The Menu
Out in cinemas 17 November (Available at Shaw Theatres)
Stars: Anya Taylor-Joy, Nicholas Hoult, Ralph Fiennes
A young couple, Margot (Taylor-Joy) and Tyler (Hoult), splurge on an expensive and exclusive meal at Hawthorne, a remote restaurant run by a mercurial celebrity chef, Slowik (Fiennes). To partake in the dining experience, they join 10 other guests on a boat to a coastal island, where they look forward to a sumptuous molecular gastronomy feast. A giddy Tyler predicts that the night would be “madness” and that Slowik is a storyteller. They soon lose their appetites when they realise that the theme of the night is fear.
SAFRA members enjoy 1-for-1 Weekend Movie Tickets at Shaw Theatres till 18 Dec 2022. Purchase a full priced ticket online at $14.50 and enjoy the second ticket for free! For more info, go to safra.sg/promotions/1-for-1-shaw
Nicholas Hoult: About a Man
Twenty years after his breakout role in About a Boy, the English actor has matured into a versatile performer with an impressive filmography.
He was just a wee lad when he caught our attention.
Nicholas Hoult was a reluctant young actor when he was cast in About a Boy opposite Hugh Grant. In the acclaimed film, he was the awkward child with a depressed mother who becomes unlikely friends with an immature grown-up.
Fast forward two decades and Hoult is still only 32, and has been nominated in recent years for a Golden Globe for playing the emperor married to Catherine the Great.
After the success of About a Boy (2002), he gained plaudits for his lead role in the British series Skins, before having a significant supporting part opposite Colin Firth in the 2009 drama film A Single Man.
He would become a member of the X-Men as he was first cast as Henry “Hank” McCoy / Beast in X-Men: First Class in 2011. This would be a role he reprised four more times in a series of X-Men movies, the most recent being Dark Phoenix in 2019.
Other notable roles had Hoult playing a zombie in the comedy Warm Bodies and Jack in Jack the Giant Slayer (both in 2013). He was also the gung-ho “war boy” Nux in the 2015 post-apocalyptic epic Mad Max: Fury Road and a politician in The Favourite (2018).
In more recent times, he’s taken on major historical characters, playing JD Salinger, Nikola Tesla and even the author of The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien, in a number of films.
Apart from his current role in the series The Great, Hoult can next be seen in The Menu, as the foodie boyfriend of Anya Taylor-Joy, and Renfield, as the henchman to a Count Dracula played by Nicolas Cage.
Strange World
Out in cinemas 24 November (Available at Shaw Theatres)
Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Dennis Quaid, Jaboukie Young-White
Searcher (Gyllenhaal) is a farmer who leads a peaceful life with his wife Meridian and their son Ethan (Young-White). One day, out of the sky arrives the President, Callisto, who pilots a wondrous airship and convinces the family to join her on a special expedition. What they discover next is truly a mind-boggling, and strange, uncharted world, where nothing is as it seems and danger lurks at every turn. They also find a wild man who turns out to be none other than Searcher’s long-lost dad, Jaeger (Quaid).
Violent Night
Out in cinemas 1 December (Available at Shaw Theatres)
Stars: David Harbour, John Leguizamo, Alex Hassell
Get ready for Die Hard-meets-Home Alone-meets-The Santa Clause. On Christmas Eve, a wealthy family prepares to usher in the Yuletide cheer when gun-toting mercenaries invade their home. For some reason, the family has millions of dollars socked away in a vault on-site, and the baddies want this fortune as their bumper-sized Christmas present. However, much to their disbelief, their heist coincides with the arrival of a Rambo-inspired Santa Claus (Harbour), who is ready to dole out some “season’s beatings.”
The Fabulous
Out now, Netflix
Stars: Choi Min-ho, Chae Soo-bin, Kim Min-kyu
One is handsome and skilled, but jaded about his work; the other is bright and positive, fighting to survive in her dream job. Both work in the highly competitive and fast-moving fashion industry in Seoul. This is the premise of The Fabulous, with K-pop star Choi (of SHINee fame) playing a photo editor and Chae playing a luxury-brand PR manager who has aspired to work in fashion since she was a kid. After the pair meet, their relationship starts off as friendship, before blossoming into something more.
Save Our Squad With David Beckham
Out now, Disney+
Stars: David Beckham
Football star David Beckham is known for many things: his ability to hit swirling, bending free kicks and long-distance goals; his achievements with Manchester United and the England national team; his pop-star wife and famous children; and his own status as a fashion icon. Less well-known are his roots. Having grown up in East London and played in a grassroots league as a kid, the retired Beckham returns to mentor a young team, the Westward Boys, who are at the bottom of the Echo League.
Spirited
Out 18 November, Apple TV+
Stars: Ryan Reynolds, Will Ferrell, Octavia Spencer
In the Charles Dickens literary classic, A Christmas Carol, an old miser named Scrooge is visited upon by four spirits on Christmas Eve, which causes him to reflect on his past, present and future, such that he might change his ways and become a kinder person. In this musical re-imagining of the tale, one of the spirits, the Ghost of Christmas Present (Ferrell), picks the wrong “Scrooge” in a man named Clint (Reynolds), who somehow manages to talk the ghost into re-examining his own past, present and future.
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