Category: Movie Reviews

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Fantasy & Sci-fi Movie Reviews

Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer – Is This Better Than The Previous One?

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.

Categories
Action & Thriller Movie Reviews

Ocean’s 13 – It’s Brad Pitt and George Clooney Again!

These days I wake up shocked by the reading on the clock. I have got to do something about it. 4.30pm I sent two text messages to my Movie Review Squad. Unfortunately TK was stuck in the office doing testing on what my best guess would be … something to do with satellite coordinates. Normally I would postpone the outing but my mother will be landing in Singapore this Thursday. Quick! Go watch some movies before having to give my mother undivided attention for … 2 weeks or so.

Did you know that Ocean’s 11 is a remake of a 1960 heist film? The Ocean franchise has the trademarks of an intricate plot, a cast loaded with movie stars, and treasure to steal. Ocean’s 13 is no different except first, the plot is much easier to follow than 11 and 12 (of course the downside is there is not one big “ah-ha” resolution of the plot in the end that makes you absolutely want to watch the movie again). And second, both Julia Roberts and Catherine Zeta-Jones are not amongst the cast. Julia Roberts was pregnant during the filming of the movie. Too bad. I really think having two ladies in the team kind of balance out Ocean’s team configuration nicely. On the plus side, having Al Pacino as Willie Bank added much weight to the acting. As for the rest of the crew, I always enjoy how Brad Pitt and George Clooney acted together in the Ocean series finishing off each other’s sentences. I can’t believe that I am writing this in my blog but Brad Pitt is actually very … cool! I enjoy Matt Damon’s acting as well. Such a talented actor he is.

If you have already watched Ocean’s 11 and 12, there is no reason why you should give 13 a miss. I remember how confusing it was when I first watched Ocean’s 11 due to the number of characters. Familiar does pay off for Ocean’s 13. What if you have not watched Ocean’s 11 or 12 yet? I hardly think it matters. The stories are pretty independent from each other.

Ocean’s 13 is a good movie. Go watch it unless you are not into this movie genre.

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Animation Movie Reviews

So We Watched Shrek 3 One Day Before Cynthia’s Birthday

Tuesday nights are traditionally the nights when the Movie Review Squad comes out and watch some movies. Tonight (June 5th) was no different – except we were celebrating Cynthia’s birthday one day in advance as well. Buddy TK picked up the bill and that is very nice of him. We were dinning at that Japanese restaurant previously featured in my blog and like the last time, we have to infiltrate the service area of Hyatt Hotel in order to travel all the way from Fast East Plaza to Cineleisure in time for the movie Shrek 3.

Many people try to compare between the episodes like which one is better than which. To me, they are all Shrek and they are all funny in their own ways. Not that I remember any of the plots anyway but you know what the Shrek franchise is like – entertainment with the capital E. Personally I prefer Princess Fiona in human form (prettier that way ya?) and fortunately, Shrek 3 has more eye candies like Snow White and Sleeping Beauty. Shallow I know but it is not as though you can derive any “moral of the story” from any of the Shrek episodes anyway.

A funny movie with lots of laughter from beginning to end.

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Diary Foreign Movie Reviews

Undon + Our Mission KJ + Nambantei

While Agent C is on overseas secret assignment (I honestly do not know of the nature of her trip except “business” and “take care of some family affairs”), Agent T has handed me a new assignment: go and find us a Korean or Japanese movie to watch this weekend. Roger that!

Agent T and I both wish to watch “Blades of Glory”. Since Agent C vows not to watch it with us, what better way to spend our weekend than to watch “Blades of Glory”? 3am on a Saturday morning I gave it some thoughts but hey, two guys enter into a theatre laughing over a show with two gay-ish looking guys ice skating as a pair with hands touch each other’s bodies? A little bit gross eh? So I have decided to stick with my original mission and suggested a Japanese movie “Udon” instead. The last show was at 8.15pm and knowing Agent T has a secret military training in the late afternoon (he has, I swear), I texted him at 3am with the minimum number of characters (something I have learned from him) – 2015 can? I switched on my phone in the late morning and got the reply: MC today, can. Excellent! “Udon” it is (by the way, udon is a type of Japanese noodle).

1815 – I exited the highway and faced a traffic jam.
1830 – Agent T called me. I told him that I would be there in 10 minutes (I was wrong).
1845 – Agent T called me again. I asked him to head to that restaurant he wished to go and order for me.
1900 – Running on my feet from Taka to Far East Plaza.
1905 – Received a multimedia message from Agent T with a picture of the restaurant and address (ya, that’s how agents work … receiving the next bit of information as we proceed).

To give myself some credit, I arrived just minutes after Agent T was seated. The Japanese restaurant – Nambantei – is on the 5th floor at Far East Plaza and it is cosy. They serve mainly Teriyaki food – meat grilled over fire. The chef I believe is a Japanese. He remembers what each table has ordered and his assistance is responsible in retrieving the food from the refrigerator and making markings on what seems like a colorful spreadsheet on paper. Tracking inventory perhaps?

Service was excellent. I think they have one waitress for every 2 or 3 tables. When the food is cooked, the chef will hand it out onto the counter right in front of customer’s face. The waitress will then moves the dish that is inches away from the customer to customer’s table. Customer takes the food from the dish and the waitress will then clear the dish. Kind of complex eh? At times I just grabbed the sticks from the dish in front of me – if I managed to beat the waitress that is.

Food was good and I will definitely return one day. We were in a hurry so Agent T took a short cut route. We entered into Hyatt Hotel, infiltrated the service area and took the service lift to the 3rd floor. The interior was dark and I saw beer machines along the corridor. A lot of tables and furniture and beds at the service area and when we exited the hotel, there were a bunch of drivers apparently waiting for their clients’ call. Not too far a distance I saw a sign: Do not trespass – private property. Too late.

I chose “Udon” because it is a different kind of Japanese movie. The hero of the story left his home town chasing his dream to be a stand-up comedian in New York only to return after years of fruitless attempts. It was then when he developed a passion for udon making his hometown a place for “Udon Pilgrimage”. The movie is so real to me that for a moment, I thought this “Udon City” does exist in Japan. If you are looking for something different from the typical Japanese tear jerking romance productions, you may wish to check out “Udon”. My only reservation is that the movie does seem a bit too long. The actress Manami Konishi is quite an eye candy though (see picture on left). Oh, another thing is … try not to watch “Udon” with an empty stomach. You will regret it.

On a final note, both Agent T and I do enjoy the movie.

Categories
Fantasy & Sci-fi Movie Reviews

Bridge To Terabithia – Lived Up To Expectation

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”.

Categories
Foreign Movie Reviews

Priceless – Fans Of Audrey Tautou Rejoice!

I am a huge fan of the French actress Audrey Tautou, ain’t no shame in it. Captivated by her award-winning French film “Amélie”, I try to follow her career in as much as I can. Like “The Spanish Apartment” and its follow-up “The Russian Dolls” as one of the characters in a romance drama between a group of friends with different nationalities, like “Pretty Dirty Things” as a lowly paid Turkish Muslim girl who works under a sexually predatory boss – one of the characters that portray what some of these immigrants have to live through, and like “A Very Long Engagement” – a romance drama that is dated back to World War I where imagination can become reality, worldwide viewers are mesmerized by not only her characteristic big eyes but also her fine acting. If you still don’t know who I am talking about, perhaps you may wish to recall the main actress played in “Da Vinci Code”. Yes, it was her – one of the French iconic figures known to the world.

I like “Priceless” because it is good to see Audrey Tautou finally took up a more “normal” role and have showed the world how mature, sexy, and seductive she can be – a side that I don’t recall seeing often on screen. “Priceless” is a romance comedy of a girl who preys on rich men for their money and a man who pretends to be one only to find out that this plan of his is not sustainable. You may call this a chick-flick but I have not seen one with so much acting in it. I am not sure how the female audience reacts but it is certainly a feast to my eyes to see Audrey Tautou dressed in top French branded fashion – from head to toe.

You may wish to watch the trailer from the film website though I feel that they have given out too much of the plot. Only take a look if you don’t mind the spoilers. Click here to access the film website.

Categories
Fantasy & Sci-fi Movie Reviews

Spiderman 3 – The Most Memorable Of All

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.

Categories
Action & Thriller Movie Reviews

Fracture – Great Acting And I Can Understand Why People Love It

Within the Movie Review Squad, we have a dividing preference towards movie genre. For instance, I love horror movies but it is a no-no for Tong Kiat and Cynthia. Tong Kiat and I love Japanese and Korea tear-jerking movies but Cynthia does not. And Cynthia and I know that the slow pace lengthy art movies are best to be watched in the daylight as Tong Kiat will certainly fall asleep inside the movie theater. “Fracture”, starring Anthony Hopkins and Ryan Gosling, fall under the category of both Cynthia and Tong Kiat love it while I am okay with it.

In fact, I am more impressed with the Japanese dinner that Tong Kiat has bought us. He was particularly happy that day and to celebrate this happiness of his, we have our second visit to this restaurant that has a sizable staff strength of authentic Japanese and it is much frequented by the Japanese in all sort of nice clothing. What a lovely scene to watch! (I am especially impressed with some of the … erm … quality of the Japanese waitresses.) The restaurant has expanded taking more of the outdoor space. The food quality is still good but the service level has dropped significantly. I forgot the name of the restaurant but it is by the canal near to Grand Copthorne hotel that is just a stone throw away from Great World City (okay, more like a few long stone throws). There are two Japanese restaurants along Waterfront Plaza so apply common sense and choose the more posh looking one with lots of Japanese. The food variety is different from the generic Japanese meals that we so commonly see in Singapore.

Back to the movie “Fracture”, had I booked it at one of the Cathay cinemas, we would have missed quite a bit of the show. For once, I was glad that it was GV and they usually have 20 minutes of advertisement before the show starts. The movie scheduled to start at 9.15pm and at 9.10pm we were still at the restaurant waiting for our bill. My Movie Review Squad contemplated to walk back to Great World City because it would only take 5 minutes. Walk we shall not! I span the car out of the car park with such a zest that Cynthia and Tong Kiat have to remind me that we have just eaten. My car dashed out of the car park exit, cut across 4 lanes of traffic, made an U-turn, and I felt as though I was testing a new potential F1 circuit in Singapore. By the time we strolled into the movie theater, the show was yet to start. Hooray!

I enjoyed the quality acting of Anthony Hopkins. I have always been a fan of his films. I wouldn’t go crazy on Ryan Gosling but I know Cynthia does. Okay, his acting matched up to his counterpart Hopkins. I am more interested by Rosamund Pike who played in “Die Another Day”. She is so pretty and poised. In fact, if she was to play the role of the prosecutor, I would have given this movie a 5-star (I know, I can be shallow sometimes). And did you know that Rosamund Pike did her study in the same University as mine and not only that, same college (Wadham that is)? If only I was born 7 years younger …

Anyway, without giving out any spoilers, “Fracture” is a movie full of twists and turns with believable plots coupled with believable actings. It is a classic movie of murderer versus prosecutor, exploitation of loopholes in law, making the morally right decisions, and crime scene investigation. The script is tastefully humorous at some point that helps to lift the mood of such a serious movie up a bit. My biggest issue with the movie is that I don’t like the beginning and I don’t like how the plot comes to an end. It is not forgivable that such a meticulous murderer can make two simple mistakes. However I do like the actual ending though. For some, the prosecutor is their hero. Weird to say, I admire the wit of the murderer.

Categories
Foreign Movie Reviews

Love And Honor – The 3rd Installment of Yoji Yamada’s Samurai Trilogy

I shed half a tear at the ending scene, which is rare as I have an enormous resistance to tear jerking moments in movies – and “Love And Honor” is not even a sappy love story. See for yourself if this is some sort of coincidence. Cynthia is not in town so what should my good friend Tong Kiat and I do? Eat durian and watch a Japanese movie! Without even planning for this (I had no idea that the only Japanese movie showing in Singapore at the moment is this one) or even before, every time a Yoji Yamada’s samurai movie is released, I have always ended up watching it with Tong Kiat while Cynthia has an overseas business trip in all three counts. Tsk, tsk, tsk … little things in life that tickles.

When I first told Tong Kiat that Cynthia would be out-of-town, both of us arrived at the same single word … Durian! And when thinking of durians, the word “Geylang” suddenly lights up in my head. Now, seasoned readers of this site certainly remember the last trip to Geylang (erm … the red light district of Singapore) with my friend Tong Kiat (see previous blog and you’ve been warned!). This time, Tong Kiat suggested taking me to another place for durians … one of the last few Opposition Strongholds in Singapore. Over dinner, it was hard for me not to crack some silly jokes on Singapore politics that I am used to. What is a joke to me may not be that funny as we were surrounded by majorities (and minorities in a national scale of course) who do not vote for the government. Overall, the food was good, parking was horrible (and I nearly joked that had the people in this region love the ruling party more, a multi-storey car park should be on its way), durian was so-so. Hey Tong Kiat, let’s go back to Geylang next time for durians!

Since “Love And Honor” is showing exclusively at Golden Village, we have no choice but to watch it at VivoCity. I personally enjoy watching movies at Cathay cinemas. Who in the right mind would want to pay more for a movie and to be forced to watch 15 minutes of advertisements before the show? Movies at Cathay cinemas always start on time with no or very little advertisements. The booking fee at Cathay is half of GV some more.

Parking at VivoCity was horrible. To avoid jamming up the entire street outside VivoCity – the biggest mall in Singapore – that certainly inconveniences the traffic going into Sentosa, the island resort, the car park attendants kept letting cars in even though the car park was full. Nearly all the slots that can be illegally parked were taken out. Being the law abiding citizen, I spent 45 mins inside the car park looking for a space. My friend Tong Kiat has decided to go the illegal way. In this case, being law abiding did not pay off.

Now, why am I talking so much on food and shopping mall without going directly into business – a movie review? I hesitated in revealing the plot of “Love And Honor”. When Tong Kiat asked me over dinner on what the plot was about, I simply said: bring some tissue papers. Simply put, it is a movie about samurai and it is a movie about love and honor. The duel scene got me intensely excited (I was more like … oh no, oh no, don’t let that happen!), the honor scenes made my blood boiling, and the love scenes made me shed half a tear. I am not sure if you have heard of the other two installments: Twilight Samurai (2002) and The Hidden Blade (2004). “Twilight Samurai” is a classic. Both Tong Kiat and I had no difficulties in remembering what it was about. We did have difficulties in remembering what the 2nd installment was about. Tong Kiat remember the title while I remember the fighting of the clans. I have to say, “Love And Honor” is my personal favorite amongst the trilogy. It is movies like these that let us the foreigners to have a quick look at what the culture and tradition was like during the old days of Japan. These little details can be fascinating to the curious minds.

Categories
Drama Movie Reviews

Conversations With Other Women – Original in Cinematography, Not Original in Storyline

There are two sides to every love story ...

It is my first time watching a movie in split screen from beginning to the end. In fact, split screen filming is not common. I can think of the TV series “24” that has employed this technique and probably there are some other productions out there but that is it. The idea is that instead of the traditional cut scenes, you get to watch the actor and actress’ immediate facial and body response while reacting to the lines of his or hers counterpart. This can be powerful. As an added feature, the film maker allows the audience to do their own editing, to focus on whichever part that interests them most. “Conversations With Other Women” managed to pull off because Aaron Eckhart and Helena Bonham Carter do have great chemistry in the movie. The sacrifice though is the lacking in tastefulness of the backdrop. I compare this movie with “Before Sunrise” and “Before Sunset” that are similar in nature with “Conversations With Other Women” but with much better scenery and backdrop. “Before Sunrise/Sunset” is an art. “Conversations With Other Women” seems like an experiment.

When watching “Conversations With Other Women”, I could not help but reminiscing my favorite movies “Before Sunrise” and “Before Sunset”. The story of “Conversations With Other Women” started with a man flirting with a woman in a wedding reception and guess what? They have a past history of passion decades ago and the woman has a flight to catch in a couple of hours’ time and to return to her own family. Sounds like the storyline of “Before Sunset”? I screamed rip off in my head while watching the movie.

From the scripting perspective, “Conversations With Other Women” does have its clever moments. It directs the audience to pay attention to the details in both screens and more clues are dropped as the story unfold. I have got to say, there are some romantic moments that though I wish it was Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy who acted out the parts instead, I think these moments are brilliant.

It is certainly a novelty in watching a split screen movie. Most of the time both screens are synchronized in terms of timing. Other times especially when the couple is recalling the past, one screen shows the present while another screen shows the past. It is interesting to note that the split screen effect also serves as a visual metaphor of two people who are apart trying to get together.

On a side note, Helena Bonham Carter looks familiar but I could not pinpoint which are the movies she has acted in. In fact, she has a long list of movies and TV series under her belt including some of those that I know such as Hamlet, Frankenstein, Fight Club, Planet of the Apes, Big Fish, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and the voice behind Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit and my favourite Corpse Bride! She was gorgeous when she played Ophelia in the movie “Hamlet”. That was back in 1990 when she was 24! How time flies.