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A Nutshell Review : Final Destination 2
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The saga continues with Final Destination 2 , where Ali Larter returns as Clear Rivers ( how can you take anyone seriously with a name like that ? ) , in a sequel which rehashes the same premise of premonition and therefore death avoidance , and the survivors this time round getting picked off one by one in similar violent fashion fit only for the screens . The one with the powers this time is Kimberly Corman ( A . J . Cook ) , who along with her buddies are going on a road trip . However , she sees a violent accident along the highway they were supposed to travel on , and prevents herself , her mates and a whole host of drivers in other vehicles from going on that ill fated strip , so before you know it , they defeat death's design for them . But Final Destination says death will return to get the souls already earmarked , and here , the same drill applies . Despite the filmmakers here being a totally different team from the original , there are bouts of acknowledgements all around that ties the second movie to the first . Like the setting of the film exactly a year after the first , the return of Ali Larter , and a realization that all the characters here have indirect ties to those in the original . It might sound like a bad case of coincidence , but this is movieland after all . The highway pileup is interesting enough , though the jarring censored bits in this locally pressed DVD made the best bloody bits unavailable . And there were new rules and conditions shared in this sequel , which is probably a good thing to prevent it from being just an extension of the first . What made it a little more riveting was that the characters here experience that feeling that nothing is worse than having to know you have to die , and then waiting for it to happen . The first had most of them pretty much clueless , or much against the ridiculous idea , but here , the group had that set aside pretty quickly , and nothing is more fearful than waiting for your time to expire . The finale suffered though from needing to meet its self-fulfilling prophecy , but made up for it with its totally wicked ending . It doesn't lead to the third movie ( each can work as a stand alone ) , but for those who did not watch FD1 , this one pretty much summarizes it all for you . The Code 3 DVD by Alliance Entertainment comes with the widescreen edition with Dolby Digital 5 . 1 surround sound . However , remind me not to get a locally pressed DVD when there's expected blood and gore . With movies like these , sadly the gory scenes get censored away , and all you get are frustrating cut scenes and jarring edits . Subtitles are available in English and Chinese , and scene selection is available over 15 chapters . The bonus features are quite scanty , with the teaser trailer ( 1 : 33 ) , 2 music videos - The Blank Theory's Middle of Nowhere ( 4 : 16 ) and The Sounds ' Seven Days a Week ( 3 : 20 ) , and a series of deleted scenes . The deleted scenes were non-selectable , and instead of having split up the scenes , you can only view them all together . A total of 5 scenes are lumped into one 9 : 52 feature , featuring the initial interview at the police station , an extended scene with the mortician , looking for Isabella Hudson , a short scene where Nora was handed a cellphone at the elevator , and additional scenes in the truck en route to the hospital with an extended hospital scene . Decent efforts in visual and audio transfers , but short on the extras . Gone are the audio commentaries from the filmmakers , would sure like to listen to how they did the highway scene .
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515,113 | 317,399 | 963,208 | 6 |
A Nutshell Review : Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden
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If this movie knows where he is , there'll be international headlines made , and the filmmakers will get that US$25 million ( or more ? ) bounty that is placed on his head . Of course it will be silly to presume that this film can find the answers to the multi-million dollar question , or even come close to it , so just what was the intention ? Morgan Spurlock isn't new to controversy , having burst onto the documentary scene with his real life gorging on MacDonald's for every meal in order to drive home the point that junk food really does junk your well being . So for this new film of his , it stems from his desire to seek out the world's # 1 wanted man , and ask him just what floats his boat . He may be putting on his jester cap with his somewhat hilarious introduction , but looking at the preparation with vaccination and even attending some terrorism survival course , he's quite dead set in his mission to find that elusive man . Until of course you realize that he's hitting all the relative safe havens for the most part , before venturing into the more likely places in Afghanistan and Pakistan . But what he seeks to unearth is the Middle East's attitudes towards Americans , and it seems that the common consensus is that while they have nothing against the people , almost everyone that Spurlock chose to showcase , has issues with the foreign policies . And from interviews with the average Joes , they sure have issues with politics at home more than those that are from abroad . Spurlock also takes opportunity to slam the US foreign policy , and does so through a hilarious animated sequence involving Uncle Sam and the Statue of Liberty herself , in what would be a realistic case of sleeping with the wrong bedfellows . Bringing the camera from Morocco to Saudi Arabia , and interview people from both the state of Palestine and Israel , what he had presented were compelling arguments for and against , as well as plenty of moderate views that seek to debunk the bulk of western media who find delight in demonizing those in the Middle East . Through the looking glass peering at their everyday lives , the film comes to present the basic need for survival and providing for one's family , no matter one's geography , country , religion and culture . Naturally there were some feathers ruffled , especially when dealing with closed cultures who clam up , or intolerant folks who have no qualms in using violence , but in general , this documentary serves to be rather tame . Yes it's gimmicky in its title , and half the time you're not sure whether MXXSpulock will take that plunge and really head to where he will likely find some inkling of positive leads , but what it had presented instead , is something more powerful that this world really needs to reach out and have everyone taking a more tolerant attitude and to understand one another a lot more , to avoid conflict . This should be a world without strangers , and the documentary managed to show just a glimmer of that hope .
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514,952 | 317,399 | 201,485 | 6 |
A Nutshell Review : The Body ( DVD , 2001 )
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The premise of this movie seemed interesting enough , although to some , it might be blasphemy . What if one day , the body ( or rather , skeletal remains ) of Christ was discovered in a similarly described tomb , with tell tale signs of the crucification , the spear wound , injuries inflicted by the crown of thorns , and the tomb dating back to 1 AD ? This film looks at the possible destruction of the faith which hinges on the one man's resurrection as God . Olivia Williams plays an Israeli Sharon Golban , who discovers this body in a tomb she excavates . Suspecting she could be on to something big , she calls for a priest to confirm her suspicion . Soon , word gets around , rumours get spread . The Vatican dispatches one of their priests , Father Gutierrez ( played by Antonio Banderas ) , and ex-military intelligence officer , to investigate and proof or disproof the claim . While science points to the fact that the body may be that of Christ , it gives a chilling insight into what could make , or break , a religion . Is it blind faith that keeps it going , even if there should come a day when science can ultimately disproof certain theories and events ? Here , discovering that body has serious implications because of the repercussions that the major event in Christ's life have on Christians . But what diluted this film from its primary premise is the introduction of Hollywood subplots to jazz up production , like having the Vatican embroiled in political intrigue , and having terrorist organizations taking an interest in the findings as well . It's a relatively low budgeted production , but one which raised thought provoking questions even if the delivery somehow got distracted in attempts to become a bigger movie in terms of action sequences . I think this film probably would be a good prologue to the controversies that surround next year's Da Vinci Code . Code 1 DVD contains " special features " , but nothing out of the ordinary besides the usual trailers , audio , and scene selections .
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515,125 | 317,399 | 452,594 | 6 |
A Nutshell Review : The Break-Up
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The real life relationship between Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston probably casted a cynical shadow over this movie , given its ominously sounding title about the end of relationships . Not that it's played out in an unbelievable manner , but this is a classic case of real life causing an unwanted effect on reel life . In a courtship that spanned up until the end of the opening credits , that's familiar grounds to the real / reel couple as we see them so utterly in love with each other . And it's not before long that the lack of nine lemons became the spark of a heated , long drawn argument . It's the littliest things that always matter and provide the catalyst for unwanted trouble , and the lack of appreciation somehow almost always provide ample ammunition to the start of a cold war . This movie had the effect of trotting the fine line between the two parties , though I must say that I stand on the side of Aniston's Brooke , rather than Vaughn's Gary . Perhaps that's because I've weaned myself off video games . Anyway , from a spectator's point of view without taking sides because of sexes , her requests ( if you call them that ) seem reasonable enough , in any relationship which is about give and take . So if you were to ask me who's right or wrong , I've already made my stand . But while the movie dwells on the confusion of the situation made worse by a common living space and mortgage ( money has to do with everything , no doubt ) , it's some same old grounds that many romance movies had already tread upon , exploring the pain of breaking up and losing someone you had taken for granted , except that because of the premise of this movie , it had to be played out in a more extensive manner . It takes a long look at the games people play to get back at each other , and the saying of things that you don't really mean in the heat of the moment , the skewing of meanings , and the explosion after keeping what you abhor about someone inside you for so long ( that's for keeping things under the carpet during good times ) . There's also quite a realistic take on the running to friends and family for emotional support , and the difficulty of being caught in the middle of things especially when you're friends of both . Between the two leads , the pain of the break can be most visibly seen in Jennifer Aniston , and there are no doubts as to where she could have drawn the strength from to play her emotional wrecking scenes . Vince Vaughn again looked like he sleepwalked through a role ( not that it mattered , given the character ) , but I thought that his portrayal didn't really bring out that tinge of regret or believable sadness at the whole event . Can you become friends with the person you broke up with ? Probably . How deep that friendship can be will depend on the circumstances behind the breakup , and of course how willing each party is to bury the past and carry on as friends . It could be in an extreme superficial manner , which I would think now , why bother at all ? The city of Chicago provided the backdrop of another recent movie - The Lake House , in a story about love and hope . Here , it turned the other way and became the city where love and hope had faded , and those who have undergone a break up of sorts can experience the bittersweet aftertaste . Did I mention the almost unrecognizable Justin Long's awfully fugly take as an effeminate co-worker ? Ewww . . . .
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515,565 | 317,399 | 1,255,872 | 6 |
A Nutshell Review : Gu Gu The Cat
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I guess we've seen enough canine movies coming out from Japan , that it's now the turn for felines to get the spotlight . I would have half expected the plot to follow the usual formula , if not for the fact that Gu Gu the Cat actually became the side show of the plot , despite being the titular character , and worse , a replacement cat in fact . Based on the novel by Yumiko Oshima , the story centers on Kojima ( Kyoko Koizumi ) , a successful manga storyteller who suffers from a dearth of inspiration when her pet cat Ce Va dies of an illness suddenly , upon completion of her special edition masterpiece . Kojima lapses into depression , but she has her assistants and pals like Naomi ( Juri Ueno ) to thank in keeping her spirits up , especially when Kojima herself starts to find parallels between her own life , and that of her pet Ce Va . Then comes Gu Gu whom she adopts , and life may seem a little better given the antics of this cute cat . However , this cat film , unlike the many dog ones out there , doesn't focus too much on the cat itself , unlike the love that man's best friend often get on screen . Perhaps cats find it unnatural to be performing in front of the camera unlike the dogs , though you can hear audible adoration of cuteness each time they turn on the charm in front of the camera . The filmmakers here know just what the best angles are , and the perfect situations to put the cats in for that all-too-familiar poses to have kids go into a frenzy harbouring hopes to get their own pet cat after the movie . But such scenes are few and far between . I'm not too sure about the film being touted as a comedy , because I found it to be very much a tragedy for the most parts of the film . Losing one's inspirational compass in life is nothing to laugh about , or worse , choosing not to do anything about it . The mood is constantly morose , with Kojima brooding most of the time , and Naomi getting herself into some relationship complications . It's the story about these lead two characters and their friends ( see if you can spot Miyuki Oshima from Handsome Suit ) , and less so about the cat , nor adopting the cat's point of view of events unravelling . What I found a little irritating were the moments when this American English teacher Paul Weinberg ( Marty Friedman ) who appears as the narrator of sorts , breaking the fourth wall and goes into explanation mode , or even documentary styled prose , such as introducing some of the hot spots to visit in the city of Tokyo . The narrative thus became jarring each time he comes on , and while he has an important role to play given some revelation in the last act , it was still a little peculiar why that scene was included , because it gave the story an additional , needless direction into the third world , and was a little cheesy too in seeking some closure . I suppose this film would only appeal to cat lovers , because for a dog person like me , this film didn't manage to convince me that a cat movie will work , nor did it raise my appreciation for the felines . If only a more compelling story would win me over otherwise , but perhaps it's more to do with the issues that the female of the species would be able to identify with a lot more , since the prerequisite illness in the tale was geared toward that .
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515,529 | 317,399 | 377,818 | 6 |
A Nutshell Review : The Dukes of Hazzard
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Remakes are getting popular in Hollywood , be they adapted from existing Asian films like Infernal Affairs , or digging into their own nostalgic TV series . This remake doesn't take itself too seriously , as we revisit the Dukes of Hazzard County - Cousins Luke , Bo , Daisy and Uncle Jessie . In a short span of 10 minutes , we get introduced to the boys and their moonshine running , their penchant for running into trouble , the bickering banter , and got the opportunity to see Daisy up close and personal in the bar . The plot's a bit flimsy , nothing too intelligent - baddie Boss Hogg buys up farmland in Hazzard in an attempt to turn Hazzard into a humongous coal mining town , and it's up to the Duke boys to stop him from achieving his objective . It plays out simply like a chess game , with moves and countermoves from both sides , but no prizes for guessing who always come up tops . There are plenty of stars in this remake film . Johnny Knoxville , better known as the creator-writer of the TV series Jackass , stars as Luke Duke . Sean Williams Scott seems to be dangerously type-casted into smarty-pants or dumb jock roles , given his filmography filled with American Pies , and asking Where's his Car in Road Trips . Thankfully , there is some chemistry between them to make this film bearable . For any hot-blooded male , the female dormitory scene will probably bring on the laughs , Jessica Simpson has been aptly highlighted ( or rather , her assets were ) in the trailers , and as Daisy Duke , she gets to flaunt her assets a lot in this film , in various hot pants , bikinis and undress . It gets tired after a while , as Daisy Duke turned more into a bimbo than anything else . Not that I'm not enjoying every moment of it though . Willie Nelson completes the Duke family as Uncle Jessie , and you'd half expect him to break out into song , which he did , for a short while , during the end credits . The villains are over the top , with Burt Reynolds really adding the cheese as Hogg . But the real star of the show is that red hot " General Lee " Dodge Charger car which leaps over so many ramps placed throughout the movie on purpose . The Dixie horn gets tooted a number of times too , just for the sake of drumming it in that hey , it's like the TV series . The cinematography for General Lee challenges flicks like The Fast and The Furious , and even gives Initial D's " drifting " a run for its money , performing the drifting stunt not in lonely mountain roads , but in busy city streets . Hats off to the stunt drivers , and for wreaking quite a number of the cars as seen in the making of clips in the closing credits . The Dukes of Hazzard gamely captures some elements in the TV series , but the movie doesn't offer anything much refreshing . While enjoyable , there isn't much to take away from this comedy , and is forgettable once you're out of the theatre .
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515,169 | 317,399 | 395,424 | 6 |
A Nutshell Review : 3 Needles
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Released in Singapore to coincide with World Aids Day ( 1 Dec ) , it actually took me this long to cast my eyes on the movie , no thanks to weird and limited screenings at one or two theatres . Perhaps it's because of the subject matter , about that disease which , as far as I can recall , doesn't get named at all in the movie , which probably won't sit down well with audiences who are up for the latest feel good movies in town this holiday season . Written and directed by Thom Fitzgerald , 3 Needles comprises of 3 distinct stories set in 3 distinct continents - Asia , North America and Africa , but looks into a common killer disease that is plaguing our world today . It takes a look at common fears of those who have the disease , and those from high risk groups who fear of getting the disease , as well as the bad practices and schemes as perpetrated by the greed of men , eager to sacrifice all to make a quick buck . The story arcs , in my opinion , were not weaved together to form one long narrative . Rather , it looked as if 3 short stories were glued together at the seams to make up the runtime sufficient to call itself a feature film . The first had an illegal blood trafficker , Jin Ping ( Lucy Liu ) , milking all that its worth in a small Chinese village , and for US$5 per packet of blood , managed to entice villagers to undergo unlicensed blood donation drives for a few dollars . Next , we have a porn star Denys ( Shawn Ashmore , Iceman in X-Men2 and 3 ) who , while aware he has the disease , covers up this knowledge through tampering with the provision of blood samples , fearing otherwise he would lose his job in the adult entertainment industry . And lastly , a group of nuns ( Chloe Sevigny , Olympia Dukakis , Sandra Oh ) journey to a South African village to assist in the care of the villages , only to have Sister Clara ( Sevigny ) deciding whether it's worth compromising her beliefs , in order to help those she cares for . When watching these stories , you'll feel a sense of injustice as the characters do what is obviously morally incorrect . You feel angry at the way blood is trafficked without regard to safety and basic hygiene , you feel disgusted at how selfishness clouds the mind into deceit , and the better to go with others rather than oneself , and you feel sorry for the way sacrifices have to be made , while wishing eternal damnation to those who choose to exploit situations for their own gratification . As a movie , if its objectives is to make you feel for the issues presented , then it's done its part . However , as I mentioned earlier , I find it rather strange that HIV or AIDS is never mentioned explicitly . Could it be there this " disease which shall not be named " is following its self - fulfilling prophecy amongst men that it is shameful to be infected , and the misconception that victims were actually asking for it when they engage in risky activities , to follow the common attitude to hush it all up , and choose to disbelieve the bringing forward of the expiry date on their lives ? As a movie , the presentation is rather plain , and I thought that the narrative probably would be better if the stories were somehow spliced together neatly so that it flows nicely from one arc to the next , rather than opting for the lazy obvious way to segregate them . While nothing controversial is discussed , there are a few scenes that will raise a few eyebrows , and the best amongst those involves a very pregnant Lucy LIu in a field . I don't think I've seen any such scenes in graphic detail , and definitely not in the manner presented . Beats the one which is most talked about involving Chloe Sevigny . It doesn't offer you new insights into the disease , but exhibits on common fears from both sides , and offers the dramatization of unscrupulous acts which help to propagate the problem on a much larger scale . If you're intrigued to watch it , you have to do so soon as I suspect it wouldn't last another week at the screens . Look out too for the local actor , Ng Chin Han ( from the local television " comedy " series dud Masters of the Sea ) in quite a meaty role as a Chinese soldier .
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515,139 | 317,399 | 1,194,624 | 6 |
A Nutshell Review : The Sniper
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If not for the picture scandal , this film would have been released about a year ago , and would likely have solidified Edison Chen's position as box office draw given his stellar performance in crime-action flicks like Dog Eat Dog and Blood Brothers , and pop idol fare such as Initial D . But we know what had happened over the span of a year , though I suppose the decision to hold this film back would have helped it in increasing the curiosity surrounding this , given his last / first performance since the scandal . After all , the producers have to make the best out of the situation . His character in Sniper is a typical Edison Chen persona ? young , brash and impatient , toeing the line of the good and possessing that streak of arrogance . As OJ , he aspires to be the top shooter amongst the SDU Sniper Unit , and is mentored by the team leader Hartman ( Richie Jen , who also starred as a sharpshooter in Johnnie To's Exiled ) who discovered him during a mission , and is impressed by the upstart . Given the attributes of a sniper ? confidence , decisiveness and ruthlessly accurate , egos are swelled and clashes are part of the game , where while it's a team effort , you can't deny those strong individual desire to excel above the rest . The unfinished business of the earlier generation comes back to haunt the team in the form of the disgraced , and once top shooter Lincoln ( Huang Xiaoming ) , who in a rash , negligent act gets sentenced to imprisonment , and upon release swears revenge on his once buddies . For a moment there was a tussle for the apprentice ala Star Wars style , where the young one found his training under his mentor too stifling and never appreciative of his abilities , and on the other , darker side , becomes seduced by sexier techniques which seem to be the path toward instant results and glory . But alas the story unfortunately becomes quite fluffy , with the dramatic moments just excuses to string the action sequences together . The runtime under 90 minutes also provided a feeling that the film has been super summarized , given a lot of sub plots being introduced briefly , but never really reaching second base , especially with the relationships of the snipers and the opposite sex . You would wonder why they had even bothered to devote time to this aspect , just to know that the crazed nut Lincoln is terribly infatuated with his girlfriend , OJ's girlfriend is a one scene wonder , and Hartman's estranged wife lies comatose most of the time , waking only to shed tears and raise her voice . I guess in a sniper's life , the only " wife " they take care of , as in the prologue , is their rifles , to protect it with their life or professionally , they're screwed . Dante Lam's star has been shining rather brightly , and I have enjoyed his recent effort in Beast Stalker . Here , he crafted some wonderful sniper action scenes without resorting too much on the looking-through-the-scope syndrome , striking a balance in being instructional , yet adequately paced to be tension-filled . What I appreciated is his fusion of that psychological element a sniper brings to the table , of the ability of how one man well hidden , and well trained , can take out a platoon or company , because of that element of fear that is introduced . Too bad for the many cardboard supporting villains and victims though , and that strange need to CG some dark clouds and fake lightning to drape many scenes . Undoubtedly the show belongs to the ensemble cast in oozing machismo as they do battle , but you can't help but to feel that it is Edison who's pulling in the crowds in what could be his last hurrah . In a cruel twist of irony , his character here can't wait to talk to and provide snide remarks to the media , which is a far cry in the real situation he's in now . One can only wonder how things would have turned out if not for that moment of accidental folly .
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514,854 | 317,399 | 963,287 | 6 |
A Nutshell Review : Dance of the Dragon
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There are three distinct characters here , each played by someone of different nationality , and had in their own fiefdom , crafted scenes within their own comfort zone , but when put together , seem to have awkwardness stamped all over it . I shall begin with the strongest . This is no doubt Jang Hyuk's vehicle , as he stars as Tae , a Korean whom as a boy , thanks to his mother who took him to a dance performance , fell in love with the art , and vow to pursue this dream of his despite not knowing how to , and facing great opposition from his father , who deemed it a sissy sport and would have preferred he picked up martial arts as a hobby . So when he reached adulthood , and with savings from his factory job , he bids his parents goodbye , and off he comes to Singapore to attend a dance audition . American Idol style no doubt , with artificial caustic remarks being thrown about by a lacklustre panel of three , but not before having a Singapore Tourism Board approved montage of the usual Singapore Skyline , Esplanade , Raffles Place et al shots that always plague every Singapore-based movie . And from here , let's move on to Fann's Emi Lim , whose signature is so easy to copy , I could've written plenty of cheques in her name . A has been dance instructor whose weak ankle meant a halt in competition , her retirement at the top of her game allowed her to sustain a school with plenty of students who can groove ( much better than her of course ) , while she harbours the thought of one day returning to the ballroom . Taken in by the strikingly good looking Tae , coupled with the fact that he's a virgin ( of dance ) , she relishes the challenge of unlearning what he had learnt , without partner and teacher , and I tell you , always cock teases him so much so that he begins to fall for her . Alas Emi has a beau who doesn't pay her any attention , and Jason Scott Lee fills in this jealous boyfriend role with flared nostrils and wide hard-staring eyes with aplomb . As Cheng , who's also a has-been given his injured knee ( a lot of injured has beens in this movie , and this pair's like made one for the other ) , his dojo , set up opposite the dance school along the same Wong Street , is running in the red , and he deals with shady characters like Lim Kay Tong's in order to keep his school afloat . Not happy with the good vibes between teacher and student , he tends to show off a lot of his martial arts capability in a bid to scare off the newbie dancer , only to set up an inevitable showdown between the two in due course . To the movie's credit , the story's quite coherent , except that it relied on a number of clichés to carry the movie through , and not necessarily for the better . There were plenty of superficial subplots and elements that could have been developed further given the running time of close to 2 hours , but instead there were a number of slow moving scenes which while nice to look at , didn't provide depth any more than to establish some background for the characters . Amongst all , I liked Tae's story best , well since he's the main character and had adequate screen time dedicated , where the relationship between him and his father was one of the strongest in the movie with so much meant despite so little being said . Besides , I always enjoyed characters who can learn by observation or from books and videos , and in doing so , lack the basis of understanding which can sometimes plague their execution . And there are a couple of really creative and unexpected development which I thought I had it nailed , but was wrong . Which of course is a plus point . But the more important question here is , can the leads dance ? Scenes of dancing together were limited , and for the most parts Fann and Jang Hyuk danced solo . They were given plenty of opportunity to air the armpits , and the filmmakers were smart to have spliced little set pieces together rather than have dances in one continuous motion and scene , since this will definitely expose plenty of shortcomings especially for Fann's Emi , supposedly being World Class and all . What was worse , was the sudden inject of the song Hero by Enrique Iglesias , which I thought was somewhat inappropriate for a ballroom dance sequence , but I suppose fitted the scene at the time . Thankfully though , the rest of the score for the movie was beautiful and memorable , the same one in which you can hear in the trailer . If memory serves me correct , almost every scene had a score to accompany the visuals , making it a rather musical film to sit through as well , though at times you have to grit your teeth as Emi seem to have a knack of spouting hokey dance philosophy . Production wise , I would liken it to last year's Cages , which set itself in a Singapore that's of its own artificial creation . Dance of the Dragon is not all bad , just that it lacked some amount of heart and detail to truly make it excellent . There's no doubt fans of Fann and Jang Hyuk will turn up in droves to catch this movie ( like in today's screening ) , though there are also those who decided that enough is enough and had to walk out . In my opinion , this movie shouldn't have warranted that , but just don't set your sights and expectations too high in wanting to watch a movie with superb dancing or martial arts , of which it has neither , but took effort to craft believable scenes as best as it could .
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514,958 | 317,399 | 419,515 | 6 |
A Nutshell Review : Blood and Bones
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I'd watch Blood and Bones for one reason , and that's for ' Beat ' Takeshi Kitano . Local audiences will probably remember him in recent roles from Battle Royale , Brother , and Zatoichi . Here , he plays Jyombion Kim , one of the early pioneer Koreans who emigrated to Japan . From the start , the narration tells us the story of this one man and his life , from a teenager , until his deathbed . And he's a violent man at that , always with a drink in hand , which brings out the worst in him . If he wants to copulate , he makes sure he does . If he wants to whack the living daylights out of a person , or family member , he does too . He's Mr Domestic Violence personified , with cruel beatings to get his way . From opening a fishcake business , to loan-sharking , his aloof , and philandering ways created his extended dysfunctional family , their trials and tribulations . He is an independent , wandering soul , and will probably provide for an interesting character study . Besides the nice cinematography , the beautiful soundtrack is probably what made it easy to go through this excruciating slow paced movie . If you're not careful , you might nod off at time . The material might be uncomfortable for some ; though there was violence , there isn't much gore . Weaved throughout the show at various points , is the look into the treatment of these Korean immigrants in Japan , the discrimination and difficulties faced in living in another's homogeneous society . There are many characters in the movie - sons , daughters , in-laws , half-siblings , wives , mistresses , that you'll probably be able to create a neat family tree if you link all of them on paper . But don't expect too much story on the ensemble of characters , most of them get their focus at various points , then are quietly dispatched to the background . It's an awfully sad tale , nothing in it that will make you cheer . But there is something to cheer about the movie though , and that it is shown here uncut and unedited . Meaning you get to see it as it was intended , including male genitalia .
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514,945 | 317,399 | 882,978 | 6 |
A Nutshell Review : Three Kingdoms : Resurrection of the Dragon
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Sad to say , I've only read the epic Romance of the Three Kingdom novels once in my lifetime to date , and an abridged English version at that . My only other contacts with this classic Chinese literature is with the China television series that I had to struggle with because the initial episodes came without English subtitles ( i . e . akin to watching a Shakespearean play for the very first time and marvelling at the richness in language used ) , and of course , the Koei computer game that so many peers of my generation would have played at one time or another . And of course , one of my favourite general characters , was Zhao Zilong . Outside of the Liu - Bei-Guan-Yu-Zhang-Fei brotherhood together with their unsurpassed military strategist Zhuge Liang at their side , Zhao Yun had qualities like valour which I thought was exemplary , and an episode , though taken on a whole new spin in presentation where he goes rescue the infant son of Liu Bei , to demonstrate that , gets its fair share of airtime in this movie . As I mentioned in an earlier review of An Empress and The Warriors , we're getting plenty of such period war movies coming out in recent months , culminating perhaps with John Woo's highly anticipated Red Cliff , but amongst the recent releases , Three Kingdoms draws first blood . But I suspect that Red Cliff will probably blow all competition out of the water going by the trailer , though the final product remains to be proved this Summer . Three Kingdoms rode on its star power to carry its relatively bland storyline forward , with Andy Lau as Zilong , Maggie Q as nemesis Cao Ying ( who's male in the novel ) , Sammo Hung as newly created character / narrator Luo Pingan , and a whole host of supporting acts in Vanness Wu , Andy On , and even Ti Lung in a surprisingly nicely presented Guan Yu . You cannot fault the designs of the sets , the costumes ( though of course some would complain it looks so Japanese ) , and I thought the weapons were eye-poppingly beautiful and intricately designed - you just have to take a look at Guan Yu's Green Dragon Crescent Blade ! It's impossible to try and distill the entire classics into a 3-hour long movie , or even a trilogy would do its richness injustice , let alone a 2 hour one . While the runtime for John Woo's movies ( in two parts ? ) is still not finalized , at least his focus is on one key , primary battle . Resurrection of the Dragon's focus is on one man - Zhao Zilong , and in doing so , fairly summarized his tale from beginning to end , with plenty of artistic and dramatic license taken of course , where purist will probably have a field day discussing all the inaccuracies and departure from the source material . However in doing this , we do get to see familiar characters sharing the stage , albeit some given very little screen time . And I don't think it's me who's feeling quite jaded from the clanging of weapons against armour . Here the one on one action scenes between characters are wonderfully choreographed by Sammo Hung himself , but the quick cuts , close ups , tight shots and dizzying camera work marred it all . The battle sequences were worse , with fake blood splattered all over , and the usual hacking of limbs and demonstration of superhuman strength by its chief characters . It did offer some simple philosophical gems to ponder over in between all the chaotic fighting , but really the feeling you get out of the battle sequences , was that it was like a distant cousin to 300 styled choreography . Don't expect any depth injected in most characters here too , as you can smell the plot revelation a mile away from the get go . I thought Maggie Q was wasted with a flower vase role that took less than 20 minutes of screen time just to snarl nastily , while Sammo Hung really relegated himself to the backseat choreographing the action . Andy Lau , a real life hero , was probably the top draw here in putting bums in seats , but even he can't save the story from having to insert a needless hint at unattainable romance because of Zilong's sense of duty and obligation to serve his country , putting it first before ( the starting of ) family . On the whole , it's aesthetically beautiful but ringing really hollow . Let's hope John Woo's Red Cliff , with the return of some of our beloved characters from Romance of the Three Kingdoms , does some justice in its film adaptation of a key battle , even if we have to contend with flying doves and slow-motion handling and twirling of swords . Keep your fingers crossed !
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515,027 | 317,399 | 285,175 | 6 |
A Nutshell Review : Havoc
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I could start off this review in Singlish by saying " This movie damn havoc " , and it just about sums it up accurately and nicely . Sex , drugs and gangsterism from the hop is hip culture , this movie attempts to provide a social commentary about the lives of super rich teenagers in the Palasades , wasting their bored lives away by trying to emulate another culture they think is cool , the wannabes who chose not to conform to the norms , but try their darndest best to be one in the ' hood . Anne Hathaway assumes the lead role as Allison Lang , a wide-eyed teenager whose language is as beautiful as her appearance . Having her material needs satisfied by her ultra rich parents , but living in essentially an empty home , her friends and her seek out the alternative lifestyle which promises loads of fun and excitement - drugs , drink and fights . Being associated with a gang brings about some perceived self esteem and self worth . But where do you draw the line when you're always seeking another high moment ? A journey to " downtown " - the areas of the have-nots , where seedy bogeymen reside in , areas where parents warn their children to stay away from , sparks a discovery of a wonderland for Allison and her best friend Emily ( Bijou Phillips ) , as they make repeated trips to be amongst the real boys in the ' hood , to hang out , chill , and do whatever them wannabes have done at a magnitude of 10 . It's a primal attraction and sexual tension between the girls and the men ( not the boys they hang out with , who pee in their pants when faced with real danger - acting cool is not cool ) , and between Allison and Hector ( Freddy Rodriguez ) . But like all revelations , sometimes it takes the hard way to learn a lesson , and the movie picked up on this rather rapidly in the last third , once they got enticed into playing a game of dice ( with sexual connotations ) in order to be initiated into Hector's gang . Basically , the audience observes the attraction of an alternative lifestyle , of wannabes thinking they can handle it all , and of redemption and change . While it was a surprise to see Michael Biehn in the movie , the movie clearly belonged to Anne Hathaway in her very first attempt to break away from her goody-two-shoes roles like in the Princess Diaries and Ella Enchanted . However , with the M18 rating here , this movie suffered cuts where it really mattered , and a poor edit too at one of the more pivotal scenes which literally screwed up the understanding of what actually happened , only to be told at face value , suggesting the " truth " of the matter , at a later stage . Sometimes I wonder why not release it as R21 , and keep the film intact . Surely Hathaway has fans , but to mutilate the movie to let them in , is a bad decision . It's peculiar to have the movie released this week , up against Singer's SUperman . Maybe some rebellious bored teenagers happen to be the answer to balance the truth and justice that the last son of Krypton embodies ?
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515,016 | 317,399 | 414,982 | 6 |
A Nutshell Review : Final Destination 3
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I wonder why I missed the first two movies of the franchise , given that I'm a fan of gore ( the bloodier the merrier ) . But you need not have watched the first two movies in order to enjoy Final Destination 3 , as it's pretty much a stand-alone movie utilizing the same premise . Which is when someone actually somehow foresees the future , where something tragically fatal will happen to him / her . They pull out from the situation , and following along ( whether they like it or not ) are a few others . The tragedy happens , and they all escape death . Death is naturally upset , and continues to kill off the characters who were supposed to die . But of course , if you can cheat death again , you're off the hook . You know you're in for a good , satisfactory ride when the opening credits are stuffed with relative unknowns , meaning they are the fodder who will die in ways imagined by the writer . Co-writer and director James Wong , who was involved in the original movie , returns to extend his vision of the franchise . There are numerous references to the earlier movies , like the number 180 which pops up , and also to serve as research material for the characters in FD3 ( hard to imagine that the first movie was SIX years ago ! ) . Nifty special effects are also the hallmark of the FD movies , which bring to life the filmmaker's sadistic vision of deaths in various ways from being fried alive to huge objects becoming giant human-swatters . The movie also sticks to the usual slasher / horror conventions , of knowing that bimbos will die in the most idiotic way ever . Don't go looking for logic in the elaborate setup before character deaths - it's like every implausible element that will impact or contribute towards someone's death , will be looked into . The coincidence might make you shake your head at the sheer audacity of it all , but then , if Death's looking for you , all angles must be covered , and you must die . Like right now . In a fashionably bloody manner to boot , as if to punish you for having cheated initially . Being rated NC-16 here however , meant that certain scenes had to be cut . Strangely , suggestive scenes like a character licking the boobs of a nude woman keychain , and the bimbos stripping down to their birthday suits , get the snip . But the glorious bloodbath ( save one ) get shown uncut . As the show progresses , you get to see more . So I guess if the movie is rated for violence and gore , most nudity will get cut off , and probably vice versa ? One wonders . Does this movie scream sequel again ? Maybe , if the filmmakers can come up with some more creative ways to die , in bloody good fashion , then perhaps the franchise would probably continue . If you're really hard up and stayed until the end , you'll just be rewarded with a maniacal laughter .
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515,344 | 317,399 | 803,057 | 6 |
A Nutshell Review : The Promotion
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One job , two candidates , you know the drill , especially when the offer is one that comes with a better job title , and with it , better renumeration , to move upwards in the corporate ladder , and to gain some foothold in keeping up with the Joneses . The last time I watched a film primarily set in a supermarket was Cashback , and that became one of my favourite films of last year . Alas The Promotion , written and directed by Steve Conrad , had similar flair in telling the story of one man's struggle for economic betterment , but somehow lacked enough depth in material to what is essentially a tired formula . You know , the one-upmanship that two parties having a go at each other , pulling no punches in order to get ahead . Strangely enough , these acts of sabotage are few and far between , and didn't come off as either funny or essential , but more like that of desperation . Seann William Scott can never seem to be able to break out from his jock role , though his Doug Stauber tried hard to carry the movie through by sharing with the audience his hopes and dreams , of being stuck in a dead end routine job with an incompetent boss . Opportunity arose from his employer's franchise opening another outlet , and therein lies his chance for promotion , better salary , and to move out of his current home next door to banjo-merry-makers so that he can make love to his wife Jen ( Jenna Fischer ) in peace . With opportunity comes obstacle , and is personified by John C . Reilly's Richard Welhner from the supermarket's sister company in Canada , and he too is eying that job so that he can feed his family and provide them the nice to haves like various enrichment classes . He has help from a self-help audio book , and honestly , I think those books are a load of bull , and had already made first cut of your money through your purchase of it . Anyway , the crux of the movie laid in the two of them second guessing each other's intention , but all the while when trying to sabotage one another , seem to have conscience prick them all the time , which led to half-hearted attempts without following through . In fact , they seem to pull off more stunts that backfire on themselves , rather than at the other person . It portrays that we are all sensible creatures , and we need not resort to low down and cheap tricks to derail another's rice bowl . That said though the story's very much in lala-land , because the real world out there , just isn't so kind , if at all . Just about everything's predictable in the movie where it's about the length anyone would go to bring home the bacon . Nothing fancy in the movie , but it does have a certain honest though mundane feel about it .
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515,525 | 317,399 | 408,345 | 6 |
A Nutshell Review : Firewall
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I was quite surprised that Massive Attack's Angel was chosen to accompany the opening credits , which consisted for mostly CCTV / voyeuristic shots of a team conducting surveillance on the movements of Harrison Ford's Jack Stanfield and his family . I know it's a cool track , but Angel is perhaps becoming one of the more overused tracks in Hollywood pictures already . But it hints well at what Firewall is going to become . Cliché and overused sequences which will probably make you scream " haven't I seen this somewhere before " ? Firewall offered nothing very new in terms of plot outline , as it contains modified scenes from even Ford's own works like Air Force One ( the family's survival being threatened , and it's up to one man to save the day ) and The Fugitive ( the frame up and one man's run from the law ) . Ford has already become comfortable in the role of an all-American one man hero , that this role offered no surprises at all . It's basically standard fare with the usual chases and action fight sequences . Stansfield is a VP of ( network ) security of a bank , and has designed the bank's software , with other operational duties like making sure the bank can respond to external online threats . However , as the saying goes , almost 80 % of intrusion are committed knowingly or unknowingly from the inside , and with a head honcho part of the act , you can be sure that he has the know-how to siphon out cash if he wants to . In comes Bill Cox ( Paul Bettany ) , scheming con man , who with his team of merry men , take Stanfield's family hostage and lapses into the usual psycho-mumbo-jumbo routine . With the family's antics at escaping , you really wonder if Cox , as a villain , has what it takes to call the shots in a hostage situation . While he might have the upper hand , it's his weakness in being ruthless to the hostages that proved his downfall , and make him a very weak cinematic villain . Here's someone who would rather shoot at his own men than to teach them hostages a lesson . Probably he has this noble subscription to " women and children first " . And it doesn't help when there's the usual good guy amongst his merry men who offers the family sympathy points . Word of caution though , for those who might think that this film offers some cool technology on screen . Leave the techno-babble at the door , there's no " firewall " to hack into in the first place , and the " hacking " is actually a no-brainer . And unless the USA offers wireless internet access like everywhere , it's pretty incredible with what a laptop can do in the movie . It has your expected twists and seemingly smart moments , but nothing that will truly make you go " wow " . The fist fight choreography can get pretty intense , however , there's no need to reach the end of the road before you know who's gonna emerge tops . It isn't exactly a bad movie , but one which doesn't even have a single sequence that can redeem this picture from really bad mediocrity .
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514,783 | 317,399 | 445,934 | 6 |
A Nutshell Review : Blades of Glory
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I'm fast converting to a Will Ferrell Fan , given that I've laughed out loud at his silly antics , in particular , the recent effort in Talladega Nights : The Ballad of Ricky Bobby . And now , joining forces with yet another up-coming comedian in Jon Heder ( School of Scoundrels , The Benchwarmers ) , I had high hopes of watching Blades of Glory to chase the week's blues away . However , expectation can be quite a bitch , and while Blades of Glory was funny , it wasn't laugh out loud funny from start to end . It had its moments , but only certain scenes to bring out those tears of nonsensical joy . For the most parts , it was pretty plain sailing - you know it's funny , just nothing to get that extra tickle out of you . And worse yet , the best moments were in the trailer , leaving you wondering if there were any more scenes left in the story to top those . The story tells of two rival ice skaters who belong to opposite sides of the sport . The introduction plays out like Zoolander , where the profiles of each character are put through funny montages . Jim MacElroy ( Heder ) is your typical bred-for-excellence sportsman , with impeccable manners , demeanour and discipline , executing his moves by the book . Chazz Michael Michaels ( Ferrell ) on the other hand , is your bad boy of the sport , a sex-addict who fuses sex into his moves , the master of improvisation whipping female fans everywhere into a frenzy each time he skates . They're like fire and ice , and in one of their typical bickering , bring disgrace to the sport and are banned from the men's competition for life . Until a loophole is discovered , and they combine forces , unwillingly , to return to the sport under the pairs competition , irking reigning champions , Van Waldenberg siblings of Stranz ( Will Arnett ) and Fairchild ( Amy Poehler ) . Threatened by the ludicrous return of Michael Michaels and MacElroy , with their pedigree pairing and stealing of limelight , the movie spends for the most last third of the movie on their unscrupulous tactics , and the cause - effect . Thrown into the fray is Jenna Fischer as Katie Van Waldenberg , who provides some uninspired romantic moments with Heder's Jim , and a faux pas sibling rivalry / woe in some emotional blackmail moments . As I've mentioned , the movie is a mixed bag . I would have expected Farrell's alpha-comedic role and Heder's for-fodder-role to combine seamlessly and bring on great laughs , but the pairing seem to be diluted instead . The best bits naturally are when each of them start to skate , and then skating together during competition , with plenty of moments for physical jokes - the usual groin and gay no holds barred punches . If you'd ask me to choose who's the funnier of the two , my vote will go to Farrell , and he gets more screen time too . Boom ! As compared to the whinier Heder who plays the usual roles quite repeatedly . Fans of Bo Bice will want to sit through the end credits as he sings the theme Blades of Glory , and stay tuned during the credit roll for an additional ( though not so funny ) extra involving a deranged obsessive fan .
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515,329 | 317,399 | 467,197 | 6 |
A Nutshell Review : Max Payne
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For starters , don't be a dweeb and start heading out the door when the end credits roll . If you deem that the movie didn't have proper closure since there are additional folks who didn't get their due Payne justice , then this scene at the end with Mila Kunis playing the Devil's Advocate , will probably make some amends to what is essentially a relatively generic detective drama . My first experience with the Max Payne game was by chance in a cybercafe . Back then , Counter-strike was all the rage , but having been thrown out of a server , I was poking around the computer's desktop , and noticed the game icon . My first impression after surviving all five minutes of it in the subway shootout , was that it allowed anyone who wanted to be Chow Yun-fat in a John Woo movie , play out their fantasy in full slow-motion glory . It was one that spewed plenty of blood , but more gratifying to a gamer , was how varied and massive the firepower was . How did the movie fare ? Well for those looking for the same all-out wall to wall action , you might have to be patient until the hour mark before things really start to heat up . Even then , it takes a lot more set action pieces before you get to the money shots as seen in the trailer . Good thing though that director John Moore didn't go overboard with all the slow motion madness the trailers would have led you to believe . Then again , this made the action stick to the formula of body counts , unlimited rounds , and an almost indestructible hero . Those who are worried that Max Payne will be turned into John Constantine , can put their fears to rest . In fact , most of those winged angels don't serve much purpose in the movie , except to give the visual effects and the computer graphics guys a job to do . It's actually quite unnecessary except to throw up red herrings when you try and figure out what function they serve , and then it will dawn on you that it's for stylistic purposes and not substance . The opening of Max Payne made it look like it plagiarized that from Matt Damon's The Bourne Identity . And in fact , given the look and scowl on Damon in The Bourne Ultimatum's poster , he does look like a doppelganger of Mark Wahlberg , and both of them could probably interchange roles since all that is required , is a permanent scowl . As the character goes , Payne is out kicking down doors looking for the murderer of his wife and child . And this is essentially a one-man show easily dispatching countless of faceless , emotionless and pretty cliché ( think The Fugitive type ) villains . What I thought could have been frowned upon , especially when the morally right go up in arms to condemn the movie for its violence , would be what seemed like a condonment of drug use , never mind if it was used for survival purposes , because it made it seem like drugs make you tough and fearless . Supporting female characters get turned into your classic flower vases , and I seriously think that newly minted Bond Girl Olga Kurylenko should start to look for more variety in the roles that she plays , rather than the usual vampish Russian who doesn't hesitate in shedding her clothes for the screen and wanting to bed the hero . While she's largely forgettable here , Mila Kunis ' role as Mona Sax would likely be the meatier one , but alas I suspect that most of her scenes got cut and left at the floor of the editing room . It's quite amazing though how a little goth makeup and loads of leather could transform her from friendly hotel front desk staff in Forgetting Sarah Marshall , to a character that has a penchant of popping up with no rhyme or reason . It's far from being a satisfactory game-turned-movie , mostly let down by the wafer thin plot that reeks of having been there and done that . Visually it's very beautiful to look at , with the constant gloomy nights punctuated with first snow . Fans of Wahlberg who are familiar with his bad-ass dude roles , would find that it's the same all over again , no matter if he's called Max Payne , Bob Lee Swagger , Dignam or Bobby Mercer .
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514,577 | 317,399 | 486,583 | 6 |
A Nutshell Review : Fred Claus
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What if Santa Claus , aka Saint Nicholas actually had a family , and a brother who hates him to the core because of a high degree of envy ? The first 10 minutes spend time establishing its version of this " What If " scenario , even offering the notion of how immortality comes to play a part in freezing their ages so as to transplant Fred ( Vince Vaughn ) the older brother , to Today , while Santa is already operating his Santa's Workshop delivering presents to nice children in time for Christmas Day . To a bitter brother jealous of the attention and success of his sibling , Fred hating Christmas and Santa is an understatement . He despises everything that Santa stands for ( of course the true meaning of Christmas takes a backseat here , in case you're wondering ) , but when run into trouble , no doubt calls the only kin he's still on talking terms with . In order to better his lot and be able to pay off a rental for his dream shop , he takes up his brother's offer to work at the Workshop for 50 grand , thinking it's a piece of cake , until of course the unexpected appearance of Kevin Spacey's Clyde Northcut , an efficiency expert brought in by a mysterious Board to access Santa's operations , and if need be , shut it down - he's already proudly claiming credit for booting the Easter Bunny and scaling down the operations of the Tooth Fairy . This is not a comedy , contrary to how it's being marketed . Sure there are funny moments , but none to warrant any genuine ho-ho-ho's from you . Instead you can see the laughs coming from a mile away , and the delivery is a little tired . You get the same old Vaughn styled verbal barrage and cynical wisecracks , only that they're more of the same and you'd wish Vaughn would either summarize or come up with something new . Paul Giamatti as Santa looks the part thanks to the excellent make up and costume , but really , he's a tad underused in his role as Father Christmas . Plenty of recognizable supporting extras get thrown into the mix , but there's a strange pattern to their not being utilized to their utmost potential . It becomes almost like Spot the Stars , with Ludicrous as DJ Donny , Kathy Bates as Mom Claus , Miranda Richardson as Mrs Santa Claus , two shy lovers in John Michael Higgins ' Willie the Chief Elf and Santa's Little Helper ( Elizabeth Banks ) , but the surprise of them all has to be Rachel Weisz - just love her Brit accent ! Kevin Spacey plays a Lex Luthor type with hair , and I can't help but to groan at the forced reference to his Superman Returns stint . Other than that , the only good bits come from a truly hilarious sequence involving Frank Stallone , Stephen Baldwin and Roger Clinton in a Siblings Anonymous self-help group , and the gorgeously sounding Christmas Carols . The Silent Night heard towards the end of the movie , will be a tough one for sentimentalist out there to hold back the tears . The special effects too were well done , especially Santa's sleigh zooming into the night skies of countries around the world ( I could've sworn I saw the Singapore Skyline too ) , in a montage sequence that allows Fred , and the audience , to just take a step back to wonder should Santa be true , then it's a heck of a tough job , especially when the success of a single day hinges on how much you can do in the night before - going around the world , breaking and entering through the chimney , leaving wishes and presents behind , and not forgetting to munch on the cookies and milk left for you . It's a Christmas movie that doesn't offer much , with the last act saving this movie and giving it some credibility to qualify as a feel-good movie for the holiday season . No doubt it starts off quite nastily with so much drumming on rivalry and the green-eyed monster , but it redeems some moments with its take on brotherly love . Definitely not Vaughn's or Giamatti's best work , and on the whole , an average movie . Don't hold your breath if you're keeping the faith that the movie somehow turns out better than what its trailers suggest .
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515,072 | 317,399 | 113,791 | 6 |
A Nutshell Review : Mee Pok Man
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This is probably the movie credited with sparking a comeback of Singapore films , and watching it , you can probably spot various influences this Eric Khoo film had on the other more contemporary attempts by the various local filmmakers like Djinn and Jack Neo ( whom of course , were in Eric Khoo movies ) . Joe Ng ( of local band Padres ) front the cast as the title character , and Michelle Goh , in her debut , stars as Bunny , the prostitute he is infatuated with . Being a dim witted noodle seller , he's naturally shy and worships her from afar , as she's one of the regulars at the coffee-shop where his shop is at . Bunny , on the other hand , thinks lowly of the mee pok seller , and in your usual SPG character , goes for the ang-mo Jonathan , some sleazy photographer played by David Brazil . The storyline's pretty basic , and you might think that at the point when Bunny became a victim of a hit-and-run , that the plot might pick up . Actually it sort of went downhill from there , as the mee pok man carries her injured body off to his home to care for her , to be with her . Alas , you should know what happens without proper medical attention . Towards the end of the film , it drags with mee pok's man soliloquay , and Bunny didn't have much to do except be there to complete the scene . Somehow with the forced dialogue , it lengthened a scene which should have been shortened to improve the pace , which was quite erratic throughout the movie . In its day , the language might have the audience taken aback , with characters mouthing off profanities in different dialects . But like I mentioned , it probably had made others sit up and notice that perhaps local movies should feature swearing to give it more street cred ? Something else which stood out - while featuring many languages in the movie mirrors our multi-racial / multi-language society , having characters converse in different dialects ( like the Fortune Teller scene ) sometimes doesn't cut it too realistically . Another point of controversy at its time was the nudity , or perceived nudity . The opening credits had still shots of a boob , butt and the female pubic region . You might wonder if it's necessary actually - doesn't really serve any purpose or facilitate the plot . Or the fact that Jonathan shoots nude photos . Given today , it'll probably be glossed over without much thought , and given an NC-16 rating . Characterisation called for attention , as the main characters Bunny and Mee Pok man didn't really have much of a motive , the former seeking inner peace and to leave Singapore , the latter just wanting to be with her until the morbid end . Other characters , like Lim Kay Tong's Mike Kor the Pimp , was stereotyped , as are many of the minor characters in the movie . Cameos were plenty too , like X'Ho , Djinn , S . M . Ong etc . But I still reckon it's a pretty decent first effort , and marked improvement can already be seen in 12 Storeys . While awaiting eagerly for Eric Khoo's latest offering Be With Me , this movie would allow you to appreciate how much things had changed for the better .
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514,819 | 317,399 | 492,447 | 6 |
A Nutshell Review : Black Gold
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When you sip on that aromatic cup of coffee , do you think about where it all comes from ? 2 billion cups of coffee are consumed on an average day , and I'm sure many of us have contributed our daily cuppas to that statistic as shared by the documentary Black Gold by Marc and Nick Francis . From the ordinary black coffee at the local coffeeshop , to gourmet , fanciful concoctions at the nearest Starbucks ( there's this new banana mix in town now ) , Black Gold takes you on a journey of the world's coffee trade , from the consumers right down to the farmers who toil their fields to give us those beans . But who makes the most out of this trade ? The multicorporations of course , fingered and identified in this film as money grabbers . We are taken on a tour of the vast coffee fields in Ethiopia , and Tadesse Meskela is our guide , as he shows us the conditions that the farmers have to work with , and the meagre amounts of money they are making to make ends meet , while the rest of the world gulps our coffee , parting with a few dollars while they make less than a cent . The demand and supply mechanics seem to be imbalanced , no doubt with prices made artificially high on the commodities trader market in New York and London , with none trickling down to the tail end for the suppliers . Tadesse Meskela's objective is to band the farmers around a co-operative so as to be able to negotiate better prices . They're not on a mission to make prices rocket , but just a few dollars more would improve the livelihood of the farmers tremendously , and to enable their children to have decent education . It's also about the attempts to remove the multi-layered middleman chain ( up to 6 links ) , and I've always been a proponent to eradicate the middle sections because unless they value add , there's no point swelling the pockets of those who does what I deem a " postman's job " . There are a few points which provides starking contrasts between the haves and have nots . What I thought was sly , was the showcasing of Starbucks , its first outlet and its star performers raving about how much opportunity they have etc , versus the source of Starbuck's coffee from Ethiopia , where massive famine is experienced by those in that region . I guess in a capitalist world , those who have money will continue to exploit , and will continue doing so as long as the bottomline is not affected . However , Black Gold lacked that strike in that emotional chord . It's pure " here's the problem " without offering much , loaded with clinical facts and figures printed on screen . While it showed how difficult the folks down the supply chain are having , that's basically it . We're the clueless consumers as depicted in the documentary who couldn't care less , and that basically summed it up , given its lack of that final sucker punch to ring the message home .
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514,755 | 317,399 | 1,170,411 | 6 |
A Nutshell Review : Victory
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Unfortunately I'm not much of a cricket fan , and whatever knowledge I have of the game , how it's played , the rules and regulations and such , is thanks to Ashutosh Gowariker's Lagaan starring Aamir Khan , a movie which had the game explained in layman terms to a group of villagers assembling a rag-tag team to challenge their oppressive British occupiers with tax breaks on the line . Victory however is a sports theme movie through and through , adopting the very standard formula ( which was also applied to Fashion ) where it's focused on the protagonist's meteoric rise to stardom , an equally hard downfall , and ultimate redemption . Harman Baweja's debut in Bollywood hasn't been rosy with the box-office disaster Love Story 2050 ( which I've yet to watch ) , which was an expensive special effects laden science fiction movie involving some time travel . And I thought to a certain extent , Victory doesn't buy him much favours too because his Vijay Shikhawat at his introduction , gets passed off as a very arrogant whiner . Arrogant because of his given talent of being the complete cricket player and a powerful batsman , but a whiner as he constantly complains to his friends and family of rued chances . Not because he's a fault though , but because he's a small town boy who got overlooked by scouting talent due to corruption and crony-ism of the scouts . But as luck would have it , the National Team goes to his hometown for practice sessions , and determined to get just one shot to impress ( erm , he did whine first of course ) , he turns up and wows everyone with an impressive display against the Team India players , and with a professional match in which he shone in , becomes Team India's latest secret weapon against powerhouse countries like Australia , South Africa , Sri Lanka and the likes . Ajit Pal Mangat's story then follows the beaten path with plenty of films out there where the small town boy gets led astray and seduced by the bright lights in the big cities , affecting his play and sowing the seeds of his downfall naturally . Values like hard work , modesty and humility , no thanks to his money-making sports agent Andy Singh ( Gulshan Grover ) milking his new client for millions of dollars of endorsement , get exchanged for hard cash , fast women , and hard liquor , before what all sportsmen fear , a career-threatening injury coming their way . Not to mention the cardinal sin for single-handedly failing against an arch-rival team too . While Goal ! was the definitive movie on football , Victory tried to be the same for cricket and adopted the same technique of having real players feature in the film . And credit to the filmmakers here , they got getting players from the various countries involved to participate , and not just digitally adding the actors in it , but to have real and meaningful interaction , which I felt it triumphed over Goal ! in this aspect . For fans of cricket , I'd bet this is something of a real treat . However , the film's quite focused too on the father-son relationship between Vijay and his dad Ram ( Anupam Kher ) , who had pinned his cricket hopes on his son , and finally witnessing him realize both their dreams , only to be disappointed when he had forgotten his roots , and his drive to be world class . There's an interesting parallel here involving the father figure here between Ram and Andy Singh , one who has brought up the boy to become the talent that he is , and the other who pushed the talent to fulfill his commercial potential and downfall . I felt that this portion was glossed over , and could have made an even greater emotional impact when Vijay realizes his grave mistake . Not to mention the resolution of this subplot too , which was deep in melodrama , vastly hurried and lacking that emotional punch when it came . Romance was also glossed over , even though Amrita Rao's Nandini was there from the onset and we all know of her unspoken love for Vijay . Again the tried and tested was followed to a T , but love got severely reduced to just 1 song summarizing Vijay's realization of her unwavering support and their subsequent courtship , before junking love aside to focus wholeheartedly on the game at hand . I felt that this lack of emotional depth in the film especially between Vijay and his loved ones , somehow provided that disconnect the audience has for the protagonist . Victory doesn't steer away from expectations of a sports movie , but had unrealized potential which was traded for the familiar . The games too get played out to expectations ( and provided some comedic moments in the after-game newsreels ) , so they became rather textbook with little fancy maneuvers . Perhaps it wanted to play a little safer , but in doing so it became just another genre movie without breaking any new ground .
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514,835 | 317,399 | 414,852 | 6 |
A Nutshell Review : District 13 ( Banlieue 13 )
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It's erroneous to interpret " A Film By Luc Besson " that the marketing folks slap on the movie posters these days . Besson has of late been lending his name for that purpose on many movies , but nope , he's not the director . Usually involved in another capacity , like writer , or producer . District 13 is one such movie . This is not a film by Luc Besson , although it is written by , and produced by him . This movie is directed by Pierre Morel , who was the cinematographer for another Besson-involved film , Jet Li's Unleashed . You'll see some familiar stylistic elements from Unleashed in this movie , although this one was made in 2004 , and shown here earlier as the movie used to launch Cathay's new halls 10-12 at cineleisure . Set in Paris 2010 , troubled districts get walled in by the authorities . Literally . And District 13 is one of the most notorious amongst all . We get introduced to Leito first , a resident of District 13 , but as it turns out , despite his mean tattoo covered demeanor , he has a heart of gold , and fantastic springs for legs , borrowed from the Yamakasi folks . Played by David Belle , he actually is a co-founder of a sport known as Parkour , which is demonstrated in the movie as a very free form of martial arts cross bred with the Yamakasi spirit . Leito is a character who's jaded by authority-like figures , as he gets betrayed by the police , and has his sister given up as collateral . The other protagonist is Damien , an ace undercover cop , played by stuntman Cyril Raffaelli . Accomplishing his latest mission doesn't buy him rest , as he gets thrust unwillingly into a new assignment of having to locate a neutron bomb stolen and brought into District 13 . Given only 24 hours before the bomb explodes and kills everyone in an eight kilometer radius , he has to enlist the help of Leito to serve as a guide inside the notorious district . As you would already expect , it's reluctant hero meeting another reluctant hero , both with huge egos and their own agendas - one to save lives , the other to save his sister . Both share a common enemy , so that makes it easier somewhat to find common ground to cooperate . However , the movie's a tad short to explore these buddy themes , as you get into the action thick and fast . It's adrenalin pumping action against an edgy hard hitting soundtrack . You'll initially be wowed at Leito's Parkour scenes , which brings back some memories of Jackie Chan movies with his acrobatic maneuvers into confined spaces , and of leaping from building to building , window ledge to window ledge , and rooftop to rooftop . However , after a while , you tend to get jaded because it's basically the same thing , repeated over and over again . The initial novelty wore out , and it didn't help that action scenes thereafter relied on the same techniques . Also , despite being billed as a non-stop action flick , the action actually pauses for long moments to force a discussion on the ridding of the downtrodden , of taking extreme measures to round up troubled districts by physically segregating them from the rest using high walls and barbed wires . and of extreme methods of getting rid of such folks deemed as troublemakers . There're also more style-than-substance scenes , not that I'm complaining , but some shots were pretty to look at , at the expense of the story . As with most action movies , you'll also have to suspend belief that while bullets can make nasty holes in metal , they will never find a way to penetrate wood or human flesh , at least when the heroes are concerned . While the ending's pretty neat , you can't help but wonder that this movie is yet another victim of the cool trailer syndrome - having almost all the best bits of the movie condensed into the trailer , leaving nothing much in the movie itself .
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515,117 | 317,399 | 947,802 | 6 |
A Nutshell Review : Lakeview Terrace
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Watching this movie brought back some memories of the well-publicized spat between neighbours in the neighbourhood of Joo Chiat , with their antics which included the shining of spot lights at each other's house , the trading of barbs and insults , and the use of video recorders to tape down the other's antics . Naturally there are no weapons involved , but otherwise , Ithought Lakeview Terrace rang home some of the issues that these folks probably faced day to day . I'm not sure what the outcome of that spat is now though . Lakeview Terrace is one of those movies that just is , with a rather straightforward plot to begin with , presenting us with the backgrounds of the characters before putting them into each other's way with conflicting values and opportunities for quarrel spawned from misunderstandings and petty non-compromise . It's also about how the male ego refuses to back down and in wanting to have the last say , coupled with the mindset of " I was here first so bugger off " attitude . The race card doesn't get trumpeted out loud , but it does rear its head as potential flare points every now and then , though skimming the surface most of the time . The titular area has reference and significance to the Rodney King assault case , though now it becomes the backdrop of a cinematic neighbourly spat against the background of the infamous Californian fires . We get introduced to the Turner family , where Dad and policeman Abel ( Samuel L . Jackson ) rules the household and his kids with an iron fist and his incessant and traditional rules , frowning upon anything he deems as decadent . In comes mixed newly wed couple Chris and Lisa Mattson ( Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington respectively ) , who irks our cop next door with their very open public display of affection in the pool at their backyard , in full view of Abel's children , and so the line has been crossed . There are enough rogue cop movies out there such as Unlawful Entry with the cops threatening the peaceful lives of ordinary citizens in the neighbourhood , and this one is but one of the rather mediocre entries to the genre , with the story unravelling itself in very straightforward terms without any build up to the final act . There were opportunities that could have redeemed it , such as having a central crime piece turn awry , but alas it became something half-baked , and served only as a means of finding an exit out of the movie and end it . While certain scenes do seem that they were juxtaposed around , what managed to make this movie a cut above the rest , is once again the enigmatic presence of Samuel L . Jackson and his bad-ass attitude , amplified here because he's a cop and the law , and there's nobody one can turn to when they have to call the police authorities . A glint of the eye , a terse question asked in interrogation style , or a smile that hides its true intent , almost everything Samuel L Jackson does , tells you that you're basically screwed should you stand on the opposite end of his beliefs . And both Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington demonstrate that emotion quite perfectly ( though of course it's probably not tha difficult to do too ) through their rather meek characters who can be stepped all over given their lack of assertion of their opinions . But it's not all stern stuff from Jackson as there was a scene he shares with Wilson that provided some clues into his background and to try and elicit some sympathy from the audience with regards to his character's alleged racism and intolerance for terms other than his own , besides revealing the source of his pain . Alas by the time this came through , it didn't really matter and after realizing that the narrative had dragged a little too long , proceeded with quite a hasty finale to wrap up all the loose corners , a tad too conveniently too I may add .
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515,563 | 317,399 | 892,767 | 6 |
A Nutshell Review : The Horsemen
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I was gearing up for a good serial killer movie given the premise of having the four horsemen of the apocalypse , with the trailer piquing my interest from its fair share of unflinching blood and gore . Sad to say though that the distributors preferred to appeal to a wider audience for this , and some scenes were clearly butchered for its language , conversational content as well as snipping off some of the more gory moments of annihilation . I guess even the horsemen themselves are powerless when up against the censors ' scissors , which is the more potent weapon here . Dennis Quaid plays a pained cop Aidan Breslin , who has recently lost his wife and is growing increasingly distant from his kids Alex ( Lou Taylor Pucci ) and Sean ( Liam James ) , burying himself in and using work as an emotional crutch , never being there for family because work often calls out for his attention . And as the trailers would have pretty much revealed , the serial killer victims are all tortured with meat hooks of sorts , and he's faced with more than 1 killer who model themselves after the biblical Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse . Sounds like your average detective movie right ? I guess a memorable film from the genre like Se7en will only come once in a blue moon . This film by Jonas Akerlund tries to elicit similar moods devoid of humour and is all seriousness in tone , but its plot turned out to be quite flimsy thin , and those who have experienced enough of the genre , would have guessed the culprit for the last act somewhere by the mid-way point . No , it's not Ziyi Zhang ( as she is credited ) , and despite a major billing in the credits , her character Kristen turned out to be spoiled by the trailer already , coupled with the fact that she doesn't have more than 15 minutes worth of screen time in total . While this is one of her rare villainous outing with dialogue ( back in Rush Hour 2 she was struggling with English ) , I would have supposed that opposition to her character here as a villain was unfounded , given that they should have been more concerned with her sleepwalking through the role , and could have been replaced by any other lesser actresses since at best it's only a supporting role . Dennis Quaid however shows how he ages well into delivering stellar , lead performances , and makes it believable he's a man constantly struggling with a work-life balance . Ultimately , the message here is how important parents play in nurturing their children , and should be very much involved in their development , rather than thinking that cash would be a sufficient substitute and settle everything . The film does suggest , and probably had a subplot going for it , something like Japan's suicide pact clubs online , something which I thought could have been given an additional focus instead of leaving it open ended at that , just to show the extent of the " apocalypse " as being delivered by its messengers . Technically , one aspect which irked me , was how low the cropping turned out to be . I have read that there were constant boom mikes spotted in shots , so it could be a bad by-product of having to address that problem , in addition to ensuring that the printed Chinese subtitles are visible for the audience . So there were a lot of heads cut off at the foreheads during shot-reverse-shot conversational pieces , and various other medium to close up shots , that irritated the hell out of me . Horsemen had an interesting premise working for it , but alas didn't fulfill its potential in having to drop deeper themes for that frantic pace to the finishing line - which comparing to the run time at IMDb . com , we had 20 minutes shorn off here .
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514,548 | 317,399 | 817,885 | 6 |
A Nutshell Review : Colic
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Colic is the latest Thai horror movie to hit our shores , and given the gimmicky promotion in local theatres , where a cradle with that nasty picture of the baby inside , you'd start to wonder if this movie will actually give you the creeps , without resorting to the usual cheap gimmicks which plagued the slew of horror movies of late . By the look of that powerful palm imprint on the baby's body , you'd think that there are devilish ( pugilistic ) forces to be reckoned with in Colic . However , sorry to disappoint , things that start to go bump in the night , are as tame as a pussy cat exhibiting a hissy fit . While the movie scores in its dealing with the atmospherics , it had forgotten that an engaging story is king , nevermind how implausible ( ghost stories what ) the premises is . Colic actually has potential , in taking something that couldn't be very much explained in scientific terms , and adding a dash of the spiritual to it . But it turned out to be wasted potential instead . Newlyweds Pong ( Vittaya Wasukraipaisan ) and Phrae ( Pympan Chalayanacupt ) have an infant son who suffers from cholic - that incessant crying for reasons attributed to various factors unexplained in the movie , until the end , more or less . Should there be a hidden message in the movie , it'll probably be not to smoke when you're expecting , or that karma will work against you if you have pre-marital sex and have to undergo a shotgun wedding if not adequately protected . Anyway I digress . The happy family move to the suburbs , and there's where unexplained happenings start to occur to them . I must warn you that it takes a long time for the family to move , and for the first of such bumps in the night . In between bumps are uneventful stuff that seem to be put in as fillers , which made the entire narrative storyline very episodic , and extremely dragged out between scenes . The horror here has a familiar look and feel to it , kinda like old Hong Kong horror flicks . What the movie couldn't decide , and it shows in the film , is what to do with the inexplicable stuff . Do we want to deal with spirits , or ghouls , maybe poltergeists , or gore like Saw or Hostel . There are some truly intense moments though which will leave you at the edge of your seat , but when looking back at hindsight , they're pretty much a mixed bag and seem all over the place . It takes a long time for things to build , and during this time , it's pretty boring , as you literally observe an infant grow up , in quarterly stages . So long as you don't expect too much , and not expect the cholic phenomenon to be explained in detail ( from both the scientific and occult standpoint ) , you could actually enjoy this movie . Like I mentioned , the atmospherics is top notch , though the finale looked more like an action movie instead . And when the filmmakers do explain something important in the end , the reaction I'd reckon will be " Huh ? That's it ? " in a much ado about nothing manner .
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514,913 | 317,399 | 839,980 | 6 |
A Nutshell Review : Semi-Pro
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Will Ferrell continues with sports theme comedies with Semi-Pro , a throwback to the 70s where the American Basketball Association ( ABA ) is merged in part with the National Basketball Association ( NBA ) which we are all quite familiar with . With his Talladega Nights on Nascar racing and Blades of Glory on ice figure skating , if I were to rank his latest effort amongst the three , unfortunately it will be ranked the last . Talladega Nights really cracked me up , and there were many moments where I laughed until my tears became uncontrollable - that's the personal gauge I use for comedies just in case you want to know . With Blades of Glory , it gets a little tired with his selfish character trying to go one up against his closest rival , which sort of degenerated into dramatic fare of brotherhood and friendship . With Semi-Pro , he continues with this character trait of cockiness ( yes , it does get very tired after a while ) as owner-coach-player of a fictional ABA team known as the Flint Tropics . As the story goes , the ABA is into its final season because of the impending merger with the NBA , and the top 4 teams will get absorbed into the NBA , while the rest will have to be dissolved . So it's up to Ferrell's Jackie Moon to motivate his team , and to wheel and deal with the operational aspects of the game like boosting dwindling attendances and designing gimmicks , to keep their hopes alive . Having an incompetent team , save for star player Clarence " Coffee " Black ( Andre Benjamin from Outkast ) , means that realistically they're no - hopers for the top 4 spots , at least not until Jackie trades a washing machine ( don't ask ) for an NBA player Monix ( Woody Harrelson ) , who comes in to impart some of his elite knowledge of the game , despite being unpopular at first , and even causing a Actually , I thought that comedy was quite secondary in Semi-Pro . What it did have however are attention to detail on the differences between the ABA and the NBA leagues , starting with the multi-colored ball used . Half-time entertainment , courtesy of Jackie Moon , seemed very tired , with the best bits already included in the trailer . Other than that , the movie's quite bogged down by Harrelson's role in holding a candle for an ex-flame , which unfortunately didn't get past the censors scissors . But credit be given though to 2 things in the movie . One , a scene where the major players are seated around a table gambling , and involving a revolver , which does take a heck of its own sweet time to get to the point and deliver its punchline which somewhat fizzled . The other , is the totally inane song Love Me Sexy . Without these two elements , Semi-Pro really deserves to be relegated .
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514,646 | 317,399 | 494,238 | 6 |
A Nutshell Review : Inkheart
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It's an interesting premise to begin with , having the power to bring to life characters and events to the real world by just reading relevant passages . I can figure it out already , where to get fame and fortune from the right literature to read out loud . But with great power comes realization and responsibility , and because there's no such thing as a free lunch , there's always payback in the most unexpected forms . While I haven't read the book by Cornelia Funke , what got translated on screen did get a little boring , bogged down by bad lines , uninteresting characters , and humour which fell flat each time . The trailer might have painted an epic adventure with boundless possibilities from plundering the premise , but too bad a lot of books got burnt from the start , leaving The Wizard of Oz the highlight of the lot . It was fun while it lasted though , in trying to identify characters and objects from various well known stories , such as the Gingerbread House , but these sprung out like little nuggets for those in the know to spot with glee . Otherwise , we're left with Brandan Fraser's Mo Folchart , nicknamed " Silvertongue " by the characters he brought to life because of his innate gift , which had banished his wife to the books to take the place of those that came out . With his daughter Meggie ( Eliza Hope Bennett ) , they scour the corners of the world to look for the same book Inkheart , in the hopes of figuring out how to reverse the changes , and get back their loved one , wife Resa ( Sienna Guillory ) . Fraser is being Fraser the big budgeted blockbuster hero , and doesn't show much expression from his repertoire of movies from the Mummy Franchise to flicks like Journey to the Center of the Earth , playing very much the concerned dad . And if you think a bland hero is bad , a bland villain is miles worst . There are countless of villainous characters here , courtesy of the Inkheart book , that pepper the story , and they are the standard dumb goons . Even Andy Serkis ' Capricorn is nothing more than an average cowardly henchman status with the sole objective of wealth accumulation , and hams it up so much that the villain becomes a comedian , and a bad one at that . Shades of Lord of the Rings come courtesy of his attempt to bring to life " The Shadow " , the pale cousin to the Dark Lord Sauron . Surprisingly , a string of recognizable stars are involved in this film , such as Helen Mirren playing Meggie's grand aunt Elinor Loredan , equipped with a big mouth that whines too much , and Jim Broadbent as Inkheart's author , who relished every moment of interacting with his characters , yearning for a chance to try and get into the book because whatever glimpses he had over in the real world , was an orgasmic walk into his own imagination , as he quipped . But I felt the best character here was Paul Bettany's Dustfiner , a lone figure marred in melancholy who for nine torturous years , had unsuccessfully tried to convince Mo to send him back . Kudos to Bettany's acting of course , with so much pain in his expression he makes you pity his character , put in a world not to his liking , and very much against his wishes , because like Mo , he yearns to reconcile with his family , and what more when his wife Roxanne is played by his real wife Jennifer Connelly in a cameo role . In fact , his Dustfinger got put into more interesting situations in the film compared to the rest , and thus inevitably steals the show with a character motivation that's easily identified with . And he really showed off his range of emotions when he inevitably had to hear spoilers , which was the only time in the entire movie which I felt genuinely though tragically comedic . Inkheart is like an adult fairy tale , and could have been like Stardust which I had enjoyed , with its star power and unique premise . A pity though that it was delivered rather plainly and had neither the depth nor anything unexpected to ruffle what essentially was a one-way train going through the motions on its tracks from start to end .
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515,341 | 317,399 | 814,022 | 6 |
A Nutshell Review : Bangkok Dangerous
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I guess I can mark today as Remake day , having to watch two movies which are adaptations or updates to their original , both of which have Asian origins , though one I will be going in blind given that I've not watched its predecessor . I've only caught the DVD of the Pang Brothers ' Bangkok Dangerous , arguably their breakthrough film about a deaf mute hit-man , which made audiences round the world sit up and take notice of their talent in crafting gritty stories . There are remakes that have their rights sold to others , and they join the ranks of the rare few who get the call from Hollywood , and given an opportunity to helm a remake of sorts with a bigger budget , and presumably better known stars . Unfortunately , whatever that made Bangkok Dangerous unique the first time round , got thrown out of the window for tried and tested , and therefore safer and predictable fare , that this one looked no more than a bland , generic action movie . One of the chief aspects of the original that was junked , and that was probably a bad call , was with the mute hit-man now being your typical usual hit-man , joining the ranks of thousands already out there in cinema . Granted now that you have your Hollywood star , there's absolutely no way he would want to be silenced and not given an opportunity to speak on screen . Nicholas Cage , being producer here , naturally gets a say in the revamp , and sadly , he wanted to relive his Castor Troy days in Face / Off . Why do I say that ? I thought the Pang Brothers ' story , and the original movie , steered very clear from trying to resemble your typical Hong Kong / Hollywood action flick , and wanted to stamp their own authority in their take on the action-hit-man genre . Hence their original film . This remake probably allowed them to pay a little homage , and probably tested if they can make a bland action film . They succeeded , and allowed themselves some room to pay homage with a balletic slow-motion action sequence where Cage's Joe engages in a fire - fight with 2 guns blazing , with an enemy across stacked water-containers . Tell me if you're not seen something like that before , and they should have thrown in some doves for good measure too . Nicholas Cage as Joe ( in a little name reversal from the original ) came at a time where his star wasn't fading that fast , yet . This movie was made a couple of years ago , before Cage turned in some rather blah performances and works such as Ghost Rider , and Next , which was utter trash . There was a Next moment in the movie too , which made me groan out loud , not in pleasure of course . With that Tom Hank's inspired hairdo , Cage plays your hit-man without remorse in executing ( pardon the pun ) his duties . Like Jason Statham's Transporter , he sticks to his rules , but we all know that rules are meant to be broken , and when they do , things get broken . In this version of Bangkok Dangerous , the international hit-man goes to Bangkok for 4 jobs before he can finally retire , and in a land where he cannot speak the language , he decides to adopt a protégé in Kong ( Shahkrit Yamnarm ) to do his dirty work at first , before breaking a rule and train a disciple ala The Professional ( keep that counter on for the numerous references ) . Each kill brings him closer to his goal , but the jobs do seem to get nastier , and tougher . I thought a hit-man should be as clinical and as quiet as possible . There are some quiet moments , and here's where the problem is . So you say you want a deaf mute person eh ? We'll give it to you then , in the form of a love interest Fon , played by Chinese actress pretending to be Thai ( it's easy actually since you do not have to speak ) in Charlie Young . In yet another flower vase role she plays to perfection , the romance between the hit-man and his lady love rang really empty , unlike the emotionally charged one in the original . Perhaps you can blame the cast , but I'd put it squarely on the shoulders of the creators . The only time where something was kept from the original , was that iconic image of the hit-man with his gun to his head . Otherwise , Oxide and Danny Pang in their update of their own film really messed it up , in providing an average action flick with a one man army that could still entertain , but provides the audience with a niggling feeling of deja-vu . Heck , even Job # 4 looked like Joe was a Harvey Lee Oswald wannabe .
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514,680 | 317,399 | 58,003 | 6 |
A Nutshell Review : Red Desert
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The first Michelangelo Antonioni movie in color , Red Desert stars Monica Vitti whom audiences would by now be already acquainted with after the successful and acclaimed trilogy with L'Avventura , La Notte and L'Elisse . While much has been said about Antonioni bringing about a stark palette of colors which highlights the inner psychological turmoil of the characters , or use it to great effect to talk about the negative effects man has on his environment just like how deadly the yellow was representing sulphur , it did plod on a little especially when it dwelled upon the usual relationship factor between its lead characters . Vitti stars as Giuliana , a woman whom we see in the beginning and get quite uncomfortable with , as she purchases an already eaten piece of food , and going off to a corner to munch on it with much satisfaction . We learn she's a neurotic , a creation of a vehicle accident , and pretty much obsessive compulsive as well . She has funds to open a shop , but doesn't know what to sell . She has a son , but doesn't know what to do with him and is at wits end with his malingering ways . Her husband we get to see for just a bit , but this isn't exactly a story about him too . Without Vitti in the lead role , I think the fascination with the character ends there . Vitti through her charisma manages to hold your attention , and possibly through this role , highlights her prowess as a commendable actress . I guess it is through her great performance here as an explicitly portrayed confused woman , that made sitting through this story bearable , because otherwise , we'll be stuck with Richard Harris ' Corrado Zeller , a rich industrialist with a one track mind , and that's to bed Vitti's Giuliana , at whatever the cost . And his attempts don't fall short of persistent as well , with his constant probing , requesting , so much so that he's desperate personified . In between their emotional and physical tussle , there were some episodes which stuck out like a sore thumb , perhaps due to my lack of understanding why they should be part of the narrative . One such scene is the story of a young girl which Giuliana tells her son , complete with enactments , which suggests some significance to it . The other though was quite interesting , where a supposed sexual orgy is to have taken place , but what we got to experience was a whole host of party games that a group of men and women engage in , which actually bordered on the weird . Needless to say I didn't really enjoy the story nor any perceived message it tried to bring across . I do however , continue to admire what Vitti can do within the confines of an Antonioni movie .
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514,375 | 317,399 | 1,086,704 | 6 |
A Nutshell Review : Contract Lover
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Kate stars opposite Richie Ren ( or Jen , depending on what rocks your boat ) , as couple Rachel and Fat . They're the atypical modern day couple living it up in Beijing , though the latter is suspect of the former's promiscuity . He loathes the time when he has to bring his girlfriend back to the village to meet his parents , and to get the stamp of approval from his father ( played by Yuen Wah ) . So they device a plan , and that is to look for a substitute girlfriend ( hence the title Contract Lover ) , whose mission is to be as disgusting as possible , so that Dad will tell Fat to find anyone else better than the current beau , and hence , for Fat to introduce Rachel . Cue Fan Bingbing's Joe ( don't ask ) , a poor Chinese teacher who desperately needs the money to send home to her mom . To pull off being the most horrendous girlfriend ever , she has to go through a complete makeover , and be someone she's totally not , which is basically to act like a slutty bimbo ( the credits actually showed her having an image consultant on set , though I suspect the role is to ensure her character doesn't tarnish Fan's good image ) . Then it's off to the village to try and be a put off to Fat's family . The plot seems familiar , one of those fluffy romantic comedies where a mismatched couple soon find themselves falling for one another , while at the same time things happen to go against their plan , and for Fat not knowing who actually proves to be more compatible for him . Needless to say , Kate's role here is actually quite limited , given that she only appears in the beginning and at the end . The movie's in Mandarin too , and everyone has to speak it sans dubbers , which means the Hong Kongers must have had quite a difficult time - Kate does struggle with it , and can't seem to shake off her Cantonese accent convincingly . The narrative runs quite choppily , and scenes seem quite disparate . Besides trying to be sexy at times ( more for laughs actually ) , it cannot shake off the common generalization of villagers , that they just have to be skilled in martial arts . Yuen Wah's Dad is the distant descendant of Huo Yuanjia ( remember Fearless ? ) and spouts ( hokey ) philosophy quite freely . Having set up the Jing Wu school , and the rivals being distant descendants of Wong Fei Hung , you can be sure that whatever jokes you can think of regarding their ancestry , be brought out for laughs . Those familiar with Hong Kong comedies , might see glimpses of them here , though with a lesser degree of success in delivery . But there are genuine moments of laughter , though they are extremely few and far between . One involves pole dancing and kungfu training that just has to be seen to be believed , even though you see that moment coming a mile away . Or that 3-way romantic tangle involving a demure village girl , a hunky martial arts practitioner , and a gay Caucasian . There are just too many minute sub-plots that seem to suffocate and artificially inflate the runtime of the movie , adding little depth and contributing to many frivolous moments . Funny moments too run into the depths of blouses , though some might find them a tad too distasteful , and not revealing too much anyway . However that's what you should expect in the first place when watching a movie like this . It has a basic premise tweaked from a tried and tested formula , and highly predictable to boot . It might serve as a decent romantic comedy for dates , but that's about it , unless of course you're a fan of either of the leads , or you've also had a tacit affirmation set up .
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515,311 | 317,399 | 165,929 | 6 |
A Nutshell Review : ( DVD ) Romeo Must Die ( 2000 )
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I've been a fan of Jet Li's movies , but have been quite disappointed with his latest offering " Danny The Dog " / " Unleashed " . While the action was great as usual , somehow the storyline isn't compelling enough . I'm still eagerly anticipating his Fearless in 2006 though , as the publicity stills so far have been promising , and it's touted as his final action movie . Which brings me back to Romeo Must Die . It's his first feature length Hollywood film as the protagonist , after his villainous start in Lethal Weapon 4 opposite Mel Gibson . And to compensate for the lack of classic martial arts action in LW4 , there are tons of wire-work / CGI laden kung fu in this movie . The storyline's pretty decent , with a gang war between an African American gang , and a Chinese gang , in which Jet belongs to . He and Aaliyah play the offspring of their respective mob bosses , and decide to team up to discover a recent spate of killings between their gangs , as their siblings become the latest victims . As part of the plot , we see both gangs trying to engage in legitimate business , with a crooked NFL dealer thrown into the mix . It's of little surprise that both gangs , although different in race and culture , are run in the same way - a strong figure head , ruthless second-in-commands , and bumbling assistants . What appeals probably is the chemistry between Jet and Aaliyah . The latter was an up and coming singing starlet , but unfortunately perished in a tragic air crash . Romeo Must Die is her first movie released when she's alive ( the other being Queen of the Damned ) , and I'd thought she would make a decent actress too . She seemed to partner Jet Li well , and looked credible in some of the action sequences . Much of the action is stylized , meaning you know , and in a very obvious manner , that the fights all involve wires ( since it's HK's Cory Yuen choreographing , and Joel Silver producing it ) . A pretty nifty x-ray CGI effect comes up on screen each time Jet Li breaks someone's bones . Pretty cool , and not used to often to make you sick . It's a decent movie which will engage you , especially on a lazy weekend or holiday . The Code 3 DVD is stocked full with special features , making of documentaries , music videos , and if put into a PC , even leads you to a simple fighting game online .
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515,510 | 317,399 | 949,861 | 6 |
A Nutshell Review : Village People Radio Show
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The latest news about Amir Muhammad's Village People Radio Show , is that Malaysia has banned it outright . That makes it two in a row for Amir . Like his previous documentary The Last Communist , this is a sequel of sorts continuing on a similar topic where The Last Communist left off , with the filmmaker and his team revisiting the village at the Malaysian Thai border , interviewing the Malay-Muslim members of the old communist party . However , after watching it , one cannot fathom the ban . There wasn't any violence , sex nor the word " Communist " in the title . Neither did it glorify , and perhaps it did not condemn . What it did , again like its predecessor , is to allow the interviewees to share history based on their perspective . Perhaps it is this opportunity for an avenue to air thoughts , that it's deemed as a " dangerous " movie that shouldn't be seen by the masses ? There are nice touches in the documentary , and usually they're the scenes of serene , calm , and innocence exuded by the children - two girls having the time of their lives playing on a see saw . Those who expect something of sorts like The Last Communist will be disappointed . There is the clear absence of the madcap song and dance routines that made The Last Communist enjoyable . Here it has taken a rather serious , at times mundane , tone to its delivery , as if to demonstrate that there is no need for visual and aural gimmicks to spice up the film . But it decided to incorporate some Thai melodrama into the presentation , and there will be some who will enjoy reading in between the lines . And in relation to its title " Radio Show " , the narrative adopted a style of turning the dials , having transitions that must take getting used to before it irritates , especially when they start off rather long in duration ( as a transitional scene ) . Respectable documentary this is , but don't expect anything fancy . Really too bad about the ban , which does seem to drum up more support and curiosity for the movie , rather than to achieve its supposed desired effect .
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515,340 | 317,399 | 404,254 | 6 |
A Nutshell Review : My Sassy Girl
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I haven't really watched the original from start to end , so I can't say for sure how well this version was vis-a-vis the Korean one , which shot Jeon Ji-Hyun to prominence in the starring role . The Hollywood remake however , went straight to DVD , but you know that it's Uniquely Singapore that we give DVD releases a chance on our big screens . That said , I thought this remake wasn't as bad as it was made out to be , what with some screaming blasphemy , and calling it inferior . Truth is , I was entertained from start to end , nevermind if certain scenes seemed implausible . After all , this is a romantic movie , and in the genre , if the man says he's gonna fetch a moon , he jolly well plucks it out from the night sky and delivers it . And if we're talking about implausible romance sequences here , then director Yann Samuell would be the right guy at the helm , after all , he brought us the French movie Love Me If You Dare . Elisha Cuthbert takes over the role immortalized by Jeon Ji-Hyun , as Jordan Roark ( whose last name becomes a running joke ) the ditzy , crazy and perpetually drunk lass whom Charlie Bellow ( Jesse Bradford ) falls for in one random night where he saves her from potentially injuring / killing herself at the subway . So begins the abusive person versus the Mr straight - laced all round nice guy in comic routine after comic routine , which for the most parts , weren't exactly funny to begin with . And their outings all stem from her dictating where and what time to meet , in which he dutifully obeys , not knowing what's in it for him . Maybe he's a wuss but I guess it stemmed from his being a romantic and genuinely wanting to do whatever she dictated , for the simple reason that he's smitten . After all , I guess who wouldn't , given her attractiveness , and the extremely strange circumstances , which do get explained , in which she behaves . But while both leads are good looking , they do lack a certain chemistry when with each other , making it look like a very forced meeting of lovebirds , in a very artificial way . That aside , the movie does have its slick ending to thank for in weaving together their respective back stories , though they do detract and distract from the main narrative , and bring some attention to how beautiful those shots were made , in having to integrate seamlessly one scene to the next . And its concept of Destiny , and dealing with it , on one hand felt completely honest with its building of bridges to each other , of having to know it and to work at it , but alas the movie eventually fell back on what it had preached , opting instead to leave it to the stars , and a very quick and coincidental one at that , which you can see coming from miles away . I guess for those who have not seen the original , we might be blown away by the story and revelation , given that Korean romantic movies / weepies do not come only at face value . However , having seen some Korean remakes , I would reckon that those who have seen the original will call this a travesty . The jury's still out however , until I get my hands on its Korean predecessor , and then I'll let you know what I think . That I believe I should be able to do so since this version has intrigued me to give the original another go . Otherwise , this movie's still adequate for a decent romantic date . I did however , feel sorry for actresses who played the 11 Woman of No Consequence - sheesh , what a title !
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514,993 | 317,399 | 293,564 | 6 |
A Nutshell Review : Rush Hour 3
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Should movies make money , then the Hollywood rule of thumb is to make another , and another , until the franchise runs out of steam . The original Rush Hour was a Jackie Chan vehicle of sorts to break into Hollywood , and it made a lot of money with the mis-pairing opposite Chris Tucker in a buddy cop movie formula filled with action and comedy . Rush Hour 2 was made 3 years later and made even more money , but it took 6 years for the second sequel to be made , and 9 years for the entire trilogy to be done ( pray tell , will there be another sequel ? ) Is the franchise tired ? Probably , yet probably not . Face it , it's Jackie Chan , and most of his films ( with the exception of missteps such as Around the World in 80 Days ) make Hollywood studios smile . You can rely on him to deliver the goods in any action comedy , but age unfortunately has caught up with him , not to mention as well the safer-than-safe minimal risks that studios in the West tend to take with its stars . The action sequences in Rush Hour 3 look a bit tired , tame , and very uninspiring , and what Jackie Chan can probably still do , has been whittled down to sequences that are just a pale shadow of what could have been . Which leaves us with the comedy , thankfully still having its moments especially for those punchlines which deliver . Tucker again gets most of the snarky lines , and a target for those politically incorrect jokes , while dishing some of his own . If there's any hint of rudimentary character development after these years , is that his James Carter , besides having been relegated to traffic duties , managed to " half-chinese " himself , and no longer is that helpless cop who without his gun , can't kick a ball for nuts . The plot is no rocket science , and in fact , the previous two movies just had something which could coast along from scene to scene , providing a platform either to get our heroes Lee ( Chan ) and his brother-from-another-mother James ( Tucker ) into fisticuffs , or provide something for laughs . The first had a kidnapping of a Chinese Consul's daughter which the duo had to investigate in the US , while the second brought them to Hong Kong on the trail of a counterfeiting scam . The third pits the detectives against Triads , and brings us full circle with the return of that little girl in the original movie , who's now all grown up , played by Chinese starlet Zhang Jingchu . Zhang Jingchu follows in the footsteps of fellow compatriot Zhang Ziyi who starred in the previous sequel . But unlike Ziyi , Jingchu's role is sans martial arts , despite her character being a kungfu instructor . It's unfortunately a purely flower vase role , though she looks more fleshed and healthier than her druggy role in Protégé . Yvan Attal's supporting role as a French cab driver is actually more of a scene stealer - listen out for those jibes at America , though it's a little of a cop out how that eventually plays out . Some of the more totally insane moments involve those deliberate lost in translation moments , which are the more enjoyable moments in this movie . Rush Hour 3 is similar in structure with its predecessors , and it does seem a tad familiar at times in the way the story gets developed , with only a change in locale , now set in Paris . It's basically an attempt to reunite the two stars in order to make another dent in the box office , so though they're back , this movie can't be taken all too seriously . It plays out like a cartoon for adults , though the local distributor decided to edit portions of the French revue scene to obta in a rating that everyone can go to . If anything , stay behind for the outtakes , which triumphs over the main offering , hands down .
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514,537 | 317,399 | 419,706 | 6 |
A Nutshell Review : Doom
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You are in the wrong movie if you ask for a plot in Doom . If there's any , it stays true to the game - shoot anything that breathes , which is uttered many times in the latest movie adapted from computer games , off the heels of Resident Evil and Tomb Raider . I might try - a group of RRTS troops ( read : Universal Soldier type , it even plays out that way ) gets sent to Mars to uncover some weird occurrences in some high tech lab dealing with genetics . Soon , the victims become mutations of various kinds and all hell breaks loose as we follow the crew into the labyrinth of an underground lab full of dark skanky corridors right off the set of Aliens . It's nothing fancy , but it works . The filmmakers try to up both the intelligence and babe factor by introducing Bond Girl Rosamund Pike ( she's a distraction alright ) to the plot , but her ahem assets fail to maximise the thin plot . With mercenary soldiers , we see the typical stereotyped characters like the rookie , the maverick , the questionable orders , and the hero with a buried past . One major gripe I had with this movie , is the language . If the scripts says to swear , then please swear using as much colourful and vulgar words . Don't have it filmed , then decide during post production to tone it down , which means to re-record the audio and dub it over . So The Rock might mouth an " F-word " , doesn't take a genius to realize that the word finally heard - " idiot " is two-syllable , and makes the movie like one of the old Clint Eastwood spaghetti westerns . Plenty of moments like this . Worse , while Rosamund Pike was uttering a slew of scientific mumbo-jumbo , her mouth doesn't even move ! ! ! The editors need to be shot up the rear by the BFG . Speaking of BFG , it's disappointing . For fans , this is THE weapon to use as you blast away anything that moves . In the film , the buildup , fanfare and respect given to the Big Fat Gun ( as The Rock calls it . I know you fans have a more impolite name for it ) doesn't justify its short life-span on screen . Worse , there's only ONE BFG used in the entire movie , for a total of like , 2 shots ? The much touted first-person shooter ( FPS ) view , adapted straight from the game , turned out to be no longer than 5 minutes . So for all you viewers who are worrying that the FPS view will get you all nauseous , you might want to reconsider . I thought it could be longer , and earlier , but it wasn't . Pity . However , the special effects , for what it's worth , is pretty nifty . Well , this area isn't much of a challenge , having source material come from a computer game , you couldn't and shouldn't do much wrong here . Strictly for fans of the game to see how it's played out on screen , and for those who like a dose of some mindless action , led by The Rock . Hmm . . . did I just see him raise his eyebrow ?
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515,353 | 317,399 | 48,937 | 6 |
A Nutshell Review : ( DVD ) Alexander the Great
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I borrowed this movie with one intent , and that is to see how the subject material was handled in the 50s , compared to the most recent interpretation by Oliver Stone , who gave us an Alexander with Colin Farrell complete with his hair dyed blonde . And while I was lamenting the fact that there were only 2 war scenes on a massive scale included in that version , the hype that surrounded the story of a conqueror seemed to have made way for Stone's very queer depiction on the bisexuality of Alexander , especially with the camera adopting his POV and gazing ever so lovingly at the male species , countless of times until you want to throw up . I guess subtle is never in Stone's books . Now this version written and directed by Robert Rossen ( who also gave us the original Hustler ) did away with all that sexuality issues , and neither did it find any need to have gratuitous nudity in watching Alexander make love ( in Stone's version , Rosario Dawson went nude in her role as Roxane ) . Then again it was made about 50 years ago . Anyway , what I found to be a major disappointment , were the battle scenes . Yes , it might be terribly dated by now , and sadly didn't survive the test of time . At certain scenes and angles , it's akin to old martial arts movies , where enemies just circle around you , waiting for their choreographed moves to be executed , or worse , if you pay attention to characters in the background , they surely aren't moving like ferocious warriors , choosing instead to mull around ! Also , we only get one major battle sequence in Alexander the Great , which made the foray into India in Stone's Alexander look like bonus material . In fact , this version took some time to establish key characters , and began with Alexander's father King Philip's ( Fredric March ) conquests first , interrupted by the birth of his son , and the prophetic signs under which he was born . It took almost 30 minutes before you see any semblance to a fight , and almost one hour before Richard Burton finally takes over the mantle and seeks out his destiny as one of the greatest known world conquerors of all time . However , the film felt like it was in two arcs , the first which dwells on the internal bickering within Greece with its many factions , and the plotting between mother Olympias ( Danielle Darrieux ) and King Philip , each wanting to win over Alexander's loyalty for their own political purpose . In this version though , which harped on Darrieux's appearance in the credits , I thought she made Angelina Jolie look more formidable in the role . At least Jolie was dripping with evilness and cunning , compared to the more subdued Darrieux . The latter half dealt with Alexander's conquests through Asia , though most of the facts were glossed over . It was too little too late as most of which are told using montage , intertitles and narration , which made it look like a rush job to end it . While Stone's movie had focused a fair bit over Alexander's obsession with being the Son of God and his increasing obsession over himself and his glories , this version again made those themes look superbly examined in Stone's version . However , one thing's for certain , Richard Burton , even with the horribly blond hair which looked like a wig , was indeed a lot more charismatic and believable than Coliln Farrell . And that also meant when Burton was wearing the horrendous full faced helmet so that the stunt guy can take over ! All in all , a pretty decent effort in telling the story of Alexander the Great , however as mentioned , it didn't really stood up to the test of time .
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515,093 | 317,399 | 1,179,891 | 6 |
A Nutshell Review : My Bloody Valentine 3
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Possibly one of the first 3D horror flicks ever , I just couldn't pass this up , and neither could many others , judging by the enthusiastic response and anticipation in the theatre hall just because of the novelty factor , with oohs and ahhs being echoed each time something seem to fling itself from the screen toward the audience . And I'm only talking about the trailer there . I guess it will take a while for the novelty to wear off , though until then , with the selection of 3D films thus far screened at an affordable price , it might just be one of the pull factors to draw in the crowds and put bums on seats . Like any horror-slasher flick with potential to become a franchise , My Bloody Valentine started off with a bang , and if not for some sporadic body counts in between to lift the narrative sag , it would have been sunk way before the long-drawn finale . To horror buffs , the clues as to the identity of the killer miner would be so obvious , that you'd just be crossing your fingers in the hope that you're wrong . It begins with a brief history of The Miner Harry Warden who goes on a killing rampage , and in quite exciting terms of torn limbs and dismembered insides . Friends like Sarah ( Jaime King ) , Axel ( Kerr Smith ) and Tom ( Jensen Ackles ) come face to face with the killer on night in a party in the mines , only for the police to intervene and save the town of Harmony . Fast forward 10 years later , and we see Sarah and Axel married , with Tom dropping by after his disappearance that night to rekindle some old flame . But his return also heralds the beginning of brutal killings in the modus operandi of The Miner , and it is only natural that suspicion will fall upon the prodigal son's return , if not for the picture of other characters being painted in unsavoury terms to provide a whole host of suspects . It's the usual pursuit of a killer who's always one step ahead , and in between we have some attempted drama between love lost , and Valentine's Day being in the the festival of choice ( hence the title ) to set this story against . But this aspect of a love triangle fell flatly on its face , and seriously , we're not here for the strength of the plot , but by the variety of ways the body count gets chalked up . To that , there's no shortfall of bloody gore , as you can imagine how creative one can be with the weapon of choice ? a pick axe ? being in the hands of a psychotic killer . For instance , there's impalement by the masses through different body parts as entry points . You name it , you get it , from the eye to the top of the head , from midsections cut open to what I thought was the best use of a shovel thus seen in a slasher flick . Being in 3D also meant the gore factor got cranked up a notch , since copious amounts of blood come splashing onto you , and you just might duck when the pick axe got swung in your direction . Some may comment that I'm being a sadist , but I suppose films designed in such nature are for those who expect exactly that , for entertainment and fun escapism , not meant to win awards . No new ground was broken as a horror movie because it too relied too much on the usual loud banging noises , sudden appearances and quick edits . It makes no qualms to appeal to the lowest denominator and doesn't even attempt to build up any atmosphere . It does take a while to get to the fun bits , and when it does you'll probably find yourself enjoying every sick part of it . The only obstacle standing in its way of become a franchise spawning many sequels , is the stark lack of motivation of the killer , other than of course being plain psychotic , which is the requisite , and demonstrated so in quite haphazard terms with dots left unconnected . Should you decide to watch this , do yourself a big favour and do so only on the 3D format . And stay right through to the end after the credits roll for that one final swing .
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514,490 | 317,399 | 402,378 | 6 |
A Nutshell Review : Mr . Average
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Mr Average is quite unlike The Truman Show . In the latter , Jim Carrey's titular character is bred and born for the role as the reality television star who lives a lie , and that product placement is but part and parcel to insert advertisements for the long running show . In Mr Average , it has quite a lot to say about polls and opinions , and boiled down into becoming a predictable romantic tale . And the way the romantic tale gets played out seemed quite like that in Knocked Up , where a femme fetale type falls in love with the unlikeliest of guys . Too good to be true of course , and most of the time happening in movieland . Jalil ( Khalid Maadour ) is the latest sensation in a television game show " Your Choice is Right " , and having attracted incredible ratings , he becomes the " It " boy , and finds himself in a new apartment bought on the cheap , just in time to furnish it with his winnings from the game . And as lady luck would have it , along comes va-va-voom Claire ( a very beautiful Caroline Dhavernas , who reminds me of Claire Forlani ) whom he meets on the set of the show , and before you can say " rigged " , he falls hard for the one girl who's the planted mole by the marketing agency , subtly ( to us in the audience at least ) pushing products for his one liner opinions . The film explores the power of opinions , how dominant ones tend to influence those on the fringes to swing votes in their favour . Martketeers would probably pay obscene amounts of money in order to harness opinions the way it does in the movie , especially when one man's sentiment echoes the choice of the masses . Why waste time conducting surveys of thousands to get the average consensus , when you can monitor and put on surveillance one man , and work on the choices he makes , without him knowing of course , lest the outcome is influenced and becomes skewed . And the possibilities and combination of data that can be mined are incredible . You can have choices made for products ranging from the style to colour , and more importantly , what works and what doesn't , what could be hot and what could be lacklustre . Naturally the scenario here , a man who's consistently correct and represents the opinions of the masses , is too good to be true and highly unlikely given probability , but one can just imagine the potential that can be harnessed from such an individual . But a movie that deals with the science and fiction of such coincidence doesn't make it quite interesting does it , and may jolly well run out of steam . So there's where the romantic angle comes into play , providing food for thought about relationships in general , that one has to be based on the foundations of trust , without which the negativeness of suspicion will come in and ruin everything . I thought this aspect of it was solely on the shoulders of the Claire character , where we see how she struggles with being undercover , and yet experiencing the difficulty of distancing herself emotionally from a man she starts to slowly fall in love with . Mr Average , in being average , certainly does have his share of moments , and the last act clearly demonstrates his harnessing of his abilities to milk his potential for his own personal gain . Mr Average doesn't start off strongly in establishing its characters and premise . In fact , it begins quite poorly and sets out to almost confuse unknowingly with its myriad of movement and wacky game show antics , coupled with some snazzy special effect that doesn't really cue you in , until some time into the movie where you can piece things together , or you'd have to rely on The Truman Show to provide some possible background knowledge on what could currently develop from that point on . If I had to sum it up succinctly , Mr Average tried hard enough to transcend its title , but ultimately what came across is like it's title indeed . An average romantic comedy movie .
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514,831 | 317,399 | 459,666 | 6 |
A Nutshell Review : Three Times
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Taiwanese auteur Hou Hsiao-Hsien's movie at The Picturehouse is a movie with three stories told very distinctly , one story after another . Take it as three short films rolled into one , with each actor playing different roles , each character having no distinct relation to their counterparts in different eras . Having them set in 1966 , 1911 and 2005 provided vastly different material for each short film to stand out from one another . The first , " A Time for Love " , is set in the swinging 60s of 1966 . Chang Chen plays an army enlistee who chances upon Shu Qi's working girl in a billiard parlor . He gets attracted to her , but she , not being a permanent staff , flits from one town to another . Undetered , he spends the weekend off to hunt for her , starting from KaoShiung where they last met , following a trail of different mailing addresses which takes him all over Taiwan . This short plays out like a bittersweet tale of budding love , where one will spare no effort in wanting to meet the girl of one's dreams . The second , " A Time for Freedom " , however , is a tough one to swallow . Set during 1911 , there is color , but alas , there's no audible dialog save for opera lyrics sung and Chinese classical music to set the stage . It plays out as a silent movie of sorts , and the dialog pieces are set in inter-titles which you have to read off to understand what the heck they're saying . Very stylish way to portray the era , one which attracted some snickering from the audience , but soon after , you'll have to get very used to the way this section gets presented . The story however , is nothing to shout about , and perhaps the most boring of the lot . Very easy to doze off in the Oscar chair I tell you . The last section , " A Time for Youth " is set in 2005 . Chang Chen plays a photographer , and Shu Qi , a bisexual Goth chick who is on the road to becoming straight , I think . Her character here is the most interesting of the lot , and also because Chang Chen's male leads in all three parts were somewhat ordinary , without an edge . While the first part's environment was in Taiwan's rural areas , which is probably used as it's easier to simulate the retro environment of the past , and the second's highly likely in a sound-stage , this one is familiar urban territory - capital Taipei . It probably is hip to feature lesbians in movies these days , as we see Shu Qi grapple with a clingy lesbian lover . But after having passionate throngs with Chang's character , I guess she must be having second thoughts , or really , is bothered by the clinginess . Throughout the three sections , dialog is quite scarce , except for perhaps the first one . Peppered most of the time in Hokkien , it was peculiar that the subtitles only had the Mandarin translation , totally neglecting English speaking folks . But for the Mandarin dialog , there was English subtitles . So for those who don't read Mandarin or understand oral Taiwanese styled Hokkien , be prepared to be lost for a bit during the movie . I didn't manage to tie down the inter-related themes of all 3 parts , except for the obvious one on love . The first , being in the 60s , was portrayed quite innocently , with shy smiles and little surprises and all . The second was more restrained in nature . Fact is , there's very little physical contact between the lovers . While the third opened with sex , which I suspect was snipped off here ( didn't see what was in the trailers : P ) . All three had appropriate music to accentuate the era's mood . You have classics like Smoke Gets In Your Eyes , and Rain and Tears ( the one used in the trailer ) , up against Operatic music , before closing the film with alternative music , sung in heavily Chinese accented English , whose lyrics don't make much sense , being adapted by Shu Qi's character encounters . Communication techniques used in the three movies were as accurate as can be , with A4 sized pen-written love letters , in contrast with ink-brushed wordings in large thin paper , and today's prevalent electronic communication with email and SMS . Perhaps it also serves to highlight the idea of love in those eras . One very innocent , one very plain , and one , non-permanent and fleeting . Maybe it's just me , but having watch three very arty representations by directors such as Malick , Retaruang and now Hou , made me a little jaded what with having movies where style takes precedence over substance . I think I need to chill out with something as mindless as Ice Age 2 or Ultraviolet soon . Need balance .
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514,367 | 317,399 | 432,402 | 6 |
A Nutshell Review : Factory Girl
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It took me that long to finally watch Factory Girl , a story which tells of a wealthy party girl , a poor little rich kid's trials and tribulations , her parties and the friends she keeps , her influences and vices ranging from hard drinking to drug taking . No , it's not about Paris Hilton ( you can wager some money that one will be out in future ) , but probably a precursor to her , a woman called Edie Sedgwick , who lived and died hard and fast . It's not the first time where we have rich young girls choosing a totally different career path for herself , the other in recent memory being Domino Harvey , played by Keira Knightley in Domino . Sienna Miller has an uncanny facial resemblance to the real Edie Sedgwick , and hence an almost automatic choice in taking on the character . This movie brings us on a journey of her very short life , having passed away before reaching 30 years of age . We see the wrong choices she makes in life , her clueless attitude in coasting along with her drug addiction and decadent celebrity lifestyle , having been brought about Superstardom by the famous Andy Warhol ( an almost unrecognizable Guy Pearce ) through his casting her in his avant garde movies , and constant media praising . The factory in Factory Girl refers to Andy Warhol's studio , a warehouse where he lets his creativity run free . Akin to Hugh Hefner's Playboy Mansion if I may say , where you see plenty of leeches doing what they do best , and that's to kiss Warhol's rear . In some ways , Factory Girl examines how Warhol has a huge impact to Sedgwick's life , her being his muse , and frequently seen and photographed together . But the portrayal here makes him look very much a pompous prick who has problems with his own sexuality , though adopting a very protective attitude towards his exploited creations , nary sharing his wealth with his posse , who are probably satisfied with licking up the crumbs that get fallen off the table . But the more peculiar bit of casting and characterization , is that of Hayden Christensen's " Musician " , an amalgamation of boyfriends that Sedgwick has , but implicitly , and quite obviously through the make up and costumes , that Bob Dylan's the one being referred to here . While we see how the clash of egos between Warhol and Musician comes to drastically affect Sedgwick's life , the movie didn't evoke any sense of pity on Sedgwick , and more often than not , makes us feel that she deserves whatever punishment that Life is dishing out to her . The presentation styles adopted in this movie by George Hickenlooper were pretty mixed , constantly shifting visual techniques from documentary styled interviews , to the incorporation of remade avant garde movies , from colour to black and white . While the focus is supposed to be on Edie Sedgwick given the title , in reality , Andy Warhol as a character gets to share just about as much spotlight , probably because he's the more famous of the two , and Guy Pearce looks like a carbon copy of the real deal , taking a leaf out of Philip Seymour Hoffman's playing of Truman Capote , only with an increased amount of meanness . When the end credits rolled , interviews with real friends and relatives tell us a little bit more on Edie , but I felt it was too little too late , that the movie itself squandered this opportunity to tell a more compelling narration of her life . Instead , those interested in more would probably hit Wikipedia and do some reading up on Andy Warhol , and Edie Sedgwick .
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515,251 | 317,399 | 898,319 | 6 |
A Nutshell Review : Just Follow Law
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Jack Neo is undoubtedly Singapore's most commercially successful director , having made 10 films ( including this one ) , and almost each time , you'd hear his movies topping the charts and breaking box office records . His films touch the common heartlander chord with his fusion of satire and subtle jabs at topical issues , much akin to his skits during his Comedy Night days , and given a huge fan base built , it's no surprise if local audiences turn up in hordes to lap up his latest offering which set its sights on the civil service . Almost everyone can identify with the frustrations of red tape bureaucracy , that incident of unpleasantness with staff in their less than helpful robotic stick-to-the-rulebook answers , and of course , attempts to shift responsibility and cover their rears . Wait ! Doesn't that sound familiar , like what every other company employee will do as well ? For the first twenty minutes , it's recounting office politics 101 with spot on accuracy , jazzed up by some special effects , as every tactic in the office politic arsenal get brought out to the table . The story is set in a fictitious government body which is tasked to create jobs and encourage skills upgrading . But the fact is that almost everyone in the department needs a serious upgrade and look at themselves . You can spot the inept CEO , the conniving scheming colleagues , the unskilled miscellaneous workers , the bootlickers , and the elite scholars all having a go at each other . And at times when you laugh at their antics , somehow you're wondering if you're laughing at yourselves , especially when you recall incidents you experienced , or characters whom you see in others . While the idea was there , the delivery was somehow let down . It played out quite childishly , and looked more like mini school skits put together in a very choppy manner . You don't fault the number of ideas the story writers have , but rather at their inability to gel them all together into an engaging narrative from start until end . At times you might think you're watching a tele-movie plagued by too many minor characters , each being a one - dimensional mouth piece for the issues they represent . Casting Fann Wong was a coup , as she's one of the top darlings of Caldecott Hill . And one of the appeal in watching the movie , is to see how she junks her glamorous goody-two-shoes image , for a comedic role requiring her to act like a siao char bor ( mad woman ) . And she pulled it off with aplomb , which is what manages to hold the attention of the audience . She burbs , farts , frequently molests herself by grabbing her boobs , walks like a beng , talks like a beng , swears like a beng too . According to reports , her minders got into fits with her role as Tanya Chew the scholar manager , who got her body swapped with Gurmit Singh's Lim Teng Zui , a lowly employee , as it called for her to act against her image . Well , she sure have thrown caution to the wind and it turned out well , but I thought she could have gone further , instead of having to rely on cheap editing tricks . If Fann Wong acting like a man raised interest , the same couldn't be said for Gurmit's role as a woman , as it sure isn't like Mrs Doubtfire or Tootsie . It's relatively muted , and when the pairs on screen together , there is no doubt as to who is the movie star , with Fann giving the veteran comedian a run for his money . Although they have some chemistry together , I thought the story and dialogue sometimes lapsed into the two characters being their correct selves instead of their swapped ones . The other supporting characters are played by the usual faces from television , and are caricatures requiring As mentioned earlier , scenes are usually made out of mini skits which try to be funny in itself , and then glued together with the lazy fade out transitions for the most parts . While there is a resemblance of a main plot , the subplots display meek attempts at comedy , or stick out like a sore thumb trying to shovel its social message down your throats , at times presenting itself awkwardly in out of place scenes . Being a Jack Neo movie , product placement is never far away , and in his latest offering , there are plenty of opportunities for product placement , which are milked to the max , one of which I thought was a mistake in having Fann seen in an advert . Jack too can't help but to put himself in a cameo , and hammering referential jabs in the script at the government ( 66 . 6 % for a test out of 84 , it doesn't come across any clearer than that ) . The production values seem mixed though . Despite being budgeted at more than a million dollars , the look and feel at times seem like a million dollars , and at times , just felt cheap . There are a lot of special effects put into the movie , and that probably took a huge chunk from the budget , as did Fann Wong's paycheck . The effects though were rather surreal which brought out some fantastical feelings about the movie , and were also used as substitutes for obvious stunts or backdrops that proved relatively costly to make . For once , I was of the opinion that the songs in the movie weren't necessary as they failed to elicit or enhance the mood of the scene , and was there a recycling attempt at using one of the songs from an earlier film ? Just Follow Law will do well , given Fann's against-the-grain role , something audiences would not have seen before , and the fact that it's opening this Lunar New Year period . Fans of Fann , and the usual support base of Jack Neo , will definitely make this movie a hit . A pity that it could have been much better .
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514,888 | 317,399 | 443,473 | 6 |
A Nutshell Review : The Condemned
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At first glance , the storyline looks like a distant cousin to the Japanese movie Battle Royale . Instead of having sent unruly students to an island and see them finish off one another , The Condemned follows the same lines of having 10 death row prisoners from around the world being brought to an island , and given a simple rule to kill everyone else in order to earn their survival , and freedom . They are similarly rigged with an explosive device which if tampered , or if they choose not to participate , they too will be blown to bits . But there's where the similarity stops . There's no PA system to tell the scattered involuntary participants just how many survivors there are ( thus leading to a loophole ) , and there are multiple camera rigs installed on the island , for the purpose of entertainment . The Condemned plays on some of our intrinsic nature of wanting to watch gladiatorial styled violence , and given that such content will probably never get on the TV networks , the fairly sci-fi turned reality TV over IP concept gets its airtime here . What networks refuse to screen and produce , you can , given the right equipment and personnel , and plenty of computing power . Pay-per-view IPTV using credit cards is the road to riches for the game producer Ian Breckel ( Robert Mammone ) , who champions the thought of producing content that audiences around the world want to watch . His argument was that these handpicked participants are going to die anyway , and here , he's giving one of them the chance to live , a noble gesture to him . The Condemned mocks today's reality TV format , in that sometimes , the game can be manipulated to satisfy the producers ' objectives , and we see that in abundance here . Violence it seems is high on the agenda here - how much can an audience stomach , especially if say hypothetically , Big Brother type of series allow violence to be met out live , unedited and raw . Or are you going to play to those who pay , and give in to the demand ? There's a constant argument being played out early in the movie about dignity and decency , but that gets forgotten fairly easily in a film like this one , falling victim to its own preachy statements . Especially so when Sports Entertainment companies like WWE are involved in this one . WWE had its fair share of stars lending their " acting talent " to Hollywood , and I can go as far back as the late Andre the Giant lending his physical presence in The Princess Bride . Then you have Hulk Hogan in various forgettable flicks , The Rock in some charismatic roles ( though some are as cheesy as that in Be Cool ) , and Kane in the horrid See No Evil . Here , Stone Cold Steve Austin plays the lead role of Jack Conrad , an inmate with an unspecified past , who becomes someone more than anyone had bargained for . But the star unfortunately is not Austin , as much as he plays the anti-hero . Vinny Jones , as British prisoner Ewan McStarley , clearly stole his thunder , and injected more personality into his maniacal character . While the format of the game had the prisoners from different parts of the world to allow everyone a chance to root for their home players , it was at times ironic that USA had to battle UK so prominently in the movie , and that the " with me or against me " line just brings to mind the many scenarios as played out ever so often . It's ra-ra for the USA in an in-your-face fashion , with eye-for-an-eye violence dished out for avenging the weak and wounded , and the showing of compassion to those who needs it . The make up of the team of pla yers too is interesting on purpose , with female players up against male ones ( and what happens is such an easy guess ) , and Survivor styled formation of alliances , outwitting , outlasting , outplaying all being key to survival , but the story , with so many characters , dictate that you cannot go beyond what is superficially shown . Of course the leads got a little more background to show for , but you find that these happen to be just cosmetics , unnecessarily inflating the screening duration . The Condemned tried to be a little deep , but ended up tossing its attempts aside to settle for an all out action movie towards the end , and what I thought was bordering on the ridiculous at Austin's ability . For action junkies , the sequences here might be a little repetitive with its usual big explosions , and the extreme closeups of violence using the shaky hand-held camera technique just irritates . If the premise still excites you after all the mentioned flaws , then The Condemned managed to appeal to you with its in-movie concept - I think you'll pay US $49 . 95 should there be a channel like this on the internet .
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514,642 | 317,399 | 809,925 | 6 |
A Nutshell Review : First Love
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Based on the " autobiography " of Misuzu Nakahara , I won't deny that what intrigued me to picking up this DVD was its premise of having it set against Japan's single largest heist to date , where 300 million yen ( back in the 60s ) was stolen in broad daylight without a loss of life . I've always enjoyed heist movies , though First Love may not be a title that one will automatically associate with a crime . Robbery under audacious circumstances , and one that's based on an historical incident , what's there not to like ? Alas the film decided to mash too much into a movie , what with troubled , idle and idealistic teenagers thrown into the mix to bloat the running time , and a romance that just wasn't . This is no Bonnie and Clyde , and we see how a lonely teenager in search of belonging , get sucked into a group of riotous teens , only to have director Yukinari Hanawa decide to summarize their group dynamics for the aforementioned robbery because the teenagers are getting quite a handful to manage , especially when they do not have much personality to begin with , and have little to show for except to get into fights and having sex . Aoi Miyazaki stars as Misuzu , the character supposedly based on the writer's real life , or so she claimed . Living with relatives , she soon finds herself gravitating toward a bunch of youths based at the B Jazz Bar , and in a strange initiation rite , gets accepted by the group , led by Ryo ( played by Aoi Miyazaki's real life brother Masaru ) . However , she's still the loner and the quiet one within the gang , and is in contrast to the plenty of empty vessels who make a lot of noise in the group , seeking attention where it's not wanted , especially with the authorities who don't hesitate to use violence on any group of rioting teens . After a series of slow , emo-inducing scenes where she plays observer , the pace starts to pick up when fellow loner Kishi ( Keisuke Koide , of Cyborg , She ) begins to put his plan into action . He's quite the patient fellow , in planning way ahead into the future , starting with hooking Misuzu up with an elderly man at a motorcycle shop , in order to teach her how to ride . After successful competency , he drops the bombshell , that she is to help him in his planned heist , and takes her on a recce . It's an extremely simple mission , so simple that it borders on the absurd , like taking candy from the hands of a toddler , without the need for brute force or sophisticated equipment . It takes some 50 minutes to get to this point , before we get to see Murphy's Law get exacted , and then unfortunately Hanawa's shortcomings to have this wrapped up also got exposed . The film never knew just how to end , and again , plodded along its way to the finale which is quite lacklustre , before decided to stick to the tried and tested . I felt that some 30 minutes could have been shaved off its running time , and the focus put back into the relationship between Misuzu and Kishi . Since the title both in Chinese and English suggested that hint of romance , that angle could have been explored to more depth . After all , having it all come crashing down with realization in the last 10 minutes doesn't quite cut in , and in so verbatim methods too . It's a bit like a cheat sheet , because all the while both Aoi Miyazaki and Keisuke Koide both played their friendship in very platonic terms . From the angle of the heist and why one would say yes , it wasn't because she was doing it for someone she liked , but rather to repay the attention and acknowledgement given to her , from someone who dished it out in loads . It's more of a lonely person afraid of being cast aside , that she decided to say yes to committing a crime . Not to mention too that she had pretty good cover to shield herself from the potentially massive investigations to follow . Aftter the statutes of limitations was issued , there still wasn't anyone who owned up to the crime , and I guess Misuzu Nakaharra had capitalized on this to release her so-called autobiography claiming her involvement in the infamous crime . Naturally this incident has become stuff of dramas and movies such as First Love , but this one somehow fell a little bit short in not being able to fully craft itself from a more compelling story . Nothing fancy here , but it somehow worked to a certain degree .
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514,689 | 317,399 | 450,099 | 6 |
A Nutshell Review : A Time to Love
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How long will you wait for somebody you love ? Will you hold on to that hope and have faith , or will you buckle at the uncertainties , and choose to move on ? You'll never know until you're in it , and are forced to make some decisions . While you can decide for yourself , you'll never really know how the other half will fare , especially if it's long distance . A Time to Love , starring Lu Yi and Zhao Wei as star-crossed lovers , adapts the basic premise from Shakespeare's timeless romantic tragedy , Romeo and Juliet . The references are countless , be it direct like the very cheesy replication of the famous Act II Scene II , or indirectly . As childhood sweethearts , their love for each other is forbidden by their respective families due to a mysterious feud between the heads of the households . So long as it remains mysterious , so too will their love be hidden away from their families , resulting in stealing glances , and meeting up in secret . But how long can this continue before taking its toil , especially when one turns out to be a high flyer and ambition gets in the way ? Even the characters fit R & J to a T . Lu Yi's Hou Jia is actually quite wishy-washy , afraid to express his feelings for his love , and is kept in his place by his wheelchair bound mother . Probably out of filial piety , given that it's a Chinese / Asian virtue , but having her dictate his life , is probably as pathetic as can be . There are times though , that as his character develops , it threads on dangerous ground just as the cad that Lu Yi played in Jasmine Woman , starring yet another Chinese actress who have made international waves , Zhang Ziyi . Zhao Wei's Qu Ran on the other hand , is as strong in character as Juliet , the one calling the shots on how she wants to live her life , and to love who she wants to , despite her parental objections . Zhao Wei herself lights up the screen with her scenes each time , and no doubt her bright illuminating eyes contribute to that effect , expressing her fear , anger , loneliness , happiness , all rolled into one and projected through the windows of the soul . The movie , itself based on a short story , contains plenty of cheesy moments that will probably be appreciated by the romantics , or cringe just about every general movie going audience . Familiar themes for romantic movies are at their element here , with beautiful camera shots setting up scenes of isolation , and of waiting , and bringing to life the love between our lovers . There is a sex scene ( gasp ) but you don't get to see much . There are some movies that perpetually shoot itself in the foot with its bad ending . You know , those that have an excellent build up , right until the finale , but destroys all the good work done with the very last frame . You can add this movie to that list of yours . While the non-romantics would have already rolled their eyes as the story progressed , those who are holding out until the end will probably be nodding in unison with its open ended third act , but unfortunately , that dumb final line had to appear as the end title . And no , it's not " The End " , but by doing that , it robbed the movie of whatever shreds of credibility it tried to keep alive , and topped it with stinky cheese . P . S . It's a pity that this movie only had less than 10 persons in the audience , one of whom is Kenneth Tan himself . Guess having two film festivals running side by side , in the holiday season of December , does take its toil on the attendance of festival movies .
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514,869 | 317,399 | 389,790 | 6 |
A Nutshell Review : Bee Movie
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Let's see , we have A Bug's Life , then Antz , then the insect animated films gave way to a host of animal talkies , including dancing penguins , cows with confused genetic makeup , and zoo animals thinking they're better off in the wild , chef rats , amongst an array of hits and misses , recycling the same old tactics and game plan to snare the movie going audience . Wise-cracking animals , check . Pop culture references , check . CG animation that resembles the real world , check . Celebrity voices , let's see , we have Jerry Seinfeld , Renee Zellweger , Matthew Broderick , John Goodman , Chris Rock , Larry King , Ray Liotta , Sting , Barry Levinson , Kathy Bates , and even Oprah Winfrey . But we all know by now that you can throw in the craziest antics , stuff the movie with recognizable voices , but Pixar has taught the lesson that it always boils down to the strength of the story . And this is what Bee Movie is severely lacking . Not that it didn't try , but it went tangential to what it probably had intended , and it spawned into a big bag unmanageable hydra . Jerry Seinfeld is Barry Benson , a bee who refuses to conform to the laws of nature to having become stuck in a one-role job for the rest of his life . Before committing himself to menial tasks in the honey making process , he decides to venture out with the cool pollen collectors and see the outside world . And in the process , comes into direct contact with Vanessa Bloome the florist ( voiced by Zellweger ) . Oh , did I also mention that bees speak English ? It's just that they adhere to Commandment Number One that they shut their traps so that we won't know they understand us . Yeah right . So if you'd believe that , you'd believe anything that the movie throws at you . It becomes a courtroom drama with the usual lawyer jokes thrown in . It becomes an anti-worker exploitation movie , to stand up for the little ones , with reminders that small things matter in the whole scheme of things . It becomes a documentary on the laws of nature and the environmental / ecological equilibrium that has to be maintained . And the ultimate out of place scene involves a bloody jumbo jet in the sky in homage to the Airplane spoofs . Yes , while I know Bee Movie pays its homage to B-movies , you'd probably still wonder what the scriptwriters had in the coffee . But given its multiple personality and indecision to focus on something that it can chew , the graphics here are still no less than stunning . The bees in flight , with the mashing of the black and yellow , is pure poetry in motion , blending well with various backgrounds , be it the city skyline , or the green lungs with colourful flowers dotting the landscape . It's extremely fluid with attention paid to the details , and would be worth every penny should there be an IMAX version of this portion of the movie . Such scenes warrant the price of an admission ticket , but alas , more could have probably been done to save the movie . Bee Movie is again targeted at kids , although chances are they'll miss the many adult jokes and references so come fast and furious ( some of which just fall flat unfortunately ) . And having a lack of " cute " characters , might dent its appeal , and narrow merchandising opportunities . Better luck next time Jerry !
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514,644 | 317,399 | 901,476 | 6 |
A Nutshell Review : Bride Wars
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Anne Hathaway rules the screens this month in Singapore , with three movies hitting the screens - Rachel Getting Married , Passengers , and now teaming up with Kate Hudson for my second wedding theme movie of the day , Bride Wars . Alas this film by director Gary Winick had the trailer to thank for in letting every cat out of the bag that there's little surprise left when the girls have a go at each other . Liv ( Hudson ) and Emma ( Hathaway ) are best friends since young , where they were subconsciously programmed that they must be each other's maid of honour , as well as to have their weddings at New York's swanky The Plaza in June . Fast forward to today , and they are on the cusp of their engagements , which of course meant that they do get to finally turn their long held dreams into reality . From being girly about attending each other's events to engaging one of the finest wedding planners ever , Marion St . Claire ( Candice Bergen ) , little do they know a small administrative screw up will threaten their very friendship . One wonders if girls can indeed be so petty over such little details . You see , the entire plot hinges on this very fine condition that the two girls hold onto , and that is to be each other's maid of honour . Which doesn't make sense because they can each have their wedding on the same day and at the same venue ( different ballrooms of course ) , but because of their insistence to be present at their best friend's wedding , they fall out , insult each other , and declare war . So only if you buy that wee bit of irrationality ( OK , so some claim that the opposite sex can get unreasonable from time to time . . . ) do you buy into the entire bickering , where they go one up against the other , sabotaging plans to be at their best come their wedding day . It also helps that the demeanour of the girls are on opposite sides of the spectrum , with Liv being the alpha-female go-getter who doesn't take no for an answer , and Emma the good natured sweetheart . Of course the series of back-biting do change their characters both for the worse and for the better . Best friends can become your worst enemies since they know every dirty little secret you had confided in them before , and can exploit your very weakness to gain an advantage , so one can find it easy to identify with the predicament of both sides . Those who suffer will nonetheless be the common friends , who have to sit on the fence and not take sides . The trailer has spelt out the storyline and laid out the best jokes on the table , so unless you're really hard up for jokes that you know the punchline to , this may be just an average chick flick . Having it rated PG ( instead of the original NC-16 ) also meant that some of the more coarse dialogue in Marion St . Claire's meeting with the girls , get chopped off quite abruptly .
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515,463 | 317,399 | 1,139,668 | 6 |
A Nutshell Review : The Unborn
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Written and directed by David S . Goyer , who is still in his infancy in being at the helm of feature films , but no stranger to writing screenplays from the horror genre to the reboot of the Batman franchise , you would have thought that he might have steered clear of the usual clichés that plague a horror film . Imagine that the following all made it to his film The Unborn - mirrors , demonic kids , setting in toilets , insects , darkened corridors , dogs , haunting nightmares , and of course , a pretty woman in the lead . If you'd think Odette Yustman is such a familiar face , then perhaps you would remember that this pretty face had the power to influence a guy and his friends to trek halfway across a city to save her from a leaning skyscraper , while a monster rampages New York City in Cloverfield . Such is her influence , and here , she's Casey Beldon , a teenager whose mom had inexplicably hung herself , and her dad being conveniently out of town the entire time she's in distress . Her influence ? Being able to arrest everyone's attention in having the assets to prance around in undies ( camel toe alert ! ) , and convincing that she's not a nutcase imagining things , to have a rabbi ( Gary Oldman , what a surprise actually ) help her perform an exorcism on herself . Not slamming Goyer's story for the sake of doing so , as he actually had quite an interesting tale involving some bits of history , the phenomenon of twins , the kabbalah thrown together in a nice mish-mash . If a horror film needed a reason for you to anchor your disbelief to in order to enjoy some illogical moments of scare , then Goyer had a wealth of subplots and rationale going on . Unfortunately , the pacing was a bit strange as the middle portion really sagged and got bogged down by uninteresting , supporting characters such as Meagon Good as Casey's BFF Romy and a fair weathered boyfriend ( well , more like forgotten for the most parts ) Mark Hardigan ( Cam Gigandet from Twilight ) . I suspect that there probably was some unceremonious tinkering to the story , or in having some sections rearranged during post , which accounts for the rather choppy narrative . Some parts didn't gel too well , and stuck out like a sore thumb when you feel that it's chronologically messy . There were very little scary moments , to my surprise , though I had to admit there were some " instant " scare moments that genuinely made me ( ahem , and the audience ) jump at our seats . Credit too has to be given to the make up team , and the special effects crew for rigging some really insane visuals , though the spidery walking scene with heads upside down reminded me of The Exorcist . And if homage is Goyer's idea here , then there were additional attempts , and the one which made me burst our laughing , was the mention that holy books and instructional manuals on shooing the devil away , are only effective if the users truly have immense faith and belief in this sort of things . Fright Night was the film that said something similar to the effect that it stuck on me , and hearing something along the same lines just cracked me up . But a comedy this is not , just that it's quite economical in the way this is shot , relying on the usual build ups and the cliché springing of surprises when you ( least ) expected them to . If only the finale didn't degenerate into an all out , free for all action fest given the keen anticipation it had built up , nor if it had resembled Fallen too in a way of how the ghouls here are capable of travelling , this would probably have been a more than above average flick .
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514,743 | 317,399 | 108,362 | 6 |
A Nutshell Review : Faraway Sunset
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When I was young , I had placed my hand at a door hinge , and without realizing , my mom slammed the door shut . Naturally the door cannot close , I felt no pain and didn't scream , my mom wondered whether the door was faulty , until we both realized that one of my fingernails was completed smashed in . Then the pain set in , I screamed my lungs out , and the look on my mother's face and reaction , was completely the same as that of Noguchi Hideyo's . Faraway Sunset tells the story of the famed bacteriologist who is known to have discovered the agent that cause syphilis , and for his relentless search for a cure to yellow fever . As a toddler , his mother's neglect had caused an accident to his left hand , fusing together all the fingers in a bizarre twist of fate . Naturally extremely remorseful for being the cause of her son's handicap , she does everything she could to ensure that he gets to lead a normal life , despite having to fend off bullies and unfair prejudices . If you're wondering if the movie provides you any insights to his professional life , then you , like me , would be disappointed . That part of his life is only glossed over quite quickly , and what's the main meat in Faraway Sunset , is the human drama and personal relationships with the different ladies in Noguchi Hideyo's life . Chiefly , it centers on that with his mother , having her cause his handicap , but more than making up for it , as she is probably the main player in getting to wake his idea up , reminding him of the promises he made to achieve his dreams . The other ladies on focus are a fellow Japanese student who spurns his love he has for her every step of the way , and I suspect this is due more to his handicap than anything else . A good loooker no doubt , but one who looks ugly on he inside . And finally you have his American wife , played by Julie Dreyfuss , but in a role that is pretty much a cameo by any standards . But what is inspiring about the character of Noguchi Hideyo , even if you slowly start to loathe his ways , is that he's a go getter who doesn't know when to stop , nor is able to take no for an answer . Relentless in his pursuit either in his love life or his professional objectives , he bugs and begs to be accepted , and has a skin that is extremely thick in order to open his mouth for favours and loans , more often than not , succeeding of course . What I didn't like though , was his triumphant return to Japan . In an effort to gain respect back home where he was despised , he had to make a name for himself worldwide , before deciding to trudge on home soil . And what I thought was particularly unfilial , was that he left the visit of his mom to the very last , after meeting up with politicians , businessmen , and check this , celebrities . What gives ? I felt you should give priority to the lady who sacrificed big time for you , and one who has been bearing the responsibility in trying to make things right within her limited ability . The pace of the movie treads real slow , and told in pseudo-docu style when his professional life is touched upon . As mentioned , the human drama factor takes centerstage here , and Mother's Love cannot be any more than emphasized by the time the end credits rolled .
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514,592 | 317,399 | 495,824 | 6 |
A Nutshell Review : Dorm
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It was quite uncanny , a group of us were discussing making a movie about ghost stories told in schools . Sure , every school has its fair share of ghouls and goblins , and we'd thought it was interesting to have it done on film . Heck , we were actually in the premises of a school when we started to talk about it at night too . So imagine our surprise that Thailand actually made it first , and screened in local theatres no more than a month after we discussed . Dorm refers to the dormitory of an all boys boarding school . Chatree ( Charlie Trairattana ) gets sent to the school by his parents , against his wishes . I believe almost everyone would be familiar with the feeling of being uprooted from one school to go to another ( be it upon graduation or otherwise ) , where there's a sense of loss somewhat , especially with friends . As with all new schools , the new kid on the block gets treated with suspicion , and he finds it extremely difficult to integrate into the school . It doesn't help that his initial gang of friends harbours thoughts of going all out to scare Chatree with many ghosts stories about the school ( I could've sworn the toilet one was familiar territory , because I encountered something similar before ) , and making matters worst , the teacher ( Jintara Sukphat ) also becomes a key character in one of these stories , hence making Chatree wary . Despite being the social outcast , and a recluse , Chatree befriends another pupil , Wichien ( Sirarath Jianthaworn ) . They become fast friends , but Wichien has a deep dark secret come 6pm everyday , when he disappears . By now , you would've guessed what would happen . Along the way , this movie somehow forgotten that it was supposed to be a horror movie . That , or the marketing folks have gotten it all wrong in promoting this flick . The horror genre is undoubtedly an extremely popular genre in Asia , one that will put folks into cinema seats , and riding on the wave of Shutter's success , it's easy to get caught up in what essential are the few and far between sense of fright that's packed into the trailer . Be warned , halfway through the movie , the horrifying moments get thrown out the window , and Dorm becomes more of a standard fare mystery . Quite a plain one actually , as the narrative gets stuck in cruise control throughout . You'll be able to guess the ending , and plot devices are thrown in only to help the movie proceed to the following scene . But there's a fun element thrown in , which I thought was quite neat . Fans of Hong Kong horror cinema would clearly identify the " Mr Vampire " remake in Dorm , where the students congregate for one of their night movie screenings . It's a deliberate cheesy remake , but I felt this was one of the more powerful scenes that snuck up on you , incorporating the twist revelation so well , I give it the thumbs up . And yes , the twist is revealed midway through the movie in this scene , and thereafter , " horror " gets forgotten . How's the horrifying content earlier in the movie you ask ? It's not all that frightening , again relying on cheap tricks like musical crescendos to make you jump . You don't get to see much , except for shadows , sudden movements and closeups ( hey , if I can survive this , so can you ! ) . If I had a gripe , it would be with Chatree's hair continuity problem . Unless there's a barber in the school who cuts hair as good as he restores them , you'll probably get perturbed by the changes in Chatree's hair length . In the same scene . Talking to the same person . You get the drift . It's rather sloppy film-making , and the continuity person ought to get shot . The special effects department though , gets my thumbs up for its imaginary swimming pool effects . Really cool stuff there . Horror aside , this film essentially similar to like M Night Shyamalan's The Sixth Sense , though it doesn't dwell as deep into the psyche of Chatree and the spirit . It works on another level , along the themes of friendship , sacrifice , forgiveness and closure . I'd recommend it , not as a horror movie , but a coming of age one . P . S . the version shown here rated PG , is the censored version . Not because of anything frightening , but for a sex scene , which I thought was quite pivotal to identify who it was Chatree's father was humping . Edited away , it comes across as " so what's the big deal ? "
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514,850 | 317,399 | 1,033,643 | 6 |
A Nutshell Review : What Happens In Vegas
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My only trip to the US ( not counting the toddler days ) where I can remember what the heck I was doing , was back in December 2005 ( gee , time flies ! ) where I spent a total of 7 full days trawling the streets as well as the casinos up and down the Strip and its outskirts , and seriously , it's never as sexy as that portrayed in the movies ( or that television series ) , though you'd truly never really run out of things to do , despite everything being overly expensive at tourist prices . I think I still possess a mental map of everything on the Strip ! And of course , Vegas is famous amongst other things besides the Elvis impersonators , live entertainment etc , is the ability to conduct quicky marriages , which is what Ashton Kutcher's Jack Fuller and Cameron Diaz's Joy McNally get themselves into during a night of drunken stupor and cheap dares , two lonely souls who journey to Sin City as an escapism from their failed lives , where you can enjoy all the pleasures the city have to offer , before the drudge comes kicking in when you receive that credit card bill . So begins the story when the duo find themselves in a situation to annul their marriage given a night of impulse that they cannot remember , but cannot do so when McNally's quarter was inserted into a jackpot machine by Fuller , and that brought them a cool 3 million dollars jackpot . Which they can't agree how to split the money , and a quirky judge sentenced them to 6 months " hard marriage " to work through their marital vows , before their frozen cash can be touched . As what the trailer had already explicitly spelt out , it's War of the Roses in Mr and Mrs Smith styled couch-therapy sessions by Queen Latifah , with comedy ranging from the slapstick , to the plain juvenile toilet tricks . Attempts to elevate the movie and give the characters more depth , come in the form of Jack Fuller learning to believe in himself and to shed his playboy , non-committal ways , and with Joy McNally having to learn to let her hair down , lighten up , and basically doing something she loves rather than to continue doing things that she dislikes , in true " live your dream " fashion . And throw in a quirky boss and ideal parents into the mix , you'd have a whole host of supporting cast to boost variety in this rather predictable tale , where you can see the outcome shining brightly like a star in a moonless night . I thought Ashton Kutcher and Cameron Diaz could be playing themselves , i . e . one's dating an older woman , the other other no qualms in dating younger men . Well , at least their characters had never felt the need to reveal their ages , but you can tell Diaz is a spring chicken no longer since her big screen debut in The Mask . Typical of all her roles , Diaz again plays a ditzy blonde with quirky skill sets , and I thought somebody should really consider giving her a role in an action movie , since she has on display , really menacing looking biceps , and a scene where she got to show off her combo moves of a right hook and reverse roundhouse kick . Kutcher on the other hand is , well , Kutcher from Punk'd , with nothing really new offered in his role of the smooth talking slacker with brooding good looks . Instead , the one who stole the show was sidekick Rob Corddry as Hater , Fuller's best friend and lawyer . He would already be familiar to some as the crazy Homeland Security agent in Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay , and I'd stick my neck out to say this is one guy to watch over the next few comedic movies , as he totally let it rip in this movie with his crazy antics . At best , What Happens in Vegas is ideal for those itching for yet another formulaic romantic - comedy from the factories of Hollywood , or for those who missed out on the hot tickets for Speed Racer . Stay behind after the end credits roll for a final coda . There are 2 at the beginning of the end credits , but hold out right until the end before you decide to make for the exit .
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514,684 | 317,399 | 84,116 | 6 |
A Nutshell Review : Identification of a Woman
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As introduced by Lorenzo Codelli , Identification of a Woman was presented in the Cannes Film Festival in 1982 and received a special anniversary award . It's like a personal movie because the lead character Niccolo ( Tomas Milian ) is a film director , and tells of a personal crisis of the filmmaker . Niccolo was played by a leading Italian actor of the time , Tomas Milian , who was famous for his roles in Italian spaghetti westerns , and was an action star . This was essential the last feature film made by Michelangelo Antonioni before his stroke , before which he spent most of the 80s publishing short stories and exhibiting his abstract paintings . And personally , my bad track record with Antonioni's post L'Eclisse movies unfortunately continues . I'm pretty sure I'm missing something very obvious ( or could be it so subtle it eludes me ? ) that I'm finding each of them quite difficult to sit through ( save for perhaps The Passenger ) , and to try and see its underlying meaning . Perhaps I am just scratching the surface and in doing so , fail to appreciate what the movie's about and for . Or maybe Identification of a Woman is indeed the weaker of the lot , because of certain resemblance to plot design with his earlier masterpieces ? For starters there seemed to be some repetitive themes revisited , but that I'm fine with because it made it easier to click with and connect . Just like how Niccolo and his squeeze Mavi ( Daniela Silverio ) spend considerable time at an emotionally empty high society party reminiscent of that in L'Notte , where they nurse issues from the heart , as well as for one to come to terms with the other's secret admirer . Surely the sex is good , and the movie wastes absolutely no time in getting beneath the sheets for some surprisingly erotic time of a horizontal tango complete with underarm forests , but naturally physical love doesn't compensate for emotional depth absent between the lovers , highlighting something inherent wrong in their relationship . Having anonymous threats made to Niccola also didn't help , as he experienced first hand how these threats got carried out to hurt those he loved . We spend a bit of time with their attempts to escape from a stalker , and even had a technically brilliant sequence involving a deep mist that I thought contemporary movies like Frank Darabont's The Mist , or the video game movie adaptation of Shallow Hill , had taken a huge leaf from . For Niccolo's inability to declare his love and address their conflicts , we get a dose of L'Avventura here . Mavi disappears , and we don't really get to see much of her thereafter . Niccolo tries to launch a search , and we get into the second half of the movie where we see his new relationship with a young actress Ida ( Christine Boisson ) . But of course there are issues to grapple with here , and I thought was something I'd understand as well , and that's the continued holding out of the candle for someone else , together with the notion of love versus need , and serving as an emotional crutch . It's not fair of course , but there's more challenges ahead for Niccola in his relationship with Ida to accept , but by the time we get to it , I'd more or less didn't really care for Niccola anymore . Which probably contrasted to a statement which Lorenzo Codelli shared about what Antonioni said regarding this movie being about its characters . I thought his earlier movies had stronger and more interesting characters , or at least those who can hook my attention down and allowed me to care for them a bit , versus those in this movie . Then again , I suspect I may be on a different wavelength since I enjoyed most of Antonioni's earliest works in the 50s , as compared to the more contemporary ones shown this week so far .
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514,966 | 317,399 | 195,714 | 6 |
A Nutshell Review : Final Destination
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I watched Final Destination 3 without watching the first two , so thanks to DVDs , I'm going to make amends . The most I know about the first Final Destination was that explosion onboard an aircraft was one of the most realistic ever , and probably had this movie banned from inflight entertainment systems . Alex Chance Browning ( Devon Sawa ) has a fear of flights , and in his class outing to Paris , he had a premonition about the flight going boom , and created enough a ruckus to have him thrown out of the plane , together with a few of his friends and teacher . Naturally he becomes guilt ridden , and prime suspect when the plane explodes mid-air without a clue as to why ( following the actual TWA flight 800 ) . Together with Clear Rivers ( what a name , played by Ali Larter ) , they discover that if they were destined to die in that flight , then Death will soon be on his way to complete his mission , in the order that they were supposed to go . It brings to mind that our deaths are probably pre-ordained the moment we are born , and death has designed the way we have to go too . The premise is that should you beat that design , then you get a second chance . But are we up to that ? Nope , because we want to see how the cardboard characters get sent on their way . However , the deaths presented here aren't really horrific or designed with grandeur , probably because they don't age so well over time . They do seem rather gimmicky in today's context . Not expecting an adrenaline rush each time the characters die or beat death , the plot does get slowed down because of the romance bit between Alex and Clear ( and most ended up on the cutting room floor ) , so they do come across pretty jarringly . And the group size for death is relatively small , so you don't go beyond that number , including survivors . It's a pretty decent thriller , but a reminder that the nature of these thrillers is that they age quite badly over time .
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515,384 | 317,399 | 489,282 | 6 |
A Nutshell Review : Strange Wilderness
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One of the reasons why I decided to watch this , is because I needed a comedy to laugh at , if it's not possible to laugh together with it . The DVD is already available at the shops , but I don't think I'm ready to fork out a Code 1 DVD price for what's essentially a short comedic film which is based from a Saturday Night Life comedy skit . Written by the same creative team of Peter Gaulke and Fred Wolf with the latter taking on directorial duties as well , Strange Wilderness delivered some genuine laughs , but only if you're tolerant of being insensitive to the kind of subject the film makes fun of . Strange Wilderness is a long running wildlife programme which is now succeeded by Peter ( Steve Zahn ) , the host of the show , whose father had made the programme into one of the best loved prime time shows . Under Peter's leadership , ratings have plummeted , and needless to say even their 3am timeslot is in danger of being canceled . In a last minute desperation for survival , he and his crew have to look for a new way to ensure their programme continues , and dropped at their laps is the opportunity to follow up on a solid lead to the whereabouts of Bigfoot . Eseentially this movie is one big road trip that tells of the crew's journey to documentary history , with the likes of soundman and co-collaborator Fred ( Allen Covert ) , Cooker ( Jonah Hill ) , the only female in the team Cheryl ( Ashley Scott ) , and cameraman Junior ( Justin Long ) , amongst others . And throughout the movie , we see each and everyone of them getting into enough funny scenarios that made this film look like many pieces of skits being glued together , with laughs coming courtesy of sexual innuendos ( you just got to hand it to the turkey ) , sight gags , slapstick and just plain buffoony . In fact , I even suspect that everyone in the cast were on a high as they shot this , as dialogues were laced quite incoherently with plenty of ad-libbing , especially Justin Long , though of course if he's really acting , then kudos to him for being stoned all the time . While giving no respect to wildlife , the funniest moments were reserved for their voice overs of Nature , and it's really quite incredible should anything like it be actually aired for television . They are intentionally full of factual errors , lapse into unnecessary judgmental and slanted viewpoints , but always just plain ridiculously funny . Perhaps I was in crap mode , but the humor here doesn't apologize for any offence made , since after all , the subject matter can't fight back anyway . I know I'm shallow if I say I really couldn't get enough of the film poking fun at the physical features / defects repeatedly . There is no plot in the movie , besides everyone being perpetually broke as they try and scrimp or come out with more hare-brained ideas to fund their movie and fuel the laughs . So the bottomline is , don't expect any genius from Strange Wilderness , but if you're in for some low-brow humor , then this movie might just be the perfect laughing medicine for anyone wanting to chase the blues away , without any medicinal assistance .
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515,493 | 317,399 | 57,697 | 6 |
A Nutshell Review : Youth of the Beast
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Youth of the Beast is pretty much acclaimed , but I just can't appreciate it very much , partly because it's quite a dated film - the 60s , and the execution reminded me of the old 60s Batman and the Green Hornet series , in its noir crime storyline as well as the use of the ol ' fisticuffs to settle scores . Not that I didn't enjoy it though , but my smile stemmed more from the cheesiness . Of course when watching a film from the past , you got to approach it in the context when it was shown in . And it pretty much gave you a glimpse at old Japan , with its production sets , costumes , and acting style - which is exaggerated . Special effects and stunts were quite low key ( probably groundbreaking for the era ) , with some shots suffering from sudden jump cuts , and looking raw . Certain stunts were found to be wanting , but again , for that era , it's adequately executed , though by today's standards , audiences would be more unforgiving . The violence too didn't let up , and for a Yakuza movie , violence is part and parcel to their lifestyle . There are a number of innovative techniques used , such as the flame from an aerosol can , and the insertion of a blade underneath the fingernail as a torture method to inflict pain . I was surprised too at the raw scratching off upholstery from a sofa set , which seemed quite realistically painful for the actress to perform . Director Seijun Suzuki actually helmed the movie Yumeji ( 1991 ) , from which the theme song is used in Wong Kar Wai's In the Mood for Love . Here , he crafts the movie from a novel by Haruhiko Oyabu , which could have served as inspiration for Lucky Number Slevin in its playing off mob bosses . Here , Jo Mizuno ( Joe Shishido ) infiltrates and joins a gang by forcing his way through to the top , beating up everyone and anyone who dare stands in his way . Impressed , he's given a stint with the gang , and slowly , a mystery begins to unravel as to his motivations and objectives to doing what he does . It plays out rather straightforward , and you would have guessed his intentions pretty earlier on in the movie , but what impressed is how simple it is to style a movie in this manner back in the 60s . Taking seemingly simple everyday locations like nightclubs and cinemas and having shady dealings taking place under a legitimate business front , does seem rather suggestive of how gangsters operate at the time . I'd pretty much recommend this to those who have high cheese tolerance , or fans of the swinging 60s era movies . Nothing much really to shout about . The Criterion DVD comes with an essay insert , the theatrical trailer ( 60s trailers all have those sensational big words covering 90 % of the screen , very nostalgic ) , a 4 " 48 ' interview with director Seijun Suzuki , and a 7 " 56 ' interview with actor Joe Shishido . For a Criteriod DVD , it's pretty much barebones by standards .
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514,395 | 317,399 | 218,379 | 6 |
A Nutshell Review : Kippur
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While it's easy to set expectations and think that this could be a Saving Private Ryan / Black Hawk Down type of film ( since the synopsis does reveal a chopper going down ) , this is after all an Amos Gitai film , and I feel this is more Apocalypse Now with The Thin Red Line sensibilities , though with none of Terence Mallick's visual poetry . Based on Gitai's own experience of joining a helicopter rescue crew during the war of Kippur in 1967 , he creates the character of Sergeant Weinraub ( Liron Levo , also seen in Disengagement ) and it's through his eyes that the story unfolds . The film is curiously bookend by some graphic , artistic ( literally , since it involves an incredibly huge canvas and lots of paint ) sex , where Weinraub pounds his girlfriend in an extended scene in the beginning , before the outbreak of war with the attack by Egypt and Syria interrupting his moment of passion , and he picks up friend and officer Lt Ruso ( Tomer Russo ) as they drive back to camp to join their unit . Along the way they meet a number of characters who flit into and out of the story , and soon find themselves in a camp that they could get to , and volunteering to join a makeshift , hastily assembled helicopter unit to fly to the warzone in order to pick up wounded survivors , kind of like a flying ambulance tasked for rescue missions . We learn a thing or two about emergency evacuations , as well as the policy of not transporting the dead in time-critical missions as these , taking only survivors and sticking to their mission objectives . If one does not know that Gitai is at the helm of the film , one could expect an out-and-out war movie , since the scenario painted provides plenty of avenue for such . There are flights into the frontline , and in carrying out their mission , Getai litters the screen with plenty of dismembered bodies up close enough to churn your stomach . There are moments where some action is called for , but these are few and far between since our soldiers are unarmed . For those with Gitai sensibilities , then you'll probably note his preference for long takes , and there was one incredibly long sequence involving a traffic jam and narrow roads , when Weinraub and Ruso are rushing back en route to their camp . Otherwise , most of the shots during war involve tight helicopter interiors , or helicopter overhead views , but through narrow windows , capturing scores of tanks in vast , muddy landscapes ravaged by tracks that had gone past , that you can imagine the scale of the invasion with . Unlike other war films that preach the negative aspects of war , this felt more of a documentary of sorts , since after all it's based upon the director's own experience . Scenes are delivered as a matter-of-fact , sometimes devoid of emotion too as the soldiers go about doing the business , and the plenty of landscape shots are just that and could easily have been representative of news reels back then . Not your conventional war movie , and definitely worthwhile only when the troops hit the ground , and not flying high and far away from the action .
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515,046 | 317,399 | 430,770 | 6 |
A Nutshell Review : The Women
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Written and directed by Diane English , which is based on both the stage play by Clare Boothe Luce and the 1930s movie of the same name , The Women is an update of sorts transplanting stories about the love lives of 4 women friends to modern day New York City , but wait a minute , isn't this Sex in the City ? Not quite . For starters , this movie does not have a Mr Big . In fact , male characters get mentioned , but the high level of girl power meant that men are supposed to be mentioned , but never seen . Nada , zilch . In almost every scene you'll be hard pressed to find the male species in the movie , that you'll almost deem this a terribly sexist movie . The characters too seem like a throwback to SATC and while the characters here are less irritating and less bitchy , that however was part of the fun that was missing here . It's not a bad story , but Diane English had made this feel more like one's watching a stage play rather than a movie . Dialogue becomes lines delivered on cue , with little emotion attached . The plot itself was quite thin , and one could see the actresses trying their best to make their characters seem as three-dimensional and as interesting as they can . Some make the grade , while others like Jada Pinkett Smith , Debra Messing and Eva Mendes weren't given enough screen time to perform adequately . While it preaches girl power , solidarity , empowerment and the likes , what this film essentially is , is a Meg Ryan and Annette Bening show . It's been a long time since I last saw Meg Ryan grace the screen locally , and surprisingly , it didn't seem that she has aged a bit . I deliberately tried to look out for tell tale signs of wrinkles , but age has been extremely kind to her . Annette Bening got the opposite , as she has visibly aged a bit , then again , she plays the more alpha-type role here that seems to be the unsaid leader of the womanly pack . The characters here were a little like SATC's like a mentioned . Bening's Sylvia Fowler is a woman's magazine editor whose job is under threat from young upstarts brimming with fresh creativity . Ryan plays the all American lovely socialite wife Mary Haines juggling with family , career and various obligations , so much so that her husband finds enough time to engage in an extra-marital affair . Her story actually anchors the film and forms the pivot in which all other subplots revolve around . Eva Mendes plays the third party as cosmetics girl Crystal Allen , who hooks up with Mary's husband just because of his social standing and platinum credit card . The typical gold-digger , her role is a typical vamp but much of her screen time shenanigans has already been exposed in the trailers . Then there's homemaker Edie Cohen ( Debra Messing ) who's the mother hen of the lot with her many daughters , and is expecting once again , a task she'll not stop until she gives birth to a son . And Jada Pinkett Smith's Alex Fisher is a lesbian . Err , that's it , because I though Diane English had by the time ran out of ideas what to do with the latter two characters , that they get much reduced roles . It's a plain and simple narrative delivered without much fanfare , but bolstered by female actresses whom those in my generation would have seen them on screen for a fair bit . And I thought the budget was provided to engage the services of the likes of Candice Bergen , Carrie Fisher and even Bette Midler for guest roles , that there wasn't enough money left to hire male actors . So for a very focused and female centric film , The Women , like the title states , is all about the female of the species , the stereotypical woes that they face , and as with all things , everything can be improved with a change in haircut . Unfortunately this movie comes censored , and the unceremonious cut was during a crucial montage sequence where Ryan's Mary Haines picks up the pieces and redesigns her life . I suspect that there was a lot more to it than just the systematic straightening of her hair though . Oh and do stay tuned for the coda at the end of the credits . With some subtle product placement from Dove used during the film , the coda was more explicit , and even had this look and feel of a Dove ad , but of course with the four lead actresses explaining what it takes and feels like to be a real woman .
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515,424 | 317,399 | 1,316,584 | 6 |
A Nutshell Review : The Carrot Cake Conversations
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Perhaps the only way to enjoy this particular variant of the carrot cake dish is to imagine a fantasy Singapore of sorts , one where prostitutes look like an ex-Miss Malaysia , where people are generally unhappy with their present lot ( ok this might be true after all ) , and all seem to have lack of avenues to vent their frustrations and angst , keeping it all pent up inside . It's quite daring for writer-director Michael Wang to dive right into his feature film debut with a talkie piece . Then again , with the market conditions over here , you don't really expect one to try and make anything other than compelling drama or comedy to stamp your mark in the industry . While the attempt is bold and courageous , unfortunately the story isn't compelling enough to carry the whole movie through , instead relying a lot on veteran actors Adrian Pang and Alaric Tay to deliver their roles as two of the four protagonists in the story , both of whom seem to be the strong and mostly silent type , who hold their own in banter only when in the mood . The female leads turn out to be fresh faces on film , with Danielle O'Malley and Andrea Fonseka being the ladies who meet both men over the course of one night , discovering for themselves ( and unravelling for an audience ) that local men can be quite . . . troubled . Well in fact every single one of them has a load of emotional baggage that they hope to work through , and unknowingly through the conversations with one another , some demons get exorcised , and new courage found to take the bull by the horns , or to stop and smell the roses . Told over one night of the eve of Christmas eve ( that's the 23rd of December for the slow ones out there ) , we follow a quartet through the next 12 hours where they meet by chance and spark off some chit-chat over late night supper of , you guessed it , the titular delicacy , in Newton and Geylang . However , for a conversational piece , there were a number of moments of silence , where characters sit and ponder , given the immense weight of their troubles , but for the most part , they all seem somewhat distant and hard to connect with . It's difficult to sympathize or empathize with these characters ( perfect spoken English language doesn't help of course , except for the movie to travel overseas ) , and hence this alienates the audience , so much so that , to quote a character , do you mind talking so that I don't doze off again ? ( Not that I did of course ) I felt the actors did their best , and delivered where it mattered for their roles , but were somewhat let down by the script . There were flashes of brilliance in some of the conversational pieces , but unfortunately it was generally dull , serving at times as a mouthpiece for the director on his observations of local life , that you're likely finding yourself questioning if it's really the case . But I thought the real question came more than midway through the movie , where you're challenged point blank , as were the characters , on what you actually want in life . It's not something easy to answer , and the movie doesn't try to offer you any solutions , but what it does is to spark off some soul-searching to the million dollar question , which some spend a lifetime to discover . And what about the much talked about gripe on Andrea Fonseka's character Ruth ? Perhaps the most unreal character crafted here , a woman who decides to sell her body to make enough to see through her dream of becoming Singapore's first Blues singer . She's chatty with her clients , and is full of spunk , and speaks proper English as to boot . Naturally there are quarters who find this quite a fantasy figure to begin with ( and at that price ? ! ) but Andrea did her best in fleshing out this character , flying expletives , ( ok just one ) , and cheekiness in the same package . So did O'Malley too with her performance as Kate , the free-spirited girl who left California and is in transit in Singapore en route to New Zealand to set up her cafe . For someone who's escaping her life to start another , I thought she was the pluckiest , in her ability to inspire those ( men ) she comes into contact with , despite having zero material wealth and nary a clue on what to do next . Make no mistake this is clearly a film that would appeal to a very niche audience , but for those who are willing to give locally flavoured movies a go , The Carrot Cake Conversations offers something that's quite different from the usual set menus and local diet of comedy and horror . It might not have the most interesting conversations in a film , but it sure does have one of the better ensemble performances around .
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514,745 | 317,399 | 82,313 | 6 |
A Nutshell Review : Eijanaika
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The opening film of this year's Japanese Film Festival , Shohei Imamura's Eijanaika was a mixed bag , but the opening is one to behold . Very noisy and extremely boisterous and colourful , there's a carnival like atmosphere in visiting the street markets , with its strange and curious looking circus like performers ( see a snake being eaten alive , I kid you not ) , and others like a peep show for dirty old men . Like the noisy nature of the street market , what I found distracting with Eijanaika is its lack of focus . Set during the time just before the Meiji Restoration , with the grip of Shoguns going into decline , and with foreign powers already set foot on the land of the rising sun , it has many facets on the corrupt ways and the power play between warlords , scheming and plotting against each other to gain a foothold of fame and fortune . But anchoring the movie is the theme of love between the characters Genji ( Shigeru Izumiya ) and Ine ( Kaori Momoi ) , though it's a strange love , which only gets weirder once it addresses its issue on jealousy , and embarks on a journey of manipulation , and sacrifice . Genji has spent 6 years in America , and upon arrival in Japan , finds himself like a fish out of water . He looks up his abandoned wife Genji , who is now a top performing showgirl in one of those peep shows , being sold against her wishes to a master , and has to pay off her debt . But this master-performer relationship might be more than meets the eye as Genji finds out , given her reluctance to leave with him and follow a dream of carving out a new life in America . Somehow you'll loathe Ine's character , that slowly and surely you discover that she's quite a loose woman , using her charms and body to exact her wishes . But you doubt her true love for Genji no longer when you witness the amount of crap she has to go through for her man , despite his being unappreciative of the fact initially ( though it's hard of course ) . Living a new life and going out of her comfort zone might be too much for the unskilled Ine , and perchance that's why the spurning of Genji's dream to live abroad , going back to where he came from and had experienced . Like I mentioned , the narrative felt a bit too scattered with many characters and subplots , involving diabolical scheming no less , to give it a easier flow to follow . But appreciated was the fact that Imamura had instilled within the film some physical comedy involving a band of robbers , who after experiencing the success of their first hit , couldn't conceal their addiction for more . The finale reminded me of Paprika , with plenty of song , dance , color and sheer shenanigans , involving mooning and peeing ( this you just gotta see ) , but I thought it lost the plot with its firing on all cylinders on all parts of the target , rather than zooming in on critical areas and grouping the shots .
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515,106 | 317,399 | 157,117 | 6 |
A Nutshell Review : ( DVD ) Tokyo Eyes
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Somehow I had thoughts about Leon The Professional when I watched this film . Just the bit parts about how a girl chances upon the professional killer and struck a friendship with him . Here , a girl chances upon a press-hyped hit-man , and begins a romantic relationship . There's something peculiar about the modus operandus of the hit-man , K ( Shinji Takeda ) , in this movie . He'll don a pair of Ultraman inspired spectacles to blur his own vision deliberately , before whipping out his specially crafted pistol ( ok , no naughty thoughts here ) , and dispatches his prey . He doesn't make money for performing his hits , but rather rewards his own ego by shooting at anyone who irritates him at that point . Which makes him rather hard for the cops to predict where and who he'll strike next , and this frustrates the authorities . It doesn't help that the press builds up the hype of this crazy , masked " four-eyed " vigilante , and despite having a photo-kit of his face plastered on the front page , this anti-hero eludes the cops and remains an enigma . Cue cute Japanese schoolgirl with huge expressive eyes ( drool ) Hinano ( Hinano Yoshikawa ) , whose brother happened to be a cop taking on the case . On one hand , she's attracted to him , though she does not condone his violent acts , and on the other hand , wonders if she should follow her civic duty and report him to the police , or her brother . Bad boys almost always get the cute chicks I'd say . The movie has the look and feel of a classy indie , and being a French-Japanese production , it has this Euro-techno soundtrack infused , which I enjoy . Oh , and legendary Takeshi Kitano has a cameo as well , as what else , a Yakuza member . But don't hold your breaths as he only appears towards the end , and doesn't do much in his scene . The best scene in the entire movie will probably belong to the tense moment between K and Hinano as they square off and a piece of trivia gets unveiled . That one will make you go " ahhh . . . " , while other scenes which you will probably enjoy are those scenes where K goes on his spree . Other than that , it's most plain lovey-dovey talk between lovers . Code 3 DVD contains no extra features , except for the usual English subtitles , a photo still gallery and the interactive scene selection . There are also some trailers ( its own and other kinky films ) included , but nothing worth a closer look .
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514,543 | 317,399 | 365,830 | 6 |
A Nutshell Review : Tenacious D : The Pick of Destiny
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It might be an understatement to say that Jack Black is truly a jack of all trades . Of late his profile has been raised in the various high profile movies he's starring in , ranging from his own comedies like Nacho Libre , which I thought suffered from its own over-hype unfortunately , to blockbusters like King Kong for him to flex some dramatic muscles . I still remember the smaller supporting roles he played in movies like High Fidelity , and now he's probably in the bigger league , having the ability to open a movie with just his name on the marquee . Tenacious D however , is not a one-man show . It's actually a Jack Black-Kyle Gass vehicle in which they play two absurd rockers conveniently called JB and KG . They're dreaming of the day of making it big in the rock scene , with cash and chicks in their sex , drugs , rock and roll lifestyle . But until then , they have to content with paying the bills , and performing in open mic sessions of smaller joints . And of course , not having sufficient talent to come up with a hit , works against them , though they manage to snag one die hard fan along the way . Making its jump from TV ( was an HBO series ) , Tenacious D doesn't need you to learn up its history in order to enjoy it , as it begins with a fair bit of background story of how these two friends , with a passion for rock , meet and develop their friendship and partnership in showbiz . In his movie , they're on a quest to seek the legendary Pick of Destiny , which almost every who's who in the annals of rock history is observed to be using , rumoured to be a part of Satan ( ok , all you folks who associate loud music with the devil will probably rejoice at his point ) . And to humour these folks , JB and KG are your expected foul mouthed characters who pepper their lyrics with bawdy sex lines and vulgarities , which , in my opinion , totally rocks , spoofing the genre of music to a T . To truly enjoy the movie , you'd have to pay close attention to the lyrics and the dialogues between the characters , though some might add that it's a bit of an overkill having almost every line punctuated with Fs or Cs . Laughs are also milked from physical action , with inane bits like the Power Hugs and the Power Slide , which is touted as THE arsenal in any bona fide rock star . The other highlight of Tenacious D are the hilarious cameo appearances from folks like Tim Robbins , John C Reilly , Ben Stiller ( woohoo ! ) and even Meat Loaf , for some rock cred . Their characters , some unrecognizable until you do a second take , add plenty of colour to this wacky fantastical film . But Tenacious D blew hot and cold , and there will be points in time where you will just cringe at the delivery , or simply be unimpressed by the predictable ho-hum plot . It's almost as if Bill and Ted had put on loads of weight , and have recycled their excellent adventures into something with a rock element , and replacing Death with Satan himself . Satan here is done in awesome crimson red , much like Hellboy , horns and all , but with plenty more devilish attitude to boot . And yes , Jack Black can sing , really . A genuine performer if you ask me . If you're someone with a holier than thou attitude , steer real clear from this movie . It's so offensive that those who cannot stand the slightest murmur of insanely vulgar dialogue or set action sequence , will probably suffer from a bad fit . Stay tuned until after the end credits for a scene between JB and KG , where they try to conjure yet another masterpiece in front of their tape recorder .
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515,377 | 317,399 | 883,374 | 6 |
A Nutshell Review : Men in White
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Then again , it's a comedy , and the whole intention of Tong was to try and emulate the classical 80s comedies from Hong Kong , especially those Stephen Chow " mo lei tau " ( nonsensical ) movies , which Tong confessed this evening to being probably his # 1 fan in Singapore . Unfortunately those movies are in a class of its own , and the actors in MiW are certainly not in the same league too . But you can't fault Tong for trying , as MiW was more like a shotgun firing its rounds - some pellets hit the mark , while some others totally miss the target . Technically , Tong has shown that he understood the elements of suspense - the prologue showed that he is more than capable to helm another horror movie though he overdid this bit to achieve some comedic effect , a subtle prod on those horror movies with extremely closeups of facial expressions , especially that of Asian horror favourite - the widening eyeball . Alas , in treading onto comedy in almost Jack Neo fashion , MiW too felt like little skits pieced together to make a feature length film . And Neo's style of meshing songs into the narrative , became no less than 3 musical pieces popping up as music videos , complete with sing along lyrics , karaoke style . But I like these songs - they are fun , at times nonsensical , and are in dialect with no English subtitles , which to some , might have been lost in translation ( ahem I'm multi-lingual , so no problem lah ) . The music comes courtesy of Joe Ng ( Mee Pok Man ) , and the sound effects and design is probably one of the best in a local movie , especially since it was relied on heavily to deliver those cartoonish effects with aplomb , and you definitely must keep your ears peeled to appreciate this . One such scene involves Benjamin Heng , who has appeared in Kelvin Tong movies , and whose character here , if I were to romanticize it further , could have seemed like a ( logical though more fantastical since it's in the spiritual realm ) continuation of the one in Eating Air , as they share similar mannerisms , or could actually seem more of a spoof of his earlier Ah-Beng gangster character . Heng has a supporting role here though . The other main characters are Shaun Chen as Ah Boon , an ex-national reserve badminton player , Alice Lim as Madam Wong , an elderly lady , Ling Lee as Wan Yi , a lady who choked to death , and the Hip Hop duo of err Hip ( Xavier Teo ) and Hop ( Ben Yeung ) , whom I swear are more irritating as time goes by , until they break into song and dance in those music videos . They are all ghostly pals living in an unused HDB apartment unit , and whine for the most parts about how difficult life is for a ghost in Singapore . Not to forget , a bit part for Sunny the cameraman , another ghostly pal who's filming the chronicles of these friends . No prizes for acting skills over here , as Shaun Chen does look a little wooden , Xavier and Ben like I mentioned , and chewing up too much screen with their over the top performances , and Ling Lee , well I'm not sure why , but certain angles did make her look rather unappealing . Maybe they are playing to their one-dimensional characters , but the character which stole the show , hands down , is the gambler-contractor . Now he IS the star of MiW with his perfect delivery of some of the best lines and situations in the movie . David Aw had a bit role in the movie as an instigator of change , and he got that role as a result of a MiW Talent Search Contest , which I thought didn't require much talent actually , given the screen time . The narrative played out chapter-like , each self contained as an answer to commonly asked ghostly questions , which is why it resembled skits , though it does have a romantic thread that slowly runs and gets developed in the 2nd half of the movie . In true local movie fashion , it used multiple languages again to highlight our multi-lingual society , though some might find fault with its politically incorrect racist jokes and stereotyping ( OK so I am now feeling guilty at laughing out loud at these ) . Some of the other jokes might seem a bit too localized for them to be effective to a more international audience , but I guess the sight gags ( at times quite juvenile ) will always be able to transcend language barriers . An irk I had though , there were noticeable typos in the English subtitles . Probably next time I can proofread for anyone out there ! With a title like that ( the original Chinese title of " Ghost ah ! Ghost ah ! " ) , this film doesn't take itself seriously , and neither should you . Just kick back and relax , enjoy some of the pluses this movie has to offer , wince at the minuses , and remember , it's " mo lei tau " no-brainer entertainment , so don't fret too much over it .
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514,480 | 317,399 | 370,244 | 6 |
A Nutshell Review : 9 Souls
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This 2002 Japanese film is the third feature film showcased in the inaugural Singapore Fantastic Film Festival ( The first two being Kontroll and Immortel , which I should be able to watch by the end of the fest ) . 9 Souls is at times a complex movie , and at times one which has a simple tale to tell . It blurs and crosses the line so often , it makes it difficult to try and classify its genre - part gore , part comedy , part social commentary . The title refers to 9 prisoners , who are introduced in more detail during their escape from prison ( in a very creative introduction by the way ) , ranging from murderers to a porn king , from a juvenile delinquent to a vertically challenged escape artist . It turns into part comedy once they escape , and have to find the means and substinence to help keep themselves alive in a strange new world . Prior to their escape , their world is their prison cell , rudely interrupted by a tenth crazed prisoner , a counterfeit king who leaks out the secret to the whereabouts of his stash . With this bit of information , they embark on a quest to recover this lost promise of treasure before going their separate ways . Which forms the second half of the movie . Throughout the first half , we are exposed to the dreams and hopes of these escape convicts . Being locked up for some time , they each have a secret desire to either reunite with their loved one , or have plans to live a better life . At some point , you will ponder if it was wise of them to each seek their dream , knowing its dire consequences , or would rather choose to stick together in their new found family . Thoughts on second chances in life also crosses your mind , if these serious crime offenders deserve another break in life , or are forever condemned in the eyes of society for their one moment of folly which has kept them locked up . The pacing of the film is at times choppy , and you'd have scenes that come out of the blue ( like cross-dressing as a disguise ) . I heard quite a number of people around me give the " hmm . . . where did that come from " comment . The soundtrack is kept simple , to a constantly played guitar tune , which in scenes of peace are kept soft , and in scenes of angst , being played to a crescendo . I find this effective in conveying emotions in the film , without the need of a bloated soundtrack . Rated R21 here for its subject content and scenes of gore which is not really shown on screen , this film is recommended for those who seek a different film offering , which is what this film fest is striving to achieve .
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515,518 | 317,399 | 775,539 | 6 |
A Nutshell Review : Stomp the Yard
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I wasn't the least surprised with the full house turnout at the preview of Stomp the Yard . Having held the number one spot at the American box office earlier this year for 2 weeks , and with dance competition programmes having ample screen time on local television , it's probably a no brainer for this movie to open here this week , in time for the school holidays , targeting its teenage audience who will more than likely turn up in droves to catch the latest dance movie offering . As with the previous dance movies Step Up and Take the Lead , our lead dancer comes with plenty of emotional baggage , and a criminal record to boot . In essence , it's like an amalgamation of teen movies Step Up ( for the dance genre ) and a huge leaf out taken from the structure of Fast and the Furious : Tokyo Drift - just replace the race cars with provocative street dance moves , and you have Stomp the Yard . If you're not convinced , DJ ( Columbus Short ) got his life messed up after his brother's death , and him being charged with assault . He moves away from home to stay with relatives , and enrols himself in a local college . There , he exposes himself to the stomp dance which the frat boys practice , hold competitions and get bragging rights to by being the champion . He falls in love with April ( Meagan Good ) , the main squeeze of a prominent member of the opposite camp , bringing about plenty of issues as they square off on the dance floor . Clocking close to 2 hours , you'll probably find it amusing as you sit through deja vu moments identified from the movies mentioned , and you'll be able to stay one step ahead of formula every step of the way . There are a number of characters in the story , but while most of them are fringe players , it was toward the end where they start to have personal histories intertwined does it start to get a little ridiculous , too conveniently established to move the story forward . The romance portion between DJ and April also seem unconvincing , and the actors emote little chemistry with each other . Again , these romantic tangles have been told time and again , and you're more than likely to roll your eyes at the romantic moments which bog down the pace . Rather , you'll be rooting for DJ to do his thing , to show off some of those moves he has - the fluidity and free styled motions as compared to and in stark contrast with the strict rigidity of the stompers ' routine . But who says genres can't be meshed together , as Step Up proved to great success . Being a dance movie , expectations of the dance routine will be high , after all , this is what makes the movie , given the usual cardboard characters that populate the story . It has a couple of impressive ghetto street moves , and the stomp movements that will leave you glued to the steps on screen . However , the finale was a bit of a letdown , given no big face off , but rather a series of repetitive small ones which we've seen earlier in the movie , and a " killer move " which comes anticipated a mile away , bringing to mind The Karate Kid's cheesy one trick pony technique . I've become a fan of the dance genre because of the earlier movies , but this one seemed to have taken my enthusiasm two steps backwards . Nonetheless it still makes an adequately entertaining movie for the most part , and the dances pretty standard free-styling affair , which should appeal to its intended audience .
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515,019 | 317,399 | 430,912 | 6 |
A Nutshell Review : Basic Instinct 2
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I was still under-aged when the original Basic Instinct made its debut in the local theater's under the relatively new R rating system , but suffice to say many already know of the kinky scenes , especially the infamous crossing and uncrossing of legs sans panties which sealed Sharon Stone's status as a Hollywood femme fatale . It's been 14 years since , and the sequel is just released here . Which makes one wonder why , given the question would anyone still be interested to see an aging body doing her thing again ? It's no wonder that the preview crowd was mainly elderly uncles and aunties , who apparently had a good time dissecting whatever plot there is to this movie , and of the occupational hazards of being a mental doctor if your mental strength is found wanting . Not that it's not entertaining ( I think my week of work work and more work made me easy to please ) , but elements which were associated with the original psycho sex thriller , save for Sharon Stone's returning novelist cum serial killer Catherine Tramell , are gapingly pissing . Gone is the icepick , and the graphic violence and killing . In place is a series of murder scenes which happen almost after the deed . The sex scenes here are so reduced , they're negligible , if compared to the original . And perhaps to balance the lack of sex , this movie migrates to a more mind-numbing psycho-babble flick , since the mind is the greatest sex organ , as Stone's character Tramell , mind-tangos London psychiatrist Dr . Michael Glass ( David Morrissey ) , and detective Roy Washburn ( David Thewlis ) , investigating her for an apparent murder-suicide of famed footballer Kevin Franks , in a cameo played by Stan Collymore , yes , THAT Stan Collymore . All he had to do in his movie debut was to act stone ( pun intended ) and finger Tramell . How hard is that ? In dialogues filled with double entrées and sexual innuendos , Tramell basically waltzes through England in her see throughs , having fun running rings around the two male leads , in a carefully crafted game of cat and mouse with Glass . In her psychosis sessions with Glass on her " risk addiction " , there was mention of Nick Curran ( played by Michael Douglas in the first movie ) , but that was just about the link to the original . Basically as the movie wore on , bodies associated with Glass turned out murdered , and naturally Tramell , Glass and even the detective Washburn all become plausible suspects . Being the master manipulator , the audience might even be seduced by her ideas on the plausibility of certain events , and this swung the narrative into varying directions if you'd allow it . If you do , you'll probably give the possibilities the nod , despite some plot holes and an ending tense sense bordering close to absurdity . What's the motivation for the sequel ? One wonders if it's just to revitalize Stone's flagging career by putting her back in one of her more iconic villain roles in cinematic history . Then again , she should have gone back to basics and not stain the original with a relatively lacklustre sequel .
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515,088 | 317,399 | 970,411 | 6 |
A Nutshell Review : City of Ember
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This film is strictly for kids . Not pimply teenagers though , but children whose parents will take comfort in knowing that this film is thoroughly family friendly fare , with nary a swear word , tame action sequences , no embarrassing physical romance they got to cook up an explanation for , and an inspiring theme that has to do with hope and working hard to achieve one's goals . Based on the book by Jeanne Duprau , one can find plenty of parallels with the setting of the story , where a group of inhabitants get to live in an artificial colony because of the sins of the fathers ( well , the human predecessors who find that their rape and plunder of the Earth have finally taken its toil ) , and find themselves living underground in an aptly dark world , lit by plenty of light bulbs powered by an aging generator . Stories like these are staple in Japanese manga / anime , and the recent one that I've watched was Freedom , but that involved the moon . Or think The Matrix even , but for kids and minus the kung-fu inspired fight scenes . So the story goes that Lina Mayfleet ( Saoirse Ronan , the kid from Atonement ) has in her family's possession , an important piece of instruction leading to the salvation and exit of everyone from the city of Ember , given that it's been hundreds of years already and the infrastructure is crumbling . But that is if she knows that she has that information in the first place , and what exactly to do with it . So it's up to her and best friend Doon Harrow ( Hary Treadaway ) to figure things out , unravel the conspiracy involving their mayor Cole ( Bill Murray , who's seriously in some need to snap out of sleepwalking in this role ) , and of course , make their way toward the clear blue skies of the surface . But in the meantime , you can't help but to feel a little short-changed with how the story develops , or there lackof . Here's a world that's artificially built both in the story , and as well as for the film , and little time is devoted to delving into a more detailed exploration of this strange new world where people live in an environment devoid of the sun . They grow their food in greenhouses , and have in their societal system , a structure of deciding what their career path for life will be from a young age . Modern technology like the cellphone is gone , and replacing it is the good old human messenger system relying on fleet of foot , and accuracy of transmission , all for 20 coins per message . All you get however are just very wafer thin highlights of this strange world , complete with strange creatures or their body parts , that I suspect if not for a relatively modest budget we'll see more of . At times too you do feel that scenes don't really gel and flow seamlessly from point to point , most likely getting trimmed to achieve a relatively palatable run time of just over 90 minutes . And you can tell from the modest budget too that the special effects did suffer a little in having them presented in raw terms in a major sequence involving a boat gushing down a mighty cavern river . While there's nothing much to shout about on the performances of the two leads , the film tried to up its star factor having minute supporting roles for Tim Robbins , as well as Martin Landau , an aged pipeworks technician , who will undoubtedly get the most laughs out of his penchant to strictly stick to his job , and nothing more or less . I suppose everyone can identify with this aspect in their own working life from time to time , except perhaps for the fact that his Sul takes pride in thoroughly doing a fine job if it's something under his scope . City of Ember is a very straight forward film with few bells and whistles to complicate matters . Coming from Walden Media , it's an extremely safe film to bring the whole family to , and kids will undoubtedly get a kick out of this action-adventure aimed squarely at them in the name of wholesome entertainment , and it succeeds on this aspect .
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514,536 | 317,399 | 56,142 | 6 |
A Nutshell Review : King Kong Vs . Godzilla ( 1962 )
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One's an American monster created in the 1930s . The other , a Japanese counterpart created in the 1950s . One an over-sized ape which scaled the Empire State Building in New York , the other an over-sized lizard which trampled the streets of Tokyo . What do you get when you put the two together ? An animal slugfest which forgets about human characterization . I mean , who would care ? This is the first movie which combined two well known monster icons , and unleashed them against each other in Japan . And the first time that both creatures appear in colour too . While the plot is secondary , it takes you almost an hour before the two finally meet , and treated to a short fight with Kong walking away scratching his head . Not a good start to a fight , but naturally , Godzilla would win given his fire-breath . Initially that is , until Kong gets upped in strength by electricity . Fans of both Kong and Godzilla will naturally be pleased with director Ishiro Honda for keeping in some iconic moments which defined both characters . For Kong , a television crew sets out to Faroe Island ( a departure for Skull Island ) in search of a mysterious beast whom the local island inhabitants worship . They ship him to Japan , until they're ordered by the government to not bring Kong to their shores . At the same time , Godzilla gets thawed from some iceberg , and instinctively makes its way to Japan , first stop being Hokkaido , before journeying southwards to Tokyo . Kong gets a nod with its short stint scaling a building , while kidnapping a Japanese lady along the way . However , he seemed short of ideas in tackling Godzilla , only be throwing huge boulders at the lizard . I'd give Godzilla one-up in its creativity in trying to take Kong down . It's kinda tacky watching this film now , with both monsters given the CG treatment ( Godzilla by Hollywood , and the upcoming King Kong by Peter Jackson ) . Men in rubber suits are obvious , and the closeups are kinda funny , especially Kong's rubber face . But like most Japanese monster movies , the miniatures are a sight to marvel at . Must have been a chore building them , and having them torn down with such ease by Kong and Godzilla must have been painful . So who wins in the end ? It depends on which version you're watching . The version I'd watched from a DVD from the library @ esplanade , Kong defeats Godzilla offscreen , and swam for home . In my opinion , Godzilla should've roasted Kong , but that's another story for another day .
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514,434 | 317,399 | 891,457 | 7 |
A Nutshell Review : Spider Lilies
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A spider lily is a flower that is said to line along the pathway to Hell . It contains poison which will cause one to lose our memory . Memories are central to the story , as the characters involved are questioned as to whether their memories are faulty , and if one can choose to repress them in the attempt to forget , be they happier times , or times of woe . Jade ( Rainie Yang ) is an Internet web-cam girl , living with her grandma , and making a living out of smut , enticing men to trade money for moments of online peek-a-boo pleasure . She has a love since 9 years of age , and it is the relationship with Takeko ( Isabella Leong ) , a tattooist , that forms the fulcrum of the story . Takeko herself bears a strong spider lily tattoo on her left arm , and it is something that Jade wants for herself , trying to rekindle and capture memories of her lost love , now found again . There had been a recent fad about tattoos , nevermind the negative connotations once associated with this permanent body art . Perhaps this movie will change opinions about tattoos , as it opens your mind to specifics as to the reason behind each design , and the rationale that each person probably had when making their choices on a particular design . And as a plot device , it was a hand in glove , a tattoo's powerful symbolism of hiding real intentions or emotions behind , or to feed off its perceived energy and possessing the design's qualities . Spider Lilies has fine editing which serves the movie extremely well in engaging the audience with the characters ' past . In fact , the rich back stories created for the characters make the story very compelling to watch . If there is a chink in the armour , then it's the characterization of Takeko's brother Ching ( Shen Jian-hung ) , who is a bit slow in mental intelligence , and spends a lot of screen time pouting for his sister's attention , which totally messes up her social life , out of love and obligation to provide the only family care for him . The fear and pain of being forgotten in a modern society might resonate with many , and anyone who has spent enough time on the internet , will know that its anonymity can often lead to misunderstandings . That subplot perhaps added a touch of lightness coupled with a tinge of sadness and irony . As most youths today turn to the net as an outlet for expression , most will be able to identify with this portion of the story arc . I'm quite unsure if this movie will be able to make it to Singapore , given its more obvious subject material that the authorities will probably frown upon . But at its core , it's a tale of change and to have courage to live the life you want to lead , interwoven with a tale of love . If Saving Face can make it to our shores , I hope Spider Lilies will too .
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515,069 | 317,399 | 99,105 | 7 |
A Nutshell Review : Barbie Digs Joe
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A lot has been said about this short which was cited as starting Eric Khoo's foray into film-making . Winning numerous awards , this film's cast was made of the Barbie and Ken dolls , and various GI Joe models . At first you couldn't make out the premise of the story , save for GI Joe spotting Barbie , and goes on a quest to make her his girl , and kicking Ken's ass in the process . Naturally , the stop-motion technique was used to animate the dolls , and I thought the voice-overs for the characters were pretty hilarious , if not unconvincing , but nonetheless , fun ! But it actually tells a broader love story from the obvious Barbie-world one in plastic , that of their owners who discover each other while they were childhood friends , right up to the near breakdown in their relationship towards the end , rekindled by memories of how Barbie and GI Joe brought them together . If I may say so , it's an amateur effort , from tacky credits to dubbed character voices , but a very important film that has its distinct place in Eric Khoo's filmography . Probably something to take from here , is that music plays an important part in his movies , with this we got tunes from Beach Boys and New Order .
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515,233 | 317,399 | 418,455 | 7 |
A Nutshell Review : Adam's Apples
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The premise of this movie seemed simple enough , about Neo Nazi called Adam ( Ulrich Thomsen ) being sentenced to community service at a church . A priest , Ivan ( Mads Mikkelsen ) , informs Adam that in order to complete his hours of service , he must have a goal in mind . And that goal actually turned out unexpectedly , as a passing remark , to be as banal as baking an apple pie , with apples found in the apple tree grown on the church's premises . Written and directed by Danish filmmaker Anders Thomas Jensen , Adam's Apples is a black comedy about God and the mysterious ways in which He works . Sometimes He does things in an indirect manner , in order for you to explore and find out exactly what He wants you to do . Or He might intent to pose some challenges in order to shake you up , or have a sublime message in which you are to learn from . Adam didn't have it easy , as in his opinion , it is as if God was punishing him by making things extremely difficult . Weird stuff kept happening with nary a warning , like having crows infest the tree and eating away at the apples , or by having worms invade from within . All these clue Adam that perhaps he wasn't meant to finish serving his time as soon as possible , but rather has to find meaning in the extended period of time of him being at the church . The story actually got more interesting when the audience is introduced to the host of quirky characters who seek refuge at the grounds , such as Khalid ( Ali Kazim ) the Pakistani with a thing for robbing petrol kiosks , and Gunnar ( Nicolas Bro ) , the fat kleptomaniac . And the plot actually allowed more to ponder upon , with the Bible playing a key plot device with its reference to the Book of Job - is there a modern biblical reference to Ivan , or is he living one himself ? But no worries about this portion of the plot getting too stifling for comfort . While it actually had a really dead serious mood throughout , there is plenty of comedy delivered , which came at times , fast and furious , but yet still maintained that deadpan feel , as if these comedic situations happened as " a matter of fact " - ly . Certain ( violent ) scenes stood out and made you think about how those shots were actually achieved . Watching the movie actually made me wonder about the existence of an omnipotent being , and actually had this uncanny feel good factor about it at the end . If you're up for some unconventional fare , then this nominee for this year's Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film might just be your cup of tea .
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515,507 | 317,399 | 384,537 | 7 |
A Nutshell Review : Silent Hill
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Never cheese a mother off by taking away or threatening her child . We've seen plenty of tough mamas in contemporary movies , and Jodie Foster comes to mind in having personified the tough-as-nails mum in Panic Room and Flight Plan . NO , she doesn't have a part to play in Silent Hill , but the premise , about a mother on a journey to recover her daughter from the clutches of harm , couldn't be more familiar . And before you dismiss this movie as just another run off the mill video game adaptation , this movie is surprisingly good , in setting up its atmospheric moments . We've had plenty of misses with this genre , and only a few hits . Staying faithful to the setting of the source using CGI enhanced sets and SFX , it took its time to introduce the mystery surrounding Silent Hill , teasing you with long sequences which seem to journey nowhere . Which by then , some of you would have already given up , as you ache to see more of the beasts which go bump in the darkness , only to have an all too quick daylight interrupt the flow of carnage , and having to endure through long moments of silence and basically beating around the bushes . Then again , it's precisely this hide-and-seek that the movie stays an arm's length away from the usual expectation of action , action and more mindless action . Silent Hill is a very adult adaptation , staying true to the spirit of gaming , with its endless round after round of puzzles and encounters before everything starts to make some sense . Those expecting a splatterfest will be disappointed , as there aren't many . While the monsters and creatures are a sight to behold ( they're disgustingly beautiful ) , most times they get introduced and addressed too easily . Just as you get into the swing of things with a particular beast , it gets hauled away from view , whatever the reason . I dig the spasm-induced dancing faceless nurses , but they're given too little screen time . It's more mystery than downright horror , basing its theme on superstition and misguided faith on different planes . There're little " boo " moments , as everything builds up gradually , adding to the suspense . Eventually , you'll get to the closure , with the big mystery and back story unveiled , adding some gravitas to the movie , and could serve as a springboard to any sequels if planned . Radha Mitchell plays Rose Da Silva , the mom who partners cop Cybil Bennett ( Laurie Holden ) who assists her in the paranormal realm of Silent Hill to track down Sharon ( Jodelle Ferland ) , yet another creepy kid ( the other kid's the Anti-Christ in the remake of Omen . These days creepy kids are in ! ) who holds the key to the entire whodunnit . Sean Bean was wasted as Rose's husband , in a role that is created only because everyone else substantial in the movie is female . His role is actually to accentuate that Silent Hill exists on different realms , with him being in the " real world " while the others are trapped in another plane of existence . And of course in movies like these , the acting's nothing really to shout about , since expressions are limited to looking scared and looking bewildered . It'll take a while before you can scratch past to get to the storyline , as your eyes and attention will be peeling away the layers of beautifully crafted production sets and awesome graphics , and your ears appreciating the music adapted from the games . And with a satisfactory story as justification , this could perhaps see a new beginning to games wanting to make it to the silver screen , if done correctly .
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514,972 | 317,399 | 338,095 | 7 |
A Nutshell Review : High Tension
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This film has finally made its way to our shores , uncut . For a slasher flick , it's bloody good , pun intended . If you've read me enough , you know that I'm a sucker for revenge films and zombie flicks . The occasional slasher flick appeals to me too , and this one doesn't disappoint , in the delivery of the material that is . Two friends Marie ( a very buff Cécile De France ) and Alex ( Maïwenn Le Besco ) spend the weekend in the latter's farm home , to keep away from distractions to study for their exams . We are briefly introduced to the family members of Alex - the parents , the toddler brother and the family St Bernard , before the horror starts to set in the very same night . As with slasher flicks , there would always be the lumbering and unstoppable psycho killer . In this film , it's a huge unkempt man in baseball cap and dirty overalls , armed with only a switchblade , bulldozing his way into the family home and slaughtering everyone in sight . We share in Marie's fear and attempts to conceal herself , which makes you wonder , in desperate moments like these life and death situations , what will you really do ? The confusion and fear makes it all easy for Marie to think selfishly , but I suppose it's only human nature , and what more can you do , really ? In playing cat-and-mouse with the killer , we see the decapitations of various forms , stabs , creative use of improvised weapons , all soaked in tons of blood . If the film was edited , then a lot would have been lost , especially the impact of such senseless violence on defenseless persons . If one should compare with the recent release Sympathy For Lady Vengeance , the latter would be a leisurely stroll in the park in the violence and gore department . Perhaps it's closest cousin might be The Devil's Rejects . Cécile De France shines in her role , as many in the audience could feel her fear , desperation , and new found courage . The film easily relied on her to pull the movie through its highly disturbing material . The filmmakers could have left this as it was - brutal , senseless killings ( hey , slasher flick , remember ? ) , but in trying to have a one-up in making this a more psychological film with the slight twist at the end , somehow exposed a lot of gaping loopholes in the narrative storyline in retrospect . So be forewarned , this film is not for the squeamish and faint at heart . It's bloody brutal , the way slasher films are made out to be , and make no apologies for .
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514,393 | 317,399 | 1,406,146 | 7 |
A Nutshell Review : Call Me If You Need Me
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It's an open secret that James Lee gets a lot of love from the Singapore International Film Festival , having almost all , if not all I believe , of his works screened at past editions . Last year we had a rare glimpse of a commercial horror project , Hysteria , and this year Lee goes back to his festival art house roots with Call Me If You Can , a gangster based film tackling the usual themes of Brotherhood and Loyalty that are staple of Hong Kong crime dramas , but without much blazing shootout action . It's an atmospheric family piece if you will , where blood runs thicker than water in episodes that we'll see unfold in Or Kia ( played by Singapore's indie hero Sunny Pang ) leaving his village for the big city of Kuala Lumpur , where he looks up his cousin Ah Soon ( played by Malaysian musician Pete Teo ) who runs a local racket of profit sharing from debt collecting from the bigger fish . In fact , what seemed like a family gathering of relatives soon pave way toward something more sinister , where underlings form part of the family table , and cocktail drugs get passed around as recreational dessert . Watching the first act , I can't help but to think of Tarantino's Vincent Vega and Jules Winnfield talking about Royale with Cheese and foot massages whilst on their way to a hit job . Here , Lee has his characters talking like your everyday Joe with everyday worries , hopes and their hobbies , bitching about how comic book creators sell out by prolonging their material through the stuffing their stories with incredible characters . Or characters breaking out into talking about boxing , or even football betting odds . Curiously enough , Lee also put in a lot of hungry people in the film , probably as a metaphor that they're craving something in life , but are not going to get it as easy as a 2-minute instant noodle , or to buy it off the streets from hawkers . Between the 2 acts , I very much prefer the first half to the second , because the second departed from the warm and cozy environment that the cousins are used to , and propel them forward given that their racket together had yielded results , and results meant promotions . Since it's family , Ah Soon hands over his operations to Or Kia , and we see a development of their characters for the worst , and not having both on screen together meant some of the fun dissipating , especially when Ah Soon starts to mope , brood and become exasperated because of his missing wife . And like all gangster movies , personal and business doesn't mix , and a handful of characters had made the business component very clear . It's nice to see how James Lee tackles the issues of corruption in the city indirectly . One scene I thought which was brilliant , was how he confirms a cafe meeting with a high-ranking police officer and the hoodlums . The bribery taking place is not so subtle , yet enough to bring out awareness that the man hiding behind the shades was an officer of the law , through an implied remark of a game found in an iPhone . Folks arrested are also easily let off the hook through the usage of an underaged fall guy , with the corrupt contacts fully condoning such practice . I guess there would be some reference of such practices that Lee would probably be aware of , to have incorporated this in the film . Those looking for a violent , action-packed movie need be reminded that this is a James Lee movie . Guns are brandied around , but rarely used . Instead , the characters rely heavily on a lot of swearing in a myriad of languages , and plenty of cigarette smoke to get their points across . Violence happens off screen , so you don't get to see much . But that's not what you should be looking out for in the movie . The key component that worked is the excellent chemistry that Sunny Pang and Pete Teo share in the movie , as cousins who are more like brothers , and lighting up the screen each time they share the same frame . There is word that James will be working with Sunny again , this time in a commercial action film , and I secretly wish that Pang and Teo could be reunited again for the big screen .
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514,666 | 317,399 | 1,059,786 | 7 |
A Nutshell Review : Eagle Eye
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From one cellphone-centric movie in Connected another with Eagle Eye , this movie dwells on the fears of man about the abuse of technology , given how pervasive a simple device like the mobile phone , could be a haven for anyone tapped into the network to triangulate your whereabouts . Some other fears get presented , such as activating the microphone within without your knowledge , eavesdropping on your conversation whether or not you're on the phone . Big Brother heaven , but ordinary citizen's nightmare . Granted the proper use of technology , which in the first 10 minutes of the film , we got a glimpse at the possibilities which , if not already is , the future of such usage . Gone are the eyes in the skies , now replaced with eyes from outer space and connected to one another through intelligent networks ripe for the abusive picking . While the terrorism buzzword has been bandied around in a number of movies for some time already , I can't recall off the top of my head any cyber-terrorism movie worth your while , until perhaps now . It's a different approach to the subject actually , and to say anything more would be to let the cat out of the bag . But it does make one sit back and think about contingencies , backups , and just how much human intervention in the form of checks and balances that need to be in place to justify the existence and reliance on intelligent algorithms . In a way the movie doesn't break new ground , in that the chief villain here ( barring the arrogance of man ) is nothing not seen before , and the manner it was dispatched , well , a matter of cinematic convenience . Directed by D . J . Caruso ( who also helmed the Shia LaBeouf vehicle Disturbia ) , Eagle Eye follows the three narrative thread formula which has concurrent events developing at the same time at frantic pace , leaving you with not much room to breathe as you can presented with facts , figures and arguments , coupled with constant probing of just what exactly is going on . We follow Jerry Shaw ( Shia LaBeouf ) and Rachel Holloman ( Michelle Monaghan ) , two ordinary citizens who through the picking up of a random phonecall , they become slaves to do the bidding of the monotone voice at the other side of the line . At risk is Jerry's escape from the law , having being framed for being a terrorist , while Rachel has her son dangled in front of her as collateral . There's something not quite right with the two of them running around doing seemingly menial tasks , to the more dangerous stunts like robbing an armoured truck , which leads to the other two threads , involving Billy Bob Thorton's FBI Agent Thomas Morgan , and Rosario Dawson's Zoe Perez as an Air Force investigator being called up to the Pentagon where we slowly learn what could actually have gone wrong . Hollywood " It " boy LaBeouf continues his string of box office successes ( Eagle Eye opened at # 1 at the US box office ) and has made clueless , carefree teenagers his forte . Here , with the assistance of some overnight shadow around his chin , he brings on certain gravitas and maturity to what is essentially a Keanu-Reeves type character . Michelle Monaghan gets a boost in the action-thriller genre from her stint under Tom Cruise's Mission Impossible : III , and doesn't look a bit out of place here as a mother willing to go to extreme lengths to ensure the safety of her son . The supporting cast though were a little wasted . Rosario Dawson's role didn't require her to do anything other than to look sharp in uniform , while Billy Bob was just plain Billy Bob . Action sequences were a little hit and miss , going back to basics with yet another tussle in a tunnel with big bang explosions , to the more innovative literally blink-and-you-miss moment involving huge electric cables , or having a field day within baggage handling . Eagle Eye is a surprisingly taut action thriller that held your attention just right until about when it showed hand and revealed its source code , then it's treading of familiar territory thereafter . Held great potential in having you guess just what and how things are done the way they were , until you realize its bluff , and then it's just your usual through passage to the finale , with a cop out to boot too .
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514,715 | 317,399 | 112,817 | 7 |
A Nutshell Review : Dead Man ( 1995 )
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Johnny Depp didn't adopt that weird hairdo first as Willy Wonka in Charlie and The Chocolate Factory . He did that bob-hairdo as William Blake , an accountant in this movie . Directed by Jim Jarmusch , who did Coffee and Cigarettes , and Broken Flowers ( starring Bill Murray in a role written for him ) , this is a black-and-white western tale about one man's extraordinary journey starting from the town of Machine . The introduction is queer , with seemingly endless and repetitive shots of Blake on a train from Cleveland to Machine , interspersed by scenes of the train wheels chugging along . He arrives in a strange town and discovered that the job which was waiting for him , had been filled . Lost , he wanders about town and got a one night stand with a lady . Alas , his life goes downhill from that point on , when the lady's ex-boyfriend arrives and a shootout occurs . Pinned with the blame of a double murder , Blake escapes to the wild west , and got rescued by Nobody , a native Indian , who is equally surprised at how Blake survived having a bullet so close to his heart . And still lodged . Hence an uneasy friendship between the two men is forged as they hold off bounty hunters after Blake ( from a bounty of 200 to 2000 dollars ) , but Blake has to put up with Nobody's mumbo-jumbo and quoting of poetry . Indeed , the words of wisdom spewed is simply hilarious at times , as they just don't make sense . It's shot in black and white , and deliberately slow paced , so this might not appeal to everyone . However , the number of stars in this show will probably raise your interest level , like Crispin Glover , John Hurt , Robert Mitchum , Gabriel Byrne , Lance Henrikson , Michael Wincott , Iggy Pop , Billy Bob Thorton , Alfred Molina and Steve Buscemi . But what's beautiful about the film is the awesome soundtrack from the rocksy / folksy guitars riffs of Neil Young . Which without , the movie would just not work . It's pretty violent in some of the shootouts , but nothing is made too outrageous . Keep your ears peeled at the dialogues and conversations too . So if you're a fan of Depp , why not give this movie a watch ?
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514,438 | 317,399 | 499,455 | 7 |
A Nutshell Review : Day Night Day Night
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Mention films about suicide bombers , and movies like Syrianna and Paradise Now comes to mind . Films that try to explain the rationale behind the driving force of these persons dedicated to destruction and murder , and while those stories had the usual male bombers , Day Night Day Night took on a more interesting angle , and looked at the role of female suicide bombers - those that don't really fit the usual security profile , and are usually deemed as lower risk of being detected before they execute their plan . In her first fictional feature , director Julia Loktev takes a long hard look at the journey of a 19 year old girl played by Luisa Williams . Attractive , petite , you won't understand why she has to do what she wants to , and the story doesn't explain . This is almost in parallel to real life , where you read reports of the aftermath , and are presented with little clues to their background . Loktev weaved a tale from seeking out the terrorists , meeting them , going through their rites and procedures , before being accepted for the mission , complete with the making of the video , and the fit up of the device . Most times you don't get to see much , as the camera angles are extremely tight and full of close ups , to accentuate the waiting , and to allow you to focus on the girl , and her thoughts , and her apprehension , despair , and a host of other emotions . I thought Loktev too took quite a neutral stand in not stereotyping the bad hats , that indeed it can be anyone , people from abroad with different cultures , or the home grown and bred haters of society . And that is true because terror can come from anywhere . This is not an easy movie to sit through as it's deliberately slow and nothing much really happened . But as a movie that attempts to narrate the process from civilian to combatant , this fictionalized account will probably be as close as you can get .
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514,551 | 317,399 | 433,400 | 7 |
A Nutshell Review : Just Friends
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I was half expecting this to be one of those lightly fluffed flicks which you go and laugh at , then forget almost everything about it thereafter . In some ways it is , but little did I realise that it actually had me thinking about one of the predicaments I was in previously , and it brought back some memories , both good and bad . Ryan Reynolds plays Chris Brander , a successful yuppie in the music industry , a swinging player in his own right , the self professed expert when it comes to relationships . He teams up with Anna Faris ( they starred together in an earlier movie Waiting ) , who in this movie plays a bimbotic pop rocker , Samantha James , moulded in your spears-simpson fashion , totally hot , and with bad attitude to boot . While they might have been a cute couple ( or so she thinks ) , Chris just cannot forget his childhood sweetheart , his first love Jamie Palamino ( Amy Smart , hitting the local screens for the second time this month , after her vase like role in Crank ) . 10 years ago , Chris was publicly humiliated while discovering that his sweetheart had placed him under the " friends " category , when he wanted something more . Yeah , every dating guy's worst nightmare , is to discover that the feeling's not mutual , and you're relegated to the " Just Friends " status ( hence the title ) . A fluke chance is presented when the successful Chris finds himself back in his hometown , and buys ample time in trying to rediscover and restrategize his gameplan to finally tell Jamie just how he feels about her , though tempted is he as well with the idea of a " revenge bang " . And you'd think the training in LA and the smoothness in his methods with hot models might work here . They don't , and they bring about the usual tired laughs of plans backfiring , and a potential rival from the past vying for the same affections . With the big time singer throwing tantrums in the small town , Samantha becoming a potential roadblock with her demanding ways , Chris ' deliberate and elaborate plans to deceive , his kid brother's idolization of Chris ' " girlfriend " the pop star , and a more than concerned mom , the ensemble is something that seemed quite familiar , though they come together really well . Eddie Murphy has done it , and so have Adam Sandler and Robin Williams . Probably any self respecting comedian would have to don a fat suit once in a while , and this time , it's Ryan Reynolds ' turn . Here he pulls off a number of personas - the confident swinger , the shy unsure low confidence fat teenager , blowing a hot temper when things don't go his way , and finally , the sensitive guy underneath it all . Anna Faris brings back her ditzy Scary Movies persona in a horny role that requires her to sing badly , while Amy Smart plays the complete opposite in the girl next door you just want to bring home to mom . And Chris Klein continues in yet another his jerk role after The Long Weekend , his first appearance as a rock star wannabe is totally hilarious , though somehow I think every pretty face has to appear once in a while behind an ugly mug . Throughout the movie , my mind was incessantly remembering stuff about my own past , on the relationships I had . It's quite uncanny that it could fall broadly into those two female characters - the one whom you adore so much , but always being unattainable , and the other whom , credit to her , doesn't give up on you , but yet faces your constant rejection . My heart sank as I realize , that this is a movie after all , that I won't have my own happy ending , try as I may . I must confess I've grown cynical , and gave up on trying at all . I'm stuck in the " Just Friends " category , and will probably stay there for the foreseeable future . While the movie has its expected Hollywood styled formula ending , you'd probably find something more in it if you've experience some elements yourself . Otherwise , it's another run off the mill forgettable movie . If the song Forgiveness sung by Anna Faris floats your boat , stay tuned during the end credits for the entire song . Simply hilarious with inane lyrics . Oh , and Ryan Reynolds completes his lip synching to All-4-One's I Swear , only for those who bother to stay behind .
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515,508 | 317,399 | 439,815 | 7 |
A Nutshell Review : Slither
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We've seen a slew of horrific gore movies hitting the screens lately , from Saw to Hostel , some hits , some misses , some remakes , brought to us by a new age group of horror directors like Darren Lynn Bousman , Eli Roth and Alexandre Aja . Slither , written and directed by James Gunn , continues the blood fad with them slimy creatures combined with zombies who walk the earth . Don't bother figuring out the whys and the hows , and forget about the plot , which has holes punched right through by the introductory meteorite . Just sit back and enjoy whatever thrills and spills this movie throws at you . It's great mindless fun as you see slimy red worms forcing their way into their prey's ( read : humans ) mouths , in order to take over control , kinda like Invasion of Body Snatchers . During this state , the humans will walk , talk , act like generic zombies , minus the strength , but the lust for human MEAT still remains . Oh , did I mention it was a bit phallic looking , the way the worms force their entry into the human mouth ? M18 it screams . As always , with horror movies like these , the chicks score in the looks department , and little else . Serenity / Firefly's Captain Mal lends some die-hard action chops as Bill , cop extraordinaire , probably picking up lessons from John McClane in staying alive despite unsurmountable odds . Again there are plenty of throwaway characters , as they serve only the sole purpose of increasing the bodycounts . The main villain in the movie is this meteorite carrying some space alien which is making its rounds cannibalizing planet inhabitants . So Earth is next on the radar , and it found its host in unsuspecting Grant ( Michael Rooker ) , whose young wife Starla ( Elizabeth Banks , Spiderman's Betty Brant ) is lusted after by Bill . Starla turns out to be one faithful spouse , and it is exactly those matrimonial vows that Grant takes a mickey of when things go horribly wrong . Characterization take a backseat here , as the target audience is only interested in who's gonna be the next victim of a spectacular death sequence . It took a while for the set up though , so be prepared to be a little bored by the first act . The special effects team did a tremendous job in bringing the gooey slithery slimeball worms to life , and empowering the zombies with green icky spit . Then again , dumb newbie zombies don't know how to fully harness their powers . There are many of the usual splice-and-dice scenes with innards pouring out , but somehow they still provided me with the usual kicks . Same goes for the close quarter combats , and those up close gunfire . All in all , it's quite enjoyable , from a warped point of view . It's part Aliens , part Living Dead , part Anaconda , part everything that moves on its belly . Stay tuned until after the ending credits for one forgettable sequence .
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514,475 | 317,399 | 407,304 | 7 |
A Nutshell Review : War of the Worlds
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War of the Worlds marks the second collaboration between 2 of Hollywood's most influential figures , that of director Steven Spielberg and megastar Tom Cruise . In this updated adaptation of H . G . Well's classic , we revisit alien territory already familiar with Spielberg ( with evergreens like Close Encounters of the Third Kind , and E . T . ) , except that this time around , the aliens are not an iota friendly and wastes no time proving its point with its laser beams . Cruise plays Ray , a middle class salaried worker whose ex-wife ( Miranda Otto , in an underused role ) leaves their estranged kids with for the weekend . Being the selfish carefree man that he is , it is no wonder why he doesn't get much respect , especially from his son . Before you can say move on with the melodrama , worldwide lightning phenomenon gets TV coverage , and soon enough , the horror begins , as the well known battle tripods rise from beneath the earth and annihilate everything on site . The special effects are brilliant , and serves as an effective plot device for unspeakable , unexplainable horror . Spielberg teases you with indirect shots of the tripods , from mirrors and reflective surfaces , never letting you see from a first person's perspective for too long , keeping in pace with the initial suspense built . Terrorist attacks were mentioned in conversation , and perhaps this movie also serves as a timely reminder of always being prepared , with emergency equipment , stashes of food , and familiarity with emergency procedures . This film could take the easy way out and focus on the big explosions ala Independence Day , but since that was already done , we get to focus on the smaller picture , that of the survival of the family unit in crisis , and I applaud this approach . Conflicts arise and sometimes solved through unpopular decisions , and that's the way of life . Most times we do not have complete information , and need to make split second life determining decisions . However , the pace slackens toward the end of the movie , and steers us back with reminders that this is after all a summer action blockbuster , with predictable endings , some plot loopholes and worse , rushed explanations . Tom Cruise doesn't get to flash his pearly whites so often here , as we see a transformation from irresponsibility , and in his son's opinion , cowardice , to courageous dad whose children are his first priority . I'd dare say Cruise is in his element here , saving the day ( in a not so direct manner ) . Dakota Fanning shines as Ray's daughter Rachel , bringing forth a sense of vulnerability with her fear of enclosed spaces , and her love for her father and brother . Being the little damsel in distress , who wouldn't want to save her and ensure that she survives this horrible onslaught ? Serves well as a Hollywood summer blockbuster , but not the " most anticipated " for this year as claimed by some .
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515,210 | 317,399 | 433,383 | 7 |
A Nutshell Review : Good Night , and Good Luck .
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Finally someone had the balls to bring this movie in , after the Oscar hype and all . I was anticipating this movie to compare it with the rest of the Best Picture nominees , but had to refrain from watching it from ahem sources , or from DVD rentals . So what's my verdict ? It's a little over-hyped . Don't get me wrong . The production value was superb , even though it was shot entirely in black and white , and was modestly budgeted . Much has been said about David Strathairn being Edward J Murrow , and that's true , he provided a superbly charismatic performance , that if it wasn't Hoffman in contention for Capote , I'd reckon Strathairn would have clinched the Oscar . I've always enjoyed political / historical movies which adds its own spin to dramatize real-life events , and this one is no exception . However , I would recommend that you read up a bit on the background on the tussle between CBS ' Ed Murrow and Junior Senator Joseph McCarthy , so that you can appreciate this picture even more . It doesn't dwell on too much of the background , and jumps to the central story directly . So unless you're somewhat vaguely familiar , it would take a while to get up to speed . And you'll be distracted too by the wonderful shots in this George Clooney directed picture . Smoking has never looked as sexy as this , and each drag produces smoke that just lingers on screen . Beautiful , even though I'm not an advocate of tobacco . Its themes of freedom from fear , liberty , imaginary enemies , are adequately discussed , with ideas put forth single handedly by Murrow's many monologues from his talk show . You'll be captivated as Strathairn holds your attention each time he's up . However , what's lacking is the additional oomph in the return fire , as McCarthy gets relegated to playbacks from archive stock footage , so unless you're happy with monologues , you'll feel the downside in the presentation of this picture . The other sub-theme I enjoyed though is the workings of internal politics within the studio , and the relationship between its backers and supporters . Prior to being given the green light to engage in a thought-provoking and direct onward fire towards a senator gaining dangerous ground , we see the hurdles and the fears that the producers and everyone involved have to cross . Really makes you wonder at times , how objective can a certain news spin be . Big ideas , big cast , and lots of great jazz would have made this success a given , but its one-sided delivery might have hurt it from achieving its potential greatness .
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514,877 | 317,399 | 808,265 | 7 |
A Nutshell Review : The Ferrryman
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I have enjoyed limited movie offerings from New Zealand , with the likes of the romantic comedy Sione's Wedding and horror comedy Black Sheep , and for my horror double bill this weekend , I wouldn't have wanted to miss The Ferryman . In western folklore , the Ferryman is the one responsible for transporting the dead to the nether realms , where souls would be judged ( so you'd better start chalking up those brownie points ) . Ferrymen had been depicted in movies before , be they just a background character like in Woody Allen's Scoop , or becoming a point of contention in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies with crew of The Flying Dutchman . Think of it as the equivalent to the Chinese folklore characters of " Cow Head " and " Horse Face " , where they will visit the body at the point of deaths to escort the soul to the depths of Hell for judgement . 2 couples ( two of whom are Craig Hall and Amber Sainsbury whom we will get to see again in 30 Days of Night , in which Ben Fransham who plays The Ferryman will also appear ) signs up for an adventure sail from New Zealand to Fiji , where a luxurious spa awaits their tired bodies after their " homestay on the sea " stint . Before everyone , including the captain his wife and their pet dog , can get chummy with one another , their ship receives a distress signal , and the laws of the sea dictates they get themselves into unknown trouble by picking up a survivor from a non-working vessel . And like all hitchhiker styled movies , there's always something strange about the hitcher ( played by John Rhys-Davis ) you pick up , especially when the weather's all foggy and he starts to give everyone the creeps . The Ferryman turned out to be a rather interesting concept movie rather than outright horror with shock and awe moments . It doesn't scare , nor does it follow the recent trends in gore and with torture porn . What it's more akin to is a good old fashioned thriller with supernatural elements thrown in for good measure . Some might complain that nothing much really happens , with the usual hack and slash , but I'd argue that it had a very novel take on the theme of longevity , especially when it starts to play out in full . While it certainly isn't something new , the way it was executed ( pardon the pun ) mattered , and its ending will undoubtedly leave a wicked smile on your face , at what had transpired , and the loads of potential should you possess such capability . Not without loopholes though , but I thought it could be glossed over given its supernatural slant , unless you choose to harp on it , especially when it didn't get developed properly . In short , The Ferryman still qualifies for an entertaining afternoon matinée when ticket prices are cheaper .
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515,513 | 317,399 | 424,875 | 7 |
A Nutshell Review : Cages
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I've heard about the Cages project for some time , having read about its travels to festivals abroad , earning commendable reviews , and it's not difficult to understand why . With Cages , the definition of a " Singapore film " struck me a little - how do you classify or qualify one ? Does it have to be directed by a local , or so long as it gets set in Singapore ? Does an international cast help in boosting recognition , or must it be strictly acted by local talents ? In fact , I thought it doesn't really matter . Cages is written and directed by American Graham Streeter , and features a mixed cast of local and prominent faces from abroad . Perhaps it is this mix that allowed for unique ideas to be blended , like One Last Dance earlier this year , resulting in that special mix incorporated into a truly international " local " movie . And perhaps , these served as its strengths . One of the first things about the movie that you'll inevitably agree upon , is that the cinematography by Mark Lapwood is brilliant . It brought about a romanticized look to our sunny little island , similar to another local movie from last year - Gloria Chee's Smell of Rain . Be it indoor , or outdoor shots , the dim insides of a shophouse or the congregation of bird lovers in purpose built parks , it's quite surreal and strikingly beautiful to look at , causing you to do a double take wondering where in Singapore it's shot at , though at times the narrative did make it seem like one of those snazzy tourism board commercials . Cages tells the story of a single mother , Ali ( Tan Kheng Hua ) and her blind son Jonah ( newcomer Dickson Tan ) . Having unable to hold down relationships , theirs is a frequent shifting of accommodation , depending on Ali's lover of the moment , and circumstances led her to her father's place , going there much against her wishes , but without any other choice . We then begin to enter the lives of the three . Tan , the father , played by the late Makoto Iwamatsu , seemed to have let Ali and her mother down , having walked out when she was young . Ali , reluctant to reconcile and unable to forgive . And Jonah , sheltered because of his inability , and now given the opportunity to come out of his shell , and to possibly heal long suffering rifts . To some , it might be difficult to sit through the story as the pace is deliberately measured . It had a distinct feel of an American indie movie about dysfunctional families , and felt obligated at times to include cursory characters to highlight Singapore's multi-racial society . Nonetheless , in weaving its tale of hope and forgiveness , it did so against an interesting backdrop , taken from a rarely seen and fading subculture of bird rearing , and bird song-singing appreciation . A popular pastime amongst the older generation , this film earns its " local stripes " of merit for capturing this aspect of society , in its buildup to the fictitious Ang Mo Kio Songbird Championship , before it's soon to be forgotten . The performance of the cast is nothing short of excellent , though there are some momentary lapses into over dramatising their characters . Makoto Iwamatsu was perhaps the best performer amongst the cast , layering his Tan with more than meets the eye , from caring , pained parent , to a man with skeletons hidden firmly in his closet . Tan Kheng Hua , more familiar with local audiences in her Margaret role in one of Singapore's longest running sitcom Phua Chu Kang , allows the same audience not familiar with her stage work , to be exposed to the more dramatic aspects of her craft , through this movie . Newcomer Dickson Tan makes his debut similar to Theresa Chan's role Eric Khoo's in Be With Me , being the narrator , as well as the catalyst who bridges the gap between broken people , disability notwithstanding . But to those who are apprehensive about watching a serious dramatic movie , Zelda Rubinstein is at hand as a supporting role as Liz , who provides ample and well timed comic relief , though leaning towards dark humour , and relying plenty on her wit . If there should be any complaint of sorts , it'll be the moment of revelation , which came across as a little too contrived , and because local audiences would , I believe , be distracted by the sudden changes in locale and backgrounds , making the shouting match much less impactful . Cages opens next Thursday at the theatres . Visually stunning , with a subculture brought to life as a backdrop to a story on hope , healing and forgiveness .
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515,151 | 317,399 | 493,464 | 7 |
A Nutshell Review : Wanted
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A young man stuck in a mundane job suddenly got pulled out of it by a beautiful dominatrix , and into a world where it seemed like he's The One savior to rid the bad guys from the face of it . When the trailer first came out , there was word that hey , it's the Matrix all over again , this time with one of Hollywood's latest " it " boy James McAvoy ( it rhymes too ) in the starring role of an indestructible superhero with a penchant for the gun theatrics . Save to say though the storyline for Wanted is anything like the 1999 Wachowskis movie , for the sole fact that it's many miles away from the various philosophical musings that ploughed deep into the Matrix world . Based upon a comic book series by Mark Millar and J . G . Jones , Wanted is Russian director Timur Bekmambetov's first foray into the English language Hollywood big-budgeted blockbuster , and if you're looking for a no-brainer summer popcorn movie , then Wanted would be right up your alley . It's noisy and in your face , it's spruced by special effects , it has immense violence and it's littered with so much profanity , I thought Bekmambetov might have felt it was standard English . For those familiar with his Russian science fiction works in Nightwatch and Daywatch , Bekmambetov brings about the same distinct style of his in delivery high octane action , and balletic gunplay that would probably rival John Woo in the business , set against pulsating rock music , and plenty of bullet against bullet , in shots so cool , it deserved to be repeated again , and again , milking the one trick in various screen situations . From the onset , you know you're in for a ride that requires a suspension of belief . Wanted sits right up there with any superhero movie , because the characters all perform superhuman stunts , from leaping out of buildings unscathed , to possessing prowess that can be trained in weeks , to the creation of a Lazarus Pit equivalent to heal all bodily wounds . If any assassin can plough their trade as demonstrated in the story , I guess all of us have got to be afraid , from their 100 % accuracy from 10 , 000 miles , to - wait for it - curving a bullet around the bend via a flick of the wrist . OK , so all these might appeal to even the most jaded action genre fans , as it's honestly something that is refreshing , especially since it combined effortlessly with the visionary visuals of Bekmambetov . But Wanted gets plagued by lazy storytelling , even by standards for no-brainer action movies . The first few intertitles compressed the timeline from 1000 years to just 6 weeks ago , and undoubtedly the ending too reeks of carelessness and the same super summary . All these to tell a story of the transformation of McAvoy's Wesley Gibson from The Narrator to a Tyler Durden equivalent , complete with the account of daily drudge with easter egg visuals filling up the screen , as he channels his energies into the right direction of assassination after being accepted by The Fraternity , undergoing a training regime equivalent in toughness as experienced by Kung Fu Panda . Picking up skills from Gunsmith ( Common ) , The Repairman ( Marc Warren ) , the Butcher ( Dato Bakhtadze ) and The Exterminator ( Konstatin Khabensky ) - there you go , the equivalent of Crane , Mantis , Monkey and Viper - he's chief tutor is the ultra-skinny Fox , played by Angelina Jolie . Now we all know Jolie's body comes tattooed , and in her movies they usually get the full makeup treatment to mask them . I'm not sure if those are authentic tattoos on Jolie , but I guess they do provide you a hint at how they adorn her body . While not quite your Trinity type , she thrives on a whole lot of adrenaline that would make a drug junkie blush , and gets assigned the duty to train the rookie in the ways of The Frat , whose motto Kill One , Save A Thousand , she believes in wholeheartedly . I can't remember watching Jolie on screen and quite anorexic looking as well , though her new found uber-svelte figure gets featured in some of the best action sequences in the movie . As mentioned , you've got to leave your logic prowess at the door and leap into fantasy mode so that the action here would be plausible , and sometimes ridiculous to boot , especially when some unfortunate attempts at humor found its way into the mix . And I can't help but to laugh out loud when a crucial plot development sounded like a rip-off / broken record of another famous trilogy that will go unnamed here , which in actual fact can be seen coming from a mile away . But there is a saving grace to its limited intelligence though . It's a timely reminder again of how absolute power over life and death corrupts absolutely , and what's there to stop corruption at the top when they have the means and the firepower to exact changes ? And given anything that is prone to human interpretation , you'd come to expect some form of corruption , as folks at the top skew things in their favour , either for self-preservation , or climbing Maslow's hierarchy of needs . It explored this very quickly , mainly because it had to make way for more action , but I thought it was a somewhat good effort to have it included , no matter how small . Oh , and many things in the movie also went unexplained as well , so don't try to spend too much time figuring out how to harness the power of an extreme adrenaline rush . For those who like their screen violence graphic , unadulterated and unflinching in slow motion , reverse motion , and pulling out all tricks in the special effects book , then Wanted is for you . Otherwise it'll just be another routine exercise that is all style and little substance , something which most reviews tend to harp on , and I'll throw my 2 cents worth of contribution at as well .
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515,373 | 317,399 | 475,723 | 7 |
A Nutshell Review : Shinobi ( 2005 )
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There are many Romeo and Juliet type stories out there , and this happens to be one of them , set in Japanese medieval times , with fantastical martial arts moves that will probably wow action fans with their pace and brutality . It reminds me of the time when I was watching Hong Kong's Stormriders which somewhat raised the bar for such movies , and in terms of action set pieces , Shinobi doesn't disappoint . The story however , given its romantic element , somehow misses the mark . Yes , we know that it's written in the stars that the star crossed lovers are doomed to begin with when they fall for each other , having their only love sprung from their only hate , and it's actually quite a critical plot point in terms of character motivation when they become the appointed heads of their respective clans , but I guess romantic tangles get tossed aside when more room for action is required to satisfy genre fans . Shinobi is set during the time of feuding clans in the Tokugawa era . The Iga and the Kouga clans reside in hidden villages , and the Lord of Lords have just decreed that the clans can go on an all out war against each other . This naturally spells trouble for both Oboru ( Yukie Nakama ) and Kouga Gennosuke ( Jo Odagiri ) , who have recently professed their love for each other in secret . The decree dictates that each clan selects 5 of their best warriors to duke it out , and no prizes if you guess that both Oboru and Kouga Gennosuke are amongst the warriors selected . There's more political intrigue up the movie's sleeves , but these plots and schemes are secondary to the action that unfolds . Each of the 5 warriors have unique skills , and when they're exhibited , it's edge of your seat stuff excitement . However , the major flaw is that most of them are one skill wonders , meaning they're masters of that skill , and you see little more . It's akin to X-Men's mutants , and some powers though will ring familiar , like the blatant claws from fists , and healing prowess . But the best bits of powers though belong to our leads , because it's only natural for the most powerful to be leading their respective clans , but again , they suffer from limited fighting scenes . Most are quite violent and enhanced with some really nice special effects , but for those who are squeamish , you probably would wince at the stabbing , decapitations , etc . What started off quite promisingly , gets dragged into cliché-land . Shinobi though boasts some stunning landscape visuals , that will make you wonder if they really exist , or are spruced up with a computer . Strictly for those who enjoy Romeo and Juliet interpreted in various retellings and adaptations , and fantastical kungfu junkies .
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514,878 | 317,399 | 453,533 | 7 |
A Nutshell Review : Unrest
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This turned out to be a horror weekend , if I had opted to watch One Last Breath yesterday , a Japanese horror movie set in a hospital . Instead , I had chosen the Undead today , which also takes place in a hospital , not in the morgue but at a lab for anatomical lessons , where would be surgeons obtain their baptism of fire from those who had decided to donate their bodies for scientific causes . The gimmick ( if I can call it that way ) of this movie , is that it touts itself having to be the very first to include real dead bodies , aka cadavers , in film . That already gave you a natural queasy feeling that what's shown on screen , are actual bodies , and you wonder how the filmmakers got away with ethical issues and the likes . The very first time I've come up close with cadavers , was during an exhibition called Body Worlds where you have them dissected at various angles and at various stages , each in poses that exhibited how the human body reacts , involving which muscle groups and nerves . It was extremely educational , and one which opened your eyes to the miracle that exist within you , like a well oiled , well plumbed system only capable of being assembled by someone or something far superior . I wondered in amazement how so much can be jammed pack within a reasonably slim frame , and while the exhibition wasn't creepy at the least , you'd still wondered a little about the background of these donors , and where they'd come from . Dr Alison Blanchard ( Corri English ) is one of the new doctors chosen from amongst thousands to participate in anatomical lessons , but as you know with horror stories , things do go bump in the night , and having her stay in the dorm of the hospital doesn't help a lot . The cadaver her group gets issued start to give her the creeps , and while constantly reminded to treat their assigned cadavers with respect , there will definitely be the resident joker who will be the catalyst of things to come . Slowly she too starts to wonder about the background of the strange cadaver with self-inflicted wounds , and thus begins a race against time to uncover the truth and mystery behind a series of unexplainable deaths . As a horror movie , the usual tricks in the bag get unleashed at full velocity , with creepy sounds and light and shadow play all rolled into one and cranked to the maximum . Somehow the Undead felt like it was toying with you , bringing things to a crescendo , yet censoring itself from the violence and gore that you'd come to expect . While it deals with the supernatural , it doesn't follow convention of late by showing you , in full detail , how each victim dies , opting rather to save themselves the trouble to , and providing ( perhaps unintentionally ) some mystery behind the deaths . However , hope not for Asian horror like atmospherics , mood and buildup , as this movie tried to take a stab at that , but more often than not , failed miserably . While there are plot loopholes abound , and the cursory romantic tangle and several character motivations that were unclear and never answered , I thought what worked were its gimmick , and of course some very nicely done special effects , without which the movie will indeed fall flat . And those who have watched Mel Gibson's Apocalypto , will enjoy the back story The Undead weaved in greater detail , and reminisce that particular scene from Gibson's movie , where truly , it's more horrific to know that man had inflicted that kind of pain and suffering before .
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515,099 | 317,399 | 808,336 | 7 |
A Nutshell Review : Helen the Baby Fox
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Helen the Baby Fox belongs to the family of movies which feature cutesy animals and the relationship with their human protectors , along the lines of movies such as Lassie and Free Willy . Interesting enough , the subject of a fox ( besides fox vixens in many Chinese folk tales ) actually is a novelty in itself , and having bestowed upon him disabilities adequately fueled plenty of heartwrenching moments . A young schoolboy , Taichi ( Arashi Fukasawa ) , is a social outcast in school , with his vivid imagination he uses to spins incredible tales from . But these are the exact same fairytale-like stories which his mother ( Yasuko Matsuyuki ) spins for him , as she gallivants to far out locations for her photography fix , leaving the boy alone for most times . Fate would have him chance upon a baby fox , which utters nary a sound , which he likens to be in a similar situation as himself - abandoned . Again by chance , Taichi and his new found friend encounters a veterinarian ( Takao Osawa ) and her daughter ( Ryoko Kobayashi ) , the former quite reluctant to accept the baby fox for treatment , constantly reminded that he should not allow his kind heart to rule over their need for some serious dough to keep his business from folding . Convincing the vet to allow Helen the baby fox to stay and receive treatment , Taichi works on the farm to pay off his dues . And thus began a friendship amongst the clinic , and with the many other adorable animals living on the clinic grounds . The movie seemed to have two contrasting facades , and employed different techniques to highlight the different phases , as the relationship between animal and boy strengthened . The imaginary world from Taichi's mind , enhanced by special effects , gets transitioned ( and conveniently forgotten ) as the story moved towards a more serious " real-world " and the issues at hand with regards to the fox . Things change as the boy becomes more assertive and responsible as he takes on the surrogate guardian role , and the fox , being given a new lease of life from one without hope . Fans of Crying Out Loud in the Center of the World , would come to recognize Takao Osawa , who plays the vet here . You got to give it to the Japanese for the many picturesque landscape shots which provided beautiful dreamworld like scenarios in making the countryside so enticing . And trust them too in activating the tear ducts of those with gentle hearts . There are veiled attempts to subtly add in messages like thou - shalt - not - abandon - animals - or-your-kids , etc , but I guess if you don't buy in , you just don't . The pacing of the movie is relatively slow , perhaps deliberately too , but the ending just dragged , unfortunately . A victim of the multiple ending syndrome , I suppose it got worse as character relationships are suddenly revealed too little too soon without a warning in sight , which probably could have distracted the audience as it was disjointed and too convenient to be plausible . Oh well . All in all , it's a movie suitable for the whole family . One without the summer blockbuster violence , scary images , swearing and the likes . Just plain wholesome .
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514,518 | 317,399 | 409,681 | 7 |
A Nutshell Review : The Alibi
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A dream service for those adulterous men and women out there . A service which takes your calls , handles all potentially tense situations of private eyes and that suspecting spouse , essentially taking care of you on the side while you bang . Sounds good ? I think so too , at least in a business sense . Ray Elliot ( Steve Coogan ) runs such a service . It's a money spinner , based on statistics that one in 4 men stray , and one in 10 women cheat . He advertises his risk management career through word of mouth , and takes pride in his job in bailing clients out of seemingly explosive marital situations . The pre-requisites ? A calm cool mind that can spin out stories and tell them with a straight face . Lola Davis ( the hot Rebecca Romijn ) is his new management recruit , and without much orientation , plunges into the job head on . Initially you might think the movie will develop on the above company politics scenario , and have the two leads get involved with each other romantically . But no , before you can get to see the next fling , the movie heads on to classic crime noir territory . On his last field job , Ray's client accidentally kills his mistress in a bout of S & M , and it's up to Ray to clear the mess up , violating one of his principles that his company doesn't provide alibis for crime . However his reputation and integrity is on the line , and he has no choice but to cover it all up . And you'll probably wince at the amount of challenges Ray goes through in having this done , and having a price put out on his head . It's essentially one heck of a caper , as we witness how Ray Elliot schemes and plot to get his rear out of situations that's seemingly impossible , and incredibly lucky to get out of . It's full of crossings and double-crossings , and while you might be lost at certain plot points , just hang in there as all will converge for the finale , leaving you with a smirk , quite satisfied with the outcome . What's fun in this movie is the huge ensemble cast that play the many characters on screen . Another X-Men franchise regular , James Marsden ( Cyclops ) is here as the inept himbo Wendell Hatch , Ray Elliot's last client , and we have a myriad of characters like hit men , gangsters , cops , an unsatisfied wife , etc from a cast of Selma Blair , James Brolin , Sam Elliot , Jaime King , John Leguizamo , Deborah Kara Unger , and the likes . One thing's for sure , having a huge network of those whom you have deposited emotional or material help with , certainly will help bucket-loads when the time comes . If you're up for a caper , then I'd recommend The Alibi , for its fun .
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514,724 | 317,399 | 455,195 | 7 |
A Nutshell Review : Divergence
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Divergence is the latest crime thriller to come out of Hong Kong's film industry , and all films of this genre will nonetheless be compared with the grand-daddy of them all - Infernal Affairs , which set a very high bar . Given that this film is produced by the same team , you'd expect the same high standards . While production values are similar , I'd leave it to you to decide the end verdict . If you're expecting a strong cops and robbers storyline , then you might be disappointed . This film is heavy on relationships between the characters , their degrees of separation , and their duality . Which may not be a bad thing , but I find the dwelling on sappy moments and flashbacks a bit overboard , and at times , the audience was laughing at the improbability of these moments . This movie unites Aaron Kwok and Ekin Cheng together for the big screen after the comic fantasy movie Stormriders . Kwok plays a cop who lost his girlfriend under mysterious circumstances 10 years ago , and in the first 10 minutes , lost a key witness to a sniper , played by Daniel Wu , who always seem to be playing nothing but baddie roles these days . However , Wu's sniper character knows that in his career , he is both the hunter , and the hunted , and at times want to prove to Kwok that he makes a better cop . Ekin Cheng's a lawyer who defends the innocent , or so it seems . While he's aware that his clients are sometimes guilty , is he idly standing by ? Thrown into the mix are characters like Cheng's wife , played by the lovely Angelica Lee , who bears a strong resemblance to Kwok's girl , and thus making him a stalker of sorts , Eric Tsang as an underused pathologist , Ning Jing ( the only movie I saw her in was the remake of Shanghai Grand ) as a bald assassin agent , and Lo Kar Leung as Cheng's client who has shady underworld links and a pop star son , who gets kidnapped . At times you might feel that the movie plods along , while you might already have been able to unravel the mystery mid-way . This could be due to the sappy moments I mentioned earlier , and taking centerstage is how Kwok's cop character refuses to give up looking for his girlfriend . You can understand how the character feels if you're in the same shoes - loving someone so deeply , and yet having zero closure . And when you think you see her again - is it really her , or had amnesia played a part , or has she deliberately forgotten the past ? While the audience found the scene of revelation and Kwok's reaction to it funny , I felt the opposite - sometimes when the truth is revealed and you can't handle it , you shut down . Really . Trust me , I know . So if I were in his shoes , that'll probably be what will happen to me too . However , this film does have moments which can iconify it ( sort of like the Tony - Leung - pointing - a - gun - at - Andy - Lau's - head moment in Infernal Affairs ) . The " long run to the fish market " scene is tense , and so is the finale where 3 characters have a standoff , which actually yanked the rug off my feet . I felt that if this film focused tightly on the plot , and lose some peripheral characters , it might just live up to its potential , and I don't think we'll see any sequels to this one .
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515,544 | 317,399 | 1,151,915 | 7 |
A Nutshell Review : Nothing Like The Holidays
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Christmas has become so commercialized , no thanks to Santa Claus and the spirit of consumerism having to buy , buy , and buy some more to meet those pesky wish-lists of friends and family . I guess there's this feel good feeling to this holiday because it's just at the edge of the new year , and it's the spirit of sharing good tidings , and to look forward to better things ahead in the new year . But I share similar sentiments with the head of the Puerto Rican Rodriguez household , that it should be none other than a festival to have everyone get together . Edy Rodriguez ( Alfred Molina ) and wife Anna ( Elizabeth Pena ) look forward to Christmas because it's a time where family members far and wide , and doing their own thing , get to come back home to share in the festive spirit . This year's gathering is all the more special , because son Jesse ( Freddy Rodriguez ) is permanently home from his tour of duty in Iraq . There's eldest son Mauricio ( John Leguizamo ) and his wife Sarah ( Debra Messing ) who are two accomplished corporate folks in New York , and daughter Roxanna ( Vanessa Ferlito ) who's a Hollywood star in the waiting . Add friends such as Johnny ( Luis Guzman ) and Ozzy ( Jay Hernandez ) and you have one happening get together party , right ? Not quite , as the veneer of what would be a joyous occasion , get marred by everyone bringing their baggage to the table . Anna and Edy contemplate divorce , Jesse gets flak for being the hero , as well as being co-opted to run the family provision shop business . He also continues to nurse an aching heart toward ex flame Marissa ( Melonie Diaz ) who has now moved on . Mauricio and Sarah's marriage get strained by her refusal to bear children because of an impending promotion which she doesn't want to jeopardize . Roxanna is nowhere near being a star , still stuck at bit parts on television . Whew ! While billed as a comedy , it's not laugh a minute , even though there were a couple of smart one-liners to tickle your funny bone . Instead , it's quite a thoughtful drama to see how each character navigates through the sea of their own problems , and whether they are able to come out tops . And everyone could identify with one or more of the characters , especially in their attitudes toward family member , being envious of the more successful sibling , of favouritism , of being at loggerheads , of reconciliation , and ultimately , the notion of blood being thicker than water . Not all subplots get resolved amicably and reasonably , which roots this film to a tinge of realism rather than opting for a feel good fairy taled styled finale where every loose end gets tied up with a smile . Which makes this film stand out amongst the crowd of feel good Christmas theme movies out there this season . It's quite a compelling drama to sit through despite some story threads being just a little bit bare , but for the powerful ensemble cast pulling everything through as a convincing family unit , you might want to invest some time on this film as well .
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515,310 | 317,399 | 103,125 | 7 |
A Nutshell Review : ( DVD ) True Colors ( 1991 )
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This should be my " John Cusack " holiday weekend , with 2 DVDs rented starring the actor . Earlier , I had reviewed one of his earlier works when he was a teenager - Better Off Dead , and here , I'd think it probably is his first role as a slimeball . John Cusack and James Spader ( Sex , Lies and Videotape ) play two friends , Peter Burton and Tim Gerrity , from Law School , and chronicles their friendship . They hit it off from a small automobile accident ( pardon the pun ) , and progressed from minor adversaries , to best of friends . Until Peter's ambition gets the better of him , as he aims to become Congressman in 10 years . From the start , we see a flip side to Peter's goody-two-shoes character . He always has something to hide , and has an ulterior motive to things that he does . He tells little white lies to get his way , and has a siege mentality that it's always him versus Them . He gets envious of Tim's seemingly good life , and coverts Tim's girlfriend Diana , who is the daughter of a Senator . And thus begins the Kane and Abel like story , of betrayals , and counter betrayals between the two men . Peter gets involved with the mob in his bid to become elected , while Tim , working for the Justice Department , volunteers himself to get the dirt on Peter . It's always about the girl , or is it ? And as Tim puts it aptly , only somebody close to you , can do the most damage . They know your secrets , and best of all , they have your trust . It's true though , if you think carefully about it , the best person to ruin you ( reputation , etc ) , is none other than the person you trust the most . Again , looking at the two characters , there is no right or wrong , it all depends on the methods one uses to achieve one's goals . It's also an interesting look at the shady dealings of politics , of allegiances made because of donations or help to campaign funding , of owing favors to those who voted in favor of you . Things are never that simple , and the mantra shared by both characters are , so long as you don't get caught . John Cusack has got this charismatic charm , and in this film , uses it well as he seeks to become a politician ( you have to have charisma as you deliver those speeches ) . James Spader too holds his own , as the naive Tim , who slowly discovers betrayal , and decides to turn the tables against the hunter . Fans of John Cusack , you must catch this ! Code 1 DVD is the bare bones version , aside from the usual audio and scene selections .
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514,663 | 317,399 | 792,992 | 7 |
A Nutshell Review : Go West : A Lucky Luke Adventure
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My first reaction to the initial few minutes of Lucky Luke's Go West adventure , is that it's one insanely funny movie with its plentiful sight gags , but that's it . Co-written and directed by Olivier Jean Marie , who migrated Lucky Luke's adventures to the big screen with this effort , the story tells of a gang of robbers known as the Dalton Brothers , four felons who are of varying heights , whose lifestyle is to get guns , rob banks , get arrested , escape , wash , rinse and repeat . Beginning in New York , the foursome in their latest robbery managed to hide their loot in a wagon before being busted by Lucky Luke , the renowned cowboy whose speed of the draw makes him renowned all over . But a band of settlers requested for Luke's assistance to lead them to their promised land , land that they paid to Crook ( yes , what a name , for obvious reasons ) who set a condition that the land he sold would be theirs only if they can arrive at the location in 80 days . So begins Lucky Luke's exodus with the European settlers leading them to the West Coast of USA , along with the Dalton brothers in his custody and their concern in regaining their loot from one of the settler's wagons , and Crook trying to foil everyone at every step of the way . Going by the crowd reaction , predominantly made up of children , it certainly got positive feedback through the cheers by the kids . And it's not difficult to see why , as there were plenty of funny situations to lighten up the mood of even the moodiest person in the house . Almost every scene has something interesting to look at , with the narrative being quite witty in itself , and when the need calls for it , larger than life action sequences detailing the ups and downs of the various characters in their seeking of individual goals . Lucky Luke , voiced by Lambert Wilson , quickly got forgotten though in the middle of the movie , and it became the Joe ( Vlovis Comullac ) and Averell ( Bernard Alane ) Dalton show , as the two steal the thunder from the virtually all-powerful hero . I guess it's no surprise that flawless heroes almost always tend to get upstaged by the villains , and here the villains clearly have more interesting facades to them , even though they may venture really close into stylistic and narrative influences of slapstick comedians . Given the crazy way the story develops , its unique visual animation showcasing that 2D still can hold its own against its 3D or CG counterparts , so long as you have material to satisfy your target audience . Suitable for both children and adults alike .
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514,508 | 317,399 | 431,308 | 7 |
A Nutshell Review : P . S . I Love You
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P . S . I Love You is a no-brainer for it to be released this Valentine's Day here , though the challenge of course will be putting couples into seats . Nonetheless everyone's in need for some form of love story , and this will likely fit the bill , although the story's as cliché as love stories can be , and it's not exactly new material for the screen , given that there's a Thai movie called " The Letter " ( Jod Mai Rak ) which likely had took a leaf from the source material , the novel P . S . I Love You written by Cecelia Ahern . Gerry ( Gerard Butler ) and Holly ( Hilary Swank ) Kennedy are a yuppie couple trying to find their footing in their married life - you know , the usual disapproval from their respective in-laws , Gerry's eagerness to have children , and Holly's perpetually sense of loss in her career , not knowing exactly what to do . We spend the first 10 minutes of the movie listening to typical couple bickering , before all of a sudden , Gerry bites the dust . Yes , you might think that given such a development , it's highly unsuitable as a Valentine's Day movie , but I'd say not to count your chickens first . Thankfully it doesn't dive into what Asian romances do - which is an extended hospital sequence with plenty of scenes to milk those tears out of your ducts - he goes , and that's it . But of course Gerard Butler's name is not on the marquee for nothing , and he's not gonna earn that paycheck so easily . In Shattered which was shown few weeks back , Pierce Brosnan had to opportunity to flex his natural Irish accent . Here , it's Butler's turn , and that probably fluttered the hearts of many females in the audience from the audible sighs of falling in love with that , a great departure from his yowling and screaming for blood in 300 which he is now synonymous with . As the story goes , his Gerry finally comes out with concrete plans , one that is to continue the romance and to help his wife tide through his loss , through letters , instructions and the likes , nothing short of what Keanu Reeves did with Sandra Bullock in The Lake House , although that one had a time sensitive element involved . I've always likened Hilary Swank to tough cookie roles , and Million Dollar Baby helped cement that fact . So to see her here , as a leading lady in a romantic movie , really took some time to get used to . Not to say that's she not pretty enough , but those biceps really complemented Butler's . If there's a weakness in the casting , I'm afraid to say that she's quite miscast because the role calls for a sense of vulnerability , and the inability to move on , and dwelling in one's loss . Hilary Swank doesn't project that , and unfortunately I thought that she could have picked herself up at any one point early in the film . For the most parts , the narrative replays and recounts the love life between Gerry and Holly , taking us to places where their romance started and blossomed , with a host of characters on the side , such as Lisa Kudrow and Gina Gershon being her great girlfriends , hunters on the side with Harry Connick Jr . and Jeffrey Dean Morgan the potential suitors , and of course , Kathy Bates being the mother . You can't deny though that there are some truths about relationships being communicated throughout , and those in reality are the gems the movie provides , and make great conversational pieces after the movie to discuss with your loved one . There's a nice , touching element of a surprise to it all too , though one can probably see it coming a mile away . There are definitely some flaws in the movie pertaining to coincidences of events , but hey , falling in love itself does take some believing in the flawed cosmic logic of the heart . While it's not a great romance movie , you'll probably be floored by the little thoughts that go a long way , and the transient notion of course to appreciate every moment with your loved one , and not wait for things to happen for the worse , to start reminiscing the loss .
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515,223 | 317,399 | 470,055 | 7 |
A Nutshell Review : Adrift
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The original Open Water had a couple stranded in the high seas when they went deep sea diving , and somehow missed the boat , literally , thereby being stranded in the middle of nowhere . The formula is now repeated in Open Water 2 : Adrift ( just called Adrift here probably to disassociate itself from being a " sequel of sorts " movie ) , with the number of couples increased threefold . But I can't judge which is better , having not watched the original . Adrift though seemed decent enough , with human nature for self-preservation portrayed so starkly on screen , it's scary . And having to bump up the number of those in trouble , allows for different views and types of people ( read : caricatures at times ) to be showcased . Each cast member have certain strengths , and some just have total negativity built into them , for contrast purposes . The setup is simple and we waste no time in being introduced to our characters , almost all of whom are high school friends , and gathered together to celebrate one of their 30th birthday . They go on a weekend cruise on a luxurious yacht , and it's party , party , party , enjoying the finer things in life . Until they decide to go swimming in the sea , did they realize that hey , did someone lower the ladder on board ? Otherwise , how are they going to get back to the deck ? It's down to the adage of looking before you leap , and that danger lurks when you're enjoying yourself so much , that common sense , precautions and safety get thrown in the wind . And when the severity of the problem surfaces , what do you do ? Are you the leader , the thinker , the whiner or the quitter ? When everything is fine and dandy , everyone knows how to enjoy to the max . But when there's an issue at hand , do you begin to point your finger at everyone else , or help to think of a solution ? And when all seems lost , do you give up , or try , try again ? The characters partake in exhibiting some of these traits at different points , and with time running out , and dehydration , paranoia and hysteria slowing creeping in , you'd wonder how long they'll last . It's human nature to instinctively try and survive , and watching the characters on screen do just that in spite of impossible odds , just makes your heart pound faster as you think - what would you do if you're caught in the same situation ? Would you bitch slap the complainer ? Would you follow instructions to a T ? Would you give ideas and shut up when it doesn't work ? And when all seems lost , what would you do ? Supposedly based on true events , this story might have its plot holes at certain times when you think , hey they should have done this or that , but I'd suggest to hold onto your train of thoughts , until a key revelation is made , to which you may nod in agreement why it happened the way it did , and that shake in disbelief when you think that when it comes to life and death , material things should be sacrificed first , and facing the music is just part of the inevitable consequence .
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514,571 | 317,399 | 1,213,617 | 7 |
A Nutshell Review : Miss Gold Digger
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The title says it all , about a woman who holds out from commitment because she's always in the hopes of snagging somewhere better , given the vast playing field out there from which to fish not only the rich , but in her own words , those with " money , future , power " . The cynical me wonders if this was the nail hit squarely on the head , that these are the secret underlying criteria these days before a woman would say yes . And if seeking out that someone would not be enough , as a guarantee , she even sows her own seeds , and cultivates her own venture with one of her longtime male friends . This is the story of Shin Mi-Su ( Han Ye-seul ) who when young dreams of being a real life Cinderalla , Snow White and Juliet , since after all their lovers were rich princes to boot . She's successful in her career in an ad agency , and with her gorgeous good looks , it provides an additional plus point naturally . But while she's pretty on the outside , she's really ugly on the inside , and this film chronicles how this duality and hypocrisy comes into play in almost all situations in her life . Han Ye-seul , who's up in the running for Best Actress in this year's AFFF , shows off her excellent acting with her two-faced , highly manipulative role , and does so effortlessly through her saucer eyes as they often betray ( for the audience's benefit ) her innermost thoughts and desires . Like Son Ye-jin's role in The Art of Seduction , Ye-seul's Mi-Su masters the art of seduction strategies in order to get her own way , or to obtain unfair advantages . If it's not money she's after , then it's the strings to be pulled one day . So who are those set in her sights ? Jun-seo ( Kwon Oh-jung ) the rich man looks like an automatic shoo-in with his expensive gifts , but his gruff exterior plants some doubts in her . It's not just enough to be loaded , but she wants to have the cake and eat it as well . Then there's the club rapper Hyeon-jun ( Son Ho-young ) who provides her the attention at the club , but that's just her fling at night when out having fun . And if you think a character like Mi-Su is desperate , look no further for proof than to entice her childhood friend Yun-cheol ( Kim In-kwon ) to pass the Bar exam and work his way up to District Attorney before she would even consider him as a life long partner , and goes all her way out in order to ensure that this plan succeeds . Which of course buys her time to look around for quicker ways to success of course . Then there's the new neighbour Dong-min ( Lee Jong-hyeok ) whom she starts off with the wrong footing , and always seem to be catching her at her worst behaviour . Her charms don't work , and this set up provides for some hilarious comic moments , which work because of Han Ye-seul's perfect timing . Given the limited scenes they act opposite each other , since her time is split rather evenly amongst all potential suitors , don't be expecting any great chemistry to be established . For all its feminist ra-ra with an alpha female in clear control over the exploitation of her sexuality and beauty , the film somehow retracts to romantic - comedy formula with some rather plain development mid way through the show , thereby leaving it devoid of any gravitas . Which means as a pure popcorn date movie , this works perfectly despite of its rather unresolved , open ending , that seems to echo some of the insecurities and indecisiveness that women perhaps face from time to time with regards to choosing , and whether they have made the right choice . So if you subscribe to what what this movie showcased , which is " money , fame and power " , then boys out there should better beware . 5Cs these days aren't enough , but the all encompassing three conditions spelt out , should .
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515,104 | 317,399 | 420,555 | 7 |
A Nutshell Review : How Much Do You Love Me ?
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How Much Do You Love Me ? examines that emotion called Love , or what it's perceived to be . Will you make pretend and move in with someone ? Are you loving someone because of his riches ? Or because of his huge wiener or her hot body ? Is it purely lust or love ? And how in the world do fugly people snag all the hot chicks too ? Between money and love , which would you choose ( and taking too long to decide doesn't earn you brownie points ) ? Like Pretty Woman , only with less candy fluff , how can someone fall in love with a whore ? ( Ok , so it might sound politically incorrect , but that's how the movie plays it out ) A regular joe , Francois , falls for a prostitute at a bar . Played by Monica Belluci , Daniela is the obsession of Francois , as he engages her services for 100 , 000 Euros to live with him for a month ( she charges 150 Euros a night , so work out the math ) until he runs out of cash . A balding man who just won the lottery of 4 million Euros and some , he sure knows how to pick up and select his women . Soon after , Francois becomes the envy of everyone ( so is Vincent Cassell , but I digress ) , as friends like his personal doctor advises him to go easy on his escapades because of his weak heart . But in this black comedy , unfortunate events befall upon those who try to keep the couple apart . It's a tad interesting too as the movie plays out the fantasies of these nay - sayers , as they too lust after Daniela in secret . There's a twist to all the madness , and the final revelation will make you go " ahh ! " as the scheme is unveiled to a whacked out near ending sequence ( do I love that sexy dance move ) . However , as do most art movies go , the ending leaves much to be interpreted in many ways . The visuals are beautiful to look at , and no , I'm not just talking about Bellucci here , although I'd rather watch her in action than the other old babe Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct 2 . Blended with a lot of jazz , it has a bluesy feel to it all , punctuating melancholic mood throughout as felt by the characters . And it's the three key characters who keep the storyline interesting . A regular bloke buying his way to a woman's heart . A woman who whores because she wants to ( and probably satisfying her insatiable appetite for sex ) , and her gangster husband Charly ( Gerard Depardieu ) who allows her to do what she wants to , as his interpretation of love is the clichéd " if you love her set her free . If she returns she's yours " belief . In the end , love is also about respect , and that's the lesson Charly needed to learn . It's plenty talk about love , sex and even orgasms , and the highlight is probably the three way negotiation on the table as Francois and Charly haggle the price over Daniela . Can love be attached with a price ? How much is it worth ? The plenty of ah-peks in the audience will probably have an answer to this question , and no doubt , ensure this movie's longevity in local screens .
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515,315 | 317,399 | 202,677 | 7 |
A Nutshell Review : ( DVD ) The Way of the Gun ( 2000 )
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Written by the same dude who wrote The Usual Suspects , The Way of the Gun is a much simpler tale compared to the award winning Suspects . It tells of two small time crooks , played by Ryan Phillippe and Benicio Del Toro , who get entangled in a game of crooks versus crooks when they try to pull of a kidnapping . Dreaming of bigger things in life , but regardless of the method used to achieve their dreams of riches , they overhear a conversation at a sperm bank clinic ( one of the most happening dialogues in the movie happens there ) about a surrogate mother bearing the child of some rich family . They decide to kidnap the lady , played by Juliette Lewis , and hold the mother and child hostage . However , they embroil themselves into a bigger web of intrigue , as every character , from the mother , the husband and wife who employed her , the doctor , the bodyguards , to the " bagmen " , all have their own agenda , and the relationships between one another must be one of the most complex written for the screen in recent times . Everything is more than meets the eye , and betrayals and double crossings are the agenda for the day . The pacing is well measured , and there are moments of suspense masterfully injected at points in the movie . I like the initial hostage taking scene , where the sudden shift of focus and introduction of complexity catches our two anti-heroes Longbaugh ( Del Toro ) and Parker ( Phillippe ) completely off guard . The car chase and pursuit is also one of the more innovative and quirky scenes in the movie , one which Del Toro actually suggested , and got it made on screen . You have to watch it to believe . The finale gives a kick to western shoot-em-up fans , as Longbaugh and Parker go head to head with everyone in a Mexican brothel , using modern day weapons of shotguns and handguns . Thrown into the mix is veteran James Caan , as a bag-man extraordinaire , having been so long in the business because of his experience in staying alive . Del Toro and Phillippe exude an excellent bond of camaraderie between their characters - they trust nobody except for themselves , while I thought Juliette Lewis was terrific in her role as the very pregnant mother caught between both sides , and yet bringing out strength as she fights for her child's and her own survival , taking her interests in her own hands . It's a good mix of action and workout for your brain as you figure out the relationships between the characters as the narrative moves along . Suited for those mundane afternoons in which you want to break out from . No special additions in this Code 1 DVD .
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514,976 | 317,399 | 388,482 | 7 |
A Nutshell Review : Transporter 2
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Jason Statham is back as Frank Martin , a man who lives by his own rules , a man with a military past who now works as a transporter , a man of few words , a man of action . Little has changed since the end of the first movie , he still drives a cool car , though the BMW has been traded for an Audi A8L W12 , and ploughing the streets of Miami , girls still find him irresistible ( who can forget Shu Qi appearing at his doorstep and throwing herself at him ? Here , Amber Valletta does the same . Lucky dude ) , and the men can't wait to sock his face . Many were surprised that the Transporter managed to gear up a sequel , but as far as I'm concerned , they can do a movie series with various cool cars waiting in line to be driven by Statham . Mercedes next ? But the plot for Transporter 2 had showed some shades of Denzel Washington's Man on Fire , especially in the beginning , only that the kidnap victim is a boy whose relationship with his protector isn't as drawn out or touching as that between Washington and Dakota Fanning . Thrown into what seems like a plot ( in an action flick , who cares anyway ? ) is bioterrorism , as a group of baddies orchestrate an elaborate plan to kill loads with a carefully manufactured virus . Flimsy plot aside , Statham delivers his punches well in action choreographed by Corey Yuen . Probably following the " Jackie Chan " style of using almost everything in a particular setting to wrestle with his opponents , Statham proved more menacing without the deliberate comedic acts that Jackie fuses into his brand of action . He might look a bit awkward with the metal pole , but the action sequence with the hosereel was fun , though short . As with Hollywood action flicks , don't expect the hero to be busted up too much , and he's always blessed with incredible luck and faced with enemies who are never marksmen . There are some obvious action flaws that might border on the line of absurdity , but heck , one's not gonna analyze beyond the belief that Lady Luck is smiling on Statham's Frank . The actions were left unscathed by the censors , only a lingering shot of the baddie's girl ( the one on the poster ) was snipped when the camera reached the upper torso . Have been a fan of Statham ever since his Snatch days , and it's a pretty decent action movie . Sit back , buckle up and enjoy the ride !
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515,537 | 317,399 | 110,764 | 7 |
A Nutshell Review : Pain
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Perhaps the most controversial of all the short films , Pain features a sado-masochistic young man as the protagonist , and a faceless police man . The protagonist is a man looking for a job , without much success , and it seemed like he didn't even bother to try as he crosses out recruitment ads without much thought . He leads a vagrant lifestyle , patronizing a provision shop to get his daily supply of Marlboro , preserved plums and comic books . He idles his time away , and looks for the next big high by inflicting pain on his own body , starting from needles through fingertips , to the extinguishing of lit cigarettes on his skin , and to the use of razor blades to mutilate his body . However , with addiction , it's never enough , and the highlight consists of various sick tortures on his kidnapped victim , from having a chisel driven into the foot , the sawing off of a limb , the removal of an eyeball , and culminating to a beheading . It's an extremely dark film with minimal dialogue and a twist ending , backed by an edgy soundtrack . Though the SM parts looked very realistic , I thought the actual grizzly find of a dismembered human body in Singapore on the same day marred my enjoyment of this short film . A little too close for comfort somehow .
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515,021 | 317,399 | 499,274 | 7 |
A Nutshell Review : The Unforgiven
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No , this isn't about the US Marine Corps , with the tagline above used in Jarhead . The Unforgiven is a Korean army movie , which I likened in similarity to Jarhead , in that there is no war action . This independent film follows the life of a new recruit , Lee Seung-yeong ( Seo Jang-weon ) , in his journey through the Korean armed forces , and his brotherly relationship forged with his close friend and superior Yu Tae-jung ( Ha Jung-woo ) Regimental army life is not something that everyone who has a choice , would want to undergo . You lose your freedom , and life turns for the better or worse depending on what sort of platoon mates you get lumped together with . The basics of army discipline is the following of orders to a T , never question morality , never questioning correctness . So when you are an outspoken chap , and speak your opinion , you are easily shunned from and become what is known as the marked man , i . e . trouble with a capital T . This movie would have irked the Korean Defense Department , as it didn't portray army life with gusto or is politically correct in its portrayal of life inside the barracks . While you don't expect a 5-star hotel treatment , this film made the internal relationships amongst soldiers look like a bad case of high school ragging , with its seniority based concept of respect ( i . e . who's enlisted earlier should be accorded respect ) , in tandem with the usual rank-pulling . The way the recruits had to recite in a robotic way their rank and name , when called upon , also seemed a little insane . I think many here would go crazy if we shout out our rank-name - IC number each time we're called upon . Then again we shouldn't compare training methods , as they're technically still at war . Seung-yeong and Tae-jung's friendship is the spotlight of the movie , akin to the latter being a senior and a sergeant , looking out for the former , given that they're already friends before enlistment . While they are fast buddies , many whom Seung-yeong had irked , can't wait for Tae-jung to ORD , so that they can exact their personal vendetta against the outspoken chap . The narrative juxtaposes time without much warning , so you'll have to get used to the style and technique used as we follow the story of these two friends during , and out of the army . And the difference between the relationship with and without the uniform put on , is explored , and how one would perceive this friendship to be . There are quite a number of gay undertones , which while not explicitly shown , subtly prods you in suggesting that Seung - yeong had a soft spot for Tae-jung , incessantly looking Tae-jung up each time he books out from camp , and his desire in emulating his friend's treatment of him , which he mirrors in his treatment to a junior . In any case , watching this movie became a drawing of parallels amongst the " injustice " ( in quotes here , as it all depends on who's POV anyway ) many local males would have experienced in one form or another , and the recalling of memories , good and bad , of army life . Female local audiences might not catch much ball , as the brotherhood love and respect would seem alien .
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515,554 | 317,399 | 457,419 | 7 |
A Nutshell Review : Mr . Magorium's Wonderful Emporium
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Dustin Hoffman doesn't really quite marquee a movie now , doesn't he ? I still remember one of his earlier classics as The Graduate which still remains one of my favourite films ( " Do you want me to seduce you ? " ) , and his award winners like Rain Man , Tootsie , Kramer vs Kramer , or even commercial movies like Hero , Hook and Sphere . Lately though I felt he's relegated to support status and bit roles within ensembles , and even though he's the titular character of Edward Magorium , his screen time is still limited , mirroring Magorium's passing of the baton to Natalie Portman's Molly Mahoney the store manager . Written and directed by Zach Helm , who wrote the strangely surreal Stranger Than Fiction , I'd come to expect that while Mr . Magorium's Wonderful Emporium is like a nicer , friendlier version of The Little Shop of Horrors , it still in essence retains a modern fairy tale like narrative , with chapters unfolding between episodic scenes . The emporium is a magical toy store where toys come alive , like in other movies like Jumanji , Small Soldiers or even Toy Story , but no talking toys please , that'll stretch it a little too much . But the fantastical element here belongs to Hoffman's Magorium himself . While we know he's capable of feats , after all , the toy shop and its toys are alive , but the background of the character is deliberately left a little vague , only letting it on that he had lived way , way past retirement , and has decided to expire . In looks , he's like a cross between Albert Einstein with his frizzy hair , and an aging Willy Wonka in his Chocolate Factory , welcoming children everyday to make his place their playground , speaks with a lisp , and is an avid shoe-wearer . In character , cross Hoffman's mannerisms in Rain Man and comedic angle in Meet the Fockers , and you have Magorium . So what of Portman ? Her Molly is a piano child prodigy who got stuck , and finds herself working for Magorium in the magical shop . What she's lacking is the belief in herself , and one of Magorium's intention through implicit training is to impart some lessons in self - belief . Which means throwing her into the deep end of the pool , and therein this changing of the guard . Molly can whine , protest , and soon finds herself with enormous shoes to fill , but has her hands full in trying to convince a skeptic , Henry ( Jason Bateman ) the accountant brought in to do the books and company valuation , that the store is alive . Basically , it's a story about friendship , with new ties that bind , when old ties fade away , the never ending cycle of knowing new folk , while others sometimes unfortunately slip behind . The focus is strongly affixed to this theme , while those enticed by the Technicolor and expected a visual effects extravaganza as seen in the trailers , will be slightly disappointed . Sure , the effects were necessary to bring the Emporium to life , but not seen as primary , and definitely nothing truly groundbreaking . It's also suitable for those who grew up with lots of toys and spend time in make pretend and even talking to them , well , this movie is definitely for you . Sit tight during the end credits too , as the production crew get described in really child like terms , and is education for those who do not know what those technical terms normally mean . Sit through to the end , and get yourself rewarded with a small scene as well .
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515,294 | 317,399 | 202,364 | 7 |
A Nutshell Review : A Class To Remember ( Gakko )
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Gakko tells a simple heartwarming story of a group of students and their teacher , in one of the public night schools in Japan providing them education at the Junior High level . With night schools , you know that the students are working adults , and the narrative takes its time to dwell on the characters ' backgrounds , and their interactions with the teacher , how he helped them in their times of need , or simply being the beacon of hope for them . The first act does exactly that , and given its premise , I thought it was a dead-serious episode of Mind Your Language , minus the slapstick humour . There are hilarious moments , but nothing that tickles your funny bone until you cry tears of laughter . It was one of the more standard techniques used , with the premise set during the class ' graduation , and the final assignment being an essay documenting their thoughts about graduation . You have a diverse group of students , ranging from an elderly immigrant restaurant operator from Korea , a delinquent teenager , and a sleepy-head , amongst others , as flashbacks provide necessary background information on how they got to the class , forming the basis of an introduction to the characters . In the second act , it is a departure from memorable moments , to one of remembrance and tribute to a fellow student who had passed on . And it is this portion which lent a certain gravitas to the story , with plenty of heartfelt scenes about how an old man challenges incredible odds against his gaining an education . If I were an elderly man , then perhaps this character's never say die attitude , would have rubbed off onto me . The flute soundtrack / score was beautiful , and repetitive enough to make it stick to your mind after the movie ends . Cinematography again is simple , and you wonder if the zen inspired minimalist look and feel is opted for Gakko . You can't help but to notice a stark difference between this movie , and the slew of Hollywood contemporaries belonging to similar genres . While Gakko is quiet contemplation and reflection for the most parts , its recent peers are more flashy , more colourful and lively . The students too are portrayed differently . Contemporaries would lap at them about having serious issues that prevented them from excelling in school or have this " Me Against The World " mentality , but the Gakko students , while they have issues , are portrayed in a more positive light in terms of attitudes towards learning and life in general . However , the films all agree on something , that an inspirational teacher is all it takes to whip a class of misfits to shape .
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