A guide to all the films releasing this Eid Al Adha weekend. These titles are hitting cinemas in the UAE on August 8.
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ENGLISH
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The Art of Racing in the Rain
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Milo Ventimiglia and Amanda Seyfried star in this touching dramedy about the bond between a race car driver, Denny, and his golden retriever Enzo (voiced by Kevin Costner). The film is based on Garth Stein’s 2008 novel of the same name.
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Night Hunter (aka Nomis)
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Police lieutenant Marshall (Henry Cavill), retired judge turned vigilante Cooper (Ben Kingsley) and police profiler Rachel (Alexandra Daddario) unravel a dark web after an infamous online predator is caught. They realise the extent of his crimes goes much further than they could have imagined. The film also stars Stanley Tucci, Brendan Fletcher, Minka Kelley and Nathan Fillion.
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Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark
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Based on the eponymous children’s series by Alvin Schwartz, the film follows a group of young teens who stumble upon a magical book that writes itself based on the fears of its reader. Directed by Andre Ovredal, the horror flick is co-written and produced by Guillermo del Toro, who has an obsession with the books and owns several of the key illustrations by Stephen Gammell. Del Toro told Vulture that they went to “huge lengths” to recreate those exact drawings three-dimensionally.
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The Kitchen
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Set in the 1970s, The Kitchen is a crime drama — based on a DC comic book miniseries — that follows the wives of Irish gangsters in Hell’s Kitchen, who take over their husband’s operations after they’re imprisoned by the FBI. Directed by ‘Straight Outta Compton’ co-writer Andrea Berloff, the film stars Melissa McCarthy, Tiffany Haddish and Elisabeth Moss.
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The Angry Birds Movie 2
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Leslie Jones, Nicki Minaj, Awkwafina and Sterling K Brown are just a handful of actors joining the cast of ‘Angry Birds Movie 2’, a comedic animation. A follow-up to the 2016 instalment, which was based off the popular video game series ‘Angry Birds’, the film will also see the return of familiar voices, including Jason Sudeikis, Josh Gad, Danny McBride, Maya Rudolph, Bill Hader and Peter Dinklage.
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The Current War
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‘The Current War’ is a historical drama whose star-studded cast includes Benedict Cumberbatch, Michael Shannon, Nicholas Hoult, Tom Holland and Katherine Waterston. The film, which met with lukewarm reviews from critics, is executive produced by Martin Scorsese. It portrays the 19th century war of the currents between electricity innovators Thomas Edison and partners George Westinghouse and Nikola Tesla.
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The Boat
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In his feature film directorial debut, Winston Azzopardi directs son Joe Azzopardi. The solo-starring survival film sees a lost fisherman face off with an abandoned yacht after a bout of fog leaves him disoriented.
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MALAYALAM
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Thanneer Mathan
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In ‘Thanneer Mathan’, Jaison (Mathew Thomas) is a student with a lot on his mind — unrequited love, academic woes and a new teacher who doesn’t like him. Of course, Jaison wants to get the girl of his dreams and excel in class — but he struggles on both fronts. According to early reviews, the movie does well to showcase student life and infuse humour into the script, with critics especially praising the young cast’s believable performances.
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Kalki
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Tovino Thomas plays a police officer who faces off against the ruthless baddie Amarnath, who rules a political party in a village. According to director Praveen Prabharam, Thomas plays a devil-may-care character, who is good-hearted but willing to play dirty against his opponents.
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Ambili
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This dramedy follows Ambili (Soubin Shahir), a man with Down syndrome, and his daily outlook on life. A teaser for the film has racked up millions of views and shows the lead character dancing heartily to an upbeat number. The partial tune quickly became a hit online.
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ARABIC
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Welad Rizk 2
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Three years after the events of the first instalment, four brothers are drawn back to the criminal world after their promise to stay away. The film stars Ahmad Ezz, Ahmad Al Feshwai, Eyad Nasser, Karim Kassem and Gadah Adel.
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URDU
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Paray Hut Love
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Director Asim Raza’s ‘Paray Hut Love’ (Stay Away from Me, Love) is a Pakistani romcom based off the popular 90s British film ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral’, which follows a hopeless bachelor across five different social events. While the primary cast features Sheheryar Munawar, Maya Ali and Ahmad Ali Butt, the film will also include cameo appearances by Fawad Khan and Mahira Khan. (Hulu have also taken a stab at the beloved story this year in a new American miniseries ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral’ miniseries, co-created by actress Mindy Kaling.)
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Superstar
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Pakistani actress Mahira Khan steps into the role of Noor, an aspiring actress who crosses paths with high-profile theatre actor Sameer Khan (Bilal Ashraf). They’re from two different worlds at first — but tensions rise as Noor soon finds herself transitioning from relative obscurity to a super stardom of her own.
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TAMIL
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Nerkonda Paarvai
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This legal thriller produced by Boney Kapoor might seem familiar: it’s a remake of the 2016 Hindi film ‘Pink’. The original starred Bollywood heavyweight Amitabh Bachchan as a retired lawyer, who returns to the courtroom to aid three women in their fight for justice. The film focuses on social themes of sexual assault and consent. In this remake, Vidya Balan will star in her Tamil debut, along with Ajith Kumar, Shraddha Srinath, Abhirami Venkatachalam and Andrea Tariang, who will reprise her role from the original movie.
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HINDI
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Jabariya Jodi
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Sidharth Malhotra and Parineeti Chopra — last seen together on the big screen in the 2014 film ‘Hasee Toh Phasee’ — join forces once again for this romantic comedy, which is a take on the Bihari tradition of kidnapping grooms to avoid dowry.
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TELUGU
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Manmadhudu 2
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According to actor Nagarjuna, this is not a follow-up to his 2002 film ‘Manmadhudu’, which was about a misogynistic man who reluctantly falls for his new colleague. Instead it’s a remake of the 2006 French film ‘Prete-Moi Ta Main’, which follows a commitment-phobic bachelor trying to appease his family. The film will see the return of the character Manmadhudu in a new setting.
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TAGALOG
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Hello, Love, Goodbye
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The Filipino romantic drama revolves around a love story between Joy (Kathryn Bernardo) and Ethan (Alden Richards) who work and live in Hong Kong. Ethan is a bartender while Joy is a domestic helper. The lead actors are visiting Dubai for various meet and greets and screenings of the film.
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CANTONESE, MANDARIN, ENGLISH
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Master Z: IP MAN Legacy
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Action director Yuen Woo-Ping returns with the martial arts offering, ‘Master Z: Ip Man Legacy’, which is a spin-off and sequel of the 2015 film ‘Ip Man 3’. After his defeat at the hands of Master Ip, Cheung Tin Chi (Max Zhang) keeps a low profile with his son in Hong Kong, working as a waiter. But he gets sucked back into the world of fighting before long. The film stars Zhang, Dave Bautista, Liu Zan and Michelle Yeoh.
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