A Nutshell Review

He Ain't Heavy

Little Big Soldier continues to reinforce a point, that while one can afford to forgo Jackie Chan's rather dismal outing in any Hollywood flicks of late, his Asian films are a totally different story altogether. JC was said to have this story brewing for some two decades now, and initially his plan was to play the Big General himself, but good advice and probably with more confidence in his dramatic acting ability meant he takes on the Little Soldier role, and went with Wang Leehom for the other.

Maybe I'm crediting him too much since he came up with the story, but here's a film that would probably not work without JC taking on one of the characters, with the Little Soldier seem tailor made for him at this stage of his career, no longer needing to be the hero, but ever willing to be part of the underdogs, which Hollywood still frowns upon (hey, he's JC, he has to be a top notch cop/spy/secret agent/etc), as compared to everyday working man roles like that in Shinjuku Incident, Rob-B-Hood, and as a cowardly soldier whose self preservation instinct kicks into overdrive all the time.

Set prior to the unification of China by the Qin dynasty, the film opens with what seemed like a total annihilation in the battlefield between Wei and Liang troops, only to find Liang's Little Soldier being able to capture Wei's super Big General (Leehom) only because the latter is severely injured. With the promise of plenty of land for the live capture of an enemy general, Little Soldier makes it a point to cart Big General back to his country at all costs, so that he can settle down with new found wealth, coupled with an exemption from having to serve in the army. But of course Big General comes with a lot of baggage in knowing that his kindred had betrayed him and his elite troops in a battle, and are after him to ensure that he stays dead.

So lies the gist of the story, which to say anymore would be to spoil the fun and the depth of the story's development. Suffice to say JC's story contains enough to make you feel for the two lead characters, where their natural adversary would pave the way to inevitable friendship being forged by way of encountering and overcoming painful obstacles and challenges posed along the way, as the adage goes, two is better than one. JC too plays his character so well that you can't help but to endear to his multiple gimmicky toys he employs to survive in battles, plus the sheer luck and street smarts he has to rely on to get out of sticky situations. I'm not much of a Leehom fan, but he managed to pull of his role as the stoic general with aplomb, and shares some fine chemistry with JC, believable that these guys would be friends should they not be from different lands.

But the strength of the film comes from how the two characters contrast with, and how they rub off their respective ideals on each other. The Little Soldier aspires to lead a simple life of farming, to go back to his roots of a simple life, reminiscing upon his father's wise words, where rich means a plot of land to farm, two cows and a wife. Fighting in battles is not his cup of tea, and he'll do anything just to ensure that he comes out unscathed, even if it means being branded as a cowardly deserter. On the other hand, Big General aspires to conquer lands and if inevitable, to die gloriously in battle. Soon enough, he learns how having small but fulfilling, meaningful aspirations would be miles better than material wealth, of the joys that a simple, peaceful life can bring compared to one of constant fights. For the Small Soldier, lessons in the virtues of honour and courage get imparted, which leads to an especially touching and poignant finale.

Serving as action director. JC keeps all the fight sequences here fresh. You know how it is with action flicks when one battle scene doesn't offer anything new from the one that preceded it, JC had done something right in the fight choreography department. There are enough moments here to showcase straight forward fighting sequences, and those of his signature acrobatic buffoonery to suit the role of his Little Soldier to a T. Watch out too for his hilarious gimmicks employed, which will surely bring out a chuckle or two, which only JC can deliver in a true blue JC film.

It's been some time since JC had a major project rolled out every Lunar New Year, and this one comes just in time to perhaps continue in that tradition. If it's anything to go by, this film has surpassed expectations set low thanks to a lacklustre trailer, and thankfully the end product is confirmed to be miles better. He may be slower these days, but Little Big Soldier demonstrates that JC still has what it takes to deliver a Chinese blockbuster. As with almost all JC movies, sit back during the end credits roll to enjoy the many outtakes included.

What's That?

I guess you know the drill already. With the Lord of the Rings making Hollywood studios go into a frenzy in adapting the many fantasy books out there, not everything Tinseltown touched turned to box office gold, and more often than not, save for that famous boy wizard, what could have been pilots of franchises, became no more than false starts. I suppose it goes to show that a solid story is still fundamental, other than making yet another special effects extravaganza to try and wow a growingly jaded audience.

So the verdict for Percy Jackson & the Olympians? I dare say I was impressed by how engaging it was, so much so that 2 hours just flew by, but that doesn't mean that it didn't have its fair share of plot loopholes for you to ridicule, or cliches that make you chuckle that these are still utilized in this day and age. Simply put, if the Greek gods and goddesses were all powerful, especially that of Zeus, well the first few minutes as played by Sean Bean, made him out to be a clueless weakling who had his all powerful lightning bolt being stolen from under his nose, like taking candy from a kid, and now the kid's throwing a bad tantrum, threatening the fate of the world and that of Olympus (erm, the Empire State Building in New York, anyone?) unless his accused, the titular thief and demigod son of Poseidon (Kevin McKidd) coughs out his favourite toy.

But that is only if Percy Jackson (Logan Lerman) is guilty in the first place, given that he actually doesn't know his half-god lineage no thanks to Poseidon being horny enough (as do the other gods in their frequent visits to the human earth) to impregnate Sally Jackson (Catherine Keener), and then Sally deciding to keep Percy safe from jealous harm from other godly beings, because being the son of Zeus, Poseidon and Hades (Steve Coogan) is a big thing actually, the three being big daddies and sworn brothers in this mythology.

But of course in one fell swoop, all hell breaks loose, Percy discovers that a Pen can indeed be a powerful weapon, and allies himself with a Satyr Grover (Brandon T. Jackson) his good friend and protector, the cute demigod Annabeth (Alexandra Daddario) - note the necessary trio of heroes in the vein of Harry Potter here given that they're demigods, but still need to go to a Hogwarts equivalent to hone their special abilities, amongst other Greek god offsprings numbering in the hundreds (told you they were horny), in the middle of a nowhere forest, demarcated by a sign board and a force field to keep out muggles, I mean, humans.

Being an introductory film to the world of the Olympians, we learn facts like why Percy's such a big deal (no he didn't repel the biggest foe in the franchise), and the little do's and don'ts they have to learn from the likes of the centaur Chiron (Pierce Brosnan). But kids being kids, and wanting to save his mom from the clutches of Hell, Percy and his friends embark on an American cross country road trip, and in the meantime try to decipher just who could that Thief be, having 14 days as the deadline to meet, which forms the basis of incidents and episodes that the trio come face to face with in exhibiting their powers (well, actually only Percy's).

Part of the fun is to see how other notable names in the casting list get to play up their gods and demon status. Uma Thurman stars as Medusa, spruced up by special effects snakes adorned on her head, which at certain points looked quite CG-ed for its own good. Or having Rosario Dawson star as Persephone in quite fed-up manner, and the lists goes on. Suffice to say that many of the appearances here are quite self contained in the scene they appear in, that they rarely re-appear again until the sequel (already announced for next year). Joe Pantoliano hams it up as Percy's muggle, I mean human step dad, and I was somewhat impressed by the extremely mean looking CG design of Hades, which can really strike fear with his appearance. The one that came out in the bonfire, that is.

With Clash of the Titans coming just round the corner, one wonders whether it may suffer from an audience jaded with this version's interpretation of Greek mythology, plus the uncanny use of the same villainous types that would prove detrimental by the time Titans come around. I guess that remains to be seen. Meanwhile, stay tuned when the end credits start rolling, as there's a scene that'll come on as soon as the cast list rolls off. And I certainly have no clue why "The Olympians" were dropped from the title of its release here.

There's Only One Damn United

I'm an Arsenal fan just so you know, and besides Fever Pitch, that cameo in Ocean's Twelve, and that Nike football advertisement directed by Guy Ritchie (Take It To the Next Level), The Damned United also featured an historical archived footage with the 70s Arsenal playing. But this is more or less a Leeds United film which set in its heydays, but more so a fictionalized dramatization of an England Manager who wasn't, Brian Howard Clough, whom you know to date as won back to back European Cup championships with Nottingham Forest, a feat not repeated since.

But this is not about Forest, but goes a little back to his beginnings as a club manager, and looks at the time where he's managing Derby County, before his limited 44 day run at Leeds as manager. Michael Sheen brings out the role of Clough perfectly, and is the centerpiece of two main storylines here, one about his obsessive rivalry with ex-Leeds and now England manager Don Revie (Colm Meany) almost along the lines of The Prestige, and that of his professional successful partnership with assistant manager Peter Taylor (Timothy Spall). Balancing football action with extremely insightful characterization, The Damned United boasts some beautiful art direction, and an awesome soundtrack to bring to life a football era that is long gone, now seduced more by tremendous amounts of money being thrown at it.

This is a damn fine film packed into a damn fine 1-disc DVD chock full of extras, that any English football fan cannot afford to miss. If Goal is a film that captured action on the pitch perfectly through the point of view of a fictional character, then this one is that perfect film that examines the capturing of the back room activities from the point of view of a real life manager. Armchair football gamers, put your game down for a while, and watch this film. You'll be doing yourself a favour!

You can read my DVD review of The Damned United at movieXclusive.com by clicking on the logo below.

Clueless

I haven't seen My Big Fat Greek Wedding from start to end, but from what I gathered from scenes, Nia Vardalos is quite the force to be reckoned with, although it took her quite a while to come up with yet another cinematic romantic comedy, and wearing triple hats of responsibility in writing, directing and starring as the lead in I Hate Valentine's Day, a title which I thought was quite the misnomer for a film about a would be couple who has to learn that the games people play have to be thrown out of the window should they find that perfect chemistry between themselves, but felt constraint by artificial, social rules that worse of all, got made by and illogically adhered to themselves.

Vardalos stars as Genevieve, the chirpy proprietor of a flower shop, who to her friends is the go-to person for advice on their relationships, be it from the male or female perspective because she's quite proud of the fact that she's got it all figured out. Her secret to her happiness, is to suck the life out a man made 5 dates worth of happiness with any person of the opposite sex. You know, when you first get attracted to and fall for someone, everything that started off will be perfect, where bad dinners taste delicious, everything gets forgiven, and it's pure bliss any direction you turn to. It is exactly this first feeling of romance that Genevieve feeds on, and develops her rules to prevent her heart from being broken by a bad relationship, or one that stagnates, with exact mission objectives that each dating session should accomplish. Talk about being a control freak, in an extremely nice way, and twisted as it may sound, it could be quite feasible, really.

But of course this is a definite cover up of deeper emotions of emptiness that she has to open her eyes and heart to, and this comes in the form of neighbouring restaurant owner Greg (John Corbett), who is game enough to play the game on her terms, and to his surprise, actually works. Then you know the drill of the plot already since the trailer gave much away, with both wanting a lot more than 5 dates, and find that both are willing if they'd only decide to swallow pride and ego. It's like Hitch dishing out advice, only to find that eating his own cooking is something of a different story altogether.

I have to admit that both Vardalos and Corbett make quite the cute couple together sharing some excellent screen chemistry that you'll find yourself rooting for them to stay together and get to their senses to continue beyond 5 dates. And that's also because the film somehow lost its sparkle when things go awry, and the two find themselves lost at what to do next, which led to the narrative being dragged out in its final third toward an expected, inevitable finale. Some may also find it hard to accept how artificial Genevieve looks with her all-smiles all the time, though I felt that Vardalos may have made this deliberate because it's a smile that's only skin deep to hide the hurt inside that she's feeling, in being afraid to forgive her estranged father (when her mom already did), as well as the fear of commitment in case of a heartbreak.

But as the adage goes, you can't make an omelette without breaking some eggs. In the real world I'm still figuring out a number of issues which get broached in the film as well, in particular the inexplicable games we find ourselves playing without an end in sight, getting caught up in the never ending waiting game. If there's an answer here, it'll have to be to swallow that pride and to do something stupid, which looking back I had attempted before, so much so that it's almost like a tragic comedy if I were to reenact it.

There's an ensemble cast of caricatures here to fulfill their sole functions, which will be telling in the last scene. They never upstage the two main leads and remain perfectly at the background serving as dialogue partners, or to provide plenty of comic relief, with humour coming out of nowhere, sometimes hitting the mark, and others you'll scratch your head at when nobody else laughs along with you. In any case don't let the title fool you into believing that this film is anti-Valentine's, as it is as much a romantic comedy as the other jazzed up Hollywood ensemble film coming out next week to celebrate the day that is a bane to all the boyfriends out there.

Feel The Pain!

It's Mortal Kombat meets Battle Royale meets The Condemned, and just about any other film that has its premise put together a bunch of strangers who have to kill one another, or die. Fueled by high net worth individuals who have too much time on their hands and lusting after a blood sport spectacle, they pool their money together in a huge gamble, while paying off ten million dollars to the victor amongst assassins who enter The Tournament, a death match Royal Rumble of a competition where it's all man (or woman) for themselves, each assigned a random weapon to take to the streets of a chosen city of battle.

The Tournament tried hard to make its premise plausible, insinuating that all the terror attacks, disasters and massacres in the real world are nothing but a cover up for this clandestine game to happen. To add spice to this edition's event, the Powers (that be, played by Liam Cunningham) introduces a countdown death clock of 24 hours where a winner must emerge, or face death when their tracking implant explodes with maximum damage, which of course sounds very Battle Royale. Competitors are assigned random weapons, and the streets of Middlesborough in the UK provides adequate CCTV camera coverage to be tapped into and beamed to a board room of whales to observe what they're here for – high stakes in a high risk game.

So we have 30 elite assassins from around the world gathering in a city to take each other out, assisted by a GPS locater that points out foe from innocent bystanders. However, we don't see all 30 characters, and most of the time they are faceless assassins who provide that headcount number for the likes of Ving Rhames, Kelly Hu, Ian Somerhalder, Sebastien Foucan to finish off. Then there's Robert Carlyle's priest Father Joseph MacAvoy, who got unwittingly caught in the crossfire and thought to be a competitor, only for Hu's hitwoman with a heart of gold Lai Lai Zhen to save his skin time and again and keep him safe from harm.

The draw of a film like this is the violence, which is unadulterated with enough gore to please those who like their on screen violence dished out without flinching (thanks too to a higher rating), and full of blood with exploding body parts strewn everywhere. I have to agree though that all the fights are incredibly well filmed and choreographed, from close quarter kung-fu and fisticuffs, to parkour, and noisy shootouts and obligatory car chases. Having its characters hail from different parts of the world allowed for some variation when the gladiators do battle, and when down to using guns, you get a range from sniper rifles, pistols and shotguns. It is this variety in the battle scenes that keep things relatively fresh over the course of 90 minutes.

Attempts at providing character motivation, development and depth couldn't be expected from an all out action film like this one, so attempts to have Father MacAvoy's involvement in reasoning things out often fall flat very quickly. Plot development and twists can be seen from five miles out, which does its minimum to allow its fight sequences to be strung together. This has B written all over it and doesn't try anything to disown that fact. Loopholes are abound, but heck, if you don't buy into its premise, then you shouldn't be watching this in the first place, right? For action fans though, you will be in for quite a treat.

Relac, Brudder!

While we await some commercial Singapore film offerings from established filmmakers like Jack Neo and Kelvin Tong to hit our screens early this year, here comes along a documentary gem which is made by a Singapore-based filmmaker. I've a personal affinity for documentaries because they offer that keen insight and perspective through the filmmaker's lens on their pet subject and in Singapore, we're witnessing a growing number of quality documentarians who are operating from within the country, or based overseas, tackling topical subjects about our country or subjects of a more global nature.

Think Tan Pin Pin, James Leong and Lynn Lee, Tan Siok Siok and Pek Siok Lian, Singapore filmmakers tackling documentaries from both within the country and abroad, with current projects ranging from Twitter to African cyclists attempting to conquer the cycling circuit. Then there's Amit Virmani, a filmmaker who has set up his base in Singapore (amongst others such as The Insomniac’s Madhav Mathur), and had recently completed a documentary film about the beach boys of Bali. Personally, I interesting now to see how our population, with its influx of foreign talent, would unearth additional filmmakers who would find it both interesting and worthwhile to pursue film from within our shores, adding to the mix of tales told from an expectedly different perspective about topics from within, or abroad.

Making its Asian Premiere overseas at the DMZ Korean International Documentary Festival, and was in the running for 3 awards at last year's Asian Festival of First Films, Virmani's Cowboys in Paradise may seem on the surface as a film about the sex tourism industry in Bali. Mention sex industry and your imagination would probably run wild with images of dirty old men running lustily after or exploiting nubile women, but this film by Virmani examines the reverse, that of women seeking out the companionship of local Balinese men, given the latter’s charismatic appeal, in the sandy beaches of the idyllic Kuta beach, where it’s sun, sand, surf and party, some quarters being ever ready to frown upon the decadent, immoral lifestyle.

It's not hard too understand why the Kuta Cowboys, as they're known, are so well liked and popular. First of all, they're always all smiles, with physically buffed and bronzed bodies thanks to days spent under the sun surfing the waves, half naked except for gravity defying bermudas, hilariously mentioned in the film, protecting their modesty. They speak a smattering of languages in genuine attempts to engage in conversation, are funny, fun loving, and sweet with their tongue too in more ways than one.

Sure there may be similar happenings in other parts of the world, but as a documentarian, Virmani has demonstrated that despite being a first time feature filmmaker (since he has not done anything more than 10 minutes long before), he’s got that knack for both visuals to engage, and depth in examining a lot more beneath what’s brewing at the surface. It’s not about the sex or the gigolo-type (and this is contentious and made perfectly clear in the film) of service these guys may seem to offer, but slowly but surely, it’s about mindsets of different cultures and attitudes that seem yet all the same from folks around the world, as we learn through the course of the film, engaged by animated personalities on both sides of the fence, from expert opinions to personal first hand experiences, especially those who had found courage to justify their obsession, and passion.

It’s not about money or love, though that’s a start of what I thought was always a transaction, which may seem to bring up the sad, cynical adage about men providing love for sex, and women providing sex for love, or in this case some temporary romance. Virmani’s film reserves judgement on these cowboys and their female friends, and goes behind the scenes to look at the cowboys' lifestyles and family even, to understand them a lot better, and the social and economic dynamics that these guys bring to and the effect on their community. In fact it starts off quite cheerfully in true beach-bumming relaxed fashion, where we’re introduced to the players (pardon the pun), and they candidly share their tactics, objectives and motivation, which has sprung into a cottage industry of sorts, with older players fading away, and new ones eager to take over something that doesn’t even look like a job, but pays well, is enjoyable (to them that is) with good returns if they play their cards and work on their sums on returns of investment right.

Virmani managed to capture some priceless moments with his subjects, some even involving very private accounts of reminiscence of a long gone friendship and companionship, and the downside of human emotions plagued by differing expectations. While one can always be cool about it all being without feeling, that it’s all business and laughter, we’re human after all, and there are times where the expressions of exasperation, suspicion, and fear got betrayed beneath the Colgate smiles that cannot go unnoticed or denied. Comedy also got introduced at the right places, sometimes unwittingly thanks to mannerisms and things said, and yet balanced with the barbed-wire real world dangers that we get reminded of, punctuated by Virmani coverage of a wide spectrum of issues in this documentary, with some chapters leading to shocking revelations.

It’s been a long time since I last set foot on Bali (some twenty years perhaps), and if I do anytime soon, you can bet I’ll be keeping my eyes peeled for these guys, and probably observing them from afar to see just how they operate with my own eyes, and ponder about the issues as brought out in this documentary. Heck I may even seek some lessons from them, surfing lessons that is! A commercial screening may be in the works soon, so do keep a lookout for it!


Related Links
Official Website (with embedded trailer)
Facebook Page
YouTube Channel for Trailer and Clips

Y'all Better Pay Rent!

You know there's magic in the air when Shaw and TVB come together to create comical mayhem to usher in the Lunar New Year through cinema, and the opening shot would put any Hong Kong cinephile to cloud nine with its extremely nostalgic take on one of Hong Kong's most successful comedy film, House of 72 Tenants, from which this updated version took its titular moniker from.

It's quite the rarity these days to see the Shaw Bros logo in full screen glory, and then unveiling before your very eyes the look and feel of the 70s film it pays homage to, right down to familiar characters such as the Shanghainese lady now played by the late Lydia Sum's daughter. Then there's the deliberate colour strains that gave a throwback to an era of film now gone, coupled with some really gorgeous sets and costumes now adorned on contemporary TVB stars such as Lum Ka Tung and Charmaine Sheh who plays the mean landlady out to exploit her tenants through unscrupulous rising rentals.

This fantastic opening piece sets the stage from which the film fast forwards its narrative, and best kept under wraps as its plot development in the last act, and finale ties everything up rather nicely in an non fussy manner. Simply put, its core revolves around the trio of good friends Pinky (Fala Chen, then Anita Yuen as the older version of the same character), Ha Kung (Justin Lo, then Eric Tsang who also co-directed) and Shek Kin (Raymond Lam, then Jacky Cheung), the latter who loses in a bet, thereby paving the way for the other two to get married.

Fast forward some 30 years, and the rivals now are battling each other on the economic front, with each of their mobile phone shops opened opposite of the other's, and war is on the streets of Mongkok to get customers to buy through a slew of comical marketing gimmicks. The feud also extends to the next generation, who inevitably finds it difficult not to fall in love, paving the way for some Romeo and Juliet complications with the objections of their fathers.

Comedy wise, expect laughter to rip from the appearance of the multitude of characters who make up the titular 72 characters, most of whom are now shopkeepers in the Mongkok district against land property developers who are raising rent by three times to force them out from the area. Then there are the mo-lei-tau (nonsensical) jokes, coupled with song and dance, word play, spoofs of popular films (Ip Man takes the cake here since two movies this season has that iconic battle scene made fun of), and a number of self-deprecating jokes which broke the 4th wall.

Topical issues also get incorporated into the narrative, such as the unsolved acid throwing incidents in Mongkok (which got weaved quite nicely into the story), and what I thought was a boot-licking attempt at the Chinese authorities in painting an obvious Chinese businessman in extremely good light as saviour of sorts to the tenants. But the icing on the cake, turned out to be the casting of Eric Tsang himself, Jacky Cheung and Anita Yuen in leading roles, all three of whom had been sorely missed on the big screen save for Tsang's occasional cameos in other recent films. They still show they got what it takes to lead a group of relative newbies in an ensemble film of such scale.

My only gripe about the film, again is how the Mandarin dubbing had fallen way short of the cheeky jokes, and can never take the place of the rich language that is Cantonese. With Hong Kong comedies, there's always a certain significant degree of word play and puns that get lost in translation, made worse by English subtitles which just couldn't keep up (look out for that atrocious street-interviews scene). I think readers will know I'm a proponent for the original language track to be used in whatever movies, and this is one more example of how a comedy can have its jokes torpedoed on its own face from a language constraint over here.

No doubt some Cantonese was allowed to slip through, and for one of the tongue in cheek songs too, but one can imagine the genuine rip-roaring fun that everyone in the audience can enjoy, as demonstrated by the very keen response each time the characters sing or engage in repertoire in their native tongue. Sigh.

Nonetheless this is still an enjoyable film to usher in the Lunar New Year, and probably one great for the family too, with its tremendous star power fit for just plonking oneself on a seat and counting the number of cameo appearances both young and old that come on screen.

No Paint in Bullets

I'm still waiting for the day that I'll break my duck and participate in a paintball game, especially if going back for in-camp training every year isn't enough that I'll want to wield a rifle with paint ammunition, and go around fragging peers or strangers in the opposite team. Best played with a big group of friends (or against people you dislike), this sport is picking up momentum, and specialized shops selling paintball gear have been sprouting up, giving indication of its popularity.

If only the cost of the game would go down, or if the terrain could be a little more challenging, like this one in the film Paintball, set in a fictional Redball Woods, touted as Europe's largest renegade paintball field, which would give infantry junkies a run for their money in terrain topology, with plenty of space for section movement and the application of section movement in order to organize and take out the enemy. But that's a dream playground, and as its advertisement touts, you have the power to choose whether to live or die.

The horror here, besides the fact that it's a film that failed to exploit its potential and chances, is of course for someone to have a weird sense of humour, and decided to substitute their paint ammunition, for real rounds meant to kill. Imagine the odds when all you have is a weapon firing paint, and the other party having a weapon meant to kill. Then there's this mysterious, savage player who doesn't seem to play for either side, from whom we adopt the POV from, and behind his thermal mask we see the bloody atrocities that he gets himself into when dispatching innocent players.

The story is pretty much standard, introducing us to the group of strangers who have signed up to participate in the game, and have to work together with great difficulty when they know that they're in for deep, deep trouble. It's like an amalgamation of Battle Royale and Hostel, where rich dudes sign up for something, only to find the tables turned and it's a fight for survival, with every man for himself. Their mission is to go from checkpoint to checkpoint and pick up stuff that they could use, such as bullet proof vests and a real machete, together with constant bickering as to who gets to use what.

You can't help but to apply horror film sensibilities in wondering which caricature gets to be killed how, and in what order. In fact, with their lack of unison, this is something of a given, and with characters who don't appeal, you'll just switch off automatically. The other drawback is of course the story by Mario Schoendorff being really lacklustre, with director Daniel Benmayor not being able to bring out any sense of tension or thrills, having everyting played out in a rather flat manner, despite the slight revelation toward the end which was a little to late to make any impact, coming across more like a sick joke played by Redball Woods.

The only redeeming grace that stood out from the bad acting, caricatures and weak story, is the occasional flashes of brilliance in its initial long tracking shot of pandemonium. And that had given the film a lot of promise, only to be let down right after. I was impressed by how much was going on with people running, firing, taking cover, paint ammunition flying, with the entire mayhem played out for a constantly moving camera without breaking into a cut. I had expected more, but as the body count rose, the brilliance unfortunately diminished. The money shot was at the front, and was just about the best thing in the entire film.

And the final nail that sealed the coffin shut, was the inexplicable final scene. I have no idea what gives, and it could have ended one scene before, though conventional but at least it provides the film a proper closure rather than the hokey open ended finish that just made it look plain silly. I suppose with more experience under their belts, the filmmakers would know how to bring out the best of a story, and know when to pull the plug when things go awry, rather than to prolong the misery. Strictly for paintball fans, but even then you'd rather prefer to be playing the game, than to watch a horrible horror film about it.

I Think I'm Falling

Written and directed by Lance Daly, Kisses is one of those little enjoyable gems that had its main leads breathe life to a fairly simple plot of a road movie of sorts, set around Christmas in the streets of Dublin, following the adventures of two children Dylan (Shane Curry) and Kylie (Kelly O'Neill), neighbours who decide to run away from their dreadful family members, and spiteful peers with whom they cannot clique.

Told in three main acts and bookended by black and white cinematography used to highlight the bleakness of their family lives full of constant bickering, violence, and an unspeakable act which will be revealed, these two loner kids find some common ground to want to escape together to the big unknown, with nary a clue and only a wad of cash which they bust on material goods.

Like a typical road movie, the people they meet become episodic scenes in which the film got made up of, some extended, like the friendly boat man they meet early in their adventures, right down to the seedy kidnappers who take a fancy at Kylie, either for personal pleasure or for some money making scheme, and some fleeting, such as the surreal chancing of a Bob Dylan lookalike (played by Stephen Rea). It's a spectrum of the nice and the nasties, and the duo have only each other to help look out for, while trying to search for Dylan's long longs brother with whom they hope will take them in.

It's a somewhat short feature film that becomes something like a travelogue where we get to see both the glitzier side of Dublin, and the stark nakedness of its grit, from unsavoury back alleys, to sub-urban neighbourhoods as we follow the kids in their attempt to survive on their own. Being short in run time, it managed to hold your attention throughout thanks to the wonderfully charismatic performances by the child actors Shane Curry and Kelly O'Neill, especially the latter as the vulnerable yet spunky Kylie who's more street smart than the dazed Dylan, and its indeed a wonder how she can actually fall for him.

One of my personal favourite scenes would be the ending, with its surreal like moments in slow motion, and the wry smile that both of them exchange, in acknowledging their relationship is now at a different plane, coupled with that tinge of mischief that they've had quite an adventure and had a good run. While being very foul mouthed, I thought the parting shot was oh-so-sweet, that it made you want more, just like how Kisses in the film got explained as something to be given or taken, with that desire and craving to go at it all over again.

Don't be put off by the thick Irish accent, as the film comes with English subtitles so that you can follow the humour, and adventures of two kids on the run from weariness, for that adventure of a lifetime. Recommended!

February 2010 sees the launch of Singapore's first charity campaign to collect and save our local film memories, the 'Save Our Film' campaign is initiated by a group of final year NTU WKW SCI students working together with the Asian Film Archive. Through a series of guerilla publicity tactics such as movie posters and DVDs in cinemas and shops islandwide, as well as public video projection that spread our message that local films are our memories, the campaign hopes to motivate Singaporeans into saving our films and film experiences to promote greater cultural growth.

Singaporeans can support the 'Save Our Film' campaign by participating in the pioneer Call for Memories. Supporters can record a video of themselves or their loved ones and friends as they share their favourite local film memories and experiences. They can upload this video onto the AFA Youtube channel and their video stands a chance of being shortlisted for a screening of the best video clips at our closing event - a public conversation engagement session as they rove down Orchard Road with a television screening.

The series of campaign events in detail are:

1. 'Save Our Film' posters have been put up at Shaw, Filmgarde and Cathay cineplexes, the Substation and Sinema Old School until the end of February when the campaign ends. Also, 'Save Our Film' DVDs have been placed on the shelves of HMV, select Popular CD-Rama and Gramophone outlets and Sinema Old School. These posters and DVDs promote five early Singapore film titles, with the twist that these films are lost. The public can share information they have on these and other missing films on the campaign website's Singapore Lost Films Wiki.

2. From 6 to 27 February, flash mob style 10-minute video projections will be screened at mystery locations every Saturday. The video features interviews with prominent community members who share their best film memories. Each week's screening location will be announced beforehand on their website (soon), the Official Online Media Youth.SG website and other media channels.

3. Singaporeans are invited to share their film memories in the first-ever public Call for Memories. This can be done by recording a video of themselves or others sharing their memorable local film experiences and uploading the video on the AFA Youtube channel. This Call is open for the length of the campaign from 1st to 28th February 2010. The first ten best uploaded video clips stand a chance to win a free DVD of Singapore Shorts Vol. 2 as well. More details on the Call for Memories can be found on website soon.

4. The closing event of the ‘Save Our Film’ campaign will screen the best video clips from the Call for Memories on a roving television travelling down the length of Orchard Road and ending at The Cathay. At the same time, we will take this opportunity to engage the public in conversation with us to share the joys of watching local films.

More information on the 'Save Our Film' campaign and events will be released at its Official Website at http://www.asianfilmarchive.org/5th in February 2010.

Details on what you can do to get involved can be found on the Campaign's Facebook page!

Who Am I?

If you're well aware of Terry Gilliam's movies, then you'd know what to expect from his own Imaginarium of stories that get translated to film, stopping short of saying that they're fairy tale fantasies for adults. No doubt the main draw of the film would be that it's Heath Ledger's last working film before he passed away, and with a clever rewrite of portions coupled with Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell all stepping up to the plate to take over (and bring along their own legion of fans), I'd dare say this film had benefited from its own near death of being shut down, and probably exposed writer-director Gilliam to a wider audience.

As the story goes, Dr Parnassus runs a sort of circus troupe with his daughter Valentina (Lily Cole), and together with Anton (Andrew Garfield) and Percy (Verne Troyer aka Mini-Me), their selling act is the Imaginarium which is a portal that will allow those who enter it, a glimpse into and to live out their dream life, for a short while at least, before emerging with that orgasmic satisfaction. That's the plan at least, because they only attract the wrong crowd of troublemakers and have difficulty in making ends meet. Not to mention of course having the devil Mr Nick (Tom Waits) always around the corner waiting for Lily's 16th birthday to whisk her away, as the prize to an agreement with Parnassus.

A new wager got bet between the devil and Parnassus, and as if told through Fate, Parnassuss and his team would rescue a man found hanging from a bridge (Ledger), who would turn out to be their saviour as he joins their troupe while trying to figure out his own identity, and things start to look up for them all as the new teammate seems to relish in working the crowd and yielding an audience for their act.

In some ways I can't help but to chuckle at the character of Tony, being the shady hero here with the coming up of a scheme to help Dr Parnassus, drawing on his own personal background as a charity fund raiser. This of course ties in very well to the local context, where there has been a fair number of smooze scammers or wayward individuals who had started off with good intentions ony to find themselves faltering, and in many ways Tony reminds us of them. His plan to help Parnassus involved the jazzing up of their troupe, the telling of white lies, and then selling them through charisma and sideshow acts in order to draw in the funds, and souls of course as the ultimate objective to prevent the devil from exacting the agreement.

Despite having three other actors covering for him, there is still a lot of Ledger in the film, having each of the others helm just but a segment of the Imaginarium sequence when the character Tony steps through the magic mirror. Which of course worked wonders since each segment touches on a different aspect and facet of the character, with only good looks being the constant here. I couldn't have imagined how Ledger would have carried the role in its entirety, though it does give good reason that this was something of a perfect follow up to his Joker role, something which was balanced between comedy, drama, and the high jinks.

Those who like their fantasy films full of colour, and fantasy drawn from pure imagination, would find them bountiful in this movie. Terry Gilliam scores a fantastic winner here, and despite not thoroughly liking his earlier films, I found this one thoroughly enjoyable, and am looking forward to future tales that come from his imaginary worlds.

Are You?

Based upon the 1990 Italian film Stanno Tutti Bene, Kirk Jones' Everybody's Fine follows up the very fine contemporary films that had gone past which dealt with the aged and their families, such as Last Chance Harvey starring Dustin Hoffman, and Away from Her starring Gordon Pinsent. Everybody's Fine would work fine as a Thanksgiving or Christmas movie given its theme on the family, but I suppose having a release right about now would be apt as well given the upcoming festive period of the Lunar New Year which has the reunion dinner component, to take stock once again of the ties that bind.

There are many aspects to this film that I enjoyed, first and foremost that this is a road movie. I've somehow an affinity toward road movies, in accompanying the character in his journey spanning a finite distant in whatever quest that he embarks on, on whichever decision that he'll make, and the many random encounters with people, some good and bad, which at the end of it all will shape his outlook for the better or worse. While it didn't deliberately pause and turn into a scenic, touristy ride, which I am thankful for and in the hands of lesser directors it will almost be a pimping of the locations, it did enough to flavour the cities that our protagonist journeys to, from New York to Chicago to Denver and all the way West toward Las Vegas.

I wonder how many of us out there have dads like Frank, played by Robert De Niro. As the film develops I'm pretty sure his father role falls into the mould of how dads are generally perceived, hence his decision to want to reconnect back directly with his children, who Nature has determined that they connect to him through a proxy, and now that his wife has recently passed away. With dads, they set the expectations that we try to live up to, and the story journeys with Frank to see whether his surprise visit to each of his children, would tally up with what he should or already know. The main worry is of course that the siblings aren't that connected to one another given their individual successful lives, which he will learn about the secrets and the bad things properly shielded from him as well.

To some, there will be scenes and techniques here that may seem a little bit contrived, but which I felt rammed home their intended point. For instance, there's always this point of view when Frank meets his children that they'll always remain as his children, not the adults that they already are. It emphasizes how we always remain a child in our parent's eye, no matter how old we become. Then there's the rather amusing scenes where Frank turns photographer with his film camera, and how people nowadays then to be a little less forgiving and irritated each time someone decides to take a picture in an inevitably crowded location, rather than to be gracious about it and allow the photographer to quickly do his own thing. For the curious, there's the end credits where the photo stills got put up, which I thought was a nice touch.

At its core the film is about basic communications, where the advent of technology allows us to stay connected, yet apart as well because its pervasiveness and ease of use somehow dumbs down the value of that extra bit of an emotional connection, and as you would have experienced yourself, nothing ever beats face to face meetings, because it's not only about hearing the other party's voice, or seeing them through a computerized web camera, but always about the non-verbal channels the entire communication suite brings about when you talk to someone in their presence.

Then there's the top notch casting. We're familiar with how Robert De Niro had gone from wicked gangsters to slapstick comedy without a hitch, and now to add family drama to that list of genres as well. It's practically a one man tour de force as we follow his Frank's journey from start to end, holding up the film together thanks to his wonderful pitch perfect performance. But that's not to discount his co-stars as well, since we have three familiar names playing his children, with the likes of Drew Barrymore, Kate Beckinsale and of course, Sam Rockwell, whom we appreciate what he can do given films like Moon. While they all don't always share the same scene together since Frank's on a road trip to visit all his children, each of them bring something special to the table and portray their characters with sensitivity, each with something to hide to avoid disappointing Dad, who through paternal perception would be able to figure things out as well. You can feel general emotions all around as each child slowly reconnects with their dad, while hiding from him an important fact which they all share.

Everybody's Fine is a fine movie indeed, with heartfelt performances, an excellent story filled with superb family drama that you can almost always identify with. It's incredibly moving to the point that you'll be emotionless if you didn't shed a tear in its last act, and yet doesn't go overboard with its melodrama, balancing it perfectly with its themes, and making you reflect upon your own relationships with family, especially with dad. Highly recommended, and also another noteworthy, early addition to the shortlist of the best presented here this year.

Deal or No Deal?

The trailer goes nowhere near and only scratches the surface of the film and rightly so too, not because it has that obligation to keep its real narrative under wraps, but because what actually transpires, will provoke entirely different lines of questioning, some of which are frustratingly not answered in the film, leaving you to your own devices to interpret the series of events. Which of course means plenty of material for an after-show discussion.

Metaphorically, the box refers to how us humans tend to subconsciously hole ourselves into situations or things in everyday life, and how our enclosed thoughts tend to see things from a certain perspective, seldom out of the box. There's a speech made near the end by one of the characters that will leave you pondering over this fact, which governs the basis of the entire film, and even threading on existentialism, where our bodies are mere vessels for the soul, and from cradle to the grave we put ourselves in more boxes in a way of life fashion.

What I disliked about the film, is how it tried to sound intelligent through the frequent name dropping of covert government agencies like the CIA and NSA, as though there's something overtly clandestine about these agencies that we should be aware of. They serve little purpose other than to put every action and every person under scrutiny, that nobody can be trusted, wrecking havoc in a sense to both the characters and the audience as we try to keep up with trust issues to aid in the interpretation of the narrative. Having it set in 1976, against a NASA backdrop of manned space missions, and in Richmond, Virginia, also provided that heightened sense of wary that will sap your energies as you sit through it patiently.

Based upon the short story Button, Button written by Richard Matheson and made into an episode of the Twilight Zone, the story follows the Lewis family, where husband Arthur (James Marsden) works at NASA and develops a prosthetic foot for his teacher wife Norma (Cameron Diaz), and you'd think it's all happy family with their son Walter (Sam Oz Stone), until one day a mysterious man called Arlington Steward (Frank Langella in a Two-Face inspired facial effect) whom we are preempted of in the opening, comes knocking and giving them a Deal or No Deal button in a box. Plunge the button and they'll get a million bucks (we're talking in dollar terms of the 70s here) although a stranger out there will die. If they don't, well the deal's got an expiry date.

The story would dictate a deal be made, which of course sparks off a mysterious sequence of events that unfold, with even more shady characters (who nosebleed) appearing, some whom are inexplicably zombie like, apparently all under the influence, or employment, or Arlington Steward. Whether or not Steward is Death, a clandestine government employee, a messenger from God or a representative of Aliens after an anal probe, remains unanswered, so whichever way you look at it, it's as if he's delivering something expected, just begging that mankind will shake off its innate greed so that his work can be cut short and to return to wherever he came from.

If you need a little distraction from the disparate scenes which make up the narrative, the production sets and art direction are gorgeous in recreating the 70s look, as you try to figure out the mystery of the consequences that stem from a result of not fully understanding the fine print. It's full circle this examination of human nature, of our greed for immediate gratification, manifesting its result in longer term pain, confusion and further choices that we'll make based on real sacrifices. Nifty special effects come into play as well, though it just leaves more room open as to the genre of the film.

So is it horror, science fiction, or a mystery thriller? It's everything rolled into one actually, together with a sprinkling of the philosophical. Just don't go expecting a straight narrative film with clean and easy answers at the end – this is like an X-Files episode on steroids.

Media Power

The media is also known as the fourth estate in certain democracies, where politicians and their policies go through intense scrutiny by those wielding the pen or the camera, going behind the scenes to dig, probe and investigate, to expose misdemeanors and wrongdoings, to act as the non partisan check and balance. Of course it can also be manipulated to the advantage of certain quarters, and just where our own lies, well we all should already know.

Politicians, industrialists, and media moguls all make strange bedfellows. Each have their own interests to pursue which may run contrary to the other, so when all of them come together, you can bet your last dollar just what is being planned, and who the outcome would benefit. For the politician, the mass media remains one of the best ways to pimp their popularity, with a non flattering expose always threatening the outcome of their attempts to get into office. For the industrialists, favours to corrupt politicians would mean corners expected to be cut to pursue their profit making objective. And to a non-independent media, whoever's in control would be painting somebody or something in better light than they are.

Ram Gopal Sharma's Rann examines the corruption of the media and how it can be manipulated or seduced by either party into compromising or even forgoing their ethical obligations, in the name of favours, and money. And in some respect, the issues presented here aren't far fetched, and from incidents time and again, we see how the media can be used to gain an unfair upper hand, and the power that it wields to bring down positions of power when investigative journalism gets into gear. And of course, having the evergreen Amitabh Bachchan star in a leading role as Vijay Harshvardhan Malik, an ethical, no-nonsense media mogul who runs his own news channel called India 24/7, is one of the major draws of Rann.

As the moral compass of the country, Vijay's editorial news programme sets the agenda, but unfortunately in the face of stiff channel competition and falling ratings, his son Jai (Sudeep) wants to take the channel into a new level through the injection of external funds. Cautious that the source of such funds would mean an erosion of ethics that his channel is renowned for, Vijay decides to allow Jai to proceed with his plans, but little does anyone know that under their noses, India 24/7's COO Nanlini (Suchitra Krishnamoorthi) is a mole in their corporation, feeding chief rivals H24, run by Amrish Kakkar (Mohnish Bahl) all the information on India 24/7's strategy, thereby letting the competition always stay a step ahead.

The story by Rohit G. Banawlikar is fantastically multi-layered, with ample development given to the this industrial espionage, and how it draws Jai to the dark side of shady deal-making, which ultimately culminates in the assistance of his industrialist brother-in-law Naveen (Rajat Kapoor), and his friend, the dubious politician Mohan Pandey (Paresh Rawal), with the ambition of taking over the prime ministership of the country, through a carefully crafted scheme which draws upon threats, murder, terrorism as well as a fake undercover expose recording, delivered unknowingly and none other than Vijay himself.

It is also the story of a greenhorn investigative journalist Purab (Ritesh Deshmukh), who idolizes Vijay and his pursuit of journalism excellence, and whose honor and ethics Purab wants to emulate, so much so that he decides to join India 24/7. A part of the story has Purab caught in the entire web of deceit, and the moral dilemma he faces with acknowledging the probable stain in his boss's reputation and career, an act of betrayal, the realization that his inexperience had caused a lot more damage than it should, before deciding to gamble it all in doing the right thing. There are ups and downs as we follow Purab in his journey, making him one of the more well developed characters in the film that we both root for, and be exasperated with.

It's not all doom and gloom though, with well timed comic relief introduced (without going overboard) through Anand Prakash Trivedi (Rajpal Yadav), a presenter who just tries too hard, with an interview scene being one of the funniest delivered in the film. But the more memorable scene here has to be the stinging monologue that Amitabh Bachchan delivers with gravitas, a rebuke on the role of the media, and how it is so easy for those in powerful positions to collude for self interests and money, that everything, including the progress of a nation, can be sacrificed. There's no big bang finale action, but a talkie finale which hammers it in with heartfelt emotion, one that I wish our own powers that be could have a chance to listen in, and perhaps remind themselves of their back to basics responsibilities.

The film quietly builds itself into a fire-cracker finale, having to witness how deep the rabbit hole goes, and just when you thought it had hit rock bottom, more events unfold to dig us further into the consequences of the conspiracy which not only impacts the individuals on a personal level, but you shudder at the thought of how the impact would be on a national scale. When it it bottoms out into an inevitable conclusion, on one hand you'd expect difficult sacrifices and decisions to be made as a resolution to the problem posed, while on the other feel sorry for those innocent caught up in the crossfire, and shrewd as RGV is, there's room for a sequel to be made as well.

Should there be any gripe, those who cannot stand shaky camera movement will find it disturbing to view the film through a camera lens not mounted on a tripod, which in a way provided a sense of a documentary feel to the entire proceedings with its fair share of twists and turns. Female characters too are tokens in the film, mostly relegated to wives and girlfriends who repeatedly looked quite sorry at being bewildered at their man's problems. There was a little bit of a brushing of a couple's differences in religious backgrounds (something sensitive with the older female generation perhaps?) that despite it being mentioned and played out briefly, didn't serve up any depth in the issue, probably side-skirted and being an abandoned sub plot.

If anyone would think that Bollywood makes Masala type films only, then obviously their horizons need to be broadened. Rann is an excellent political thriller that's kept tight and pacey from the get go, coupled with a charismatic cast whose delivery will keep you at the edge of your seat as the narrative unfolds. Definitely recommended stuff, and it goes into my books as an early contender for the top films of this year.

Remember Me?

I have a confession to make – I have never seen a Universal Soldier film, not in its entirety anyway, nor even the original way back in 1992 when it starred Jean Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren as these programmed super soldiers who are impervious to pain, and a small troupe can take out battalions of a conventional army. For those like me who are not well versed in the mythos, fret not as this film's subtitle – a new beginning – made it a point to do a quick recap of the secret super soldier programme to bring us all up to speed to where the film now takes place.

There were some in the audience who found it rather startling that the film opened in abrupt manner, chiefly because this is meant for the straight to video market overseas. So the distributor's logo doesn't kick in to pre-empt you that this is not a trailer, but the start of the film proper. And boy does it start with a bang, with an ambitious, noisy car chase cum massacre where a small group of freedom fighters kidnap the children of the Russian Prime Minister, and demands the release of their countrymen in lockup, in which failure meant the killing of the kidnapped children, plus the detonation of another reactor in Chernobyl where they are dug in, which has enough radioactive material to cause another fallout.

This of course mobilizes a NATO-Russian alliance of sorts to fight back with 2 mission objectives under 72 hours, with the only snag in the mission being the use of an NGU (Next Generation Uni-Sol) by the opposition, played to mean perfection by Andrei Arlovski as the ultimate killing machine who feels no pain and dishes out his fair share of punishment to maim and kill without remorse. The response of course is for the coalition to send in their own Uni-Sols, which are painfully outdated and obsolete when faced with the NGJ, so all hopes rest on one man, Jean Claude Van Damme, erm, his Luc Deveraux that is.

Director John Hyams keeps it tight and relevant here by creating a film that doesn't try too much fanciful stuff. It's good ol' military and B-action all the way, which at times resembled a violent video game especially in JCVD's first mission outing when unleashed into enemy territory, adopting a third person, behind the character view as he charges and cuts through enemy ranks. Then there's some nifty camera-work as well, the highlight being a continuous take where it's a Counter-strike game-type with JCVD going from primary rifle, to secondary firearm, to default knife, and the fists as he rips through scores of faceless soldiers. I thought that was one of the best action sequences in the film, since the much touted plummeting with Dolph Lundgren, who also returned for this film, was nothing not already seen before, save for the expectation of a rematch here.

For action junkies, there is a bit of a nostalgia in seeing how our old school action heroes still have it in them to carry a movie and give the new wannabes a run for their money. Visibly aged, this film follows the trend of late with our 80s action icons coming out and banding together for one last hurrah. While this may be for the video market in the US, it certainly didn't scrimp on its limited production values to turn in something professional looking, with some impressive gory action compensating for a standard, average plot with room to grow the franchise further. Now bring on The Expendables, and boy, will we action fans just rejoice with that reunion!

I Promise You The Moon

My Ex serves as a cautionary tale to us guys out there to be careful when making promises to the opposite gender. If they turn out to be some psycho, you'll get your Fatal Attraction. If they harbour their vengeance into the afterlife, then well, they'll haunt you wherever you go, making your life extremely miserable, exacting their jealousy onto whoever your main squeeze currently is. This serves as the basic premise of what was Thailand's largest box office response to their homegrown horror show, My Ex.

Ken (Chakhrit Yamnam) is a playboy of an actor who beds women with a frequency like changing his underwear. Sweet talking and then in wham-bang-thank-you-ma'am fashion, he loves and leaves them without an inkling of commitment, taking pride too in his tabloid coverage of his latest conquests. The secret to his strategy comes from his empty promise, telling his current lover that he'll leave his playboy ways, and that she'll be the only and last woman in his life. They fall for it, and in the case of Meen (Navadee Mokkhavesa), once she announces her pregnancy he's out the front door faster than you can say “Sawadeekup”.

But because we see so many of his Ex's on screen, it gives you that little bit of a guessing game as to who the central spook is, with the likes of Bow (Atthama Chiwanitchaphan) or even Ploy (Wanida Termthanaporn) to a certain extent being possibles at one point or another. The story by Piyapan Choopetch, Sommai Lertulan and Adirek Wattaleela gets a little choppy with some scenes that are disparate to the current narrative, although some aspects do get addressed as the movie wore on. What it suffered from was its ending, where it couldn't decide how to end it and hence we're presented with at least two, before the final of the final scene delivered where it mattered, otherwise we'll be left with a half-baked, unsatisfactory finale which doesn't seem to address the fact that a leopard seldom, or never changes its spots.

Director Piyapan Choopetch handled the spooky scenes with a mixed bag of techniques and in a tale of two halves, opting for the usual loud screeches and sudden audio bangs to elicit cheap shocks and scares, especially guilty of in the scenes at the front. For the later half of the film, a bit more finesse got adopted, and the scares were designed in a much better, subtle manner. Which of course meant it got spookier as we went along, all the more better for the audience. There were times when the narrative proved to be a little too draggy with repetition, and worse the constant “waking up” that plagued the initial scenes, which thankfully were gotten rid off.

There are horror shows that put something new on the table, and there are horror shows that take what's already available and assemble something from the tried and tested formula. The Ex follows the latter, with the basic building block structure of a typical horror film firmly in place, utilizing a series of flashbacks as it builds toward the crescendo to provide that logical or emotional angle why and how someone would go off the bend, and unleash horrific rampage upon the victims we see.

If there's a comment to draw out from the film, it'll be something which I think you'll notice too of contemporary films from any geography. A car crash can no longer be a car crash if the audience does not see a full, head on accident with plenty of noisy bone-crunching, metal against flesh and bone audio and visual effects. That said, watch this if you're starved for any horror flicks good or bad – this one straddles somewhere in the middle. Good fun, but nothing classic about it.

Talk to the Handgun

Edge of Darkness heralds the return of Mel Gibson back to the front of the camera, and it's been 8 years since he last left a starring role for the director's chair, having to make films like Passion of the Christ, and Apocalypto. I would have hoped he might have taught Martin Campbell a thing or two about how to deliver a film that can hold an audience's interest, because Edge of Darkness is just so boring, that you'll find tracing the lines on Mel's face a lot more interesting than to tune in to a bunch of characters that you couldn't care less about.

Mel Gibson stars as Thomas Craven, a lowly Boston detective whose daughter Emma (Bojana Novakovic) comes to visit during her break from work. In the span of 5 minutes we learn that she's pretty, extremely smart, and as a nuclear scientist / research assistant who seemed to be poison in spy versus spy fashion, Thomas commits a Gerard Butler's Clyde Shelton in Law Abiding Citizen, where opening the front door nowadays means death. Daddy's little girl got dispatched in brutal fashion, and this makes daddy piss. Except that Thomas spends most of the time walking wounded emotionally and hallucinating, trying to piece together disparate clues in order to find the bastards responsible for his daughter's demise.

Also based on a British television series, this is no State of Play, which also got itself transplanted across the Atlantic into a big budgeted Hollywood film, where one would expect thrills, spills and plenty of twists and turns. Unfortunately, Edge of Darkness is not that kind of film, as the narrative is pretty flat with everyone behaving suspiciously or afraid of the shadowy powers that be, as represented by Ray Winstone's Jedburgh, a Michael Clayton type consultant who advises his clients just how to get out of the mess they're in, involving nuclear weapons, terrorism, treason, profits, and corrupt government officials, corporate bigwigs and activists.

But seriously, what it became was plenty of shadow play, of punching in the dark, of empty threats of who is in possession of a bigger dick. It came to the point of the ridiculous with everyone verbally posturing just where they should be, you-never-seen-me-here, or we-never-had-this-conversation, that it becomes the unintentional comedy. The absurdness continues when you know Campbell lacks inspiration to direct a lacklustre William Monahan and Andrew Bovell screenplay, where the bad guys all get dealt with in one fell swoop, with again, comedy stemming from stupidity. The conspiracy theory is so full of hocus pocus that will leave you wondering why a simple whistle-blower story, can be told in such an uninteresting manner, with neither a human emotional angle to reel you in, nor with any intelligence to multi-layer it.

Worse of all, it then decided to go the Taken route, which was also about a father's relentless, no nonsense search for his daughter. Here the criticality of time is removed, and Thomas just goes about doing his own thing in piecing clues together, and toed the law as compared to Liam Neeson's Bryan Mills who chose to operate outside the system. It was too little too late, and made you wonder just how this could have been summarized into a short film instead. Actors were all going through the motions with nobody showing any emotional depth that make you feel for them, and for some reason everyone adopts the Bale-Batman low baritone gruff voice when speaking to one another. And boy, do they just talk and talk a lot!

In trying to be smart, Edge of Darkness falls flat on its hype and exposed its lack of intelligence and wit. It's amazing just how anyone can make a boring film, and this one is testament that it's very possible. Like one of the characters uttered in a self-fulfilling prophecy of the film itself, with a convoluted plot come a situation where there are no facts. Well the truth is it's also a situation where there's no substance either. Watching paint dry will give you more satisfaction.

Stand Off

It's about time Donnie Yen made an impact yet again in the fantasy wuxia-pian genre, given the rather recent dismal films with Painted Skin (where he only had a supporting role), An Empress and the Warriors, and Tsui Hark's Seven Swords back in 2005. Most of us went ballistic with his more modern action roles ranging from SPL to Ip Man, and his 14 Blades character of Qing Long (Green Dragon, thanks to those mean looking tattoos adorned all over his upper torso) here looks quite set to become yet another memorable role similar to his morally ambiguous one in Bodyguards and Assassins.

Here, Yen's Qing Long is the General-in-chief bodyguard to, and assassin for a Ming Dynasty king, who had set up the Jin Yi Wei (the Mandarin title), or the Brocaded Robe Guards, a special army known for its dogmatic principles in fulfilling mission objectives, whose loyalty is to the king only, and are at his beck and call to do just about anything the king commands. That of course leaves room for evil eunuchs to manipulate, especially when they can get the king easily distracted with wine, song and plenty of nubile women.

The first few minutes of the film introduces us to the background of Qing Long and his army of bodyguards and assassins, the evil that lurks within the royal family and palace from eunuchs to an exiled prince (an extremely short cameo by Sammo Hung), and of course, the fabled 14 Blades. Unfortunately, we are told of the uniqueness and names of each blade, but never see all of them in action, coupled by the fact that they look quite generic. Only Qing Long is assigned this utility box containing the swords and lugs it everywhere ala El Mariachi's guitar case, and at his will can throw up the appropriate weapon to battle adversaries, including a set of grappling hooks!

Writer-director Daniel Lee managed to create a film consisting of a successful amalgamation of wuxia-pian elements, with iconic fight action sequences set in tea houses, desert duels, forest brawls with abandoned temples and exotic cities enhanced by CG to play host to a film complete with double crosses, a prized possession that everyone is after, and had time to sneak in unrequited romance. In some ways the film plays out like a Cowboy Western with its one man sheriff and an escort agency up against various bands of outlaws in endless desert filled land, with that theme of hope that they'll make it unscathed against changing odds, save the day and to ride off into the sunset with the damsel.

The story though gave way at the midway mark, where it clearly became nothing more than a stringing together of battles and one on one duels, which thankfully were still exciting to sit through, with none of the fast cut edits or crazy closeups that will make you cringe. With the introduction of Wu Chun as Judge, the leader of a brigade of bandits who has this cool boomerang double blade, and Kate Tsui in a role where she only grunts as loud as Maria Sharapova hitting a return volley, ample time got dedicated for one to mirror QIng Long's transformation and road to redemption, while the other, well, just serves to grunt a lot, in a get up that looks inspired by Medusa, and armed with a serpent sword-like-whip, and powers of CG stealth.

But underneath the fights, the flimsy storyline and gorgeous costumes, 14 Blades turns out to have an incredibly strong romance instead, with Vicky Zhao (her umpteenth period role straight) starring as Qiao Hua, daughter of the Justice Escort agency founder (played by veteran Wu Ma), enamoured by the manliness of the legendary leader of the Jin Yi Wei, since she grew up on fairy tales and harbouring the hopes that a fabled swordsman would one day save society from its evils. In a way her Qiao Hua exhibits the Stockholm Syndrome, being held captive against her wishes, but slowly being drawn romantically to her captive, even endangering herself (in a scene to provide comic relief) by willingly becoming his aide and pawn.

It's far from being the perfect film, especially with unbelievably incoherent flashbacks and the going overboard with explosions (of the RPG type), but Donnie Yen once again shows that when it comes to the fisticuffs, he still has a lot to offer, despite the story's potential that had it go off the blocks strongly, only to fizzle out before the end in a case of severe narrative burn-out.

A record 11 films from Singapore have been officially selected to screen at the 39th International Film Festival Rotterdam (27 Jan – 7 Feb), the mecca that showcases the most exciting filmmakers in the world. 13 Little Pictures is honoured to have co-produced 4 of them: 2 feature films, FLOODING IN THE TIME OF DROUGHT (Sherman Ong) (my review here but that was for a different cut) and MEMORIES OF A BURNING TREE (Sherman Ong. Shot in Tanzania, Africa) and 2 short films, TICKETS (Sherman Ong) and ONE DAY IN JUNE (Daniel Hui). Ho Tzu Nyen will have 2 works presented: Earth (short feature) and Newton (short). Other short films are made by acclaimed filmmaker Royston Tan, as well as up and coming filmmakers Kirsten Tan, Ng Wai Ha, Vladimir Todorovic and Wesley Leon Aroozoo.

How Sherman Ong managed to make 2 feature films and a short film in a year, the film programmer of Rotterdam, Gertjan Zuilhof, expressed his admiration on the programming notes:

"A film maker who makes friends quickly settles in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Because he can't afford to pay any actors, he teaches his new friends to act. Because he hasn't written the screenplay, he asks his new actors for stories. Because he can film, the result looks great...The secret is in his approach. Previously, Ong showed in his film HASHI (2008), shot in Japan, that he was able to improvise a feature in a strange country where he doesn't speak the language. MEMORIES OF A BURNING TREE also came about in improvisations. Ong loves the approach of dancers and theatre makers who put together a show step-by-step. Here, all the performers were amateurs. Most had no acting experience at all. Ong's answer to that is to rehearse calmly and patiently and to involve his actors in building up the story and situation."

Other participants from Singapore include Philip Cheah (Jury for Tiger Awards), Fran Borgia and James Leong (both for the Rotterdam Lab), Lim Song Hwee and Hee Wai Siam (film scholars researching on contemporary Singaporean/Malaysian filmmaking).

The Media Development Authority is supporting several Singapore filmmakers to attend the festival through the INSPIRE grant.

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LIST OF SINGAPORE TITLES IN ROTTERDAM 2010

Feature Films
FLOODING IN THE TIME OF DROUGHT by Sherman Ong
MEMORIES OF A BURNING TREE by Sherman Ong

Short Films
EARTH by Ho Tzu Nyen
LITTLE NOTE by Royston Tan
KISSING FACES by Wesley Leon Aroozoo
MAY by Ng Wai Ha
NEWTON by Ho Tzu Nyen
ONE DAY IN JUNE by Daniel Hui
SINK by Kirsten Tan
SNAIL ON THE SLOPE by Vladimir Todorovic
TICKETS by Sherman Ong

* A detailed list with synopses and links can be found here: http://13littlepictures.wordpress.com/2010/01/23/11-singapore-films-rotterdam-2010/

About 13 Little Pictures
13 Little Pictures produces and presents innovative feature films by filmmakers who love cinema. Hailed by critics as the “real New Wave” from Singapore, the collective completed 7 feature films in 2009 and is developing 7 new feature films for 2010. For more information, please visit 13littlepictures.com.

What Are We Stealing Today?

I do have a soft spot each time a movie's soundtrack comes with a Massive Attack track, and here the riffs from their song Angel is unmistakable. Unfortunately it was good music which accompanied a nicely done pivotal scene which kept you wondering, for a while at least, if a security officer, sworn to do what's right, would finally cave in to his buddies' temptation and offer to steal their cargo load of a cool US$42 million, an act which with the right, consistent cover-story and alibi, and the promise of nobody getting hurt, can solve anyone's financial problems in one fell swoop.

Directed by Nimrod Antal who directed one of my favourite films Kontroll, Armored turned out to be less fun, highly cliche, and riddled with plot loopholes. Any security professional would be able to see through the gaping loopholes, but hey, without which the story would never have made sense anyhow. If anything, the star casting is interesting given the likes of Matt Dillon, Laurence Fishburne and Jean Reno even lending their weight to a mediocre film that would otherwise be comfortable sitting on the shelves of direct to DVD movies.

You can read my review of Armored at movieXclusive.com by clicking on the logo below.