinema to Singapore audience and we believe we have done so with this upcoming lineup!” says Mr Lim Teck, Managing Director of Clover Films.
July
13th: The Villainess
Directed by: Jung Byung-Gil
Starring: Kim Ok-Vin, Shin Ha-Kyun, Bang Sung-Joon, Kim Seo-Hyun
Sook-hee, a trained assassin, takes revenge on the men who murdered her husband. After losing consciousness, she awakes at the National Intelligence Service. The NIS wants her to undertake confidential missions, but Sook-hee initially refuses. However, Sook-hee decides to accept her new identity as Yeon-soo in order to stay alive. Under her new identity, she meets Hyun-soo, and they dream of starting a family. However, on the day of their wedding, she is assigned a new mission that changes everything.
28th: Mon Mon Mon Monsters
Directed by: Giddens Ko 九把刀
Starring: Eugenie Liu 刘奕儿, Kent Tsai 蔡凡熙, Deng Yu-Kai邓育凯, Lai Jun-Cheng赖浚程, Tao Bo-Meng陶柏萌, Carolyn Chen陈珮骐
A target of bullying, a gifted student reluctantly joins a rancorous gang of three for a community care assignment, which ends up with a surprise catch of a man-eating little monster. Driven by curiosity, they begin a series of weird research on it as their relationship goes through an intricate change.
August
17th: The Battleship Island
Directed: Ryoo Seung-Wan
Starring: Hwang Jung-Min, So Ji-Sub, Song Joong-Ki, Lee Jung-Hyun, Kim Suan
(Watch the trailer!)
During the Japanese colonial era, three men stage a daring escape from a forced labour camp on the perilous ‘Battleship Island’ while leading 400 fellow Korean prisoners.
24th: Paradox
Directed: Wilson Yip 叶伟信
Starring: Louis Koo 古天乐, Tony Jaa, Wu Yue 吴樾, Gordon Lam 林家栋, Chris Collins
A police negotiator who travels to Bangkok to search for his teenage daughter and is aided by local detectives. Along the way, he encounters the mastermind of an organ trafficking gang, leading to a series of hot pursuit.
31st: The Mimic
Directed: Huh Jung
Starring: Yum Jung-Ah, Park Hyuk-Kwon, Shin Rin-Ah, Heo Jin, Lee Joon-Hyuk
Hee-yeon moves to her hometown near Mt. Jang, wishing her mother-in-law remembers how she lost Hee-yeon’s longing son, Jun-suh. One day, near a cave at Mt. Jang, Hee-yeon meets a girl in tatter and reminds of Jun-suh. Feeling sympathy, Hee-yeon decides to spare a bed until she finds the girl’s parents. Gradually, the girl mimics Hee-yeon’s daughter, Jun-hee’s name, voice, and look; eventually, calling Hee-yeon, mom. As the girl enters the house, strange things begin to happen to a family and at last, the mother-in-law who suffered from auditory hallucination disappears to the cave with the legend about a mysterious creature. Will Hee-yeon find her son? Will this family find happiness again?
September
21st: Soul Mate
Directed: Jo Won-hee
Starring: Ma Dong-Seok, Kim Young-Kwang, Lee Yoo-Young
Patrol office, Tae-jin, gets involved in a freak accident while investigating a case, and his soul gets separated from the body. He is desperate to solve the case and return to his girlfriend, but there isn’t much he can do as a wandering spirit. Miraculously, Tae-jin discovers someone who can see him, but it’s none other than his archenemy, jang-su who runs a Judo dojo. An inevitable comedy ensues as Tae-jin and Jang-su get entangled in the case.
28th: The Foreigner
Directed: Martin Campbell
Starring: Jackie Chan, Pierce Brosnan, Charlie Murphy, Katie Leung
Based on the 1992 novel The Chinaman written by Stephen Leather, a restaurant owner in London's Chinatown is forced to push his moral and physical boundaries to track down the group of rogue Irish terrorists responsible for the death of his beloved daughter after the justice system fails him.
October
5th: Manhunt
Directed: John Woo 吴宇森
Starring: Zhang Hanyu张涵予, Qi Wei戚薇, Wu Feixia吴飞霞, Masaharu Fukuyama, Ha Ji-Won
Based on a novel by Japanese writer Juko Nishimura, tells the story of prosecutor who is framed for robbery and rape and sets out on a one-man mission to clear his name.
19th: Youth
Directed: Feng Xiaogang 冯小刚
Starring: Huang Xuan黄轩, Miao Miao苗苗, Elane Zhong 钟楚曦, Yang Caiyu杨采钰, Li Xiaofeng李晓峰, Wang Tianche 王天辰, Wang Keru王可如
The life and love story of young people in a military art troupe during the 1970s - 1980s, as the era goes through drastic changes.
Undated: The Fortress
Directed: Hwang Dong-Hyuk
Starring: Lee Byung-Hun, Kim Yun-Seok, Park Hae-Il, Ko Soo, Park Hee-Soon
In 1636, the Qing dynasty attacks Joseon. King Injo and his retainers, including Choi Myung-Kil & Kim Sang-Hun, hide in the mountain fortress city of Namhansanseong. They are isolated from the outside. Meanwhile, Choi Myung-Kil insists that they enter into negotiations with the Qing dynasty, but Kim Sang-Hun proposes that they keep fighting.
November
A Better Tomorrow
Directed: Ding Sheng 丁晟
Starring: Wang Ka i王凯, Darren Wang 王大陆, Ray Ma 马天宇
A former smuggler attempting to start his life anew and repair his relationship with his estranged brother after his release from prison. A gangland betrayal, a botched drug deal, and a devastating family tragedy all lead to an emotional climax.
Operation Red Sea
Directed: Dante Lam 林超贤
Starring: Zhang Yi 张译, Huang Jingyu 黄景瑜, Du Jiang 杜江
The Jiaolong Assault Team, one of the special forces of the world’s largest military force, People’s Liberation Army, is given a potentially fatal assignment, leading a small eight-man unit to evacuate Chinese residents from a North African republic in the throes of a coup d’état. The squad strategically makes a two-pronged rescue attempt but is tragically ambushed, resulting in heavy casualties. At the same time, the terrorist leader manages to steal the incriminating evidence against him along with essential material for the manufacture of nuclear arms. The Jiaolong Assault Team is fully aware of the importance of ensuring such material is forever removed from the terrorists’ hands.
December
Bleeding Steel
Directed: Leo Zhang 张立嘉
Starring: Jackie Chan 成龙, Show Lo 罗志祥, Ouyang Nana 欧阳娜娜, Tess Haubrich, Callan Mulvey
A special force agent who becomes embroiled in a huge conspiracy, while protecting a young woman who is an important witness for a major case. Years later, after the publication of an epic sci-fi novel, the parties behind the conspiracy resurface.
The Trough
Directed: Nick Cheung 张家辉
Starring: Nick Cheung 张家辉, Xu Jinglei 徐静蕾, Yu Nan 余男
Yu Chau is a cop who has gone so deep undercover within the triad. He can no longer tell which side of the law he’s on. When he accidentally kills one of his pals in an operation, he runs off into the boonies to lick his wounds. Upon his return, he teams up with fellow officers Jim and Jackie to catch a triad boss, only to unveil collusion with government officials at the highest level. Yu Chau once again faces the dilemma of taking the law into his own hands...
Golden Slumber
Directed: Noh Dong-Seok
Starring: Gang Dong-Won, Han Hyo-Joo, Yoon Kye-Sang, Kim Dae-Myung, Kim Sung-Kyun, Kim Eui-Sung
Photo Credit: Soompi
A warm-hearted and hard-working delivery man, Geon-woo, gets his 15-mins of fame when he is named the Model Citizen. His old schoolmate, Mu-yeol gets in touch with him and during their long overdue reunion, a presidential candidate gets assassinated in front of them in a horrific terrorist bombing. Amidst the chaos, Mu-yeol tells an unbelievable story: this is a set-up, and Geon-woo is supposed to take the fall as the assassin, before blowing himself up. Mu-yeol gives a name card to Geon-woo, tells him to trust no one, then kills himself. In utter shock and confusion, Geon-woo scrambles from the scene but becomes a wanted fugitive as the killer of a presidential candidate. From surveillance camera to fingerprints and eyewitnesses, fabricated evidence points to him as the terrorist. Geon-woo seeks the man on the name card, a former operative, and gets his help to escape, but as the invisible forces close in on him, his friends and family are exposed to danger.
In addition, look out for 2 local films that will be released in early 2018:
2359 : The Haunting Hour
Directed: Gilbert Chan 陈启全
Starring: Mark Lee 李国煌, Wang Lei 王雷, Noah Yap 叶荣耀
The movie features a trifecta of horror stories span over different critical eras in the history of Singapore’s National Service. Temasek Green, centers around three disgruntled conscripts from the maiden intake in 1967 as they escape from training camp but end up trapped in a cursed village instead. Camouflage, set in the 80s, tells the tale about a group of commandos as they confront a series of bizarre incidents in camp after they incur the wrath of a vengeful python spirit. And in the present day, Pixelated, a socially awkward recruit creates a fake girlfriend persona on social media to impress his comrades but unbeknownst to him, his creation will put his life in grave peril.
A Simple Wedding
Directed: Lee Thean-Jeen 李天仁
Starring: Desmond Tan, Amber An, Liu Ling Ling, Richard Low, Michael Huang
(Amber An and Desmond Tan share their thoughts on playing a couple in 'A Simple Wedding'!)
When Su Yu, a free-spirited personal trainer and diving instructor, says “Yes” to Nuo Yan, a modern funeral director, she imagines a simple, peaceful wedding. But the reality is just the opposite! From overbearing in-laws, to overbearing Ah Longs, to a jealous best friend, to a house on fire and a funeral on the wedding day itself, Su Yu and Nuo Yan’s love for each other is tested by family, foes, and fate. Will their wedding be the event that brings them closer or tears them apart?