Last Christmas (2019)

Kate is a mess. She’s got no home, she gets drunk every night, and her nascent singing career is going nowhere. The only stable thing in her life is her job at an all-year Christmas shop, run by a Chinese woman named “Santa,” which she despises. In all fairness, though, Kate had a very traumatic year, actually requiring a heart transplant at one point. That would be enough to rattle anyone. And with overprotective, immigrant parents, it’s no wonder she wanted to move out. She could have been nicer and more strategic about it, but still. What will happen, though, when she meets a mysterious, eternally jolly man named Tom, who seems determined to get Kate back in the Christmas spirit? Why a break-in, an unexpected coming out party, and the murder of a fish, of course!

First Love (2019)

When he’s diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor, orphaned boxer Leo finds himself without purpose. After visiting a fortune teller, who urges him to “fight for someone other than yourself,” Leo saves a young woman, Monica, from a man chasing her. What he doesn’t realize is that Monica, real name Yuri, is a prostitute, the man he punched, Otomo, is a corrupt cop, and that by saving the former, he’s unintentionally caught himself up in a large, extremely dangerous scheme involving stolen drugs, the yakuza, and a crazed female assassin. Now he and Monica must survive the night by avoiding the many parties coming after them. Will they? Watch the movie and find out.

Long Day’s Journey Into Night (2019)

When his father dies, a man from rural China (Huang Jue) returns to his hometown, and begins searching for a woman he once loved (Tang Wei). Through a fragmented series of flashbacks, he recalls how they met, had a pregnancy scare, plotted to murder her gangster boyfriend, and were eventually caught. Then, after falling asleep in a movie theater, he has a long, meandering dream about his mother, his unborn son, and a woman who looks very much like the one he’s searching for.

In A New York Minute (2019)

A food critic, struggling with bulimia, and parental pressure to get married. An actress, seeking escape from a loveless marriage through an affair. A prostitute, attempting to leave the life behind, only to be consistently pulled back by her step-mother. Three women. Three separate lives, all of which become intertwined in ways that they don’t initially realize. How so? Watch the movie and find out.

Plus One (2019)

To survive a summer jam-packed with weddings, including those of their father and sister respectively, single friends Ben and Alice agree to be each other’s “Plus One” at every event. But what happens when spending so much time together causes them to fall in love? 

Always Be My Maybe (2019)

16 years after an awkward falling out, childhood sweethearts Sasha and Marcus find themselves in vastly different socio-economic situations. While Sasha has become a celebrity chef, opening a chain of successful Asian fusion restaurants, Marcus has stayed in his childhood home and done next to nothing to promote his band, despite them being quite good. So what happens when they meet each other again? Watch the movie and find out.

The Last Starfighter (To Infinity Retrospective)

Welcome, one and all, to the To Infinity Retrospective, a series I created in preparation for Star Wars 9. On the first day of each month, leading up till December, I’ll be reviewing a different Space Opera. And first up, we have a real diamond in the rough, a flick I’d never have heard of if not for a fellow Screenwriter, The Last Starfighter. What’s it about? Well…

A Star Is Born (2018)

Jackson Maine is a fading rock star. He’s popular, but his severe alcoholism has limited his options. One night, while searching for booze, he stumbles into a drag bar, where Ally, a young woman with an incredible voice, but not much confidence, is performing. Taken by her talent, and raw sincerity, Jackson gets to know her, and offers to give her a way into the music industry. Ally is hesitant at first, but after getting to know, and performing with, Jackson, she agrees, and the two begin a whirlwind romance, involving world tours, awards, substance abuse, and the slow, sad realization that the music industry changes people.

The Little Stranger (2018)

In 1947, Dr. Faraday, a humble country physician, is summoned to Hunter’s Hall, the Opulent Estate of the Ayers family. Faraday went there once when he was a child, and has not been back since. As such, he is shocked to see that the Estate has grown decrepit in his absence, and the Ayers family have fallen on hard times. He learns that they’ve lost all their money, and are looking to sell the land in order to pay off their debts. More disturbing than that, he discovers that the son, Roderick, a former RAF Pilot, is suffering, not just from PTSD, but what appears to be a ghostly haunting as well. Things slowly, and I mean slowly, devolve from there, with Rod getting committed to an insane asylum, Mrs. Ayers committing suicide, and Caroline, the daughter and Faraday’s love interest, slowly losing her mind.

Crazy Rich Asians (2018)

Nick and Rachel are in love. They’ve been dating for over a year, live together, and share absolutely everything with each other. Well, not quite everything. See Rachel, a college professor from a working class background, doesn’t realize that Nick is actually from the Young family, the richest and most famous real estate developers in all of Singapore. So when she journeys with him to Asia to attend a wedding, she is blindsided by the sheer opulence with which his family lives. Something else she isn’t expecting is the extreme hostility with which Eleanor, Nick’s mother, treats her. See Eleanor doesn’t think that Rachel is good enough for her son. She thinks that Rachel, who’s Chinese-American, is too foreign and uncivilized to marry the heir to a multi-billion dollar estate. But Rachel isn’t giving up. She loves Nick, and she won’t lose him for anything. But can she convince Eleanor that she’s worthy of her son? Watch the movie and find out.