A Nutshell Review

I Love Hong Kong 2012 (2012我愛HK喜上加囍 / 2012 Ngo Ngoi HK Hei Seong Gaa Hei)

2012-01-28T13:32:00.000+08:00

Spreading the Love One of the final film offerings this year for the Lunar New Year, I Love Hong Kong 2012 blinked first and got relegated out of the lucrative holiday long weekend, and that may dent its already slim hopes of a respectible box office returns since almost everyone here knows that the comical flavour of a Hong Kong film will almost all be lost due to the Mandarin dubbing. But

Agneepath

2012-01-27T23:59:00.000+08:00

Hulking Down the Path of Fire! I guess it's not just Hollywood dipping into its rich archives for story ideas to be remade for the modern day audience. Bollywood's Dharma Productions' cult classic of a revenge thriller Agneepath, starring Amitabh Bachchan back in 1990, now gets produced by Karan Johar, son of Yash Johar who produced the original, so there's a real Generation 2 connection here in

One For The Money

2012-01-26T23:25:00.000+08:00

Classical Loggerheads The trailer would remind you of the forgettable The Bounty Hunter starring Gerard Butler and Jennifer Aniston with the former being the titular character whose target happens to be his ex-wife, having them bicker and run from various misadventures together. Reverse the roles in order to have a female bounty hunter going after an ex-boyfriend, and the stage is set for more

[DVD] Throw Down (柔道龙虎榜 / Yau Doh Lung Fu Bong) (2004)

2012-01-26T00:24:00.000+08:00

Grand Slam Mention Johnnie To, and imagery of ultra cool triad members and handsomely crafted stand offs and shoot-em-ups come to mind, in addition to stories that are allegories to the social situation in Hong Kong, with multi-faceted characters peppering the landscape. He's been around the Hong Kong industry for years, and of late has been amongst a handful of filmmakers credited for

[Short] Quinkin (2011)

2012-01-24T11:02:00.002+08:00

Secrets To catch it, you need it If you need it, you can't catch it The riddle here forms the centerpiece of writer-director Michael Wannenmacher's short film Quinkin, set in a post-apocalyptic future where two hunters, Vox (Brett Swain) and Paul (Wannenmacher himself) trek across vast, barren landscapes in search of the titular Quinkin, a shadowy creature from the Aboriginal Dreamtime. From the

[DVD] Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005)

2012-01-23T20:49:00.000+08:00

Busted Based on the book The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron by Bethany McLean and Peer Elkind, Alex Gibney's documentary charts the stratospheric rise and meteoric fall of Enron, an energy, commodities and services company based in Texas that was the darling of Wall Street in the buildup to Y2K, before tanking itself at the turn of the new millennium

The Collabfeature Group Presents: The Owner

2012-01-22T14:30:00.000+08:00

The CollabFeature project involves filmmakers from over 25 countries, collaborating over the internet to create a series of multi-director films. The first in a series of films, The Owner was filmed by 25 filmmakers on 5 continents, following the adventures of an old backpack that is passed from character to character around the world. As the journey progresses, we learn details about the

Dance Dance Dragon (龙众舞 / Long Zhong Wu)

2012-01-21T21:01:00.000+08:00

Scene Stealer It's still in the early days, but while Hong Kong has its rivalry set up during the Lunar New Year period with Raymond Wong versus Eric Tsang in pitting their All's Well Ends Well with the I Love Hong Kong series respectively, in Singapore all signs point to a similar rivalry with Jack Neo's J-Team going up against Raintree/Boku to corner the local box office this lucrative season

The Descendants

2012-01-21T20:56:00.000+08:00

Walking Together Newly minted Best Picture (Drama) at this year's Golden Globes, along with George Clooney being awarded the Best Actor (Drama) award, The Descendants is Alexander Payne's latest film since Sideways, based upon the novel by Kaui Hart Hemmings. Dealing with the central character of Matt King (Clooney) as the trustee of his extended family's trust of thousands of acres of untouched

The Viral Factor (逆戰 / Ni Zhan)

2012-01-20T23:47:00.000+08:00

Chill Bro One of Hong Kong's rising film directors, Dante Lam has gained prominence over the last few years for his lavishly produced, hard hitting cop action thrillers underlined by thick melodrama between the main characters. His latest film The Viral Factor is obvious in having Lam's signature plastered all over, that this could be Dante's spiritual interpretation of John Woo's A Better

Haywire

2012-01-19T23:48:00.000+08:00

Kapow! You have got to salute the marketing folks for giving Steven Soderbergh's Haywire such a high octane sounding synopsis that promises plenty of action given a plot that treads on the usual betrayal of an alpha-character who comes back to seek revenge against the handlers. The film isn't anything like what its synopsis had promised, being silent for the most parts and having little spoken

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island in IMAX 3D

2012-01-18T23:57:00.000+08:00

Look, You're Not Indiana Jones! Journey to the Center of the Earth was one of the earliest 3D movies in this recent revival of what would already be the very tired 3D gimmick that has been invading our theatres, especially when films take the easy way out to convert to 3D during post production just to milk a few more bucks out of a weary audience. And this weariness now extends to this sequel

All's Well Ends Well 2012 (八星抱喜 / Baat Seng Bou Hei)

2012-01-17T23:40:00.000+08:00

That's The Way We Like It If you're consistently holed up in a cinema, you'll still know it's Lunar New Year just around the corner when the lineup of releases include a Jack Neo film, an action blockbuster, and from Hong Kong, yet another film from the All's Well Ends Well series, which is into its number 7th show and extremely dedicated to its own formula of screen success. Except for the

Jack and Jill

2012-01-16T23:05:00.000+08:00

Bad Romance I am an Adam Sandler fan, meaning I laugh at his movies, and his jokes. So a double does of Sandler starring as both titular characters that required him to be in drag as one of them, would be a field day right? Unfortunately it wasn't so, as there wasn't much of a point in doing so except to earn that street cred since peers would have done something similar already, or there's no

The Great Magician (大魔術師 / Daai Mo Seut Si)

2012-01-14T23:58:00.000+08:00

Now You See Me The anniversary of the Chinese 1911 Revolution being just behind us doesn't mean that period films of that era have come to a full stop. Writer-director Derek Yee throws in his hat to conjure a thriller with magic at the forefront, following in the footsteps of films such as The Prestige, The Illusionist and Death Defying Acts, which weaved mystery, romance and in this case

We Not Naughty (孩子不坏 / Hai Zi Bu Huai)

2012-01-14T23:30:00.000+08:00

They're There You just can't put one of Singapore's most prolific film directors down. Having to lie a little bit low since his romantic affairs outside of his marriage came to light, and acting in films that curiously have him in drag, whether supporting roles like in Homecoming or cameos like in the recent Petaling Street Warriors, he's never quite far from leaving the scene especially now

The Debt

2012-01-12T23:29:00.000+08:00

Here to Collect Helen Mirren as a covert agent is nothing to scoff at since she had played the role with aplomb in Red, which makes this an all too recent revisit to a similar role, though here it's less of the comedic factor, and packing a more serious tone in its examination of truth, which in all essence is what one tells, and how others interpret, subject to compromised witnesses all

Contraband

2012-01-10T23:10:00.000+08:00

You Offend Me, You Offend My Family Mark Wahlberg can take on just about any character, and he'll still be Mark Wahlberg, alpha male action hero that Hollywood is sorely missing these days without any huge personalities yet to convincingly take over the Stallone-Schwarzeneggar-Willis axis in the 80s, that some may argue can also expand to Van Damme and Seagal in their heydays. Amongst his

[Singapore Premiere] The Poetics of Color: Natvar Bhavsar, a Painter's Journey

2012-01-09T23:24:00.001+08:00

Master at Work It always isn't easy to step out of one's comfort zone in one medium, and then dabble in the craft of another. 5 years in the making, renowned New York based art curator and gallerist Sundaram Tagore (yes, the family name will ring a bell since he's a descendent of the famous poet and Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore) has written and directed a 61 minute documentary film that is

[DVD] Vegucated (2010)

2012-01-08T18:39:00.000+08:00

Hello Mr Cow Being a Singaporean, food is something we can never get away from, with food courts and restaurants around the island serving up gastronomical favourites, some even 24x7. Every food and cultural cuisine can probably be found on our island, and frankly unless it was for religious reasons I hardly have come across anyone who would want to restrict their choice of food. As a meat lover

Will You Fund The Re-Assassination of Abraham Lincoln?

2012-01-08T16:48:00.000+08:00

A webseries project in Boston, MA by James C. Ferguson, that is. As the story of this project goes, we follow a group of citizens who are so frustrated with their choices in the upcoming United States Presidential election that they re-animate the corpse of Abraham Lincoln and run him (as a 3rd party independent candidate, if you're curious). He wins, of course, but it turns out that "honest

Courageous

2012-01-07T20:33:00.000+08:00

Top Cops My interest was piqued when I discovered this was a Christian film, where I wondered just how explicit its messages are going to be, how they were incorporated into the film, and also curious to know just how its box office may turn out to be since the distributor here is charging full price for it without any discounted terms applicable. Courageous is made by Sherwood Pictures which is

Players (प्लेयर्स)

2012-01-06T23:53:00.000+08:00

Do You Like What You See There are some Bollywood films that have gained notoriety for being unofficial remakes of recognizable Hollywood films, and a handful comes to mind, even for blockbusters like Ghajini and Krrish that had scenes lifted. But there are some in the industry who will go the legitimate way of seeking rights and having their films become official remakes, such as Farah Khan's

Petaling Street Warriors (大英雄•小男人 / Da Ying Xiong Xiao Nan Ren)

2012-01-05T23:11:00.000+08:00

I Told You to Keep It Down Malaysian films are going places these days, from prominent art house features in A-list festivals to box office blockbusters in the home market, there's no denying that the state of the industry, and its products, have been steadily improving in recent years. And with the release of Petaling Street Warriors, Malaysian Chinese films have something that impresses, even

I Spit On Your Grave

2012-01-04T23:49:00.000+08:00

Revenge Served Cold Unrated runtime: 108min MDA Advisory: 104min R21 Passed with Cuts There's missing footage, though I'm not sure if anyone in the right frame of mind would want to watch those four minutes, although I can vouch that the version without it, plays out like just another torture porn flick that makes its way to our shores in unedited form. One's propensity toward on screen

[Press Release] National Museum of Singapore - The Golden Age of Mexican Cinema‏

2012-01-04T23:20:00.002+08:00

This January, the National Museum of Singapore presents The Golden Age of Mexican Cinema, a programme of the National Museum Cinémathèque and co-presented with the Mexican Embassy of Singapore. Exploring the rich legacy of the most cherished period of Mexican Cinema from the 1930s to 1960s, this programme features masterpieces by Mexican auteurs synonymous with the Golden Age and encapsulates the

Machine Gun Preacher

2012-01-03T22:54:00.000+08:00

Talk to the Gun Machine Gun Preacher became my first theatrical outing for 2012, a biopic about the life and times of a down and out former gang biker finding a second life through religion, becoming a preacher and following what he would deem to be his just cause in getting involved in the plight of Sudanese children made orphans and slaves by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). Directed by Marc

2012 Singapore Movies

2012-01-01T00:01:00.000+08:00

Friends, this is to keep track of Singapore movies (made by Singapore Filmmakers / selected co-productions) screened, or going to be screened, for this year - 2012. Do check back for periodic updates, as and when I discover them. Or help me! If you know of those not in my list, please let me know? Or if you're a filmmaker and have an upcoming project, would you grant me the opportunity of trying

Top 5 Duds of 2011

2011-12-31T23:56:00.000+08:00

And they are, in alphabetical order: - 23:59 - Aku Tak Bodoh - Beastly - Legendary Amazons (楊門女將之軍令如山 / Yang Men Nu Jiang Zhi Jun Ling Ru Shan) - The Ultimate Winner (赢家 / Ying Jia) 5 of the worst this year, that shameful waste of celluloid that had the audacity to be screened to paying audiences anywhere around the world, and to think that 3/5 belonged to our sunny little island. Are we facing

Top 10 of 2011

2011-12-31T23:41:00.000+08:00

The customary Top 10 list of my favourite films of the year, and it's no easy task to pluck the crème de la crème from a pool of 319 theatrical and festival releases watched this year. So here are 10% of the best, split between the honorary 10 where music and nostalgia seem to be the theme of 2011, and the meritorious 20 that had a crack at the top. In alphabetical order, the Top 10 are: 13

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

2011-12-31T22:11:00.000+08:00

Help Me There are remakes, and then some. Hollywood has been raiding cinema from around the world for creative inspiration. When all else fails, buy the rights and remake the movies for the US market, where chances are its mass audiences haven't chanced upon the originals since we all understand how popular the reading of subtitles is. not. Some remakes offer something a lot more than the

What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?

2011-12-31T00:01:00.000+08:00

As performed by two of my favourite actors Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who was paired together in what was my favourite film of 2009. Enjoy! And Happy New Year!

Turning Point 2 (Laughing Gor之潜罪犯 / Laughing Gor Zi Cim Zeoi Faan)

2011-12-30T23:05:00.001+08:00

Who's Laughing Now? You can't put a good man down, and with the popularity of Michael Tse's Laughing Gor undercover cop character in the TVB television series EU, it spun off its own movie with Turning Point, which gave a lot more background to Laughing, to the point of even veering off its established canon. Then came another television serial Lives of Omission since audiences can't get enough

My Week with Marilyn

2011-12-29T23:56:00.000+08:00

Wow Michelle Williams becomes what would be an enduring icon of the Hollywood sex bomb, but this biopic, based on the memoirs of Colin Clark (in this movie played by Eddie Redmayne) goes beyond the surface of Marilyn the icon, and examines closely Marilyn the person, with her dumb blonde persona hiding her insecurities and pressures faced when her techniques aren't so appreciated by fellow cast

2011 Singapore Movies Year in Review

2011-12-27T21:39:00.001+08:00

The lineup of Singapore films for the year normally begins from the lucrative Lunar New Year period, which depending on the almanac can either be in late January or February. It's no different for 2011, except that it bucked the trend of having A Jack Neo Film featured by the first quarter of the year, being conspicuously missing after raking in rather good box office takings for consecutive

[DVD] The Dark Knight (2008)

2011-12-25T22:08:00.000+08:00

There He Goes With all the recent hype surrounding The Dark Knight Rises with the release of the prologue, a new trailer and countless of official photographs to augment the series of leaked videos and photos of filming on location, I thought it was probably apt to relive some of the adventures of The Dark Knight in rewatching what is arguably the best comic book hero adaptation at this point in

Don 2

2011-12-24T22:28:00.000+08:00

So What Shall It Be? I haven't watched Don 1 yet, which was a remake by Farhan Akhtar back in 2006 based on one of the classic Amitabh Bachchan films, and all I know about that movie, besides starring Shah Rukh Khan in a negative, villainous role, was that it was mostly shot in Malaysia. It took quite a while to finally have this sequel completed, but it was worth the wait for that level of

The Flying Swords of Dragon Gate (龙门飞甲 / Long Men Fei Jia)

2011-12-24T22:00:00.000+08:00

Force of Nature I suppose it's a case of never say never. Despite a rather public fall out from the Once Upon a Time in China series, where Tsui Hark had to replace Jet Li in the title role, one wondered if the two will ever collaborate in a film again, and with the renewed interest in martial arts genre, and the obvious big time opportunity to fuse 3D into it, proved irresistible for the two of

The Artist

2011-12-24T15:00:00.000+08:00

Perfection Who would have thought that the trio of writer-director Michel Hazanavicius, his wife actress Berenice Bejo and actor Jean Dujardin, all probably better known for their comical spoof of the spy genre with the OSS 117 movies, could have pull out all the stops and made such an affecting romantic film that epitomizes all things great about an era of cinema long gone, providing that pitch

The Inbetweeners Movie

2011-12-23T23:50:00.000+08:00

Hello, Ladies! A successful sitcom series in the UK, The Inbetweeners movie is like the final hurrah for its television episodes, which follows the growing pains, life and times of a group of four secondary school friends and their families, with American Pie styled sexual shenanigans and Brit humour. Even if you may not be familiar with the source material, the movie version is quite stand

We Bought a Zoo

2011-12-22T23:39:00.000+08:00

The Gang's All Here 6 years. It's been that long since Cameron Crowe last did a feature film in Elizabethtown, before taking that long a hiatus and coming back with a bang this year through his documentary Pearl Jam Twenty that chronicled the life and times of the Seattle based alternative rock band, and We Bought a Zoo, a family drama filled with all the good themes necessary for a year end

War Horse

2011-12-22T23:06:00.000+08:00

The Horse Whisperer A review embargo meant that this preview watched on 12 December can only be published now, and trust me it wasn't easy holding one's horses when a film that good, has to be kept mum about probably because the powers that be have absolutely no confidence with such a magnificent piece of filmmaking. Strange, but true, since embargoes are usually imposed on films that will

The Darkest Hour 3D

2011-12-21T23:36:00.000+08:00

Up Yours, Invisible Monster! Granted I wasn't expecting a great deal from The Darkest Hour, where the trailers have probably spelt out the entire film from beginning to end, and more than validated it to be nothing but a special effects extravaganza. Then again, what you have already seen is it, as The Darkest Hour indeed is the darkest in terms of filmmaking, having nothing else served up to

Margin Call

2011-12-20T23:55:00.000+08:00

Oh My God Written and directed by debut feature filmmaker J.C. Chandor, Margin Call belongs to the pedigree of a few where a strong, gripping contemporary story that affected societies worldwide one way or another, gets made on a relatively shoestring budget, yet uncompromising on its vision and production values, and best yet, boasting a bevy of an ensemble class act that delivered all round

[DVD] Rudy: The Rudy Giuliani Story (2003)

2011-12-19T23:48:00.002+08:00

Get Out of My Way Not all biographical films on politicians are made equal. Some try to tell a sprawling tale of someone's political life, such as Oliver Stone with his Nixon and W., while others capture a momentous slice of an historical event, such as Roger Donaldson's Thirteen Days which was gripping from start to end. Then there are those like Rudy, which tries to do both, but don't really

[Short] The Red Thread (Fil Rouge) and Izak’s Choice (Les Mains)

2011-12-18T21:46:00.001+08:00

Fil Rouge / The Red Thread (2008) I'm not much of a wine drinker, but to the connoisseurs, they can define a vintage right down to the vineyard and year it was created just from the smells, taste and swirl. Amazing stuff that never fail to impress me, but personally I'd still prefer to chug down a beer and get all rowdy compared to the classier alcohol of choice. In any case Luc Plissonneau had

[BR] Star Trek: The Captains' Summit (2009)

2011-12-18T15:09:00.001+08:00

The Round Table There may be some who knows the inner limited Trek geek in me, but I have to admit after picking up the Star Trek Original Motion Picture Collection in Blu Ray that reviewing everything in one sitting is still quite daunting. So as usual I would be taking my time, but why not start things off with the special disc included which recorded the rare time when William Shatner,

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

2011-12-17T22:04:00.000+08:00

Three's a Crowd The world's greatest detective created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle returns to the big screen once again after the successful boot up through director Guy Ritchie's vision back in 2009. Ritchie returns to the director's chair, along with main leads Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law as Holmes and Watson respectively, going in to what would be the duo's toughest challenge yet with arch

Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chip-Wrecked

2011-12-16T23:12:00.000+08:00

Help! For as long as the Chipmunks can be milked to draw in the holiday crowds, the sequels will never stop. After all, the digital templates are there and done up to be recycled countless of times, and the live action characters just jolly well need not be there for things to work. Pop hits between the films serve as the highlights for getting the munked treatment, and while they do sound cute

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol

2011-12-15T23:17:00.000+08:00

Scaling New Heights Does Brad Bird, whose resume reads The Iron Giant, The Incredibles and Ratatouille have what it takes to deliver a Mission: Impossible film, especially after what J.J. Abrams had done with the third installment? You bet your last dollar Bird pulled it off with aplomb, giving us the flavours that makes M:I distinct and unique, while shaking things up a bit to prevent us from

Get Vegucated for a New You in the New Year

2011-12-15T07:02:00.000+08:00

After a successful North American screening tour, director Marisa Miller Wolfson’s award-winning documentary film Vegucated will be released to DVD on Monday, January 9, 2012 (Retail price $20). A laugh-out-loud funny, entertaining, and eye-opening look at the vegan lifestyle, Vegucated takes viewers on a revealing journey far beyond a few tofu food substitutions as three daring individuals

“Imagination on a budget” Workshop with Eric Khoo

2011-12-14T18:44:00.000+08:00

Imagination-based entertainment channel Syfy has launched Syfy Shorts, a competition calling aspiring film makers in South East Asia to submit their short films for a chance in getting their works aired on prime time television. In conjunction with the short film competition, Syfy will be hosting a workshop for local aspiring film makers to gain insights to film-making from established industry

[Short] The Palace (2011)

2011-12-13T21:26:00.001+08:00

Written, directed and produced by Anthony Maras, The Palace is a short film inspired by true events, set against the backdrop of Cyprus in 1974 with the Turkish invasion, and a family's desperate flight for survival, taking refuge in an abandoned Ottoman empire era palace. Taking its roots from a confession of an actor who had detailed on live television the atrocities committed as a young

[DVD] The Joneses (2009)

2011-12-12T23:04:00.000+08:00

Happy Fake Family Consumerism cannot get anymore subtle than this, and its unique premise is what made The Joneses stand out. Written and directed by Derrick Borte based upon the story by Randy T. Dinzler, The Joneses tells of the titular family of Steve (David Duchovny) and Kate (Demi Moore) together with their children Jenn (Amber Heard) and Mick (Ben Hollingsworth) living it up in suburban

[Short] Sailcloth (2011)

2011-12-11T17:24:00.001+08:00

Man with a Plan Written, produced and directed by Elfar Adalsteins, Sailcloth is one of those rare gems of a short film that is totally void of the spoken word, allowing the beauty of its imagery, strength of its casting and soulful music to guide one through what would be the determined plan of a man longing for the embrace of his wife long gone. It packs an emotional punch devoid of any loose

Ladies vs. Ricky Bahl

2011-12-10T20:18:00.001+08:00

Designing the Ultimate Con After three films under the Yash Raj banner, Anushka Sharma returns to the fold with her fifth film to date, reuniting with director Maneesh Sharma and co-star Ranveer Singh in what would be his second outing after their successful pairing and collaboration in Band Baaja Baaraat which turned out to be a sleeper hit last year, scoring nominations and awards for the

Magic to Win (開心魔法 / Kai Xin Mo Fa)

2011-12-10T19:51:00.000+08:00

The New Happy Ghost I have seriously no idea what the title Magic to Win wants to conjure. It doesn't make sense and all it does is to imply the film doesn't either, which is just about right. However the clues may come from its Chinese title which suggests some links to the once-upon-a-time Happy Ghost series, which was produced and starred Raymond Wong, who gets another leading role here. It's

New Year's Eve

2011-12-10T19:04:00.000+08:00

Whipping Up a Storm I'm speculating that one of the reasons why New Year's Eve got pushed up so early in the month is because come that time of the season everyone will be out there merry making rather than to head to the cinemas and probably revel in whatever festivities the welcoming of the new year will bring, instead of watching something that failed to capture the mood and spirit of leaving

[Rendezvous With French Cinema] Q&A with Stéphane Rybojad

2011-12-09T23:59:00.000+08:00

Co-writer-director Stephane Rybojad was present at the screening today for a post-screening Q&A session. He was in an extremely chatty mood, so much so that the session was almost 40 minutes long and ran into overtime, that all of us had to leave abruptly as the crowd for the next screening waiting outside the foyer was growing impatient. The lack of a proper spotlight in the hall means you won't

[Rendezvous With French Cinema] Special Forces (Forces Spéciales)

2011-12-09T23:50:00.000+08:00

Ensemble The French Film Festival in Singapore, and I suppose worldwide as well, has rebranded itself under the "Rendezvous with French Cinema" banner, and this inaugural year demonstrated no pulling of punches based on the number of filmmakers and guests in attendance throughout the 7-day festival, where 21 films are shown at 2-3 venues concurrently amongst The Cathay, Lido, Vivocity and

[DVD] The Unseeable (Pen Choo Kab Pee / เป็นชู้กับผี) (2006)

2011-12-06T22:05:00.000+08:00

Ghostly Seduction Wisit Sasanatieng may have struggled in the making of a mainstream superhero action film in Red Eagle, and up until now I'm still tempted to give it another viewing since there's the Taiwanese DVD release that comes with English subtitles. Given its relatively more adult content it's unlikely a DVD release will be made here, so I suppose that version may have to do. Until then,

[DVD] Beck (2010)

2011-12-05T22:00:00.000+08:00

Mongolian Chop Squad One of my favourite films of the year, the Japanese DVD editions have this specially packaged with tons of extras, but alas there is that distinct lack of English subtitles. So I guess it's a trade off between extras for that subtitled film, until such time I can pick up the language. Which will take forever. You can read my review of the film here. The Region 3 (although

Hong Kong Ghost Stories (猛鬼愛情故事 / Meng Gui Ai Qing Gu Shi)

2011-12-04T22:39:00.000+08:00

What's That Behind Me? If this is indeed the state of affairs of Hong Kong horror films, then let the alarm bells start to sound. While the crime thriller genre had seen a revival in recent years through a number of filmmakers like Dante Lam rising through to join the veteran ranks of luminaries such as Johnnie To, the horror film had seen a dearth of output if not for the Pang Brothers, which

The Dirty Picture (द डर्टी पिक्चर)

2011-12-03T21:03:00.001+08:00

Let's Come Together I suppose it's not easy trying to make a bio-pic about a controversial actress that calls for some parading of skin due to various states of undress. In Singapore, the Rose Chan project has been stalled from its initial announcement, with one of the close contenders for the role dropping out and to date leaving the project quite in limbo. In what would is a generally

Nasi Lemak 2.0 (辣死你媽! / La Si Ni Ma!)

2011-12-03T20:50:00.000+08:00

Namewee gained notoriety when his song Negara-kuku rapped about the true state of affairs in his homeland as faced by himself and many others about the lack of opportunities and intolerance, which of course was found to be politically unacceptable by the powers that be. Fast forward to today, the adage of any publicity is better than no publicity cannot be more true, since then he had a lot of

Starry Starry Night (星空 / Xing Kong)

2011-12-03T15:16:00.000+08:00

You are the Applet of My Eye Xu Jiao burst onto the entertainment scene thanks to Stephen Chow casting her as his son in the CG comedy CJ7, and now as a teenager this marks her first venture into the teenage romantic genre as a girl who's at the cusp of teenage-hood, where life is at a crossroads and everything good seems to be falling apart. Directed by Tom Lin, Starry Starry Night comes hot

Syfy Shorts - A Short Film Competition

2011-12-02T23:27:00.000+08:00

Entertainment channel Syfy, owned by NBCUniversal, is giving young filmmakers in Asia the chance to explore into the far reaches of their imagination. The imagination-driven brand which brings to Asia exclusive programming in the science fiction, fantasy, paranormal and adventure genres, announced that they are organising a short film competition to look for up-and-coming talents in the region.

50/50

2011-12-01T22:59:00.000+08:00

Talk to Me If someone tells you that you have a 50% chance of survival, I suppose it will show whether you're an optimist or a pessimist, since the end result has an equal chance to swing either way. You cannot control the circumstance, but you can surely temper your attitude towards it. Such is this film's brilliance in allowing one to journey with the protagonist through what would be anyone's

Hermès presents "HEARTS AND CRAFTS: The People that Make Hermès"

2011-11-30T23:55:00.000+08:00

To celebrate this year's annual theme of "Contemporary artisan since 1837", Hermès pays homage to the artisans of the numerous Hermès métiers with the documentary film, HEARTS AND CRAFTS: The People that Make Hermès. Isabelle Dupuy-Chavanat and Frédéric Laffont have captured the sounds of leather and crystal, the song of silk and metal, the words of the men and women and also their silences. In

White Vengeance (鸿门宴传奇‏ / Hong Men Yan Chuan Qi)

2011-11-29T23:58:00.000+08:00

All Part of the Plan Writer-director Daniel Lee's recent obsession with period action thrillers like Three Kingdoms: Ressurection of the Dragon and 14 Blades have been at best, a mixed bag. Granted they star A-listers like Andy Lau, Sammo Hung and Donnie Yen, the films were lacking in a solid story to complement the set action sequence. Ressurection sure didn't look like your classic Romance of

[DVD] The Sea is All I Know (2011)

2011-11-28T21:32:00.001+08:00

Vastness It isn't easy dealing with a medical death sentence passed, with a terminal illness diagnosed that not only brings about the sheer horror in a countdown to the day one passes on, but to one's family that this period of suffering will inevitably be extended to. I should know, because personally my family too has come to terms with my dad's condition which has been diagnosed as MSA, and

The Muppets

2011-11-27T20:44:00.001+08:00

Rainbow Connection Once More If you're wondering just where the Muppets had disappeared to since it's been decades since my generation had last seen them on our television sets, then this Muppets film will fit right in and address that question, filling us in on just how everyone had past their time in various solo acts. In this sickening age of remakes and reboots, where studio executives wield

Already Famous (一泡而红 / Yi Pao Er Hong)

2011-11-26T23:37:00.000+08:00

Wish Upon a Star Unless your head is buried in the sand the last few years in Singapore, chances are you'll have heard of Michelle Chong the actress-host. Now add producer, writer and director to that list, as she had decided to take a sabbatical from television, pour her resources into filmmaking, and frankly wanted to get something out of her system, though I'm not quite sure what it is. One

Desi Boyz (देसी बोयज़)

2011-11-25T23:58:00.000+08:00

Strapping Jocks I would like to pride myself at watching enough Bollywood films to have witnessed the pairing up of most of its stars, but this marks the first I've seen with Akshay Kumar and John Abraham put together as two best buddies whose foreigner status in a foreign land meant the execution of some protectionist strategies when companies are forced to take a cold hard look at their

Arthur Christmas in 3D

2011-11-24T23:40:00.001+08:00

I Did It All By Myself Back in the Old Days You cannot satisfy all the people all the time, but at least you should try hard to do so. At least that was the mantra that Arthur Christmss (James McAvoy), the clumsy second son of Santa Claus (Jim Broadbent) whose role is to read and reply letters in the North Pole on behalf of his busy dad, only to find himself thrust into the thick of the express

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1

2011-11-22T23:52:00.000+08:00

The Blue Lagoon One cannot deny that Twilight smells of serious money, and following the Harry Potter film franchise had its final book split into two for that extra injection into the coffers. But I had to admit that Breaking Dawn Part 1 isn't as dreadful as the other two films that followed the first film, since they were essentially rehashing a lot of the same themes with Bella (Kristen

Restless

2011-11-21T23:28:00.000+08:00

Love There's nothing quite remarkable about Gus Van Sant's love story involving a girl (Mia Wasikowska) who meets a boy (Henry Hopper) during his funeral gatecrashing rounds, except of course to allow these two young actors a platform to show they too can find a place in a romantic film, with Wasikowska bursting onto the scene thanks to Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, and Hopper riding on his

Bookfest 2011 - Giddens Ko (九把刀) - You Are the Apple of My Eye (那些年，我们一起追的女孩)

2011-11-19T23:59:00.000+08:00

Writer-Director Giddens Ko (九把刀) is in Singapore for Bookfest 2011, which had organized a meet the author session for Giddens to talk about his debut film You Are the Apple of My Eye (那些年，我们一起追的女孩), meet his fans, and managed to squeeze in a 40 minutes long autograph session for the hundreds of fans who had come to hear him speak. For those who had missed out, he will be at Pop@Central Bras

Puss In Boots

2011-11-19T17:00:00.000+08:00

Reaction to Golden Eggs Shrek had run its course, having forcefully pushed itself into a fourth film that was really too trying, but I suppose Puss in Boots, introduced in the second film of the franchise, proved to have nine lives, and extended his longevity through a spin off film of his own. After all, there are plenty of cat lovers out there, and his antics in the Shrek movies were

Legendary Amazons (楊門女將之軍令如山 / Yang Men Nu Jiang Zhi Jun Ling Ru Shan)

2011-11-18T23:27:00.000+08:00

That Million Dollar Role I'm not sure how the word Amazons got into the English title, if not to allude to the fact that the women character folks here have tremendous fighting capabilities befitting of the legendary female warriors namesake in Greek mythology. But this is no swords and sandals film since it chronicles the story from halfway round the world in China, celebrating the fabled

Happy Feet Two

2011-11-17T23:30:00.000+08:00

The Next Generation Happy Feet took home the Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film of the Year 2007, but that film had everything - song, dance, comedy, drama, romance and of course the feel good factor. One would have thought that success meant a fast-track into getting a sequel out, but it actually took some 5 years before it actually did. George Miller assume the entire directorial

[Soundtrack DVD] Making of You Are the Apple of My Eye (那些年，我们一起追的女孩) (2011)

2011-11-16T22:48:00.001+08:00

The Awesome Ensemble No, this is not a repeated entry, in case you're having that sense of deja vu from an earlier review also about the Making-Of DVD of what's arguably one of the best feature films of 2011, You Are The Apple of My Eye (那些年，我们一起追的女孩), by writer-director Giddens (九把刀), who will be in town later this weekend for Bookfest 2011. It's either you're contributing to its box office

Immortals

2011-11-15T23:08:00.000+08:00

Tonight We Dine In Hell! You may think this is a 300 opportunist no thanks to its trailer, but director Tarsem Singh had a lot more visual tricks up his sleeves. Immortals takes on Greek mythology in a different fashion under his vision, with strikingly younger looking Olympus gods having to undertake a non-interference code of conduct by Zeus (Luke Evans) as the villainous humans led by King

[DVD] Making of You Are the Apple of My Eye (那些年，我们一起追的女孩) (2011)

2011-11-13T18:36:00.001+08:00

Those Were The Schooldays You are the Apple of My Eye has been breaking box office records in Taiwan and Hong Kong recently, and this weekend we should see healthy box office numbers coming out of its opening weekend as well, where it finally made it to its general release after a lengthy period period of some 3 weeks, with what I notice as excellent and positive word of mouth going around. I

[DVD] Goal! III: Taking on the World (2009)

2011-11-13T14:44:00.001+08:00

Watching From The Stands When Goal debuted in 2005, it was that much awaited film about football that finally got made, and made properly, featuring some really nice visual effects that blended fictional players with the real world counterparts, and sanctioned by the sporting industry in general to allow the filmmakers unprecedented access to facilities and footage, not to mention changing the

The Rum Diary

2011-11-12T22:42:00.000+08:00

Hello Ladies It seems like Johnny Depp can't get enough of the works of Hunter S. Thompson, who had been credited for and popularized the style of Gonzo journalism which makes no qualms about being objective, and tells a story with the reporter put into a first-person narrative. Thompson's novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas had been adopted for the big screen and had starred Depp, and now Depp

Kaiji 2 / カイジ 2

2011-11-12T02:04:00.000+08:00

Ready For the Big League? Kaiji 2 brings Tatsuya Fujiwara back to the titular role of the gambler who had seen better days post the finale in the earlier Kaiji film, but as the saying goes, old habits die hard and two years later he's still found in the doldrums of society, stuck in a dead end underground job. The first film dealt with the different strata of society, and here the changes made

[Stage Introduction] Kaiji 2 / カイジ 2 - Tatsuya Fujiwara

2011-11-12T01:06:00.000+08:00

It isn't everyday that a Japanese star makes his way to Singapore for a film promotional event, but I suppose an international premiere of Kaiji 2 outside of Japan would be incentive enough for Tatsuya Fujiwara to spend a couple of days here to meet and greet his fans. Here's the stage introduction prior to the gala screening of Kaiji 2 at The Cathay held on 11 Nov 2011 at 2145hrs, following a

Rockstar

2011-11-10T23:52:00.000+08:00

Rocking Your World The draw for me toward Rockstar is A.R. Rahman, the musical maestro responsible for countless of Hindi film classics, and of late piquing Hollywood's attention as well, being a recent frequent collaborator on Danny Boyle's films. For a film being named Rockstar, and with the promos banging on Rahman's music, one can expect plenty of rock tunes created just for the protagonist

11-11-11

2011-11-08T23:11:00.000+08:00

What Do You Believe In? One cannot help but to poke at its glaring loopholes, such as the demons in the film that were more posers than can actually scare the living daylights out of anyone - the audience or the characters in the film. Director Darren Lynn Bousman, who had cut his teeth in a few movies of the Saw franchise, has to realize that subtlety isn't one of his strengths, and for a film

Tatsuya Fujiwara in Singapore 10th-13th November

2011-11-07T18:06:00.003+08:00

Fans of Tatsuya Fujiwara, listen up! The Japanese star will be making his first trip to Singapore from 10th -13th November 2011. You will be able to meet him on 11th November, as he is set to embark on a flurry of publicity activities in Singapore, to promote his upcoming movie, KAIJI 2 : THE ULTIMATE GAMBLER <赌博默示录 2>. Tatsuya Fujiwara and his entourage will arrive in town by Singapore

CREATE Film Festival

2011-11-07T17:50:00.000+08:00

CREATE Film Festival – Launch of Singapore’s First Social Cinema Engineering seen through short films by local directors At this very moment, students all over Singapore are accessing the nation’s first-ever social cinema. They can choose seats and book tickets for themselves and friends for free through a virtual box office. In the cinema hall, no one will shush them, no one will tell them to

[DVD] Tomboys (2009)

2011-11-07T16:58:00.000+08:00

Written and directed by Nathan Hill, this Australian movie is a throwback to the good old grindhouse movies, where language, violence and gore are part and parcel of the entire package, and Tomboys go to great lengths in keeping to that look and feel, keeping the visuals grainy, the camerawork shaky, and who can not miss those huge character titles that come on to introduce each of the leading

Sector 7 ( 7광구 / 7 Kwang Gu)

2011-11-06T23:23:00.001+08:00

Let's Get That Monster Touted as one of the first 3D monster movie coming out of Korea that was a box office sensation, Sector 7 hits all the sweet spots as far as playing up the hunter-prey formula of monster versus helpless humans, but did it take a long time in getting there, weighted down by a pretty lengthy first act that served as an introduction to all the characters involved, and

The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn in IMAX 3D

2011-11-06T22:57:00.000+08:00

Buddies Regular trips to the bookstore when I was 10 had introduced me to the world Herge created with his jetsetting baby faced reporter Tintin and his faithful canine companion Snowy, and I was hooked enough to slowly but surely, get all the stories ever created, sharing them through the book club with my primary school class on the joys of these adventures. And I probably can gauge how well

Warrior

2011-11-05T22:22:00.001+08:00

Jab Enough of Boxing films already. Warrior brings us to the world of Mixed Martial Arts, which has been around for years, but never really making it to a notable big screen interpretation save for the Hong Kong film Flashpoint starring Donnie Yen taking down a string of bandits led by Collin Chou in the film's climatic finale. Perhaps its more contemporary slant meant a little less

Star Watching Dog (星守る犬 / Hoshi Mamoru Inu)

2011-11-05T20:51:00.000+08:00

Doggie Love Based on a manga, Star Watching Dog despite its title, poster and trailer, is not quite your typical film with a story revolving around our canine friends, and because they are our best friends, there are countless of such films made, usually entrenched in saccharine sweet melodrama where the hallmarks of a dog's loyalty get put on display, until in recent years Hollywood's movie

Drive

2011-11-04T22:42:00.000+08:00

I Am The Driver I have to admit I haven't been much of a Ryan Gosling fan, but two back to back movies of his hitting the theatres simultaneously here have changed my mind, both being very different films that Gosling nailed his leading characters to a T. With The Ides of March, his character was a cocksure schemer who had to compromise his morals and principles to stay ahead of the game, and in

The Ides of March

2011-11-03T23:54:00.000+08:00

Who Do You Trust? George Clooney for President? If his persona as Governor Mike Morris in the first half The Ides of March is anything to go by - an excellent orator blessed with natural charisma and a dedicated and talented campaign team, it's no surprise to find people throwing their weight behind him. But this is not the one man one vote system we have here, but the US democracy system

Tower Heist

2011-11-03T23:41:00.000+08:00

Check Out That Babe Across The Street I have to admit the top attraction in this Brett Ratner film is the pairing of Ben Stiller and Eddie Murphy, two top drawer comedians with the latter probably having seen better days. Still, the trailer would have sold you that there's never enough of Murphy's trash talking, except that the best bits were already found within that preview clip, and the rest