Category: Fantasy & Sci-fi

Same reason why I have to catch Ocean 13 asap, I found myself inside Orchard Cinelesiure the second time in the same week. And what’s up with Cinelesiure? It is perpetually crowded with youngsters dressed in hip outfit. Is this the school holiday period? Check this out. We spotted Singapore Idol contestants Joakim and Paul Twohill both dressed in black sitting outside the cafe at level 4. Paul Twohill still has the same hairstyle.

Why do I watch Fantastic Four? Democracy. We all take turn to pick our favorite movies. Why does Cynthia pick Fantastic Four? When I asked her that question, she gave me that look as in … “Duh? Why do you need to ask? Isn’t that obvious?” Me being who I am, just kept asking. Turns out that she is a fan of the comic book (oh no … another thing in common with Benny, my sister’s boyfriend) and she finds the dude (Chris Evans) who can turn into a fireball at will cool and adorable. Fine. With that, I have secured my license to drool over Jessica Alba for the entire 92 minutes of the movie in whichever angle I want.

Many deem the first installment a total failure. Majority of the reviews on average rated it as below average. Some people I talked to find the first installment entertaining especially those who walked in with no or low expectation. So, why do movie goers still have such a high level of anticipation for “Rise Of The Silver Surfer” (source: a number of blog sites I visit as well as from friends around me)?

That I have no clue. I personally am not a fan of Fantastic Four. Taking the team of four apart, they do not have strong individual identity nor can be a standalone hero. Yet as a team, they are not as diverse as X-Men nor as colorful as Hellboy and his fellow agents. I think I shall stop here or else Cynthia won’t iron my casual clothing anymore.

“Rise Of The Silver Surfer” is no doubt better than the previous installment. On top of the same old problem they have to fight, now they are faced with a problem as big as galactic annihilation. Something out there is destroying planets. Can Fantastic Four stop it in time? This storyline itself has handed Fantastic Four the wow factor that the only sci-fi movie that comes close is perhaps “The Fifth Element”. Actually I am jealous. Why doesn’t Spiderman fight something of that galactic level? Why don’t the X-Men be united – heroes and villains and humans – and fight something of that galactic level? Supported by the nicely done computer generated graphics and the sound effects (love some of the soundtracks), the film does give the movie goers the feeling of watching something epic taking them to the four corners of the world. The film also devotes time to develop the characters, which is what I enjoy watching.

So is “Rise Of The Silver Surfer” a must-watch? I think the flaws in this movie may unfortunately limit it to “for fans only”. Jessica Alba (as Sue Storm) kind of looks awful in this movie. What’s up with her makeup? I begin to doubt if she can act at all. Talking about acting, Ioan Gruffudd’s (as Reed Richards) acting is not impressive. One scene seeing him dances is, to me, purely unwatchable. I still prefer him acting in the Medieval setting like his role as Lancelot in King Arthur. And I can’t feel the chemistry between these two who are supposed to get married. I can’t comment on Michael Chiklis (as Ben Grimm) because most of the time he is a rock. Chris Evans’s (Johnny Storm) acting is okay and to the least, I do feel the brother-sister love between him and Jessica at the crucial parts of the show.

So, what’s my final say? A movie with enough to entertain if you can overlook some of the flaws.

The rest of the Movie Review Squad was busy last Tuesday so once again I was empowered to make that one important decision – which movie shall we watch? I read that the Thai sex thriller “The Passion” and the Chinese erotic film “Summer Palace” are both terrible. The only reason why the theaters are full for these two films is because sex sells. Hence I only have “Bridge To Terabithia” and the dated but popular Korean comedy “200 Pounds Beauty” to choose from. I read that “Bridge To Terabithia” has generally good reviews so I took a risk knowing that it is a kid movie I was getting the Movie Review Squad into. Cynthia texted me that Straits Times reviewer Ong Sor Fern has written a bad review on “Bridge To Terabithia”. More the reason why we should watch that as I consistently disagree with her for more than 10 long years and I love that consistency while still hating what she writes (is she even aware that the film “300” is originated from a comic book?! … such an outraging review).

Based on a novel of the same title written by Katherine Paterson in 1977, “Bridge To Terabithia (the movie)” is 90% reality with 10% fantasy – contrary to what others expected as an after-school version of “Harry Potter” or “Pan’s Labyrinth” or even the kid movie “Chronicles of Narnia”. A rare friendship found between two teenagers – one who paints and one who composes fantasy stories – that do not quite fit in their social environment and together they have created “Terabithia” and have become the King and Queen of this new fantasy land. It has a rather gloomy side to the plot that challenges both teen actor and actress’s acting skill. I must say both Josh Hutcherson and AnnaSophia Robb (acted in “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”) have raised up to the challenge and I enjoy every moment of their acting. I see both of them will have a long career in the entertainment business.

“Bridge To Terabithia” is one of those few movies that Tong Kiat, Cynthia, and myself enjoyed in a positive way. (Can you enjoy something in a negative way? Sure you can.) Some claim that “Bridge To Terabithia” is a classic in this genre. I am no expert in this particular genre but I cannot recall another kid movie that comes close to “Bridge To Terabithia”.

It must have been 10 years since I watched a movie at Bugis Junction. Two days ago, Cynthia and I were dining at our favorite Thai restaurant at The Heeren and we were wondering what has happened to our Movie Review Squad that has been out-of-action for two weeks. We blame it to the lack of good movies available. Perhaps the good ones have been held back for the summer blockbuster release. Suddenly, a thought came into my mind: Spiderman 3. So I picked up the phone and sent Tong Kiat a text message. I love modern technology. A single thought was converted into 3 online movie tickets through a chain of signals in a matter of minutes.

What I adore more on modern technology is the arrival of the new Sony’s true 4K digital cinema projector that has a resolution of 4,096 by 2,160-pixel (hence “4K”). This level of resolution has overtaken the current HD standard. That is to say, watching movies at a cinema yields a better visual experience than watching them at home for some who can afford a home theater system. Tong Kiat told me via text messages that we had two options for “Digital 4K”: VivoCity or Bugis Junction. Frankly speaking, so long as the seating is good, I care less.

I care less because I know that parking is going to be horrendous for either mall. The difference is that for VivoCity, you spend 45 mins to an hour driving inside the car park hunting for an empty lot while for Bugis Junction, you spend roughly the same amount of time queuing outside the car park.

I remember how impressive the first episode of “Spiderman” was. The computer generated effect of how Spiderman navigated around the high-rise buildings was jaw dropping at that time. I also loved the chemistry between Spiderman and his girlfriend M.J. These positive attributes carried over to the second episode. Entertaining as these two episodes were, I did not find the storyline memorable at all. This new episode though is different. It is about love and friendship in the theme of revenge and forgiveness whereby it is how one makes his or her decisions that defines character. That, is a memorable theme. Storyline aside, as someone who has studied computer graphics, the scene of the “birth” of Sandman was perhaps the highlight of my evening. How did they do that?! Love the music that accompanies the scene too.

Edit: Gosh, I forgot. This episode is the most hilarious of all too.

If I am to rewrite the synopsis of the movie, it would be: “The Fountain” is a love story about Doctor Tommy (Huge Jackman)’s quest in racing against time looking for a cure for his terminally ill wife Izzy (Rachel Weisz). Torn between time spent in research and and in accompanying Izzy for her last moments, Tommy increasingly found himself fighting a losing battle. Inspired by her husband’s passion, Izzy has written a story called “The Fountain” set in the 16th century leaving the last chapter for Tommy to finish. In Izzy’s story, it was the hero (Huge Jackman)’s quest for the Tree of Life that may save the Queen of Spain (Rachel Weisz) from the oppressive inquisitors. It was Tommy’s circumstances and passion to his wife, his quest for not only a cure but potentially a drug to stop dying, and the meaning of immortality that set one man’s journey in finding a deeper meaning to life and death.

Then again, such a synopsis may not sell as compare to the original synopsis that has a greater sci-fi flavour. Just that to me, “The Fountain” is not exactly a sci-fi movie as expected from reading the original synopsis.

The three stories link well with one another. The love story between Tommy and Izzy is emotional and got Cynthia crying most of the time (lesson learnt: try not to leave tissue papers in the car). The fantasy story between the hero and the queen is a decent story on its own – full of hope and suspense. The sci-fi story about this Buddha looking guy, the future version or immortal version of Tommy, is abstract and for me, it is probably my favourite part of the story because it has got me thinking in many ways. Three stories intertwine and influence the outcomes of one another.

Cynthia and I was pondering what exactly this Tree of Life is as neither of us remember the details (I think most people remember the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Bad better).

Then the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and he placed there the man whom he had formed. Out of the ground the Lord God made various trees grow that were delightful to look at and good for food, with the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and bad (Genesis 2:8-9).

After the man was tempted by his woman who was in turn tempted by the snake to eat the fruits from the Tree of Knowledge that God has instructed them not to, God was not pleased.

For the man and his wife the Lord God made leather garments, with which he clothed them. Then the Lord God said: “See! The man has become like one of us, knowing what is good and what is bad! Therefore, he must not be allowed to put out his hand to take fruit from the tree of life also, and thus eat of it and live forever.” The Lord God therefore banished him from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he had been taken. When he expelled the man, he settled him east of the garden of Eden; and he stationed the cherubim and the fiery revolving sword, to guard the way to the tree of life (Genesis 3:21-24).

There you go. This is how “The Fountain” has loosely linked to the Tree of Life. I wonder if any avid bible reader immediately associates the fiery sword held by the priest who guarded the Tree of Life in the movie with the text in Genesis. In case if you wonder what a “cherubim” is (like I do), a cherubim is the second of the nine orders of angels in medieval angelology.

I asked my friend TK to surprise me with a movie selection and so he did. Watched “District 13” on the newly opened Cathay Picture House. I love it. Cynthia loves it. I am sure TK loves it too. An action film by Luc Besson with a unque concept of a no man’s land (District 13) set in Paris 2010. Go watch it.

Verdict: 8/10
Cons: Lack of novelty, remind you of other movies
Pros: Wonderful character development

I have not watched the original King Kong movie and so to me, this was an entirely new experience. The director surely took his time in developing the characters and hence the 186 minutes show. Although there are scenes after scenes that reminded me of other movies and I do end up with a few questions in my head, it is overall a pleasant experience. Quite a number of girls sobbed towards the end so bring lots of tissue papers for you and your partners.

Warning: Spoilers inside.

I can’t help but to keep thinking of Jurassic Park when I saw the prehistoric reptiles chasing scene. It was quite entertaining to watch (the girls next to me were laughing and giggling throughout) but lack of the feel of real danger. When the group encountered super sized insects, that particular scene reminded me of Spaceship Troopers and Aliens. Now, question #1, how could a boy who didn’t know how to use a machine gun rescued a man being attacked by a number of insects by … firing into the man? The accuracy was amazing considering how close the insects were.

Personally I am confused with the relationship development with Ann Darrow (played by Naomi Watts) and Jack Driscoll (played by Adrien Brody) and with King Kong as the third party. There are lots of screen time between Ann and King Kong (hence the name of the show I guess) but there isn’t much a love story between Ann and Jack. Considering how Jack risked his life in finding Ann and how Ann without a second thought to jump back from King Kong’s embrace to Jack when Jack appeared.

I must say Ann looked stunning great even after all the falling through the grassland, diving into puddle of muds and her endurance was amazing running bare feet through the jungle, suffered numerous falls, as well as the roller coaster experience while held by King Kong. That reminds me, I find the computer simulation a bit odd when King Kong swinging Ann up and down before eating her up as a human sacrifice. It was as though King Kong was in some sort of ecstasy. Very unnatural to me.

And how did they manage to move the subdued King Kong from the Island to the ship that was anchored offshore with half of the men dead by this island adventure? Oh well …

Like I said, I have not watched the original King Kong. I would prefer to see a more intelligent plot of how Ann saved King Kong from her world (versus King Kong saved Ann in the island) rather than an aimless heading to the top of the tower fighting fighter planes. Don’t get me wrong, the sunrise scene was beautiful. But it is just rather painful to see the rather long ending. This is the same King Kong who singlehandedly killed three Godzillas simultaneously. I couldn’t help but screaming “do something!” in my head when I saw the defeat sinking in.

Perhaps that’s why it is so successful.

Looking back, I may not be remembering all the Jurassic Park scenes or Aliens scenes but each of the private moments between Ann and King Kong do burn deep in my heart.

Yet another foreign film showing at the Arts House, how can I resist? Immortal is a sci-fi film by the famed Yugoslav-born graphic novelist and director Enki Bilal. New York City 23rd centry with futuristic buildings and transportation infrastructure no less than The Fifth Element, where somehow all creatures live in different level. The highest level of all? A pyramid, where the gods reside.

What captivated me the most was the ending sound track by Venus. The title is Beautiful Days.

The storyline is somewhere bizzare but yet simple. It was about Horus, the falcon-headed Egyptian God who has only seven days to live. It was about a girl named Jill who could be an alien. And it was about a polictical prisoner, Nikopol, who has been cryogenised for 30 years. The main story was about how Horus has used Nikopol’s body to impregnate Jill.

Bizzare it is. Entertaining, definitely in an art way.

The ending song was a great song composed by Venus. A French band I have not heard of and the album can only be found in FNAC (a French music chain store). I manage to source out the lyrics. See below.

I wish i was mad
Fucked up and done
I wish i was bad
And completely wrong

I wish i was made
Rebuilt-up and fake
I wish i could lie
And never could fail

And live some beautiful days
In a magical place
Beautiful loves
Perfect and straight
Beautiful days
In a magical place
A new dream is born
The new freaks have come

I wish i was fast
And crazy as a dog
I wish i could last
As long as the gods

I wish i could be
Perfectly free
Wish i was a creep
Wish i made you bleed

And live some beautiful days
In a magical place
Beautiful loves
Perfect and straight
Beautiful days
In a magical place
A new dream is born
The new freaks have come
Beautiful days
In a magical place
Beautiful loves
Perfect and straight
Beautiful days…