It’s February already – a month that sees a clash of festivities with the Lunar New Year and Valentine’s Day happening around the same weekend. With safe distancing restrictions in place, this Chinese New Year break may be slightly quieter with many choosing to celebrate in smaller groups. But whether you’re heading out to the theatres, staying in for Valentine’s Day Netflix-and-chill sessions, or even just huddling in front of the TV for waiting for friends and family to come over, we’ve got you covered with our watchlist.
For the Netflix Couch-Potatoes
To All the Boys: Always and Forever
Netflix presents us with the stunning chemistry between Lana Condor and Noah Centineo for the third Valentine’s Day in a row! The final instalment of Netflix’s To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before film series is finally here. As Lara Jean Covey prepares for the end of high school and the start of adulthood, a pair of life-changing trips leads her to reimagine what life with her family, friends, and her first love, Peter Kavinsky will look like after graduation. Will our couple’s OTP goal survive what life throws at them?
To All the Boys: Always and Forever premieres on Netflix on 12 February.
I Care A Lot
Leading lady Rosamund Pike made her name playing a sociopathic wife in Gone Girl and has gone for a similarly strong, apathetic character in I Care A Lot. In this black-comedy, Pike is Maria Grayson, a woman who makes her living stealing from the elderly by deceiving judges into appointing her as their legal guardian. She lands herself in hot water, however, when her latest victim turns out to have ties to a powerful gangster, trapping Grayson in a dangerous mess.
I Care A Lot premieres on Netflix on 19 February.
Malcolm & Marie
Shot as a gorgeous black-and-white film, Malcolm & Marie tell the story of a couple in an intense and passionate relationship. When filmmaker Malcolm (John David Washington) and his girlfriend Marie (Zendaya) return home from a movie premiere and await his film’s critical response, the evening takes a turn as revelations about their relationship begin to surface, testing the couple’s love.
Malcolm and Marie premieres on Netflix on the 5 February.
Space Sweepers
Korea’s very first space opera film is set in the year 2092 where a space clean-up crew on board The Victory tries to escape the destruction of Earth. Space Sweepers stars Song Joong-Ki as Tae-Ho, the pilot of the spaceship led by Captain Jang (Kim Tae-Ri). Along with their fellow crew members, Tiger Park (Jin Seon Kyu) and a reprogrammed military robot named Bubs (Yoo Hae Jin), the four misfits chase after space debris in hopes of getting rich, unearthing explosive secrets during the attempted trade of a wide-eyed baby humanoid named Dorothy.
Space Sweepers premieres on Netflix on 5 February.
For K-Drama Fans
Vincenzo
Barely into 2021 and Song Joong-Ki is already looking like Korea’s leading man of the year with not one but two big-budget shows coming up in February. Song headlines Vincenzo as the titular anti-hero, a mafia consigliere who escapes to Korea from Italy during an internal war within the organisation. He teams up with Hong Cha-Young (Jeon Yeo-Bin), an ace lawyer for the biggest law firm in Korea, and together, they work to creatively punish corrupt, slippery villains by operating with methods outside the bounds of the law, while our anti-hero seeks revenge on his former mafia family.
Vincenzo begins airing on tvN on 20 February.
River Where the Moon Rises
This Saguek period drama retells the classic Goguryeo folktale of the love story between Princess Pyeonggang and On Dal. Played by former child actress Kim So-Hyun, Pyeonggang was born a princess but raised as a warrior to kill Yeom Ga Jin, an ambitious woman who dreams of becoming the first female emperor of Goguryeo. To accomplish her mission, Pyeonggang seeks the help of On Dal (Ji Soo), the peace-loving son of a once-revered general, and manipulates his feelings for her to achieve her goals.
The drama reunites Kim So-Hyun and Ji Soo who both starred in the acclaimed 2016 mini-series Page Turner, leaving us with plenty of faith in the chemistry between the leads.
River Where the Moon Rises is scheduled to air on KBS2 starting 15 February and is available for streaming exclusively on Viu.
Beyond Evil
JTBC’s upcoming drama has Shin Ha-kyun playing the role of Lee Dong-Sik, a capable former detective now reduced to doing menial work at Manyang Police Substation. Juxtaposed with Shin’s veteran role is Han Joo-Won (Yeo Jin-Goo), an elite detective appointed to the same substation. Beyond Evil tells the story of this unlikely duo teaming up to catch a serial killer, and as they closely follow everyone’s hidden facets, they begin to question the humanity of everyone around them, including themselves.
Veteran actor Shin Ha-Kyun is known for his roles in dark crime dramas and Beyond Evil also has Yeo Jin-Goo in his zone, playing a good guy with a bright future. With both lead actors in their seasoned roles, this police-procedural is one to watch on our list.
Beyond Evil begins airing on JTBC on 19 February.
Sisyphus: The Myth
JTBC’s 10th-Anniversary Special is a fantasy action-thriller starring Jo Seung Woo as a genius engineer named Han Tae-Sul, who tries to uncover the truth behind his older brother’s death. His investigation leads him to find creatures disguised as humans, living among his society. An elite warrior, Kang Seo-Hae (Park Shin Hye) then travels back in time to help him, convinced that he is the key to saving humanity.
Sisyphus: The Myth is scheduled to premiere on 17 February.
For the Cinephiles
Endgame (Mandarin)
Black-comedy film Endgame tells the story of Chen Xiaomeng (Xiao Yang), an unsuccessful theatre actor who fails at everything in life, including suicide. Before attempting to kill himself, Xiaomeng accidentally causes a man to slip and wake up with no memory of his identity. In a twist of fate, the failed thespian switches place with the amnesiac, only to discover that he has assumed the life of a world-class professional assassin. Under his new identity, Xiaomeng is forced to take on the hitman’s missions. But when the assassin regains his memory, our heroes become entangled in a complicated mess.
Endgame premieres in theatres on 12 February
A Writer’s Odyssey (Mandarin) 刺杀小说家
Lu Kongwen (Dong Zijian) is the author of a fantasy novel series in which his eponymous heroic teenage character is on a quest to end the tyrannical rule of Lord Redmane. But through a strange twist of fate, the door of two parallel universes is accidentally opened and the author gains the ability to influence fate and reality with his writing. The film follows Guan Ning (Lei Jiayin), a grieving father with special abilities, who accepts a mission to assassinate Lu Kongwen in exchange for help finding his missing daughter.
A Writer’s Odyssey premieres in theatres on 12 February
Supernova
Starring veteran actors Colin Firth and Stanley Tucci, Supernova is a heartrending modern love story. As Sam (Firth) and Tusker (Tucci), partners for 20 years, struggle with the latter’s diagnosis of early-onset dementia, they decide to who take a road trip together to places from their past. Travelling across England to the Lake District, the couple reconnects with friends, family and spend as much time together as they can before Tusker dies.
Supernova arrives in theatres on 18 February
Bonus:
Disney Plus
After a long long wait, Disney+will finally be launched in Singapore! The video-on-demand streaming service gives local viewers a lot to look forward to, with an impressive repertoire of exclusive shows, including everything from iconic Disney productions, to other entertainment offerings from Marvel, National Geographic and many more.
Some highlights ahead are Marvel’s newest live-action TV series WandaVision, Loki and The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, as well as classic fan-favourite shows such as Grey’s Anatomy. What’s more, Disney has brought Pixar onboard, with critically acclaimed films such as Inside Out and upcoming Raya and the Last Dragon, which will premiere simultaneously in theatres and on-demand for Premiere Access subscribers.
Disney+ launches in Singapore on 23 February.
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