JANUARY 19 ― Aside from being prime real estate for movies hoping to make their mark in that year's Oscar race, January has also long been known as a sort of dumping ground by Hollywood studios for mainstream films that they think won't do very well at the box-office.
Over here in Malaysia, that pattern differs slightly in that local distributors usually wait until February, or late January to roll out the Oscar contenders, to capitalise on all the press that the films will be getting on their road to the Oscars.
What remains the same is the dumping ground part of the equation. But even that well-established pattern can sometimes be spoiled by the hands of fate, as the first two weeks of January 2019 has seen a pretty surprising number of good films released in local cinemas, with not much of that dumping ground material in sight.
The highly-anticipated Glass is, of course, a highlight which I assume many of you dear readers are waiting to see anyway, so I guess I can just concentrate on the more low-profile titles that deserve your attention.
Widows
The latest film from Steve McQueen, who last did 12 Years A Slave, sees him moving closer to the mainstream as he flirts with genre by making what is essentially a heist-thriller.
Those expecting another Ocean's Eleven will, however, be disappointed, because as thrilling and entertaining as Widows is, it still bears a lot of the hallmarks that made McQueen the respected film-maker that he is with previous films like Hunger and Shame.
A remake of a 1983 British mini-series of the same title, the film is about the widows of a gang of thieves who died during a heist gone wrong, and who are now planning a new robbery to get themselves out of the different holes they've found themselves in as a result of their husbands' deaths.
A really intelligent and soulful thriller that explores themes like income inequality, corrupt politics and the oppression of women, it's really invigorating to see the thriller form getting a bit of that arthouse treatment, especially in an economical yet unforgettable shot where a car moves from a poor part of town to a more affluent part, all in one take.
The Kid Who Would Be King
Joe Cornish, of Attack The Block fame, reaffirms his status as Britain's closest heir to Steven Spielberg with this rollicking retelling of the King Arthur legend, and further cements the UK's burgeoning reputation as producers of some of the best children's movies in recent memory (courtesy of the practically flawless Paddington films).
Just imagine the King Arthur legend, complete with Excalibur, the knights of the round table, Merlin and even Morgana, but set in modern-day Britain with a 12-year-old boy named Alex as the King Arthur character, and simply wonder at the sheer imagination exhibited by Cornish in fleshing out this retelling, with the rambunctious spirit of 80s classics like The Goonies and even Time Bandits hovering above, making sure Cornish remembers to always keep the fun level up, while crafting something that will surely be one for the ages as well, just like its influences are.
Heartfelt, imaginative and full of laughs, this one's perfect for the whole family.
Swing Kids
It's only January, but in Swing Kids we already have a contender for one of the best edited films of 2019, as director Hyeong-Cheol Kang (of Sunny and Tazza: The Hidden Card fame) goes tap dance crazy in this exuberant musical that hides some really powerful punches, thanks to its story about a group of racially diverse POWs in a POW camp during the Korean War.
They're headed by a black US Army officer tasked with assembling a tap dance group to perform for the troops and to get some positive media attention, and whose star dancer is a North Korean (played by K-pop star D.O. from the group Exo).
It's an ambitious and sometimes baffling mash-up, because it's like a tragic film about war disguised as an infectious musical, and sometimes the swings in tone can be a bit jarring, but the contrast between the exuberant flights of fancy that accompanies the musical sequences and the harsh realities of war actually does bring the point home more forcefully. If only all Korean blockbusters are this ballsy.
Instant Family
One of the biggest cinematic surprises for me this January. On paper Instant Family looks and sounds just like all the other films that director Sean Anders has made before this ― the Daddy's Home films, That's My Boy and Horrible Bosses 2 ― because it looks like another mainstream family comedy, and it even has Mark Wahlberg in it.
But watching this movie, about a couple adopting a trio of kids and their journey towards accepting each other as a family, I just can't help tearing up during the parts that were clearly designed to make the audiences cry and laugh during the parts that were clearly designed to make us laugh.
In short, this movie simply gets the job done, no matter how obvious that job may be. The fact that it's transparently earnest (even at its most emotionally manipulative), because this is a personal story for Anders, is also a big plus, making this an unashamed crowd pleaser that might just be a sleeper hit for its studio.
* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.
