Are you ready to celebrate the Year of the Tiger at the cineplexes? When the coronavirus outbreak first happened in early 2020, many major releases were postponed and thankfully, several of them eventually ended up on streaming platforms.
This year’s Chinese New Year 2022 is hoping to pick up where 2020 left off with many festive movies schedule to hit the big screen (fingers crossed everything goes according to plan). From comedy flicks to drama action, here are CNY films featuring xxxx to spend your ang pao money on.
Reunion Dinner (团圆饭)
- Movie cast: Lawrence Wong, Cya Liu, Mark Lee, Xiang Yun, Guo Liang, Zhu Hou Ren, Mimi Choo
Co-workers Chaoyang and Zi Hong have been dating for more than a year, with marriage on the cards. When a client requests for a livestream of their reunion dinner to promote his products, the couple realises that neither have met the other’s family. Zi Hong is excited to finally get to meet Chaoyang’s mother, unaware of the latter’s estranged relationship with his mother.
Embarrassed by his mother Yan Ling’s occupation as a mama-san, Chaoyang decides to engage the help of a friend, Wei, to “rent-a-family”, resulting in a series of mishaps and hilarity.
The carefully constructed sham falls to pieces when the lie is eventually exposed over the reunion dinner on livestream. Will Chaoyang be able to repair the broken relationship with his mother and reconcile his differences with Zi Hong?
Grit (鱷魚)
- Movie cast: Ko Kai, Angelica Lee, Lee Kang Sheng
Due some poor life choices, Croc found himself behind bars at the mere age of 17. Now that he’s out on parole, he turns to his brotherly figure, Chief Liu, for assistance. His new job gets him acquainted to Zhi Ping Chen – a female farmer who’s determine to get to the bottom of her farm’s water blockage issues. Their constant bickering and conflict soon transform into a strong friendship. However, things get complicated when Croc discovers that Chief Liu is behind the water blockage problem.
Chilli Laugh Story (闔家辣)
- Movie cast: Sandra Ng, Ronald Cheng, Gigi Leung, Edan Lui
The Covid-19 pandemic offered white-collar workers everywhere the chance to work from home. At first, it seemed like a luxury to be able to work outside the shackles of the office, but people quickly realized that it could also drive them insane.
For Coba, work-from-home has led to a daily cage match with his family. When he inadvertently learns that his mother’s homemade chili sauce is a hit with his co-workers, he convinces his family to turn the chili sauce into an online business in order to divert their attention away from conflicts. However, Coba didn’t expect that the sauce would become a timely internet sensation, thanks to families eating at home more often during the pandemic.
From deciding which type of bottle to use for the chili sauce, long-hidden family conflicts are on the verge of erupting again. Soon enough, the family’s daily tug-of-wars become even spicier than chili sauce……
Table For Six (飯戲攻心)
- Movie cast: Dayo Wong, Stephy Tang, Louis Cheung Kai Chung, Ivana Wong, Lin Min Chen
“Men of the Dragon” helmer Sunny Chan directs this ensemble comedy that revolves around a family gathering gone sour. To big brother Dai (Dayo Wong), nothing is more satisfying than dining with his two younger half-siblings (Louis Cheung Kai Chung and Peter Chan Charm Man). But when his old flame (Stephy Tang) shows up as his brother’s girlfriend, kitchen nightmare strikes and it’s up to his part-time girlfriend (Lim Min Chen) to simmer down the situation.
Small Town Heroes (英雄假期)
- Movie cast: Jack Lim, Layla Sania, Chandler Phua, Roger Shak, Eric Lim, Yuan Teng
During the Covid-19 pandemic, a teenager returns to his hometown to join a Malay wedding ceremony after quarantining. He takes this opportunity to take a walk to his secret place, named ‘Tao Hua Dao’, as it brings back a lot of sweet memories. Through the view of two kids (Hero & Feng), viewers will get to enjoy the sentiment moments about the people and the settings. This film also inspires audiences to be brave the journey of chasing our dreams, and be our own Hero!
My Best Friend’s Breakfast (我吃了那男孩一整年的早餐)
- Movie cast: Eric Chou, Moon Lee, Shou Lou, Edison Song, Jean Ho, Lin He Xuan
Xiang Weixin (played by Li Mu), a 17-year-old high school sophomore, regards eating as the most important and most healing thing in life. The first time she met her senior Tao Youquan (played by Eric Zhou Xingzhe) was in the school’s welfare agency. At that time, Xiang Weixin lost her cash and could not afford her favourite pineapple bread. Tao Youquan decided to chip in the money for her, which made her feel deeply indebted to him.
Ah Girls Go Army (女兵外传)
- Movie Cast: Apple Chan, Xixi Lim, Yang Guang Ke Le, Samantha Tan, Shirli Ling, Farah Farook, Eswari Gunasagar, Kelly Kimberly Cheong, Belle Chua Bei Er, Veracia Yong, Glenn Yong
Move over Ah Boys, it’s time for the Ah Girls to take the spotlight. Following the successful “Ah Boys To Men” movies, director Jack Neo is now focusing on the first batch of female recruits. These women will be tested to their physical and emotional limits as they undergo the challenging Basic Military Training.
“Singaporeans are very fortunate; we live in a relatively safe and stable world. But what if the population of young people drops below the level that we need to sustain our defence? We know that the birth rate of our society is dropping each year. Can our Singaporean women step up to the challenge of defending our nation, the same as we ask of our men? This is what I want to explore in our new movie. In a lot of ways, this mirrors the first batch of young men who were called up for NS way back in 1967,” Jack Neo was quoted as saying.
Images from GSC, Weibo, Facebook.
