Four Films You Must Watch

The Call of the Wild

A dog named Buck is stolen with the aim of being sold to be a sled dog. He escapes and finds a home with John Thornton. Together they set off on an adventure into an area where no one has ever been before. From braving the rapids in a canoe to avalanches(雪崩), to wild animals, the two are on the adventure of a lifetime.

Wonder Woman 1984

Believing “whatever anyone dreams of, they can have it”, British archaeologist Barbara Ann Minerva is transformed into the Cheetah, a predator(捕食者)who hunts and devours humans. Meanwhile, Diana Prince is amazed and thrilled to see Steve Trevor, who appears in 1941. She helps him get used to the era as they try to stop Cheetah from killing people.

The War with Grandpa

Grandpa Ed moves into Peter's bedroom, forcing him to go upstairs into the creepy attic. With the help of his friends, Peter thinks up outrageous plans to drive Grandpa out of his bedroom. But Grandpa is tougher than he looks. Rather than giving in, Grandpa plans to get even. The laugh-out-loud movie makes us happy indeed.

Brittany Runs a Marathon

Try Brittany Runs a Marathon, when you need a touch of cheers, or some funny moments. After visiting the doctor, Brittany realizes that she needs to start losing weight to avoid serious health problems. The idea of deciding to run a marathon at first is so crazy to her but once she gets into it she sees things change, including her friendship, her romantic life, and the willpower she never knew she possessed.

The sun is going to expand into the orbit of Mercury according to scientific calculations, which will result in the entire Earth catching fire, killing all life on the planet. In order to survive, the United Earth Government installs about 10,000 giant engines on the Earth to power it away from its initial orbit and flee to Alpha Centauri. The whole trip is expected to last 2,500 years, during which time humankind will go through about 100 generations. Yet, as the Earth approaches Jupiter, the gas giant's huge gravitational force captures the planet and threatens to tear the Earth apart within days. Who will save the world?

This imaginative tale is at the heart of the science-fiction movie The Wandering Earth. The original novel was written by Liu Cixin, one of China's most remarkable science-fiction writers and a winner of the 2015 Hugo Award for his novel The Three-Body Problem. Unlike many American space-themed films where the solution to a disaster the Earth faces is always fleeing the planet, people in the film are taking the Earth with them. The film, which is the country's most successful science-fiction film of all time, has offered a different and more ambitious idea. The “ambition” doesn't come from nowhere. For thousands of years, the “homeland” has taken roots in the hearts and minds of Chinese people. One old idiom that shows a strong feeling that Chinese people have had for their homeland is “luoyeguigen”, which means returning to one's homeland at an old age, like fallen leaves returning to the roots of their tree.

More importantly, The Wandering Earth is the first “made-in-China” science-fiction movie on the big screen, as the original novel was written by a Chinese author and the director, Guo Fan, is also Chinese. That's just the point. It means domestic movie production teams have matured enough to develop new ideas on the creative basis of science-fiction writers, while the writers are willing to work together with movie productions so that the film results in the best possible performance. Liu may be a highly regarded science- fiction writer in China, but he is not the only one. There are many more writers with rich imaginations, and their works can be adapted for movies as well.

Cats is a musical play, which tells a humorous and heart-warming story about a special relationship between a cat and its owner. The cat, Alma, lives with Madame SoSo, an opera actress. When Madame practices singing, Alma softly sings along. Madame doesn’t know Alma’s secret. In fact, she doesn’t pay much attention to Alma at all, but on the night of the big performance, Madame comes down with illness. At last, Alma is given a chance to prove that it’s not an ordinary animal. Alma gets success.

The play is successful, because it attracts people who have ever longed for success and being focused on. Cats first opened in the West End in 1981 and then on Broadway(百老汇)in 1982. It won a lot of awards, including Best Musical at both the Laurence Olivier Awards and the Tony Awards.

The London production ran for 21 years and the Broadway production ran for 18 years. Both set new records. Actresses Elaine Paige and Betty Buckley became particularly connected with the musical. One actress, Marlene Danielle, performed in the Broadway production for its entire run from 1982 to 2000.

Since 2015, Cats has been the third longest running show in Broadway history from 1997 to 2006, surpassed only by The Phantom of the Opera and Chicago. Cats is the fourth longest running West End musical.

It has been performed around the world many times and has been translated into more than 20 languages. In 1998, Cats was turned into a made-for-television film.