Film Picks: Ultraman: Rising, Glenfiddich Films At The Fort and The Dead Don’t Hurt
Ultraman: Rising (PG)
121 minutes, now showing on Netflix, 3 stars
Every era has its version of the superhero – 1970s kids enjoyed the dubbed original black-and-white television series from Japan, and through the 1980s and later, the franchise has grown in popularity through films and television, especially in Asia.
This latest Japanese-American co-production on Netflix stays true to its origins as a show for kids while giving it a contemporary family-centred focus.
Ken Sato (voiced by American actor Christopher Sean in the English dub) is a self-obsessed baseball star whose parents – Professor Sato (Gedde Watanabe) and Mina (Tamlyn Tomita) – are sworn to protect Japan from kaiju, or giant monsters, by using the professor’s Ultraman abilities.
The government-backed Kaiju Defence Force (KDF), however, sees them as dangerous vigilantes. Circumstances force a reluctant Ken to shoulder his father’s superhero duties, until one encounter turns Ken into a dad of sorts, when an orphaned baby kaiju falls into his lap.
American director and co-writer Shannon Tindle skilfully ensures new viewers get the lore without saggy dialogue-based explanations, while making sure that the hero’s core traits are retained. The new hero, like the old one, inconveniently runs out of energy mid-battle.
Bursting with cuteness, energetic animation and emotional depth, Ultraman: Rising shows that Netflix Animation, with its partners, is as capable of high-quality work as any major studio.
Glenfiddich Films At The Fort
Glenfiddich Films At The Fort celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2024. PHOTO: GLENFIDDICH FILMS AT THE FORT
Tickets are now on sale for Glenfiddich Films At The Fort, an outdoor cinema event at Fort Canning Park from Aug 1 that celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2024.
Billed as “social cinema”, filmgoers can arrive early to picnic on the lawn. Deejays and instrumentalists will entertain from 5.30pm until screenings begin at 7.45pm. Food partner The Providore will sell dinner and dessert options each night, with cocktails, wine, beer and non-alcoholic drinks available at a bar.
Films on the schedule include the romance drama Challengers (M18, 131 minutes, screens on Aug 2 and 17, 7.45pm).
Former tennis prodigy Tashi Duncan (Zendaya) is a wife and mother who manages her husband Art (Mike Faist), a tennis professional. His career is in a slump, so she books him to play in a smaller competition, hoping an easy win will restore his flagging confidence. Playing in the same tournament is Patrick (Josh O’Connor), Art’s former best friend and doubles partner, as well as Tashi’s ex-boyfriend.
Other films on this year’s Glenfiddich Films At The Fort line-up include opening movie Bob Marley: One Love on Aug 1 – a biopic which covers the life and music of Jamaican music pioneer Bob Marley (played by Kingsley Ben-Adir) – as well as action comedy The Fall Guy and the Amy Winehouse biopic Back To Black.
Where: Fort Canning Green, Canning RiseWhen: Aug 1 to 18, 7.45pmMRT: Fort Canning/Clarke Quay/Dhoby GhautAdmission: $42.80 (each ticket includes a Glenfiddich cocktail worth $14, or two non-alcoholic drinks)
Info: filmsatthefort.com.sg
The Dead Don’t Hurt (NC16)
130 minutes, now showing, 4 stars
The Dead Don't Hurt, starring Viggo Mortensen, will be screening at Glenfiddich Films At The Fort. PHOTO: SHAW ORGANISATION
Viggo Mortensen is much more than Aragorn of The Lord Of The Rings trilogy (2001 to 2003). The Hollywood multi-hyphenate produces, directs, writes, composes the plaintive score and co-stars opposite Vicky Krieps as her lover in the 1860s American West during the Civil War.
It is instant attraction when Mortensen’s Danish carpenter Holger Olsen and Krieps’ Franco-Canadian florist Vivienne Le Coudy, two rugged individualists, lock eyes in San Francisco. They begin a life together back in his shack in Nevada Territory.
The story subtly upends this most American and masculine of cinema traditions for a tender yet unsentimental romance of the pioneer immigrants’ survival.
The glorious Luxembourgian actress Krieps from Phantom Thread (2017) and Corsage (2022) entrances in her portrayal of the heroine’s stubborn grit and passionate indomitable spirit.
The nonlinear narrative is unnecessarily confusing, but such is Mortensen’s confidence in his storytelling. – Whang Yee Ling