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Chinese New Year Movies 2021: A Guide To Usher In The Year Of The Ox

Celebrate the Year of the Ox at the movies with Jack Neo, Andy Lau, Tom Hanks, and Tom & Jerry.

Celebrate the Year of the Ox at the movies with Jack Neo, Andy Lau, Tom Hanks, and Tom & Jerry.

Celebrate the Year of the Ox at the movies with Jack Neo, Andy Lau, Tom Hanks, and Tom & Jerry.

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What are your movie plans this Chinese New Year week? Come to think of it, the movie house is the only house that's okay to receive more than eight visitors per day, from more than two households…anyhoo. If you decide to stay home, Tom Hanks’ buzzy Western News of the World on Netflix is a must-see. Here’s a roundup of the CNY movies you can catch.

1 of 11 The Diam Diam Era Two (Feb 11)


Hilarity ensures when Ah Kun (Mark Lee) and Co. run against the PAP in the 1988 General Election! Guess who won?

Skip it or watch it? Watch it if you’re a Jack Neo completist. And the man reportedly has four more movies in his Singapore saga. (Shouldn’t he make it as a meWATCH series instead?) FYI: The most interesting part of the movie is when
this former actor turns up in a cameo.
  • 2 of 11 Promising Young Woman (Mar 18; sneaks: Feb 5-7, 11-14)


    Emerald Fennell — best known for portraying Camilla Parker Bowles in The Crown and as the showrunner of Killing Eve — makes her directorial debut with this provocative #MeToo thriller where Carey Mulligan takes on toxic masculinity and sexual predators.

    ​​​​​​​Skip it or watch it? Watch it! It recently picked up four Golden Globe Award nods — Best Actress (Mulligan), Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Motion Picture.

  • 3 of 11 News of the World (Feb 10; Netflix)


    Tom Hanks teams up with his Captain Phillips director Paul Greengrass in this Western (Hanks’ first!) about a Civil War veteran tasked with reuniting an orphaned girl (newcomer Helena Zengel) with her family. But first, they must navigate the hostile badlands. Nothing to do with the now-shuttered British tabloid newspaper.

    Skip it or watch it? Watch it! This movie — up for two Golden Globes, one for Best Supporting Actress for Zengel, and the other, Best Original Score — was originally slated for the big screen here before Netflix snapped up its international streaming rights, hoping that it will do
    the kind of blockbuster numbers Hanks’ last flick, the WWII drama Greyhound, did for Apple TV+.
  • 4 of 11 New Year Blues (Feb 11)


    Dramedy following four couples as they try to get their s*** together before the New Year. Stars Kim Kang-Woo, Yoo In-Na, Yoo Yeon-Seok, Lee Yeon-Hee, Lee Dong-Hwi, Chen Duling, Yoo Teo, and Sooyoung.

    Skip it or watch it? Watch it if you’re keen to watch the Korean version of New Year’s Eve.

  • 5 of 11 Tom & Jerry (Feb 11)


    The famous cat and mouse take their altercation to the big screen in this set-in-New York live-action animation hybrid, with Chloë Grace Moretz and Michael Pena caught in the crossfire.

    ​​​​​​​Skip it or watch it? Watch it if you need to keep the kids distracted for a couple of hours. For the others, go check out the bonkers Shadow in the Cloud, the other Chloë Grace Moretz movie where she battles monsters and sexist pigs in a WWII bomber.


  • 6 of 11 Dragon Rider (Feb 11)


    More content for the minors. This German animated feature is about a dragon, an orphaned boy, and a mountain spirit making their to the Himalayas to find the Rim of Heaven. Featuring the voices of Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Felicity Jones and Freddie Highmore.

    ​​​​​​​Skip it or watch it? Flip the coin. Watch it you’re suffering from How to a Train Your Dragon withdrawal symptoms.

  • 7 of 11 Red Dot (Feb 11)

    Snowy Swedish thriller about a couple whose romantic mountain getaway is turned into their worst nightmare when they are being targeted by a sniper. The title refers to the laser scope used by the hunter(s). On Netflix.

    Skip it or watch it? ​​​​​​​Watch it! This is what happens when Phone Booth meets Whiteout.

  • 8 of 11 Endgame (Feb 12)


    An amnesia hitman (Andy Lau) and a struggling actor (Xiao Yang) swap identities, complicating the lives of the people around them.

    Skip it or watch it? Flip the coin. It has an interesting premise but not enough action or laughs. It’s pretty flat, actually. It can also need a half-an-hour trim. Approach with caution.

  • 9 of 11 A Writer's Odyssey (Feb 12)


    An author (Dong Zijian) is sucked into a fantasy world he’s created in his novel. It gets better: the fictional universe also has an impact on the real world. Think Tron meets Lord of the Rings. Or something like that.

    Skip it or watch it? Flip the coin. Are you in the mood for special effects-intensive fantasy flick? We have a migraine from just looking at the trailer.

  • 10 of 11 New Gods: Nezha Reborn (Feb 18; sneaks: Feb 12-15)


    From the studio that brought you White Snake comes this anime about the boy-god Nezha who’s reborn in the modern world as a biker thug. Problem is, so are his enemies.

    Skip it or watch it? Watch it! The CG-mayhem looks pretty badass.

  • 11 of 11 Detective Chinatown 3 (Feb 13)


    Hot dicks Tang Ren (Wang Bao Qiang) and Qin Feng (Liu Hao Ran) are in Tokyo to solve a mysterious case. But a Korean sleuth threatens to get in the way of their investigation. Also stars Tony Jaa and Satoshi Tsumabuki.

    Skip it or watch it? Watch it! It was supposed to come out last CNY but got pushed back because of the COVID-19 pandemic. So lots of pent-up demand. Fun fact: The threequel was shot in the same set as the Netflix series Alice in Borderland.

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