Join memorable, loveable characters on journeys of discovery and rebirth to kickstart your year.
Bridget Jones’s Diary
Journalling is often touted as a tool for reflection and self-improvement. One of the most beloved rom-coms of the 2000s, Bridget Jones’s Diary, is built around journalling. The title character, played by Renée Zellweger, is an assistant at a London book publishing house. At 32, she feels restless and dissatisfied with her life. As part of her New Year’s resolution, Bridget decides to keep a diary, and the movie recounts a year in her life.
She soon finds herself with two possible romantic interests: Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant), her brash boss who behaves inappropriately towards her, and Mark Darcy (Colin Firth), a shy and proper lawyer whom she has known since she was a child. Mark also resents Daniel. As Bridget tries to embrace a riskier, freer life, she finds herself making important choices.
Based on the novel of the same name by Helen Fielding, Bridget Jones’s Diary quickly became a cultural phenomenon. Zellweger was nominated for an Oscar, and the movie is part of a wave of British rom-coms featuring two of the genre’s poster boys, Grant and Firth. It also spawned two sequels: Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason and Bridget Jones’s Baby, with a fourth movie, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, due this year, bringing the iconic character into the 2020s.
At the start of the New Year, Bridget decides it's time to take control of her life – and start keeping a diary. Now, the most provocative book on her bedside table is the one she's writing.
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Eat Pray Love
This biographical romantic drama stars one of the genre’s evergreen sweethearts, Julia Roberts. Roberts plays Liz Gilbert, a successful journalist who is married and owns a house. She seems to have everything, but she feels adrift and purposeless. Liz seeks a divorce from her husband Stephen (Billy Crudup) and dates young actor David (James Franco). She embarks on a soul-searching journey around the world, discovering the joy of food in Italy, getting in touch with her spirituality in India, and eventually finding serenity in Indonesia.
Based on the real-life Elizabeth Gilbert’s 2006 memoir, Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia, this movie trades in cliches, and some might roll their eyes at the story of a privileged, perhaps self-indulgent, woman seeking enlightenment in far-flung locales. However, it is also beautifully shot, and Roberts’ command of the screen reminds audiences yet again why she is a true movie star.
The film is directed by Ryan Murphy, who, at the time of release, had already become a TV heavyweight with his musical sensation, Glee. He would go on to create and produce other juggernaut TV shows like American Horror Story and 9-1-1.
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Liz Gilbert is on a quest to travel the world while reconnecting with her true self. At a crossroads after a divorce, Gilbert takes a year-long sabbatical risking everything to change her life.
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Fat Choi Spirit
This madcap Lunar New Year comedy features some of Hong Kong cinema’s biggest stars. Andy Lau stars as Andy, who is obsessed with mahjong. He is gifted with the divine favour of the deity Guanyin and simply cannot lose. His on-again, off-again girlfriend, the flighty Gigi (Gigi Leung), made an offering in the temple that granted him this blessing. Gigi wants Andy to propose to her, but her unpredictable temperament and bad attitude, especially when she loses a game, causes him to put it off.
Andy reconnects with his estranged mother (Bonnie Wong Man-wai), who has Alzheimer’s, and his brother, Louis (Louis Koo), who resents mahjong because of Andy’s earlier financial woes from his gambling habit. Andy finds himself entangled with criminals led by Sean (Lau Ching-wan), facing off against him in a climactic mahjong match.
The movie is helmed by Johnnie To and Wai Ka-fai. The former is better known for his serious crime dramas, including Election, Exiled, and Drug War, but Fat Choi Spirit is a much lighter affair, laden with gags and over-the-top performances. Lau turns on his leading man charm to its highest level, and behind the movie’s zaniness lies genuine heart and sweetness.
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Centres around a Mahjong master, Andy, and his dealings with his ex-girlfriend, estranged family and a local gang.
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All’s Well, End’s Well
This Hong Kong romantic comedy set during the Lunar New Year celebrations revolves around the three Seung brothers. Eldest brother, Seung Moon (Raymond Wong), is a womanising businessman who treats his wife, Leng (Sandra Ng), terribly. Middle brother Seung Foon (Stephen Chow) is a flirtatious radio DJ. Youngest brother, Seung So (Leslie Cheung), is a floral arranger and art school lecturer. Leng leaves Moon to become a karaoke hostess; Foon dates a deranged, movie-obsessed listener named Holli-yuk (Maggie Cheung); and So butts heads with his cousin Mo-seung (Teresa Mo).
All’s Well, End’s Well has become a seasonal favourite for its wacky performances and outlandish comedic scenarios and is considered part of the canon of Stephen Chow-starring mo lei tau (nonsense talk) comedies. The movie was a massive hit, becoming the second highest-grossing film at the Hong Kong box office in 1992 and spawning a franchise containing seven further films.
Moon, Foon and So Shang live with their television-obsessed parents. At a party held in honour of their parents, the brothers’ issues come to a dramatic head – with hilarious consequences!
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Crazy New Year’s Eve
Six stories taking place on Lunar New Year’s Eve are woven together in this festive anthology comedy.
In Shanghai, successful wedding planner Jia Yi (Amber Kuo) feels the pressure to get married herself, but her boyfriend Weili (Rhydian Vaughan) is hesitant because of his parents’ failed relationship.
In Xi’an, beauty salon proprietor Shen Dabao (Da Peng) and his assistant Wu Liang (Qiao Shan) are forced to take a crowded train to Beijing when all the flights are fully booked. Dabao suspects train passenger Xiao Zhao (Su Yizhou) of stealing his wallet, leading to a confrontation.
In Beijing, police officers Zhong Wei (Xia Yu) and Jia Lun (Gordon Lam) agree to let Hou Zi (Zhang Yi), a suspect in their custody, see his dying grandmother one last time.
Elsewhere in Beijing, retired gymnast Nana (Zhao Liying) goes into labour while her husband, popular singer Jing Ming (Jam Hsiao), is scheduled to perform on a televised New Year’s countdown show but wants to be by her side.
In Sanya, tour guide Fu (Jiang Jinfu) leads a group of five young beachgoers who apparently get kidnapped and stranded in the forest.
In Harbin, family patriarch Old He (Niu Ben) is in the hospital with a serious illness. His children come to visit him but start arguing about what happens to Old He’s financial assets after he passes.
An ambitious movie that spans locations across China, Crazy New Year’s Eve is a Mainland Chinese take on the archetypical holiday ensemble comedy common in Western cinema.
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Six interwoven heartwarming stories set on Chinese New Year's Eve. From proposing to a fiance to welcoming a new member to a family. This evening is unexpectedly filled with joy and tears.
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