As is tradition, new Chinese films will open in Pittsburgh for the Lunar New Year. In 2019, it's new films The Wandering Earth (流浪地球) and Pegasus (飞驰人生) premiering across North America, and playing locally at the AMC Loews Waterfront.
The South China Morning Post summarizes The Wandering Earth, considered China's first big-budget science fiction film.
The film portrays how a group of intrepid Chinese astronauts save the world from the brink of annihilation due to the imminent destruction of the sun. Like Hollywood space movies where Americans are portrayed as the only ones capable of saving humanity, here Chinese astronauts are the sole adventurers among the global space community determined to complete the arduous task of fending off the apocalypse.Wikipedia has a summary of Pegasus, the directoral debut of social media icon---and race car driver---Han Han.
In spite of such overt patriotism, the film is spectacular for its ceaseless stream of hair-raising close-shave encounters and apocalyptic landscapes oozing desolation and despair. There is also a touching subplot involving family bonds at the centre of the mission to save the earth.
Zhang Chi (Shen Teng) dreams of his former life in the racing world while tending to his fried rice stall. He sees a smug younger generation of drivers racing and decides to return to driving. The drama of the plot pivots on Zhang Chi having no car, money or teammates while has driver's license pends re-examinationTickets and showtime information for The Wandering Earth and Pegasus are available online via Fandango. The theater is located at 300 West Waterfront Dr. in the Waterfront shopping complex in Homestead (map), across the Monongahela River from Greenfield, Squirrel Hill, and the rest of Pittsburgh.
