MATCHSTICK
Other movies
THE FURIOUS
Director: Kenji Tanigaki
A martial arts epic from action choreographer-turned-director Tanigaki Kenji, The Furious unites a cast of pan-Asian stars — including Xie Miao (The New Legend Of Shaolin), Joe Taslim (The Raid: Redemption), Jeeja Yanin and Yayan Ruhian — in a brutal yet emotional fight for justice. Set in an unnamed Southeast Asian country, it follows a father and a journalist as they take on a human trafficking syndicate in search of their missing loved ones. Produced by Bill Kong (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), with fight sequences choreographed for raw authenticity, the film pays homage to the golden age of Asian action cinema while pushing the genre forward. Gritty and powerful, The Furious is a masterpiece in its genre and a must-watch for martial arts fans.
NORMAL
Director: Ben Wheatley
Normal's night of reckoning and west-meets-east thrills and blood-spills is dark, absurdly funny and drenched in its own B movie with A movie viewing sensibility. Back in trenchant Free Fire form, Ben Wheatley directs Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul, the Nobody movies) from a script by Odenkirk and John Wick creator Derek Kolstad. It's mid-winter, and Odenkirk is Ulysses, a laid-back, somewhat oblivious sheriff on a temporary job in a tiny Minnesota town where all is certainly not what it seems — as heavily signalled by an ultra-violent prologue featuring a yakuza standoff in Osaka. Normal is the name of this burg of 1,890 cheerful inhabitants (including cameos from Henry Winkler and Lena Headey), but the film is decidedly anything but.