Category: Movie Reviews

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Drama Foreign Movie Reviews

Murder Of The Inugami Clan – A Detective Story That Triggers Childhood Memories

Woke up at 7am on a Friday morning, I switched on my phone an hour later and a text message arrived at my inbox: Murder Of The Inugami Clan?

Not a big fan of the genre of crime but I am happy to do a bit of give and take.  Who knows, one day the rest of the Movie Review Squad may yield to the genre of horror – something I love, and often watch alone.

Do you remember the days when you were still a young adult, grew impatience, and started to read books for the adults?  And you might have struggled to finish reading the books like me?  I remember vividly what types of books I read when I was very young: the genre of Wuxia and the Japanese detective novels translated in Chinese.

What hindered me back then hindered me this evening.  Japanese detective novels usually involve quite a number of characters and it is not easy to memorize who is who (in Japanese) as the stories develop.  “Murder of the Inugami Clan” triggers my childhood memory because the story is so similar to those that I have read when I was young: the sheer number of characters, the mystery, and the indescribable dark mood that overshadows the entire story.  The Japanese can be so creative, however illogical the stories can sometimes be.

Notable Japanese director Kon Ichikawa’s final piece of work (he passed away this year at the age of 92) has a certain darkness and bleakness within but not without a dose of humanity.  The story is set after the World War II and the wealthy Inugami patriarch passes away leaving behind a strange will with strange conditions.  A series of murder take place even before the will is announced; a series of past history begin to surface as the plot unfolds.  It is our detective’s job to put the pieces together and solve the puzzle.

I believe what Kon Ichikawa wished to retain is the traditional approach to film making as “Murder of the Inugami Clan” is a remake of his own movie created 30 years ago.  Some audience may chuckle at how unrealistic some of the murder scenes are.  I doubt if any such scene was at all realistic three decades ago.  Pockets of humor are scattered in making the film relatively more uplifting.  I personally enjoyed watching the acting.  Very old school.  (Yes, I did at times allow to watch TV when I was young and my favorite was and still is Japanese dramas).

Not necessarily a film to entertain but a film to admire without having to think too hard.  When our main character Kosuke Kindaichi, the detective, first checks into his hotel room, he looks out of his window, captivated by the beautiful greenery scenery of the mountain behind the lake,and he said something like: where a nation is defeated, nature endures.  So subtlety describes the feeling of people after the war.

Categories
Animation Movie Reviews

WALL·E – Quite Possibly A Must Watch Movie of 2008

I have high expectation on WALL·E.  Somewhat close to the level of anticipation I had with “Lilo & Stitch”.  And the movie delivers.  What a magical experience.  Don’t compromise.  Watch WALL·E in a digital format.

I walked into the theater with little knowledge of what the story is about beyond what I saw in the trailer.  What a lovely journey of discovery.  And I won’t spoil it for you here.  All I can say is that WALL·E is a timely movie talking about our environment and going green.

The jaw dropping budget of $180 million (equals to the budget of “The Dark Knight” and “The Golden Compass”) has the jaw dropping computer animation to match.  The beautiful scene of the galaxy, dust and explosion that appears so real, there are so much details that I wish I could slow down the frame rate and admire.  Beyond the eye candies is the characters’ ability to communicate feeling and emotion without words.  The filmmakers are able to mimic the essence of human body language and make the animated robotic characters alive.

I love sci-fi stories so naturally I love to watch this movie.  There are three nods from three of us in the Movie Review Squad.  So what are you waiting for?  And if you have time, check out the official site listed below.  It is quite possibly one of the most elaborated film website I have seen.  I can’t help but to marvel at the art of the animation.

Related Website: Disney Pixar WALL·E Office Site

Categories
Foreign Movie Reviews Romance

Cyborg She (僕の彼女はサイボーグ) – How Many Times Can You Alter Your Past?

I really love this Japanese film.  I am so feeling her heart  – an expression I learn from the film to describe a strong affection in a cyborg-human relationship: I feel your heart!  While the Americans are remaking the Korean success “My Sassy Girl”, the director of the aforementioned movie, Kwak Jae-yong, has created “Cyborg She”.

Let’s not look into the technical details of the paradox of time travel.  Besides, that would give out spoiler, which I don’t normally do without warning.  There are enough twists in “Cyborg She” that keep the audience in suspense all the way to the end.  The special effect of the Cyborg looks convincing, so are the scenes from a Japanese small town in the old days as well as ‘that disaster’.  The acting of the main actress Haruka Ayase (綾瀬 はるか) looks convincing too.  She is so pretty.  I read somewhere that she acted in that Japanese movie “Hero”.  She has certainly left a deeper impression this time.  If I may add, the soundtrack is great too.

Arguably one of the more original movies based on the concept of time, “Cyborg She” is my favorite romance story that involves time travel.  Exactly why the director Kwak Jae-yong likes to create female characters that are so overpowering, I have no clue.  But I always enjoy watching or reading stories that involve heroines.

If I must pick something to critic, some scenes appear to be repetitive and a bit too lengthy.  Then again, with such an eye candy, who really cares?

I have been pondering why titled as such.  “I, Robot” came into my mind.  If I think along that line, “Cyborg She” seems fine.  Time to wait for the DVD to be out!  Below is the trailer, with Chinese subtitles.

Categories
Diary Drama Foreign Movie Reviews

Under the Same Moon – Who Wouldn’t Want This Boy As One of Your Own?

A less than ordinary day of mine began with Cynthia’s facial appointment at Vivocity.  Armed with a book and my music collection, my plan was to sit down at a cafe somewhere and space out, which is what I am good at doing when I am alone – spacing out.  So I was at Coffee Bean – a local cafe – with my glass of coffee looking for a table.  Full house.  I turned to an old Chinese couple who, I supposed, have more or less finished their drinks.  My plan B was to quietly hide at one side of the round table, listen to my music, and read my book.

We ended up chatting for forty-five minutes, maybe an hour.  I seriously have no idea that I can actually speak Mandarin!  And certainly have no idea that I can understand that much Mandarin either given my Cantonese root from Hong Kong.  Amazing.

But that is not the end of the story.  Soon, this old couple’s son arrived, together with wife and a baby.  Now, for a brief moment, faced with a family of three generations at a cafe with me being a total stranger, it was kind of awkward.  I looked around, full house still.  OK.  I had a hearty chat with mainly the old couple’s son, for another forty-five minutes, maybe an hour.  We exchanged contacts before we parted.  I am no Owen Wilson.  But I swear I was thinking of the movie “Wedding Crasher”.  A truly enjoyable chat; way better than spacing out on my own.

Some human emotions do melt hearts.

The Mexican movie “Under the Same Moon” (Spanish title “La Misma Luna”) that we watched later in Vivocity melts hearts too.  I didn’t have a high expectation.  In fact, I chose to watch this because Cynthia and I are currently learning Spanish.

Several video editing glitches and slight over-dramatized plot aside (seriously who really think that stories by, say, Sophie Kinsella is realistic but yet we all love the plots), the emotions and the dilemmas people faced are as real as it gets.  The acting by and large is admirable.  And I wish to single out the acting of the little boy Adrian Alonso here.  There is a whole array of despair, determination, and delight for Adrian to act out in tears and in laughter.  Cynthia did cry and the film got my eyes watered.  It’s so easy to love this character – for his street smart approach and genuine devotion to the people around him.

This movie is a journey of a little boy finding his way to his mother separated by a country border.  The plot is well paced with the stories from the two sides of the border well gelled with one another.  Certainly a pleasant movie to watch and one that most can relate to.

PS. I recognized the little boy from the big screen but couldn’t pinpoint who he is.  Only Cynthia can recall such a detail: he has acted in “The Legend of Zorro”.  Now I know.

Categories
Drama Foreign Movie Reviews

Summer Rain – A Spanish Film Directed by Antonio Banderas That May Be Too Abstract Even for the Picture House Fans

Cynthia and I have just started our Spanish class so there is no reason to give this Spanish film a miss.  Before you read on, if you are not a huge fan of the European picture house movies, chances are you may not enjoy this at all.  Simply a fan is not enough, must be a huge one.  It’s slow; it’s random; it’s the seventies.

Now, with that expectation set, “Summer Rain” is Antonio Banderas’s second Spanish movie as a director.  Subtly, he expresses his own ambition and emotion to the Spanish film industry through the movie.  The Spanish title is “Camino de los Ingleses, El”.  That roughly translates to “The English Road” or “The English Way”.  Be it as “Summer Rain” or “The English Road”, both concepts relate directly to the story.  Perhaps the former one is easier for the audience to connect with.

Let’s look at how faithfully “Summer Rain” portrays Spain in the seventies.  The costumes, the sunglasses, the typewriters, the street scenes look authentic.  The attitude towards sex and relationship, I think that is pretty authentic as well.  The filming looks old fashion and so is the music.  And if you pay attention to the scene composition, time and time again, you would see a similar concept composed in different ways.  For instance, the dropping of the kidney into the bucket and the dropping of the same actor who has his kidney removed into the swimming pool filmed from underneath the pool; the sister who comes out from the balcony and steps back into the shadow and then later, the brother who does the same – both linked by a similar emotion; the beginning scene with a flower and a car drives passes by and the ending scene with the same angle but different flower, and with the same car that passes by – if you are into this sort of details, you may find the film an art to admire.  This dualism extends beyond scene composition.  It works its way into the characters as well.  A young boy’s hatred towards his porn star birth mother is in a relationship with a prostitute.  Irony?  Perhaps.  But there is no coincidence.

Another worth noting observation is that the sex scenes are extremely artistic.  Some of the scenes would have been really awkward to watch, borderline gross, but I think the filmmaker has managed to get the ideas across without turning the film into a pornography.  And some sex scenes are extremely seductive.  Just when I thought I have seen it all on big screens.  (Note: Please don’t watch this film purely based on what this paragraph says.)

The flip side, on the other hand, is that the storyboarding of the scenes can be a bit random and the abstractly lengthy narration – artistic to some – may not sit well with the majority of the audience.  The main story is straightforward.  One young boy comes out of the hospital with one less kidney and the book “Divine Comedy” in his hand.  He has decided to be a poet.  One young girl whose passion is to dance and is willing to do whatever it takes to attain that dream.  There are other friends of them whom each has a journey of his own to take.  Together, their fates intertwine and a new destiny is weaved.

But is it only one destiny?  To say more would be to give out the spoilers.  So I shall end my write-up here and let you decide if “Summer Rain” is for you or not.  It is a film with open interpretation.  And I personally am not sure if many of you may find the pain of going through this 2 hours film justifies the joy of a potential interpretation – if there is one for you that is.

*     *     *    SPOILERS BELOW     *     *     *

If you notice, the narrator always seems a bit detached from the movie.  He is physically in the story but he takes no part in how the story develops.  Or does he?  I think he ‘writes’ the story.  And what you see is just one version of the story.  Towards the end, as he says ‘another viewpoint’, the entire story is rewritten from the beginning.  There is a different flower by the road.  Subtle difference that may result in a different story.

Is the beginning scene how the story begins?  Or is there a mixture of concepts here?  Try to recall with me.  There is an image of the ballet dancer in the operation room, with the young boy alone without the doctors.  There is this young boy naked flying on top of the world looking so peaceful.  This young boy wouldn’t have known this dancer prior to the operation, would he?  I can only imagine that beyond the ending scene, he has been taken to the hospital after he is found sitting in a chair at the middle of the road the next morning unconscious.  And he has died and gone to the netherworld.  The opening scene could well be a mix of the opening and the end.

That brings up a good point here on Dante’s “Divine Comedy”.  Inside Dante’s epic poem that he journeys through the three realms of the dead – Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven, Beatrice is the ideal woman who guides him through Heaven.  Although the reference to “Divine Comedy” is limited, I can’t help but to visualize that this group of friends together with the abstract narrator have journeyed through the similar and if the linkage is too far fetched, that could contribute to one of the major weaknesses of this film.

Categories
Fantasy & Sci-fi Movie Reviews

The Dark Knight – Being the Rare One Who Cannot Connect to the New Bat Franchise

Erm.  Yawn?  Zzzz.

OK.  It is hard to write something knowing that over 90% of the population will disagree with.  And if I am to continue my ‘review career’, I have some serious recalibration to do.

Cynthia loves “The Dark Knight”; I had a headache watching it.  So what happens?  I will get to that in just a bit.

Great casting, no doubt.  The acting is rock solid especially from the late Heath Ledger and Aaron Eckhart.  Both I adore and respect a great deal.  Jack Nicholson’s Joker as far as I can remember is comical; Heath Ledger’s Joker is pure creepiness and madness.  Give Ledger his Oscar.  He deserves it.  Did Warner Bros. modify the ending to be sensitive to the circumstances?  I have no clue.  Warner Bros. did change the promotional campaign after Ledger’s death.

Just how much of the success of “The Dark Knight” is contributed by this unfortunate event?  I also have no clue.  What I do know is that I have done some serious reflection on why this film doesn’t quite work for me.

Maybe I am addicted to computer-generated imagery especially after that jaw dropping non-stop special effect of Hellboy II, “The Dark Knight” looks a bit bland to me.  I am not sure how most audience feels about the 153 minutes film.  But isn’t it a bit too, lengthy, with too many gaps of how-you-wish-there-was-more-entertainment-per-minute?

Sure I could overlook the above easily.  I love the Batman franchise.  I really do.  Probably one of my favorite superheroes.  If I close my eyes and think of Batman, I see a strong association to the flying bats, I see the bat cave, I see Batman sleeping upside down like a bat, I see a bat mobile with absolute sleekness, I see fast moving fights, I see a Gotham City so dark so thugs infested that induces fear, I see my heart leaps when Batman appears from nowhere, and I see myself living in a fantasy world captivated by its creator.  As I opened my eyes and watched “The Dark Knight” in a theater, I saw Batman making a rather unglamorous entrance, I saw Batman standing on top of the modern IFC building in my birth town Hong Kong (read: where is the fantasy when I know that the building was officially opened in 2003?) having absolutely no animalistic association to bats or whatsoever throughout the film, my heart sank.  If Batman was to stand on top of the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, I would have thought of the film “Entrapment”.  In fact, I did think of that film briefly while I was watching “The Dark Knight”.

And maybe I am still an old school when it comes to comic book adaptation.  I want to see frame-by-frame scenes composition; I want to see a rather simple storyline and I want to feel with and for my hero.  Anyways …

Having said all of the above, I can understand why “The Dark Knight” has a mass appeal.  Over 90% of the population loves this film, why wouldn’t you?  Can the gross revenue of “The Dark Knight” overtake the original “Batman” (1989) by Tim Burton?  Only time can tell.

OK.  I am done.  Back to my recalibration process.

Categories
Fantasy & Sci-fi Movie Reviews

Hellboy 2: The Golden Army – It is 4,900+1 Against 4+1!

Absurd as it sounds, I have high anticipation on Hellboy II because of Pan’s Labyrinth and the rather hot Selma Blair.  Why do I think that Hellboy’s girlfriend is sexy?  I have no idea.  Perhaps because of some of the past movies she made.

When I read that in this sequel, it is Hellboy and his team meet the magical creatures of the ancient time, I know much of the good essence of Pan’s Labyrinth will surface.  And truly so, it does.  The movie watched almost like a fantasy experience and I believe the director and writer Guillermo del Toro’s unique vision and attention to details has a significant role to play in breathing life into these creatures.  I suspect in time to come, people will remember these concepts and visions rather than the storyline.

I often confuse between Hellboy franchise and the Fantastic 4 and X-Men.  Fire, checked; huge red character that punches like a tank, checked; us and them, checked.  And I think in this installment, there are more character development.  They crack jokes, troubled by emotions, get drunk, probably this human side has earned the movie a high rating along side with the beautiful created special effects.  Some of the scenes are in such a scale that mind blowing is the only way to describe.

Hellboy II has certainly raised the bar for comic book adaption.  Now, any film in the horizon is going to top this? 

Categories
Action & Thriller Movie Reviews

The Bank Job – Nothing Like My Job For Sure (LOL!)

OK.  Bad joke.  I can’t remember the exact dialogue.  When I suggested to watch “The Bank Job” last week, my buddy TK was like, “Isn’t that your job?  9 to 5 is not enough and you have to watch it on big screen?”

Duh!

Cynthia couldn’t have put it better: Before “The Italian Job” and “Ocean 11”, there was “The Bank Job”.  If you have watched all of the above, you shall know what she meant.  And you know what?  If luck holds, we may have “The Brazilian Job” played by the same actor, Jason Statham.  It’s a sequel, that much I can tell you.

Now, check this out: British intelligence set up a robbery to gain possession of a safety deposit box containing incriminating sex photos of Princess Margaret.  How much of the story is true?  It’s impossible to tell.  The film producers claim that they have inside source.  Then again, this is UK you are talking about.  I always loved to read their sensational tabloids especially the weekend editions when I was a student there.  We need spice in life, we need to feed on gossips.

I love the rather complex plot of murder, corruption, and a sex scandal, and overlaid on top, a rather low tech bank robbery (it’s a crime committed in 1971 so what else do you expect?) that is not without its nail biting moments.  And I also love how this rather multi-dimensional storyline is being told with such fluidity.  Despite the fact that there are quite a number of characters and dialogues involved, each scene tells a concise piece of story that gels well with the next.  It’s not a movie that you can leave your brain outside the theatre, of course.  But it is not hard to follow either.

So is there enough chemistry between Queen of Troy (Saffron Burrows) and Mr. Transporter (Jason Statham)?  I think they are both fine English actors and if there was more passion between the two, even for the imaginary character of Martine Love that does not exist in the so-called true story, it wouldn’t be believable.

Categories
Movie Reviews

Wanted – OMG, It’s Angelina Jolie (with a Gun)!

Though I must say, the focal point is at James McAvoy instead.  But still, I simply love Angelina Jolie with guns (think “Lara Croft” and “Mr. & Mrs. Smith”) and I love her attitude too.  One of a kind, truly.

You’ve got to have quite a strong stomach to take in those over the top intensive scenes that have the pace and the music to match.  My recently self-diagnosed sensitive stomach did give me some warning signals on and off throughout the show.  I guess that is a good indicator on how intense “Wanted” is.

Yet another comic book adaptation and it is created by the Scottish graphic novelist Mark Millar.  Something different from the typical American comic book style I suppose.  A kind of strange storyline that involves a thousand years old organization called The Fraternity and these assassins – who have some sort of superhuman abilities I suppose – take in order from a textile loom coded with the target’s names under the microscope.  What a strange concept, to kill as dedicated by destiny to keep the Universe in balance. 

There is nothing much to say on the acting or character development of “Wanted”.  Is it entertaining?  Yes.  How so?  There are enough surprises within the plot to keep the film moving.  Some of the computer generated images and sequences are just jaw dropping.  Time slows down, at times reverses, to depict some physically impossible moments.  Some scenes are just comical.  Lots of blood for sure.  But if you have got the stomach and in for some fast pace intensified entertainment, why not?

I won’t even mention about Angelina Jolie’s sexy back from shoulder to … oh well, I missed it while reading the subtitles.

Kidding!  Ha ha ha!

Categories
Drama Foreign Movie Reviews

10 Promises to My Dog – A Sweet Japanese Movie That Has Mass Appeal

Ask ten people who have or had dogs as their companions and you may hear ten unique, at times breathtaking stories.  Without giving out any spoilers, “10 Promises to My Dog” is not one of those typical Hollywood films that involve a dog that saves the world.  There is no adventure of that sort.  Instead, it’s a story of a young 14 years old girl Akari, her parents, her childhood friend, and a dog named Socks.  A simple story that emphasizes on the little events in life that bond companions, difficult choices and sacrifices people make in the name of ‘family’ (and in this case, Socks included of course).  The story is then being fast forwarded to 10 years later when Akari grows older, reunited with her childhood friend, and something in life do change, some don’t.

Within this rather depressing storyline, the magic of the casting (again, Socks included) turns the entire mood of the movie around, like a fireplace in a cold winter night.  The 14 years old young and sweet actress Mayuko Fukuda (福田麻由子) is certainly one of my favorites.  Such a sweet personality and smile she has that matches so well with the puppy (a Golden Retriever?).  It is such a joy to watch the younger version of Akari.  The amazing thing is that the actress who plays the older Akari, Lena Tanaka (田中麗奈), is just as sweet.  If I am to pick one tiny detail to critic, I would say that while the casting of the 28 years old Lena Tanaka is still believable, having the 34 years old actor Ryo Kase to play the supposed to be 24 years old childhood friend of Akari is a bit far off.  My friend TK and I thought that Ryo Kase is selected because he is a professional guitar player in real life as demanded by the plot.  After some research at home, he is actually one of the actors who played in Clint Eastwood’s “Letter from Iwo Jima”.

Anyway, details.

Besides the dog and the girl (or girls counting the young and older ones), I also enjoy watching the acting of Akari’s father – so loving, so sincere.  I would suppose the ten promises Akari has made to the puppy are a good reminder to those who already have pets as their companions as well as those who consider keeping one.  There have been rather sad stories of owners abandoning their pets after realizing that there is a certain responsibility in keeping a companion.  And I personally think that some of these promises are good reminders on how we shall treat our own family and friends too.  If I could take home one theme, that would be the so-called obligations or sacrifices made however restrictive and confining at times don’t necessary make my world smaller but instead, make me a real person (as in not living in my own world I guess).

In the end of the movie when the theme song sang by BoA was played, Cynthia’s eyes were swollen with tears.  I asked when she has started crying and she told me that since the puppy appeared on the screen.  Oh dear, how can one cry for more than an hour in this 117 minutes movie?

Below is a movie trailer without subtitles.