Movies Not to Miss: September 2018

Writer: Casey Lee

Which of these are you going to watch?

Summer may be over but September will be an extra busy month for moviegoers, and that's a good thing for anyone who loves movies.

While most of these titles were not on everyone's radar from the beginning of the year, it has some interesting premises all the same that you might want to check out.

The trope of the avenging one-man army from "Taken" to the "Equalizer" has been led by male action stars and only recently we are starting to see upcoming female counterparts for the role. In "Peppermint", we see Jennifer Garner who turns from a housewife to a killing machine after her husband and daughter are killed by a random drive-by shooting, and the courts refusing to charge against the drug-cartel connected perpetrators. Aside from us cheering for more female-oriented action flicks, we are excited to see Jennifer Garner getting back in shape for an action role since "Alias" under the helm of director Pierre Morel who revived the one-man army trope with "Taken" itself.

General Release Date: 6 September

While we are reminded how crazy rich Asians can be, we also have to be careful about Crazy Rich White People. From the director best known for bringing us raunchy female-lead comedies (including that "Ghostbuster" remake), Paul Feig brings an unsettling thriller with two female leads who will be perfect opposites in the comedy. Lifestyle blogger mom Stephanie Ward, who befriends a mysterious and wealthy neighbour one day finds that the neighbour has disappeared almost without a trace, Stephanie has to piece together clues on where her friend is, together with the neighbour's husband. Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively would be playing opposite each other, while "Crazy Rich Asian" heartthrob Henry Golding continues his foray into Hollywood with his second Hollywood role.

General Release Date: 13 September

After an 8-year absence from the collective imaginations of a world that is bombarded with more "Alien" instalments, the world seems to have forgotten about the high-tech alien hunters who infiltrate earth for their prey. But when a young boy triggers an alert into outer space, the Predators are back and upgraded with new weaponry and genetics to be the deadliest hunter of them all. Shane Black who starred in the original 1980 instalment (the one with Schwarzenegger and his 'chopa) returns in the director's seat, alongside John Davis who produced the first three installments. The new batch of prey will be led by Boyd Holbrook, Trevante Rhodes, Jacob Tremblay, Keegan-Michael Key and Olivia Munn who tries to stop the Predators, set in a city of the present day between the events of "Predator 2" and 2010's "Predators".

General Release Date: 13 September

Keanu Reeves may be back as John Wick to murder anyone who gets between him and his dog, but he hasn't decided to completely remove love from his life. While many will choose to see this as the unofficial prequel of "John Wick" and how he met his loving wife, but anyone who has seen director Victor Levin's "5 to 7" will know this is a through and through romance comedy with some truth bites in it. Invited to a wedding of a mutual friend, Frank, played by Reeves, and Lindsay, played by Winona Ryder, find themselves traveling to the wedding together as they reminisce with bitterness of their friends and the to-be married couple.

General Release Date: 20 September

Youngsters in the 1990s may have been inspired by the cool "Hung-Hing" brotherhood of "Young and Dangerous". In the almost 20 years since the franchise made its final instalment, some of the cast have moved on, while others have stayed in the movie business becoming actors and directors in their own right. "Golden Job" reunites the five 'brothers', Ekin Cheng, Michael Tse, Jordan Chan, Jerry Lamb, and Chin Ka Lok who will also direct, as five retiring con-artist planning for a final heist. Although "Golden Job" is not in any shape or form related to the beloved triad movies, but perhaps this would be the start of a new franchise for the older gangsters to appear in together for a while.

General Release Date: 20 September

Movies told from a computer screen has been a rising trend and a simple frame for filmmakers to reinvent some familiar genres. We've seen it being used as of late in the cyber horror field, but it only seemed natural that in today's world of social media and inter-connectivity, it would be the perfect place to set a thriller. Starring John Cho as a father whose daughter has gone missing, he opens up his daughter's laptop to find clues of her disappearance and where she might be. Astounding this year's Sundance with his feature debut to win the Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize and Audience Award, director Aneesh Chaganty brings up a new question that millennial parents may want to ask themselves, how much do we know our children and what do they do online?

General Release Date: 27 September