12/05/2025

MONDAY | MAY 12, 2025

25

LYFE

Reel excellence o Movies currently showing, coming to Malaysian screens CINEMA SPOTLIGHT

Halabala Director: Eakasit Thairaat Cast: Chantavit

Dhanasevi,

Nuttanicha Dungwattanawanich, Anon Saisangchan, Yasaka Chaisorn Release date: April 3 Reckless inspector Dan is given a final chance to redeem himself before he is able to return to his post in Bangkok, but it leads him down a perilous path involving deranged gang leader Tup Ta Fai who has fled into Halabala, a forbidden jungle that is also home to the Batow, a tribe of cannibals. Cast: Liam Neeson, Pamela Anderson, Paul Walter Hauser, CCH Pounder, Kevin Durand, Cody Rhodes, Liza Koshy, Eddie Yu and Danny Huston Release date: July 31 Only one man has the particular set of skills to lead Police Squad and save the world. Lt Frank Drebin Jr (Liam Neeson) follows in his father’s footsteps in The Naked Gun. The Naked Gun Director: Akiva Schaffer

I Know What You Did Last Summer Director: Jennifer Kaytin Robinson Cast: Madelyn Cline, Chase Sui Wonders, Jonah Hauer-King, Tyriq Withers, Sarah Pidgeon, Billy Campbell, Gabbriette Bechtel, Austin Nichols, Lola Tung, Nicholas Alexander Chavez, Freddie Prinze Jr and Jennifer Love Hewitt Release date: July 17 When five friends inadvertently cause a deadly car accident, they cover up their involvement and make a pact to keep it a secret rather than face the consequences. A year later, their past comes back to haunt them and they are forced to confront a horrifying truth – someone knows what they did last summer and is hell-bent on revenge. One by one, as they are stalked by a killer, the group discovers this has happened before. They then turn to two survivors of the legendary Southport Massacre of 1997 for help.

Ejen Ali The Movie 2 Director: Usamah Zaid Yasin Cast: Ida Rahayu, Noorhayati Maslini, Shafiq Isa and Azman Zulkiply Release date: May 22 Ali will face off against Rizwan, a rogue Mata agent, along with the villainous duo, Dos and Trez, in a new mission to save the futuristic city of Cyberaya. Star Wars: Starfighter Director: Shawn Levy Cast: Ryan Gosling Release date: May 28, 2027 A standalone adventure that takes place several years after Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker , Starfighter will feature all-new characters set in a period that has yet to be explored on screen.

Papa Zola the Movie Director: Nizam Razak Cast: Nizam Razak, Ieesya Isandra, Ezdiani Ahmad Fawzi and Anas Abdul Aziz Release date: December 2025 A mix of action, humour and heart, wrapped in a thrilling, gamified invasion storyline with strong themes of family and heroism.

J-pop mega-group Arashi to disband after final tour SINCE debuting in 1999, the five-member boyband have Japanese news programmes for much of last Wednesday.

“(The group’s) dissolution is immensely sad and my brain cannot quite process the information yet, but thank you so much for creating one last opportunity for us to see you all,” one fan wrote on X. Even Japan’s top government spokesman offered a tribute, describing Arashi as the “national idol group that has commanded a big presence with (its) numerous hit songs”. “(The group has) also taken on the role of promoting Japanese culture overseas, and collaborated multiple times with the Japanese government to this end,” Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters. Arashi’s former talent agency Johnny and Associates admitted in 2023 that its founder and music mogul Johnny Kitagawa, who died aged 87 in 2019, had for decades sexually molested teenage boys and young men under his tutelage. – AFP

rocketed to stardom with its catchy, chart-topping music to become the face of Japan’s now-defunct boyband empire Johnny and Associates, before going on a hiatus in 2020. Fans have since been anxiously awaiting news of its return to the spotlight and last Tuesday, the group said in a bittersweet announcement that it will perform once again next spring, except that will be its final act. “In the last year before our hiatus, we could not perform in front of you due to the pandemic. The five of us will now reunite,” Arashi’s wrote on X, adding that the group members, now in their 40s, will start preparing for a concert tour scheduled for around spring next year and it will be the group’s last. An outpouring of gratitude and lamentations soon inundated social media, with the prospect of the group’s disbandment dominating

Pop group Arashi, comprising of (background from right) Masaki Aiba, Sho Sakurai, Satoshi Ohno, Kazunari Ninomiya and Jun Matsumoto, performing a song. – AFPPIC