Romance and comedy
Finding Mr. Right (File photo)
As White Valentine's Day approaches, five romantic movies have also been put on the schedule. Among them , Ocean Heaven director Xue Xiaolu's romantic comedy Finding Mr. Right is the most expected.
Starring Lust, Caution leading actress Tang Wei and TV opera star Wu Xiubo, Finding Mr. Right starts with the story that Wen Jiajia (Tang Wei), the girlfriend of a wealthy man, regards brand names as the necessities of life while love is a luxury item - that is until she meets Frank (Wu Xiubo) in the US. Although the plot seems a little old fashioned, before its debut on the Chinese mainland on March 21, it has already received a lot of good feedback.
Screendaily.com wrote in its review that "Tang's immense likeability in her alternately sassy and vulnerable role… holds it all together. Finding Mr. Right thrives on the effortless charisma of its lead actress."
"It does not play on tricks or being garrulous. It is serious in making a story and setting a plot. [If it gains success in the market] it will have stronger meaning than Love is Not Blind, because it relies on the accuracy of film language and rhythm. It is a reflection of the progress of Chinese romantic comedy," writes moviegoer "Ma Sheng" on movie critic website douban.com.
Do you think love can be deposited in a bank and how much interest would you get? You can find the answers in a cafe named Love Deposit. According to the rules in the cafe, lovers can save videos of their expressions of love at the cafe for a year. But a year later, if they have broken up, the videos will be demolished and their cash deposit for each video be kept as operation funds for the cafe.
In order to get her video back, Zhou Xiaoyu (Zhou Hong) starts a seesaw battle with the cafe's boss Muyang (Xia Yu), and at the same time, she discovers the hidden stories of the cafe.
Besides these two, romantic moviegoers can also choose from Fall In Love, Chasing is Hurting or Morning Call.
After movies like Lost in Thailand and Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons, actor Huang Bo has now become a synonym with comedy and a box-office winner. And in late March, he will star in another comedy - The Chef, The Actor, The Scoundrel. Set against the background of Beijing during World War II, the movie is aimed at making the audience laugh at all kinds of exaggerated and ugly characters.
Artistic works
If you are looking for classic movies with deeper themes, newly imported works like Les Miserables and The Iron Lady will meet your demands. Though it has been a long time, since these two Oscar winning movies debuted in North America, classics never fade away with time.
Recent years have seen more and more artistic works, like A Separation and The Artist, being imported and screened in commercial cinemas in China. The number of domestic artistic movies is also on rise. And although the box office results are not very good, it is still a hopeful sign that a more diversified market is developing.
In general, however, domestic movies still experience severe competition from Hollywood blockbusters, and the near-term prospects do not look good for homemade productions.
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