Dune: Part Two
Out in cinemas 29 February (Available at Shaw Theatres)
Stars: Timothee Chalamet, Zendaya, Austin Butler
Paul Atreides (Chalamet), now a refugee among the Fremen on the desert planet of Arrakis, is haunted by ominous visions. Following the events of Dune, which saw his family destroyed by the Harkonnens and the Emperor’s Sardaukar forces, Paul engages in guerilla raids against his enemies while gaining the trust of the Fremen warriors. Among them is Chani (Zendaya), whom Paul falls in love with, and confides in about the visions that may be a harbinger of doom. Meanwhile, word gets to the Emperor that Paul, the heir of House Atreides, is still alive.
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Timothee Chalamet: Call him by his name
Known around the world as Dune’s Paul Atreides, and more recently as Wonka, the 28-year-old Oscar-nominated actor first made a big splash in 2017’s Call Me By Your Name.
A seasoned actor who’s still only 28, Timothee Chalamet has been around long enough that most people know his name is French, courtesy of his French father.
Recently seen playing Willy Wonka in the huge box-office hit Wonka, Chalamet has been acting since he was a teenager, appearing in television series such as Law & Order in 2009 – as a 13-year-old – and Homeland in 2012.
By the time the native New Yorker broke out as the lead actor five years later in Call Me By Your Name, as a young man who develops a romantic relationship with his academic father’s graduate-student assistant, most people would have forgotten he had appeared in Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar (2014), as the son of Matthew McConaughey’s character.
After getting nominated for a Best Actor Academy Award for his breakout role, he has continued to excel, getting good notices for his turns as a drug-addicted teen in Beautiful Boy (2018), as Henry V of England in The King (2019), and as a drifter in Bones and All (2022), which saw him reunite with Call Me By Your Name director Luca Guadagnino.
Chalamet, who is bilingual in English and French, was also recognised for his parts in strong ensemble performances, in films such as Lady Bird (2017) and Little Women (2019) – both by Barbie director Greta Gerwig – The French Dispatch and Don’t Look Up (both 2021).
In 2024, Chalamet returns to one of his career-defining roles, as Paul Atreides in Dune: Part Two. Following the events of Dune (2021), Chalamet plays the exiled heir to the noble House of Atreides, who seeks to wreak revenge on his enemies.
Argylle
Out in cinemas now (Available at Shaw Theatres)
Stars: Henry Cavill, Bryce Dallas Howard, Dua Lipa
Shy author Elly Conway (Howard) writes bestsellers about an underground world of espionage starring her main character, agent Argylle (Cavill). She rarely ventures out into the real world, except for the odd book signing. One day, while travelling on a train, she meets not one, but two fans. A fight breaks out and one of the fans says he is a spy, who kidnaps her (and her cat) to save them from being killed or… kidnapped. She soon realises her books have been a little too realistic, and that there may be an actual agent Argylle waiting to meet her.
May December
Out in cinemas 22 February (Available at Shaw Theatres)
Stars: Natalie Portman, Julianne Moore, Charles Melton
Elizabeth (Portman) is an actress who has a new role in an upcoming movie. To research her part, playing a real-life sex offender (Moore) who was caught as an adult having sex with an underaged boy, she seeks out the pair, who have become a married May-December couple with a significant age gap. Given access to their lives, which revolve around their marriage and their three children, Elizabeth delves into the troubling circumstances of their relationship, and finds herself drawn into the “moral grey areas” that she admits being most interested in.
Mr & Mrs Smith
Out now, Prime Video
Stars: Donald Glover, Maya Erskine, Paul Dano
Shortly after meeting for the first time, John (Glover) and Jane Smith (Erskine) – not their real names – realise that having become secret-agent co-workers, they are now required to pose as a married couple. Predictably, they get off to a rocky start juggling the demands of their jobs, which include explosions, assassinations and fabrications, while tiptoeing the blurred lines of their professional and personal lives. As they try to do their jobs, and stay alive, they find themselves experiencing intense, possibly genuine, feelings for each other.
Let’s Talk About Chu
Out now, Netflix
Stars: Chan Tzu-hsuan, Kai Ko, JC Lin
Boy meets girl and they promise to never fall in love with each other. So goes the friends-with-benefits relationship that Chu-ai (Chan) and Ping-ke (Ko) have together. While she dispenses sex and relationship advice on social media, spouting the mantra of “make love, don’t fall in love”, she is surrounded by family members who harbour their own challenges in love and life. They include her bickering parents, her older sister whose marriage has lost its spark, and her brother (Lin), who faces dating again after breaking up with his long-time partner.
Tokyo Vice S2
Out now, HBO GO
Stars: Ansel Elgort, Ken Watanabe, Rachel Keller
An American journalist named Jake (Elgort) relocates to Tokyo, where he often feels like a fish out of water, and works his way into a job with a major Japanese newspaper. Collaborating closely with a veteran police detective (Watanabe), he starts to delve into the murky underworld of the Japanese yakuza, attracting the attention of hardened criminals who wouldn’t think twice about killing him. As Jake digs deeper, he is constantly reminded to be careful and not do anything stupid, yet he finds himself unable to turn back from danger.
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