Category: Movie Reviews

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Action & Thriller Movie Reviews

Street Kings – Originality Aside, It’s One Entertaining Flick

Street Kings

I have to admit: the casting can’t get better than this.  Perhaps, it’s a bit too good.  Imagine these strong associations in my head while watching the movie.  At the beginning scene, the supposedly alcoholic Keanu Reeves puked at the toilet bowl and I kept thinking of “Constantine” (it’s the cigarette and lung cancer instead of the booze but a similar bathroom scene).  Besides, who better to take on a role whose wife has died before the show begins?  How about Forest Whitaker who acted as our crazy “king” in the world of corrupted cops stepping in and out of different characters?  That is so “The Last King of Scotland”.  When Huge Laurie’s first appearance is in the hospital (remember “House”, the TV medical drama series?), I nearly flipped.  Fortunately, Huge plays a cop instead.

I can understand why “Street Kings” receives a mixed review.  The storyline is not original.  It is the same old all-cops-are-corrupted story with some cops want to right the wrong and once for all, clean up the mess.  Within our Movie Review Squad, TK gives a thumbs up.  Cynthia being a keen supporter of Keanu (I am tempted to use the word “fanatic”) of course adds in her toes as well besides her thumbs.  I personally like the show for a different reason – Forest’s acting is such a joy to watch.  From the audience’s reaction in the theater, he has definitely got the crowd engaged whenever he steps into the spotlight.

A fast pace engaging storyline that you should have little to complain if you are not looking too deep into the story.  A well crafted plot I must say.

Categories
Movie Reviews Romance

Definitely Maybe – There Is A Girl Whom I Really Like!

Definitely Maybe

I often marvel at how Western film titles are being translated in Chinese for the Hong Kong market (which can be different from the China market).  Take “Definitely Maybe” as an example.  It is translated into “愛情三選一” that loosely means “Choose One from Three in the Name of Love”.  OK, the Chinese title is a lot more poetic and cuter than it sounds in English.  And it definitely relates to the plot of the film better.  My favorite movie title translation is still “愛.誘.罪” for “Atonement”.  The three characters literally mean love, temptation, and crime, which sum up what the story is about.  And because of the phonetic similarity of the second Chinese character, the title has a dual meaning of “Love is Crime” when spoken, which also coincidentally reveals a slice of the story.

Back to “Definitely Maybe” – a title inspired by a line from possibly the most memorable scene – the plot is as simple as what the Chinese translated title suggests: choose one girl from three.  There are a college sweetheart (Elizabeth Banks), a reporter (Rachel Weisz), and a copy girl (Isla Fisher).  On the day Hayes (Ryan Reynolds) receives a divorce paper, his 10 years old daughter Maya (Abigail Breslin) suddenly gets curious about what her daddy’s love life is like after a lesson on … sex education.  To make the storytelling interesting, Hayes uses fictional names so as to keep the story engaging for Maya, and the audience I suppose.  The film extends beyond the flashbacks into the present time of Maya and Hayes.  By and large predictable but has its charm with a rather engaging, unusual, and entertaining storyline.  There are quite a few memorable scenes as well.

I missed the little girl Abigail Breslin’s Oscar nominated film “Little Miss Sunshine” and she may be too young for me to remember her performance in “Raising Helen” and “The Princess Diaries 2”.  I did enjoy her role as Zoe in “No Reservations” and am still a big fan of hers.  Her role as Maya in “Definitely Maybe”, I guess, is rather limited.  That’s one of my complaints (and I don’t really like the guy too!).

When Cynthia, TK, and I walked out of the movie theatre, we thought very hard on who Isla Fisher is.  Out of all the (grown-up) girls, Isla Fisher is my favorite.  When Cynthia mentioned “Wedding Crashers”, I still have no recollection.  At home I did some research and ah-ha!  She was one of the sisters in “Wedding Crashers” – the sex mania.  OK, now I remember that I did like her in that film too.  She has also acted in the famous Australia soap opera “Home and Away”.  Looking at the period of time she was involved in that opera, very likely I may have watched some of the episodes back in UK when the series was (still is?) pretty big over there.  Maybe memory does play funny tricks to us sometimes.

I was apprehensive when I first heard that the filmmakers are making a film out of my favorite chick-lit series “Shopaholic”.  When I read that Isla Fisher is taking on the role of Rebecca Bloomwood, all my worries have melted away.  Now, let’s hope that the scriptwriters are not going to screw up the plot.  “Confessions of a Shopaholic” is only the first installment from Sophie Kinsella’s 5-book series (so far).  The chance to see Isla Fisher more on screen is a definitely maybe.

Categories
Drama Movie Reviews Romance

The Other Boleyn Girl – How Accurate I Wonder

The Other Boleyn Girl

Knowing that I was about to recover from my flu, Cynthia tapped onto the Sunday morning paper and said, “I want to watch number 1, 2, and 3.”  “What’s number 1?” I asked.  She said something and I replied, “Huh?  What boleh girl?” (‘Boleh’ in Malay means ‘can’, which ironically is not too far from the plot).  It was not as hilarious as my friend TK whom we met later at the cinema.  He joked: The Other Boon Lay Girl.  (‘Boon Lay’ is a small housing estate in Singapore.)

“The Other Boleyn Girl” has both the talented Natalie Portman (TK and I are big fans of her) and the beautiful Scarlett Johansson as the main actresses.  To top it up, Eric Bana (my favorite Hector of Troy!) played King Henry VIII.  I had no idea what to expect from the movie and I came out of the theatre feeling a bit more aware of some of the important events in England such as the breaking away from the Roman Catholic Church and the birth of Queen Elizabeth I.  I certainly had no idea the importance of the role played by Anne Boleyn and Mary Boleyn – the sisters acted by Natalie and Scarlett.

The life of King Henry VIII is rich and complex.  Married six times and having a few mistresses of his own, “The Other Boleyn Girl” portrays only a facet of his life – his affair to Mary Boleyn and his marriage to Anne Boleyn.  If the film sticks to the original intend and tell a story from the other Boleyn girl’s perspective – that is Mary played by Scarlett – it may have been more focused and intense.  But we all know how captivating Natalie’s acting can be and she does have a lot of air time in the movie.  In that sense, I am not sure if I was watching The Boleyn Girl instead.  Validity of the historical accuracy aside, I too find the casting of two Americans and an Australian with little or no British accent to play these main English characters odd.

There is little doubt that the acting is great.  And Natalie Portman is such a versatile actress.  If you try not to think too hard on what one man would do just to get a baby boy of his own or how all of these was a bloody mess due to one man’s lust, it is actually quite an entertaining romance drama to watch.  “The Other Boleyn Girl” does seem to me like a prequel to the more epic movies “Elizabeth” and “Elizabeth: The Golden Age”.  In such, the reminiscence of Natalie Portman’s role as Queen Amidala as sequel to the epic movies of Star Wars episodes is quite startling – to me at least.

Somehow there is a yearning within me to learn what exactly happened to Anne and Mary’s lives during their time.  The plot of the movie may not have done the history justice.  And I wonder, will the filmmakers hundred years down the road be fascinated by the stories of Prince Charles and Princess Diana and make a movie out of their lives?  One thing I am sure is: royal scandals sell – especially ones that come with sex and blood.

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Diary Fantasy & Sci-fi Movie Reviews

Of The Spiderwick Chronicles, Shopping, And Wedding Dinner

The Spiderwick Chronicles

“I have nothing to wear,” I screamed in desperation.  “How about that blue shirt of yours?” Cynthia suggested.  No way I was going to wear that for a wedding dinner because I have already worn that on another one.  OK, don’t panic.  Simply hit the Orchard road and pick something.  The dinner was at 7.30pm.  I have just woken up from a nap because I had to get out of my bed at 4am to send my mom to the airport.  And while I was in Orchard, why not catch a movie?  My movie partner in crime TK tried to convince me to go for the 5.30pm show, I could go to the wedding dinner directly, and he would take care of Cynthia’s dinner and send her home.  Sounded like a good plan except … I needed to return home and iron the shirt that I was going to buy right before the wedding dinner (story continues after the movie review).  So Cynthia and I went for the 3.30pm show instead.

We have no expectation for “The Spiderwick Chronicles”.  I booked it because TK suggested it.  Based on a series of children’s books written by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black, the movie adopted 4 (out of 5) books from the chronicles.  Like I always say, good stories usually make good movies.  “The Spiderwick Chronicles” is quite a neat piece of work with clever plots and enough wonders to captivate.  We were so worried that it would turn out to be that children’s fantasy movie starring a nerdy boy wizard with a pair of out-of-fashion spectacles (yuck!).  It’s not.  And it does have some frightening scenes too.  More for mature kids I guess.

Some critics don’t like the film’s over reliance on special effect.  I think, until the day when magic does exist in this world and we could actually film it, special effect is the way to go.  I thought they have done a pretty good job on that (perhaps I am bias because I did study computer graphics).  The acting to me is average (compares to Bridge To Terabithia).  The storyline is not as complex – and perhaps less violence – than Pan’s Labyrinth.  “The Spiderwick Chronicles” does seem like a mix of “Jumanji”, “Panic Room”, and “King Kong” to me.  I swear, that griffin riding scene reminded me of the online game “World of Warcraft”.  My character rides that thing day in day out!

A movie that probably won’t wow you but has enough entertainment value to captivate you in this land of faeries, troll, and goblins.

Now, back to my crisis.  There aren’t that many men’s shops in Orchard as compares to the ladies and I have this path of ‘destruction’ starting from the Esprit near Cineleisure (which has been relocated), to Takashimaya, tunnel to Wisma, and ends at Topshop.  I wish I had more time for shopping!  In the end, I picked a simple, casual, and tight fit (erm … not that tight) white shirt and a skinny tie from Topshop.  We thought it would be fun to try something different and …

… OK, I think I have overdone that a bit for a wedding party.  But hey!  Who cares?!  And it is good to see so many familiar faces at my ex-colleague (now buddy of course) Anderson’s wedding dinner.  Almost like a mini reunion.  Surreal to say the least.  You see, my ex-workplace has such a high turnover rate that seeing each familiar face reminds me of a particular juncture in that shit hole of my career.  Some memories are fond, some are less so.

Anyway, it is a good party and good to catch up with some good friends whom I haven’t seen for a while.  The next wedding (from the same ex-workplace) is … a few weeks down the road.  And I think I am the MC … *gasp*!

Categories
Drama Foreign Movie Reviews

Sky Of Love (Koizora) – Starring Yui Aragaki (新垣結衣)

Sky of Love (Koizora)

I can’t help but to draw similarities between my favourite Japanese star YUI and the 19 years old model turned actress turned singer Yui Aragaki that go slightly deeper than just a name resemblance and a birthday that is only 3 months apart. Both starred in a rather sad movie (“Midnight Sun” for YUI), both look so pure and cute and innocent, sound so pure and cute and innocent, and both released a studio album after the show (I will review Yui Aragaki’s new album in my next post and YUI’s albums are “From Me to You” and “Can’t Buy Me Love”) with very similar vocal texture as well.  But as a true fan of YUI, what do I make of Yui Aragaki?

Music talent to be addressed in a separate post, Yui Aragaki does have acting talent for the romance drama genre.  It is hard not to fall in love with her on the screen (though I must say, Cynthia was more delighted by the main actor Haruma Miura instead … those sexy lips she said).  I had no idea what “Sky Of Love” was about.  I wasn’t even sure if it was a tear jerking movie at all.  All I knew was that the novel that the movie was based upon was once featured on paper late last year.  A cell-phone novel that took the Japanese market by storm.  I read that the cell-phone novel genre tends to have short sentences (hence a rather short and engaging plot development?) and chided by the old school novelists.  Initially, this cell-phone novel was hosted in one of the Japanese websites amongst many others.  I guess if the story is good, it doesn’t matter where it started.

In a few short and vague words, “Sky of Love” is about a young girl falling in love for the first time, vowed not to fall in love again, and found courage to love someone forever.  Cynthia criticize this particular genre as something that comes straight from a template; every Japanese or Korean tear jerking movie tells the same story.  I do agree that they are all there to basically jerk your tears.  But if you look at the typical Hollywood action thriller or romance or any type of mainstream movie, there are always three stages of the plot: the development, the conflict, and the resolution.  I learned that from the PC game “The Movies” (hey, geeks can be quite ‘knowledgeable’ by playing games too you know!).

Sometimes I ask myself, why do I love the Japanese or Korean or Thai horror movies if I don’t really scream that much?  Or why do I love the Japanese or Korean romance drama if I don’t really cry?  Anyway, Cynthia in her own words told me that she cried till she got a headache.  TK used the same amount of tissue paper as Cynthia for a totally different reason (running nose … ha ha ha).  I am not sure what TK’s friend makes out of the movie.  I may be bias.  I personally like this movie very much – both the storyline and the acting.  Predictable storyline most of the time, there are some rare moments that delight and surprise.

Related Blog Entry: Yui Aragaki (新垣結衣) – Sora (そら) – Girlie Voice, Good Song Choice, But Doubtful Vocal Skill.

Categories
Drama Movie Reviews

There Will Be Blood – Daniel Day-Lewis

There Will Be Blood

There will be a bunch of viewers leaving the theater feeling enchanted by the Oscar winning performance of the lead actor and mesmerized by the cinematography of the late 1800’s and early 1900’s America.  There will also be a bunch of viewers who find the film too long (160 minutes), the storyline too inconclusive, and the acting too intense.  For all that is worth, “There Will Be Blood” is not meant to be released as a blockbuster though it has made it to the top 10 best films of 2007 by the critics.

You know what it is like to read a book from the good old days.  The plot of this film has an old literature feel, which is not surprising as it is inspired by Upton Sinclair’s novel, “Oil!” written in 1927.  ‘Inspired’ is the keyword because the film only adapts the first half of the book.  Imagine how long the film would be had it covered the entire book (320 minutes?!).  In the defense of this rather inconclusive storyline, Paul Thomas Anderson did write the screenplay with Daniel Day-Lewis in mind as the lead actor.  That probably explains why the entire film centers mostly on one single character, the silver miner turned oil man Daniel Plainview played by Day-Lewis.

I am a huge fan of Daniel Day-Lewis and love his roles in “The Last of the Mohicans”, “In the Name of the Father”, and “Gangs of New York”.  His acting-in-character approach works well in “There Will Be Blood”.  You can clearly see that he was not acting in the film but has rather become the character.  It can be scary to watch because the main character Daniel Plainview is not necessarily the most likeable character in the film.  The main character itself is complex.  Daniel Plainview is the down-to-earth-get-your-hands-dirty kind of person who devotes his entire life in the pursuit of success.  He takes in an orphan as his son and as a ‘business partner’ to enhance his image when dealing with the communities.  He accumulates enough hatred along the way and does not hesitate to kill.  He has no faith in religion but yet is forced to join a Christian community as part of a business deal.

In “There Will Be Blood”, you will see Daniel Day-Lewis drenched in oil, covered in mud and dirt, slapped on his face till his cheek turned red, and shouting with such an animalistic emotion till you see saliva dripping from his mouth.  Gosh, there are only a handful of actors who are in his league.  Plenty of memorable scenes in this film, I can certainly see why Daniel Day-Lewis has beaten George Clooney (“Michael Clayton”), Johnny Depp (“Sweeney Todd”), and Viggo Mortensen (“Eastern Promises”) for the Oscar title by a large margin (note: I have yet to watch Tommy Lee Jones’s “In the Valley of Elah”).

I can imagine one day in the distant future, I will watch this classic production again reciting some of the lines together with Day-Lewis (“I drink your milkshake!” or “I’m finished!”).  Is “There Will Be Blood” suited for mass consumption?  Probably not as I think it is a film to admire rather than a film to entertain.

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Animation Movie Reviews

Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis – A 2D Animation With Impact

Persepolis

Yet another voted as top 10 films of 2007 by the critics, I have got to drag my Movie Review Squad to check out this Oscar nominated animation from France featuring an Iranian young girl living through the Iranian Revolution (the film itself is in English).  So much faith they have on me, I was kind of worried that it would be a let down once the 2D animation appeared on the big screen.  TK did not even know what he was getting himself into!  Neither was Cynthia I suspect.  All I said was: trust me, trust me, this is good stuff.  It was not a disappointment to them, phew!  In fact, they seem to enjoy the film more than I do.

I am not a huge fan of 2D animation though I must say, the last two 2D animation films we have watched – The Simpsons Movie (America) and Paprika (Japan) – were pretty good.  This film “Persepolis” is based on Marjane Satrapi’s autobiographical graphic novel of the same name and is co-directed by the author herself.  I was not sure if “Persepolis” is indeed an autobiography therefore I watched the film thinking that it was fictional.  In any case, the little details and mostly personal events of someone who has to live through the Iranian Revolution as portrayed in the film were convincing enough for me.  You may laugh through some of the dark humors in the film, which helps to lighten up the mood, but overall, this film may have much impact to you emotionally.  It is almost like a documentary film on what common people in Iran has to live through during the revolution and to face the long Iran-Iraqi war (1980-1988).

“Persepolis” is mostly cast in black-and-white or monotone color theme during flashbacks and in color during the rare present time storyline.  The animation certainly retains much of the comic book feel and I personally in awe of the artwork.  2D graphics are simplistic.  And to generate emotions from simple images, to me, seems hard.  However, “Persepolis” has done a great job in communicating the underlying emotion from the way a character moves, the subtle change in shape of the eyes, the extension of the lips, to the mad heavy rock music and dance moves.

Good stuff or not, you decide.  “Persepolis” is definitely not one of those films that are meant to purely entertain.  You may possibly walk out of theatre feeling a bit more aware of what some of the Iranians have to go through in their daily lives.  For a better understanding on the Islamic development and why Iran and Iraq is constantly in conflict, I would still recommend the book “Islam”.  In case if you wonder what Persepolis is – like I do – Persepolis was an ancient Persian capital and is now in Iran.  Persepolis is also a World Heritage Site as declared by the UNESCO.

Categories
Comedy Drama Movie Reviews

Juno – Comedy Drama Doesn’t Come Better Than This

Juno

Drama is my favorite genre.  This time, the talented young actress Ellen Page is not going to experiment with how to trap a pedophile and cut his balls like she did in “Hard Candy (2005)”.  Instead, her character, a 16-year old Juno, has become pregnant and decided to find the perfect couple to adopt her baby.  The winning formula of this critically acclaimed and box office success ($156 million gross from a $6.5 million film is pretty good) in my opinion is: a believable storyline, a lively script, great soundtrack of Indie music that goes so well with the movie’s theme, and the superb acting of Ellen Page.  The script is so good that keep you smiling throughout the show.  There are just way too many memorable scenes, from beginning to the very end.  The storyline has enough opportunity for Ellen Page to shine.  Amidst the rather unfortunate incident of teen pregnancy, the portrait of a Juno’s pro-life journey warms audience’s hearts.  Juno is not the sweet young girl as you may imagine.  She is more like a slightly grown up version of “Hard Candy” – sharp-tongued with attitude, without the balls cutting kind of angst – laterally – of course.

Voted by the critics as the top 10 film of the year 2007, “Juno” shouldn’t disappoint at all.  It is worth checking out when you have time.  Who knows?  “Juno” could be the very first Blu-ray movie I own now that Blu-ray has won the format war.

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Fantasy & Sci-fi Movie Reviews

Jumper – Now, I Wish I Could Do That

Jumper

I am not going to deprive you the pleasure in discovering what “jumpers” are or where they come from – though I doubt if you can find all the answers from watching the film alone.  It is rare to find a film that despite having so many flaws, it is still very entertaining to the core.  Thanks to all the marketing effort, who wouldn’t be enticed by the film trailer or even that scene on TV whereby Hayden Christensen (as the main character David) took Ryan Seacrest to the Sphinx in Egypt, and then “jumped” back to the show, where Seacrest introduced the American Idol Hollywood week episode?  Besides, the director has my favorite movies “The Bourne Identity” (2002) and “Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005)” under his belt.  TK was shocked to realize that I didn’t even do my thorough ‘homework’ before booking the tickets like I normally do.  Hey, I can be quite spontaneous too, you know! Ha ha ha … While Cynthia and I have super high expectation on “Jumper”, TK didn’t expect much from the show – which in the end the film exceeded his expectation and met ours.

The truth is, I adore the OC girl Rachel Bilson from that teen TV series with a capital A.  Never mind if she can act (as Cynthia constantly pokes fun at me). In fact, I don’t think our Anakin Skywalker Hayden Christensen can act either (as I constantly poke fun at her).  And this pair of main characters were selected to replace the original casting as the producer needed more star factor for the film.  Not only that, the screenplay was rewritten as well.  Despite all that has done to save the film, I think the biggest flaw lies in the original science fiction novel by Steven Gould.  I often think that great novel makes great movie and it is hard to make a good movie out of a bad novel.  The differences between the novel and the film, as I have later researched, can be quite interesting.  By and large, the film adaptation has made the story more entertaining except one single flaw: the ancient background history of Brian Cox (played by Samuel L. Jackson) who pursues the “jumpers” that forms the core of the film is just silly.  It opens up too many questions that cannot be answered.

Acting and stupid storyline aside, the special visual and sound effects make the rather short film (90 mins) entertaining to watch.  Even after the movie, Cynthia and I were fantasizing being able to just jump through space and skip all the walking or having our car to zoom through the traffic conditions.  The scenery shots are great.  In fact, some people whom I talked to (like the dude who washed my hair this morning at the salon after realizing that I was researching the movie with my wi-fi phone, he said to me, “Great movie!  I love seeing so many places!”) see that as a big plus.  I personally love the scenes shot in the real Colosseum that supposed to be a rare access for filming.

My favorite quote from the film is “only God should have the power to be in all places at all times – Samuel L. Jackson”.  My favorite actress?  Gosh, I adore Rachel Bilson .  Have I mentioned that already?

Categories
Documentary Movie Reviews

This Film Is Not Yet Rated – Hard To Relate To

 

It is hard for me to relate to the magnitude of filmmakers’ disappointment after being handed a NC-17 rating in America (no children 17 and under admitted) when here in Singapore, we have the R21 rating (for above 21s). Nor do I necessarily agree with the proposition that rating should be given and can be appealed based on precedence because though I do not necessarily agree with the censorship here in Singapore, one thing I learned is that films should be rated based on the current tolerance of the society.

But if I could put myself into the shoes of an American independent filmmaker, I would certainly feel the frustration having to go against the MPAA’s film rating system (Motion Picture Association of America) that in general favors the big studios.  “This Film Is Not Yet Rated” attempts to uncover the mechanism behind this rating board.  The original cut was given a NC-17 rating and the new version – that is not yet rated – includes the appeal process undertook by the film director Kirby Dick.

Overlapping a set of at times entertaining and at times serious interviews is a rather interesting journal that documents how Kirby Dick hired a private investigator in an attempt to uncover the identities of the MPAA rating board members.  Some parts of the movie are entertaining such as when different movie clips are shown as an illustration on how inconsistent the rating system is.  Some commentaries are informative such as the topic of why violence is so much easier to obtain a non-NC-17 rating compare to sex.

Maybe I am secretly comparing “This Film Is Not Yet Rated” to my favorite documentary film “Bowling For Columbine” by Michael Moore (or even “Super Size Me”).  “This Film Is Not Yet Rated” seems to lack the depth and authority and probably not as funny as what some critics have mentioned.  While I wouldn’t go to the extend to say that it is a must-watch for those who are frequent movie goers (like some reviewers actually do), “This Film Is Not Yet Rated” is certainly a good starting point to understand how the MPAA rating system affects the mainstream Hollywood films that in turn may affect the American culture.

Is “This Film Is Not Yet Rated” going to change how films will be rated in America?  Only time can tell.