2018.1.3 Now Playing

Ralph Breaks the Internet (G)
Animation, Adventure /112 / English / Jan. 3

Six years after “Wreck-It Ralph,” Disney’s

“Ralph Breaks the Internet” reunites friendly video game villain Ralph (voiced by John C. Reilly) and his friend Vanellope (Sarah Silverman). While Ralph is happy with his current life, Vanellope feels bored by the predictability of her game (Sugar Rush), and is looking for something more exciting.

Ralph tries to make his restless friend happy by creating a secret bonus track for her. This, in turn, causes the game’s steering wheel to break. The only place to find a replacement for the antique is on eBay. To prevent the game from getting unplugged, the pair travels into a newly-installed Wi-Fi router at Litwak’s Family Fun Center and Arcade, to procure the new wheel for the old game before it’s too late. To raise the funds, they learn the rules of the new world and try to go viral by making a series of videos.

Summer (15)
Drama / 128 / Russian / Jan. 3

Based on little-known information about the life of short-lived Soviet singer-songwriter Viktor Tsoi (Teo Yoo), this biographical film takes audiences to the underground rock scene in Leningrad in the 1980s.

The movie tells the story of the relationship between the 19-year-old Tsoi, who is introduced as he makes a pilgrimage to see established local musician Mike (Roman Bilyk), also the leader of a band.

At the center of the story are the musicians who deal with struggles and frustration, but manage to break through. The film also depicts a love triangle, as Tsoi flirts with and falls for Mike’s wife Natasha (Irina Starshenbaum).

Directed by Kirill Serebrennikov of mystery drama “Yuri’s Day,” who is known for pushing the boundaries of the Russian state with edgy material. He was put under house arrest just a few days before the completion of the film.

Aquaman (12)
Action, Adventure / 143 / English / Dec. 19

Starring Jason Momoa as Aquaman, Amber Heard as Princess Mera and Nicole Kidman as Aquaman’s mother, Queen Atlanna, the film opens with Atlanna fleeing from an arranged marriage and falling in love with the first man she sees on land.

After giving birth to Aquaman, she is forced to return to the sea to protect her husband and young son from the Atlantean soldiers who pursue her.

Things start to pick up years later when Aquaman decides to confront and fight his half-brother Orm (Patrick Wilson), the current king of the underwater kingdom of Atlantis who is looking to wage a war against those on land.

Directed by Jason Wan, known in the industry as a horror maestro, the film adds thrilling elements to the superhero genre.

Swing Kids (12)
Drama / 133 / Korean / Dec. 19

Set in 1951 during the Korean War (1950-53), this dance movie revolves around a rebellious North Korean soldier named Ro Gi-soo (Do Kyung-soo) who falls in love with tap dancing after seeing Jackson (Jared Grimes), a U.S. officer and Broadway performer, dance.

Gi-soo then joins Jackson’s dance group, which is made up of prisoners of war from the U.S.-controlled camp located in Geoje, South Gyeongsang, and a translator named Yang Pan-rae (Park Hye-soo).

Though Gi-soo spends the entire day either practicing or getting into the rhythm of tap dancing, he struggles to speak about his newfound passion with others, as tap dancing is seen by his fellow soldiers as representing U.S. ideologies of democracy and freedom.

The movie is directed by Kang Hyung-chul, who also directed such popular comedies as “Sunny” (2011) and “Speed Scandal” (2008).

Take Point (15)
Action / 124 / Korean, English / Dec. 26

Starring Ha Jung-woo and Lee Sun-kyun, “Take Point” revolves around a mercenary force led by Ahab (Ha) on a covert CIA operation to apprehend a high-profile North Korean official in an underground bunker located 30 meters (98 feet) beneath the surface of the demilitarized zone (DMZ). Lee plays an elite North Korean doctor who happens to enter the bunker.

Shot from a first-person perspective, the movie offers an exciting yet sometimes dizzying point of view for audience members.

Directed by Kim Byung-woo and developed over the past five years, the movie sees the director once again collaborate with Ha after the acclaimed action thriller title “The Terror, Live” (2013).

The Drug King (18)
Crime, Drama / 139 / Korean / Dec. 19

Set in the southern port city of Busan in the ‘70s, the movie revolves around Lee Doo-sam (Song Kang-ho), a petty smuggler who barely makes ends meet to feed his wife, a piano teacher, and two children. But after he starts smuggling drugs by chance, Lee follows his instincts and ultimately builds an underground criminal empire, becoming a drug kingpin.

Inspired by the notorious real-life figure, the movie shows how a man, who used to be naive and simple, later transforms and gets destroyed by his own ambition and greed after getting a taste of wealth and authority.

Directed by Woo Min-ho of the crime title “Inside Men” (2015), the film co-stars Bae Doo-na as a lobbyist who guides Doo-sam into the upper echelons of the drug trade, Kim So-jin as Song’s fictional wife, and Cho Jung-seok as an ambitious and hard-nosed prosecutor chasing after Doo-sam.

Bumblebee (12)
Action, Sci-fi / 114 / English / Dec. 25

A prequel to 2007’s “Transformers,” “Bumblebee” is the sixth installment in the live-action “Transformers” film series. Set in 1987, the movie begins on the Autobots’ home planet of Cybertron, where they are on the verge of losing the Transformer civil war and prepare to leave the planet. The Autobots get attacked after their plan gets leaked, forcing the leader to send a young scout, B-127, to Earth to set up a base of operations where they can regroup.

When B-127 lands in California, he disrupts a training exercise being conducted by a secret government agency that monitors extraterrestrial activity on Earth and is instantly presumed be a hostile invader. B-127 drives into a forest where unexpectedly gets attacked by an enemy and transforms into a Volkswagen Beetle.

B-127 gets discovered by a socially outcast teenage girl named Charlie Watson (Hailee Steinfeld) in his Beetle form. She accidentally activates a homing signal, which gets detected in space by the enemy forces and ultimately guides them to Earth.

The movie was directed by Travis Knight of “Kubo and the Two Strings” (2016).

The Party (15)
Comedy, Drama / 71 / English / Dec. 20

The movie begins as career politician Janet (Kristin Scott Thomas) opens a party to celebrate her recent appointment as a government functionary of an opposition party.

One by one, guests arrive, including her friend April (Patricia Clarkson), her estranged German partner Gottfried (Bruno Ganz) and Martha (Cherry Jones), a women’s studies professor and self-proclaimed spiritual healer.

The mood of the party starts off congratulatory, but by the end of the evening, things start to fall apart with people screaming and crying.

This black and white movie was directed by Sally Potters and competed for the Golden Bear at the 67th Berlin International Film Festival.

Bohemian Rhapsody (12)
Drama / 134 / English / Oct. 31

A biopic about the British rock band Queen, “Bohemian Rhapsody” pays particular attention to the life of Freddie Mercury, the band’s lead singer.

The film starts with the band’s performance at the Live Aid concert held at Wembley Stadium in 1985. It then goes back to 1970, and shows a younger Freddie.

Led by Freddie (Rami Malek), the band was also composed of his friends Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon, as well as his supportive girlfriend Mary Austin. The movie depicts Queen’s rise to fame and popularity following the release of their hit songs.

But problems begin to arise as Freddie, who struggles with revealing his homosexuality, battles with drug use and fame, as well as an AIDS diagnosis that threatens the band.