2010.1.2 NOW PLAYING
Alvin & the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel (G)Animation, Comedy / 88 / English
The beloved chipmunk trio of Alvin, Simon and Theodore (voiced by Justin Long, Matthew Gray Gubler and Jesse McCartney) is back. When the musical bunch end up in the care of Dave Seville’s (Jason Lee) nephew Toby, (Zachary Levi), they face a whole new set of obstacles. The boys must put the music and glamour aside and go back to school, and have to find a way to salvage what’s left of the school’s music program by winning the $25,000 prize in a battle of the bands. But the Chipmunks find themselves pitted against an all-female rival group called The Chippettes - Brittany, Eleanor and Jeannette (voiced by Christina Applegate, Amy Poehler and Anna Faris) - and when the two groups square off, they begin to fall for each other.
Always Be Boyz (12)
Drama / 81 / Korean
This film takes viewers on a journey through the ups-and-downs of Korean B-boys. Seven (Oh Sebin), the leader of a B-boy crew, is an introspective young man struggling to find a sponsor for his team so they can enter an international B-boy battle. As the day of the B-boy battle draws near, Seven begins to struggle more and more with his corporate sponsors and the team comes close to breaking up. Can the crew pull it together in time for the big day?
The film was directed by Korean-American John Kwon and it won the Narrative Feature Jury Prize at the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival in March 2008.
Management (15)
Comedy, Romance / 94 / English
This film takes on the classic love-at-first-sight theme and adds a quirky twist. Mike (Steve Zahn) works at his parents’ motel as a night manager in a town called Kingman, population 27,000, on old Route 66. Sue (Jennifer Aniston) sells art for a Baltimore firm to corporations for office walls. When Sue checks into the motel, Mike takes one look at her and resolves to connect with her in any way he can. He’s sweet, but hapless, with no ambition other than spending time with her. She’s enigmatic - rarely smiling, occasionally impulsive, committed to helping homeless people - and has recently gone through a breakup with a boyfriend who could have provided security. Mike looks for a way to get her to fall for him, doing what he can to manage the feat.
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (12)
Fantasy / 122 / English
This is a fantastical morality tale set in the present day. It tells the story of Dr. Parnassus, (Christopher Plummer) an immortal thousand-year old doctor, and his extraordinary Imaginarium, a travelling theatre troupe that offers its audience a chance to venture into another world through the doctor’s magical mirror.
Dr. Parnassus is blessed with the gift of guiding the imaginations of others, but is also cursed with a dark secret. Long ago, he made a bet with the devil, Mr. Nick (Tom Waits) and won his immortality. Many centuries later, on meeting the love of his life, Dr. Parnassus made another deal with the devil, trading in his immortality for youth. The only condition was that when his first-born reaches their 16th birthday, he or she would become the property of Mr. Nick.
Dr. Parnassus’ daughter Valentina (Lily Cole) is now rapidly approaching this milestone and Dr. Parnassus is desperate to protect her from her impending fate. Mr. Nick arrives to collect on the debt but, always keen to make a bet, renegotiates the wager. Now the winner of Valentina will be determined by whoever is the first to seduce five souls.
The doctor calls upon four mysterious outsiders named Tony (Heath Ledger, Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell) and they enter a landscape of surreal worlds and obstacles to undo his mistakes and rescue his daughter.
Jeon Woo Chi: The Taoist Wizard (12)
Comedy, Action / 136 / Korean
The legend of Jeon Woo Chi is a folktale from the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910). A prophetic pipe has fallen into the evil hands of the goblins, propelling the world into a whirlwind of disorder. A group of ancient Taoist wizards must use all of their powers to retrieve it. For help, they turn to the Master Wizard (Baek Yun-shik) and Hwadam (Kim Yoon-seok), who entrust each wizard with one piece of the pipe.
Meanwhile, the Master Wizard’s student, the mischievous Jeon Woo Chi (Kang Dong-won) becomes entangled in the plot when he is found on the street with a piece of the pipe following the murder of one of the wizards. As punishment, he is sealed into an ancient scroll along with his dog, Choarngyi.
Jumping ahead to the year 2009, the wizards are called out of their peaceful retirement as the goblins start appearing in modern Korea to wreak havoc all around. The trio call on Jeon Woo Chi, releasing him from his entrapment, to save the day.
These synopses were culled from www.imdb.com and http://movie.naver.com.
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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