2019.12.5 Now Playing

Last Christmas (12)
Romance, Comedy/ 103/ English/ Dec. 5

The holiday season is finally here and what better way to celebrate than with a new Christmas rom-com.

Kate works a hopeless job as an elf at a year-round Christmas shop that sells Christmas ornaments. Kicked out of her home by her roommate, she grudgingly returns to her parents’ home.

Although she wants to become a singer, she doesn’t really try to pursue a music career at all. Her boss, whom Kate refers to as “Santa,” tells Kate that she is falling apart, spiraling away from the ambitious and kind person she used to be.

One day she comes across Tom, an attractive but strange man. Influenced by Tom’s ways, little by little, Kate starts to reorganize her haphazard life. But strangely enough, no one else seems to recognize Tom.

Kate and Tom are played by Emilia Clarke and Henry Golding. Emma Thompson helped write the script and also plays Kate’s mother, Petra.

Ford v Ferrari (12)
Action, Drama/ 152/ English/ Dec. 4

Loosely based on a real story, the failing Ford Motor Company attempts to strike a deal with Ferrari, which they reject.

His pride hurt, the furious Henry Ford II demands his racing division build a car that would defeat Ferrari at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, one of the most prestigious car races in the world, and one that Ferrari has won for the past five consecutive years.

Carroll Shelby, a retired racing driver who won Le Mans in 1959, is hired. In turn, Shelby hires Ken Miles, a struggling British mechanic and racer. Although the company’s board of directors try to get the duo to comply to their ways, they build their own car that they say will get Ford to the top.

Shelby and Miles are portrayed by actors Matt Damon and Christian Bale.

A Little Princess (All)
Drama/ 104/ Korean/ Dec. 4

Seventy-two-year-old Mal-soon is relishing her peaceful single life in Busan when out of nowhere, her two granddaughters - 12-year-old Gong-ju and newborn Jin-ju - that she’d never met before suddenly appear at her door.

Although everything from their looks, personality, and preferences are completely opposite, Mal-soon and Gong-ju gradually form a bond, relying on each other during difficult times. But just when everything seems to settle, Mal-soon wonders if she is the proper guardian for her young granddaughters.

Mal-soon is played by actor Na Moon-hee and Gong-ju is played by child actor Kim Su-an. Although she is only 13 years old, Kim has been pursuing an acting career since 2011. She is best known for her role in “Train to Busan” (2016).

Bring Me Home (15)
Thriller/ 108/ Korean/ Nov. 27

Jung-yeon is a mother struggling to live a normal life after losing her son six years ago. However, she does not give up hope that her son Yoon-su might still be alive and spends all her free time traveling across the country putting up flyers to find her son.

One day, she receives a call about a boy who fits the physical characteristics of Yoon-su - even down to his scar - and rushes to the quiet seaside town of Moonsan, Gyeonggi. When she arrives there to ask questions, the townspeople are strangely hostile to her, arguing that they have never laid eyes on a boy similar to her son. Sensing that the entire town is hiding something, Jung-yeon is determined to get to the bottom of their secret in the hopes of finally bringing her son home.

The film is actor Lee Young-ae’s first film project in 14 years. Her last film was director Park Chan-wook’s “Sympathy for Lady Vengeance” in 2005.

Crawl (15)
Action, Thriller/ 87/ English/ Nov. 27

Haley Keller grows worried for her father Dave who isn’t picking up his phone as Hurricane Wendy speeds toward Florida.

While she searches for her father at his home, she finds him wounded and unconscious. However, when she is trying to drag him out, she comes face-to-face with enormous and ravenous alligators that are believed to have come ashore due to the flooding caused by the hurricane.

Can Haley and Dave survive through the swarm of predatory alligators and find a way to escape in time?

Haley is played by actor Kaya Scodelario, who is famous for her role as Teresa in “The Maze Runner” film series (2014-2018).

Frozen 2 (All)
Animation, Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Musical/ 103/ English/ Nov. 21

Elsa grows distraught when she begins to hear a mysterious voice, which can evidently be heard only by her, calling out to her. Not wanting to disrupt the peace in the kingdom of Arendelle that has lasted for three years since her coronation, she tries to ignore it but unintentionally wakes the elemental spirits.

The wakening turns Arendelle into an inhospitable place, and the sisters manage to temporarily evacuate their people from the kingdom.

Once again, Elsa, Anna, Olaf, Kristoff and Sven set off on an adventure beyond the borders of their kingdom to find out what the spirits want, discovering Arendelle’s and their parents’ past along the way as they try to resolve the spirits’ unrest.

Moonlit Winter (15)
Romance/ 105/ Korean/ Nov. 14

Yoon-hee is a single mother raising her daughter Sae-bom, and even though she recently got out of an unhappy marriage, she still remains depressed. Sae-bom doesn’t understand why a shadow seems to hang over her mother’s shoulders all the time until she reads a letter addressed to her mother: It is a letter written from Otaru, Japan, by her mother’s first love, Jun. As she reads the letter, Sae-bom realizes that Jun is, in fact, a woman.

After the discovery about her mother’s sexuality, Sae-bom discreetly plans a meetup between the two, nonchalantly suggesting that they go on a mother-daughter road trip to Otaru.

More than just about hidden sexuality, it is a road movie, with the bonding of mother and daughter, and moreover, a film about love. Yoon-hee and Sae-bom are portrayed by Kim Hee-ae and Kim So-hye.

Black Money (12)
Crime, Drama/ 113/ Korean/ Nov. 13

Prosecutor Yang Min-hyuk is known for his rash investigations and doing everything his way.

However, his stubborn methods land him in a sore spot when a suspect that he was investigating commits suicide and he is falsely accused of having killed them. While trying to prove his innocence, he realizes that the suspect was an important witness of the massive corruption behind the disposal of the Bank of Daehan.

Although the bank was valued at 70 trillion won ($60 billion), it was sold off at the outrageous price of 1.7 trillion won, and Yang realizes that he has stumbled upon the biggest finance scandal in the country’s history, involving a myriad of big corporations and government institutions, such as the Financial Supervisory Service, law firms and foreign private equity firms. He grows increasingly determined to get to the bottom of the case.

The Divine Move 2: The Wrathful (12)
Crime, Action/ 106/ Korean/ Nov. 7

Although Gwi-soo has grown up learning everything about the game of baduk, or Go, under the strict guidance of the Go master Heo Il-do, he may also lose everything because of the game after his master is killed by the notorious and feared gambler known as Busan Weed.

Gwi-soo eventually grows up to become a Go master himself, looking to make up for everything that he lost by placing high-stakes bets on Go matches against the nation’s most skilled Go masters. And he will not stop, as he has nothing to lose, betting his life to avenge what the game cost him - the most precious people in his life.

Kwon Sang-woo plays the protagonist Gwi-soo. Kim Hee-won, Kim Sung-kyun, Heo Sung-tae and Woo Do-hwan play the experienced Go masters that Gwi-soo challenges.