The Absent (Ausentes)

Let Me Out!

This is the latest in a slew of Euro movies to make it to our shores here, promoted as a mystery thriller because of the faux-pas sense of sophistication from everything European.

To its credit, it does keep you guessing. As the premise goes, a serene family of four moves into the suburbs, only for Julia (Ariadna Gil) the mom experiencing things that go bump, even in the day. Loving husband Samuel (Jordi Molla) and kids Felix (Nacho Perez) and Luis (Omar Munoz) do not experience these strange phenomenon, and therefore this leads to tension within the family.

What works is the atmosphere built up, that there are many scenes filled with plenty of emptiness Julia experiences in the neighbourhood, and the bewilderment she felt when she slowly discovers that there is no one else to turn to, not even her husband and children. Feeling extremely isolated, she begins to wonder what happened to have brought about the changes to her surroundings, as well as her family.

On one hand, you want to sympathize with Julia and her increasing exasperation, and Ariadna Gil's performance enables you to do so. However, it's really a case of more than meets the eye, and you might be increasing as frustrated as the character when you attempt to figure out what is happening as well - is it a psycho babble mystery, or something involving the supernatural, or a conspiracy of sorts? You can warrant a guess, and you'll probably be right, but the way the film progresses and develops, doubts will be cast on your assumptions, right until the very last scenes.

If compared to earlier fare like Lemming (happy family in suburbs) and Cache/Hidden (something remotely similar with its CCTV cameras and discovery that you can watch them on TV), The Absent probably is the weakest in terms of storyline, and the least entertaining of the lot. If you're thinking you're up for something quite cerebral, you might end up disappointed.

John Tucker Must Die

I Agree with the Totally Wearing of Underwear to School Bit...

John Tucker Must Die has one of the most interesting trailers for a commercial cheesy girly flick, and it works to a certain extent, with the similarity in playing along the same lines as the Kill Bill title. I remember vividly each time after the trailer was aired, that some girls seated around me will almost always squeal with delight, so it's really no wonder if this flick proves to do well at the box office.

The good looking girls in school always capitalize on their assets to snag that one hot alpha male guy, and who else than John Tucker (Jesse Metcalfe, the famous gardener from Desperate Housewives), captain of the school basketball team wearing that number 23 jersey, and with deep pockets lined with cash too? John's a serial player, and his conquests of the sexy one Beth (Sophia Bush), the brainy one Carrie (Arielle Kebbel) and the lead cheerleader with attitude Heather (Ashanti) left them with bad aftertaste after they found out about him dating them simultaneously. His technique? They belong to different cliques (guys take note), and his sweet nothings were easily bought into. I thought they made good tips too, ha!

Anyway they find out his rouse, and get all riled up in seeking revenge, enlisting the help of protagonist Kate Spencer (Brittany Snow), an unknown in school, now having the opportunity to become a legend by helping the girls turn the tables on John. While the girls are all sugar and spice and all things nice, they sure live up to the saying that hell knows no fury like a woman, or here, 3 women, scorned. They have their antics, but the power of the alpha male is to turn each bad situation around through their aura of incredible luck. At times though the movie seemed to lack focus and want to cover too much ground in too little time, having Kate jump right out of the pages of Never Been Kissed (1999), and subplots involving budding romances, and romances for real.

Despite being a popcorn flick, it did try to insert a moral message within its eye candy scenes, and that is a reminder to all in relationships, that we're dealing with real feelings and emotions with real people here, and it always hurts. Honesty goes a long way, and as a word of caution, those who go after a John Tucker, should already know what they're in for. On a side note, it also looks at how one should always be aware if you're not staying true to yourself, of being the creation of someone else and the leveraging on others to gain popularity.

That aside, the way to approach this teen movie is to sit back, relax, and put your brains to idle mode. In typical fashion, it's full of pop songs to entice teenagers, and stay tune through the end credits for a small scene inserted in between.

The Banquet (Ye Yan)

To Be Or Not To Be...

It's an oriental kung fu Hamlet.

Everyone's been saying it's loosely based on Shakespeare's tragedy, and to some, the movie's indeed a tragedy with its slowness in pace and lack of action, but I'd like to see it as because of its heavy reference to Hamlet (the poisoned quill, and many other plot points and scenes), it sort of created a crutch on which to lean the movie upon, hence the sense of familiarity to some, therefore having the source serving as a double edged sword - the movie beholden to it and eventually ending it on a weak note.

Having inherited the creative team of Yuen Wo Ping (action choreography), Tan Dun (Music), Tim Yip (Art Direction), and the starlet in Ziyi Zhang (wonder why the westernized juxtaposition of her name) does not automatically replicate the success of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon that easily. It's the X-factor and the blending of elements of novelty in CTHD that made it a huge success, and blindly following the predetermined formula is akin to hammering a square peg into a round hole.

While the art direction is lush and everything looking adequately regal, somehow Tan Dun's music seemed to be muted throughout the movie, only exhibiting sporadic brilliance to drum up scenes with the soundtrack, or the hauntingly beautiful theme song. The major disappointment however, will be in the fighting scenes. Here, martial arts both function as a contrast to the much muted artsy style of the Hamlet here, Prince Wu Luan (Daniel Wu), highlighting the difference in power between the pen and the sword, as well as functioning as foreplay. I thought with the gratuitous fake blood spewing across the screen, it was kind of a homage to 70s Shaw Bros martial arts classics, and a nod to director Chang Cheh, the king of ketchup blood. The initial big sequenced battle scene might have whet appetites, but sadly subsequent battles do not match up, with its repetitive running up walls or in mid air, as if Yuen had run out of tricks in the wire-work manual, having at one point seemed to copy Tsui Hark's Dao (1995). There's one moment of innovation though in a scene of punishment not seen (at least to me) before.

But not that I'm complaining. If this martial arts in this movie is viewed without comparisons to other more recent fantasy martial arts movies like Hero and House of Flying Daggers, it is still enjoyable and beautifully choreographed, and surpasses The Promise by a huge mile. Just that it lacked a fresh look in battles, and the unimaginative costuming of the Imperial Guards didn't help, looking too close like distant cousins of Lord of the Ring's Nazguls / Ringwraiths / Black Riders.

Desire as a theme runs through the movie very strongly, the desire for love, endless power and pure, unadulterated revenge. Very briefly, the story by now will be fairly obvious with Emperor Li (Ge You) usurping the throne from his brother, and coverts his wife Empress Wan as his own, who at one point in time was Prince Wu Luan's old flame. The Prince here is a fellow in love with the arts and bent on avenging his father, and who is the subject of unrequited love by the daughter of a minister - Qing Nu (Zhou Xun).

It's all about the wearing of masks and the building of facades, of hiding true intentions to achieve personal objectives. The contrast between the two men in the Emperor and the Prince is looked into, their love lives examined - one who uses power to obtain love, while the other's fortune to be loved brought him unimaginable influence.

Despite its references to Hamlet, the focus of the movie here seemed to be Ziyi Zhang's Empress Wan, as she plots and schemes, leaving you perplexed as to whether to sympathize and pity her, or applaud her attempts at exacting her own brand of justice. Acting all round is nothing to rave about, and though Ge You's performance seemed the better of the lot, his measured, subtle ways as the Emperor comes off rather weakly as a man capable of scheming to get to where he is. Somehow, I thought that Hamlet allowed the acting to take a foot off the pedal as audiences would already put in place perceptions and direct translations of character for character.

All said, The Banquet is still a reasonably competent foray into the martial arts genre for director Feng Xiaogang, and if he were to put another movie from the genre out, I'll sure be there to watch it. Now to anticipate Zhang Yimou's next contribution to the genre.

... No Need To Question!

[DVD] Youth of the Beast (Yaju No Seishun) (1963)

Criterion Collection Cover

Youth of the Beast is pretty much acclaimed, but I just can't appreciate it very much, partly because it's quite a dated film - the 60s, and the execution reminded me of the old 60s Batman and the Green Hornet series (the soundtrack here sounded similar too), in its noir crime storyline as well as the use of the ol' fisticuffs to settle scores. Not that I didn't enjoy it though, but my smile stemmed more from the cheesiness.

Of course when watching a film from the past, you got to approach it in the context when it was shown in. And it pretty much gave you a glimpse at old Japan, with its production sets, costumes, and acting style - which is exaggerated. Special effects and stunts were quite low key (probably groundbreaking for the era), with some shots suffering from sudden jump cuts, and looking raw. Certain stunts were found to be wanting, but again, for that era, it's adequately executed, though by today's standards, audiences would be more unforgiving.

The violence too didn't let up, and for a Yakuza movie, violence is part and parcel to their lifestyle. There are a number of innovative techniques used, such as the flame from an aerosol can, and the insertion of a blade underneath the fingernail as a torture method to inflict pain. I was surprised too at the raw scratching off upholstery from a sofa set, which seemed quite realistically painful for the actress to perform.

Director Seijun Suzuki actually helmed the movie Yumeji (1991), from which the theme song is used in Wong Kar Wai's In the Mood for Love. Here, he crafts the movie from a novel by Haruhiko Oyabu, which could have served as inspiration for Lucky Number Slevin in its playing off mob bosses. Here, Jo Mizuno (Joe Shishido) infiltrates and joins a gang by forcing his way through to the top, beating up everyone and anyone who dare stands in his way.

Impressed, he's given a stint with the gang, and slowly, a mystery begins to unravel as to his motivations and objectives to doing what he does. It plays out rather straightforward, and you would have guessed his intentions pretty earlier on in the movie, but what stood out is how simple it is to style a movie in this manner back in the 60s. Taking seemingly simple everyday locations like nightclubs and cinemas and having shady dealings taking place under a legitimate business front, does seem rather suggestive of how gangsters operate at the time.

I'd pretty much recommend this to those who have high cheese tolerance, or fans of the swinging 60s era movies. Nothing much really to shout about.

The Criterion DVD comes with an essay insert, the theatrical trailer (60s trailers all have those sensational big words covering 90% of the screen, very nostalgic), a 4"48' interview with director Seijun Suzuki, and a 7"56' interview with actor Joe Shishido. For a Criteriod DVD, it's pretty much barebones by standards.

Little Red Flowers

If you want to watch a movie about a little rascal wrecking havoc in school and giving teachers a hard time, you might want to check out Little Red Flowers, a movie set in 50s China, making its way to The Picturehouse soon. Who knows you might inadvertently visit some past memories of kindergarten times when life was much simplier and perhaps more innocent, or not :-)

You can click at the movieXclusive logo below to read my review:

[Cine.SG] Avatar

It Takes More Than A Water Pistol To Scare Me...

Earlier this year, the 3D animated movie Zodiac billed itself as the first local movie of its kind. The end result was one disgraceful disappointment, lacking a proper storyline and filled with childish voice acting coupled with amateurish animation. Lesson learnt though, it never is wise to rush a product out just to be the First to hit the market.

Along similar grain, Avatar holds the distinguished title of being the first locally made Science Fiction movie. It never got a mass commercial screening at the cinemas here, which of course didn't auger well for the movie and inevitably set tongues wagging. It got a one-off screening though, if memory serves me well, sometime last year, supposedly at Marina before moving to a larger hall at Prince/Jade. I didn't manage to secure a ticket for that screening though. But as soon as the screening was over, word of mouth was that the movie was extremely bad.

I was willing to give Avatar a shot now that Cine.SG had another one off screening - but the damage was already done, as I had unsuccessfully convinced any of my friends to fork out money to watch it. I would like to consider myself to have approached the film rather objectively, to see what it had to offer, and am somewhat a Sci-Fi fan too (insane enough to do this). Alas my verdict is - the general consensus was right. Avatar is a bad film, though with a few redeeming elements which I will elaborate, from my point of view.

It was once remarked by B-movie producer Roger Corman, that Singapore would make a great place for a science fiction movie (Corman had co-produced Saint Jack, the only Hollywood movie to date filmed entirely here). And it's true, as we do have a number of locales that look futuristic enough for on location shoots, and more so if given the special effects treatment to spruce things up. The opening shot of the city skyline is something familiar, yet on the other hand, something rather artifical about it - It's not Singapore, it's a fictional city state called Sintawan.

Avatar probably and unwittingly set itself a high benchmark to meet right from the start, by having that text crawl (cliche) explaining the setting of the world upon which the story is based, talking about Simplants and the police - pitting itself against cult classic Blade Runner. Director Kuo Jian Hong (daughter of the late Kuo Pao Kun, this movie is dedicated in his memory) might have high hopes of Avatar emulating and meeting those standards, or to achieve an indie following, however the fundamentals of having a proper storyline was already flubbed.

It tried too hard to be intelligent, rather than sticking to the "keep it simple stupid" rule, especially if one is thinking of cramping plenty of techno-babble into less than two hours. Unlike The Matrix which seamlessly gelled simplified philosophy into its narrative, and more so as an afterthought rather than assaulting your senses while the story is being told. Speaking of The Matrix, there were also some reference to the giant network storage of persons' identities, a Cyberlink (probably an advanced form of the Net), as well as a subplot involving the police up against a group of rebels, amongst others. Avatar suffered from trying to explain too much in too little time, and will make you switch off when listening to "important" mumbo jumbo you dont' care about, regarding some teleportation technology and identity doppelganging using biological science early in the movie, before shifting gears into presenting some huge conspiracy theory about playing God in the Game (oooh).

Briefly, we follow the exploits of the best (Singapore, oops, Sintawan everything also must #1) bounty hunter in the business of Simplant capture - Dash MacKenzie (Genevieve O'Reilly), an ang moh, as locals don't have street cred to be leads in the movie. Actually, most of the local actors, prominent ones I must add, were relegated to playing supporting or cameo roles in this production, folks like Lim Kay Siu, Neo Swee Lin, Kumar, Gerald Chew, Richard Low and Kevin Murphy (from S11, didn't know he was that active in previous local productions, the other one being City Sharks, but bit role as well), The other main lead was an Asian actor Wang Luoyong (huh?) who played cop Victor Huang, in pursuit of Dash, and under circumstances beneficial to both, begin an uneasy partnership which blossomed into some hokey romance.

I think by now any self respecting (I say this in jest) local movie would somehow have a scene set in coffeeshops / hawker centers to get that seal of authenticity that it's made in Singapore. Diners should have no qualms that in Avatar's future, our favourite makan style of choice is still around, with shady covert dealings taking place right underneath hungry bellies. Other locations easily identified included the Expo MRT station (no more EZ-Link cards, your palm is scanned instead), inside MRT trains, Bugis Junction, the area around Empress Place, Little Guilin at Bukit Gombak and even Hotel 81 (yes!) which seemed to retain its perceived sleazy purpose in the movie.

The acting's all very stiff, probably from the cast's lack of belief in what they're actually doing, and the unbelievable lines they have to say. For a production of the time, it's probably still stuck in a mindset that it is better to engage B/C-graded calibre ang-moh actors than to choose jolly good ones from our local scene. Not that I'm against foreign talent, but in my opinion it's quite a pain to see them going through the motions here, spewing lines of dialogue which are and sound so artificial, made worse by their accents.

Avatar looked like a million dollars, alas it felt like a cheap telemovie. The effects were decent though, but for scenes with extended CG or CG created backgrounds, it ended up a bit raw and looked unpolished. The costumes looked lush, especially Joan Chen's figure hugging and cleavage enhancing outfits. Some shots were done creatively, obviously so to cover up the lack of a bigger budget to get more gizmos mentioned, implied or are actually used in the film, like vehicles - you never actually see them zoom around the city.

So is Avatar worth watching? Yes, for that lesson on how not to make a science fiction film. One wonders if The Gene Generation will work out successfully, which also casted another Hollywood B-movie specialist Bai Ling in a lead role, and Faye Dunaway too.

That Feels So Good... NOT!

Singapore Dreaming - The Second Viewing

The Family Portrait

I've said it before, if I like a movie, I'll watch it more than once on the big screen. It's taken me a bit of time to watch this as Richard and I were pooling our resources (time and money) together to get this group screening going (see earlier post), but watching it with 20 friends and countless other strangers (the hall was about 80% full), and experiencing the laughter and sadness together, made it all worthwhile.

I'm not going to recap what I've mentioned in my earlier review, but would like to focus on the bits that I really liked. So just as a warning, mild spoilers ahead, i.e. sublimal meaning is to go watch it first then come back here lah!

I love the acting, because the cast did a fantastic job with their respective characters. You'll feel sorry for them, some pity, you'll laugh with them, share in their joys and sorrows, and despise some of the damning things they do and say. On the surface and from the onset, you might think they're a bunch of happy people, but as we move along, the facade gets chipped away, and we see through their characters. However, their characters are so complex, you can't help but feel how real they are, and not just caricatures created to milk laughs or sympathy.

If one day we had a local movie award, I'd like to see Yeo Yann Yann take away one for best actress - seriously you'll feel for her character, the one always being overlooked, sidelined, mocked at, and in true human fashion, takes it out on someone else when she's feeling frustrated. For actor, supporting or otherwise, Richard Low's extremely charismatic screen presence and endearing father figure, deserves the kudos. As mentioned, the characters have their flaws, but these flaws are what is easily identifiable within ourselves, or easily seen in someone we know. Which makes this movie uniquely Singaporean, not because dialects or Singlish is used, not because of the showing of HDB flats or coffeeshops, or the myriad of scenes related to food, but rather, it shows us a mirror at which we see ourselves, looking and examining deep into our psyche as we relentlessly pursue our "dreams" - of the material kind.

And watching it again allowed me to revisit some of my favourite scenes, like the one in the toilet (yes) with the conversation between Father and Son, the family reunion dinner table, and I felt the traditions observed during the rituals could probably be one of the rare detailed few documented on local film too. The dialogues too worked wonders for me, as they were sharp and don't sound rehearsed, but really, really something that's pretty real in a local context.

Oh, and I liked the references to TalkingCock The Movie too - watch out for the movie shown in a television set, and the Auntie Auntie branded beer bottles! I'm sure there's more :-)

I've been quoted (first time too), but I'll say it again, Singapore Dreaming is just plain brilliant. Go watch it now if you have not, probably the most accessible local movie this year - if you're only gonna watch just one local movie, make it Singapore Dreaming! It's still in contention for my movie of the year. Bring on the DVD (but first go watch in cinema ok?)!

MovieXclusive Showtime - Singapore Dreaming!

That's right. As the date and time of this post suggest, movieXclusive will be organizing an en-bloc screening of Singapore Dreaming. The details are as follows

Date: 12 Sep 06
Time: 1900hrs
Venue: GV Plaza

If you haven't watched it yet, I'd tell you to join us for the screening. Why? Because nowhere can you watch a movie anywhere for only S$6, and also stand a chance to win a poster if you get a pair of tickets.

Rarely do many columnists at movieXclusive come to a common consensus, but we all agree that this movie is da bomb ok? You can read my review here.

Click here for details on reservation and confirmation!

Critically Acclaimed OK?
So Says A Nutshell Review Too!

Need a sneak peek? Check these out!

Teaser


Trailer

[DVD] Green Tea (Lü Cha) (2003)

So Who's The Nerd Now?

The first movie I watched starring enigmatic Chinese actor Jiang Wen was during a business trip to KL, catching a show at KLCC before my late afternoon flight. In Warriors of Heaven and Earth, he donned a moustache and beard as the charismatic leader Lieutenant Li, in a movie which had great premise but a lousy story to tell. As for Zhao Wei, unless your head was buried in sand, you wouldn't have missed the era in the late 90s where she was bombarding television sets everywhere in her role as Little Sparrow in My Fair Princess Huan Zhu Ge Ge.

So I guess putting them together in a movie made it almost irresistible to not want to pick up this DVD. This was actually a precursor to their Warriors movie where they collaborated again, but in this modern setting, based upon a short story "Adiliya by the River" (what the heck is Adiliya?) by Jin Renshun, they star as a pair of wannabe lovers looking into exploring if they could be together.

Sweeping aside the age gap, this movie is one heck of a mindgame. It's frustrating at times as nothing actually happens, and the lead characters just sit around and talk about stuff absolutely not related to anything at all. Well, at least not directly related to what's happening on hand, but telling stories - we're sitting through a story with characters telling stories, fictional ones which doesn't really add depth to plot, or characterization. It's pretty strange stuff.

And strange are their characters too, with the only realistic moment is the beginning - if you're looking for a stranger in a cafe, and there are two ladies, who would you approach first, the hot one, or the plain looking one? Chen Mingliang (Jiang Wen) went for the jugular, but it was actually Wu Fang (Zhao Wei) who was his blind date. They don't start off well, and continued to bicker. One's become obsessive with her conservatism, while the latter is a serial blind-dater.

But there is more than meets the eye to Wu Fang, and herein lies the guesswork to decipher who she actually was, and the motivations behind what she is doing. You can boil it down to PMS, or to the wall being built around her heart, or to just plain old psychosis. Whatever the case is, it's about persistence and the relentless pursuit of who you like, and on the other side, to spice things up with playing coy, hard to get, and being more of a mysterious enigma.

Nothing much to take away in less than 90 minutes, except to admire the two lead's ability to act and play off each other, and Christopher Doyle's cinematography (he makes tea leaves in hot water so sexy), which is a bit of a waste in a movie lacking in strength of story. I hate to say this, but the repetitive score is a bit irritating.

Code 9 DVD contains zero extras. The sound was quite bad, with plenty of echo, like speaking in a vast enclosed space. The transfer was bearably decent, but the subtitles seemed to look as if it has its bottom thinly shaved off.

[DVD] Proof of Life (2000)

Do I Have Mail?

What happens in real life will inevitably have an effect on the reel one. Tom Cruise learnt that with his strange antics in real life - his screen one suffered with a less than expected stellar box office for M:I:3 despite positive critical reviews. Way back in 2000, Russell Crowe and Meg Ryan learnt that too, with their rumoured romance while shooting this movie, one of the many reasons resulting in this becoming a box office bomb.

I felt that it was not a bad movie actually, given the story which I found interesting in the first place, for its extremely distant relation to what I'm doing, and being an action adventure movie, it works with its fair share of big action sequences.

Russell Crowe plays Terry Thorne, a consultant in the Security and Crisis Response Unit of Luthan Risk International. His job is to negotiate the safe return of Kidnap and Ransom (K&R) victims around the world, and of course, this brings him frequently to where the action is, during the payment of ransoms and the extraction of hostages. He yearns for a management role, but as always, if you're an excellent field operative, you're played to your strengths out there.

Which brings him to his latest client, Meg Ryan's Alice Bowman, whose husband Peter Bowman (David Morse), an employee with the biggest international oil firmed, gets kidnapped by chance during a raid in Ecuador. There are numerous scenes in the movie to perk your interest in this much behind-the-scenes industry of K&R, the terrorist(?) groups' motivation, and how the entire business is conducted, with the engagement of peers as well as the involvement of shady government personnel.

There are many fine touches that might go unnoticed, like how network of contacts and peers are milked, cooperation extended, the wheelings and dealings of large multinational corporations, and politics in general. But the focus moves quickly towards a micro one, that between Thorne and Alice Bowman, as he accomplishes to build her trust in him that he's the best in the business and knows what he's doing.

Perhaps this is one of the rare movies that allowed Crowe to be an Australian (and keep the accent) in a Hollywood production. His Thorne is oozes enough machismo to carry the action through and is credible enough to be believed as a veteran in the business. Meg Ryan this time round has a more serious character to play, albeit at times a weepie one, steering well clear of the pretty ditzy blonde comedic roles she has become accustomed to. They had probably shot some love scenes for this movie, but I suppose the bad press resulted in those scenes ending up on the cutting room floor. The romance between the character was also almost squashed out, save for the out of place suggestion of a strong physical attraction which rears its ugly head in the second half of the movie, slowing the pace down a little without much mature development. I thought that should it had been removed entirely, it'll probably end up a stronger movie, with Thorne more in character as a mission driven individual.

The first David, David Caruso, is finding a new lease of life back in television with CSI, since branching off to movies after NYPD Blue didn't augur too well for him. I thought his performance here was nothing much to shout about though. However David Morse, who usually plays supporting roles, put up an adequately engaging Peter Bowman as an executive caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, and examines the fear and desperation of a man kidnapped and constantly at the wrong end of a gun barrel.

The theme song by Danny Elfman is addictive (time to hunt it down), and the end credits was played over a helicopter view of the entire Ecuadorian landscape, just beautiful to look at. Clocking at just over 2 hours, it provided some good entertainment for a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Code 3 DVD contains the behind the scenes making-of documentary (13" 40'), the theatrical trailer, and the feature length audio commentary by director Taylor Hackford.

Pulse

Speak Up! I Can't Hear You!

I've watched the original movie Kairo which Pulse is based upon. As is the current trend, Asian horror movies are being adapted or remade by their western counterparts at a rapid pace in an attempt to offer something different in style of the genre to its own audiences. If you haven't watched Kairo, you might think that Pulse is genius. If you had watched Kairo however, and didn't like it, this remake will make you appreciate the original a whole lot more. If you liked Kairo, then Pulse is a blasphemy, whether or not you're a purist.

While the original is measured in its delivery, keeping its cards close to its chest while the story developed, Pulse suffers from the dumbing down of plot to cater to the masses - any theme and everything is explained like an instruction manual, and this goes right down to offering some kind of a decent explanation of what exactly is happening, and creates a weak origin to go along too. From the onset, within the first ten minutes, it smacks the ideas of communication and modern day isolation so in your face, you wonder what else are they gonna cover as the movie progressed.

Luckily it lasts a little less than 90 minutes, and somehow sustained interest with its nicely done special effects, which you cannot deny is much superior to Kairo, made 5 years ago. However, nifty special effects isn't sufficient to gloss over a serious lack of effort in delivery to make this be at least as creepy as the original. Contrasted with the simple effects of shadowy figures, and the atmospheric chilling mood in Kairo, which you do not get to feel at all when watching Pulse, it degenerates this movie into a level of generics.

As with all remakes, some liberties are taken to create new characters, or recreate some from an amalgamation of others. From the trailers you do see iconic scenes taken from Kairo lock stock and barrel, but somehow didn't make the final cut, or was modified. There were some nice touches though, in their recreation of the dank apartment where the first signs of trouble surfaced.

Are there any good points at all? Compared to Kairo, this one is paced faster, because of its action sequences with the showing of the ghouls. So for those with attention disorder, its lack of lingering scenes will make Pulse more palatable to you. But one thing that really stuck out like a sore thumb, is its use of pop music, wiping away any sense or attempts at creating a horror movie truly dependent on mood, which is what made Asian horror stand out against the usual western horror movies in the first place.

All in all, I think it's about time remakes cool off the factory floor. If anything, Pulse should generate some interest on Kairo, and allow those who backtrack, discover the genius of the original Kiyoshi Kurosawa masterpiece.


Click here to read a genius review comparing the original masterpiece with the current popcorn flick - I've read it twice in succession, and it made me wanna reborrow Kairo to check out the bits that I've missed!

Forbidden Siren (Sairen)

Forbidden Siren is based upon the Siren 2 Playstation 2 (so many 2s) game. Like most video game turned movies, I would say the majority don't translate into a different medium really well. And that goes for this one too, painfully.

There's a pretty long prologue which explains and sets the premise for the story, and the mysterious island on which a writer (Leo Morimoto) and his children, daughter Yuki (Yui Ichikawa) and son Hideo (Jun Nishiyama) come to move into. The villagers don't look all too friendly, and soon enough, sound advice is given about the siren on the island, to stay indoors once the siren starts wailing.

Naturally and slowly, things start to go bump, and our siblings go on a mission beating around the bush to discover exactly what is happening on this unfriendly island with its strange inhabitants. But in truth, you will not bother with what's going on, as folklore and fairytales get thrown in to convolute the plot even more. What was really pushing it into the realm of bad comedy are its unwittingly ill-placed-out-of-the-norm moments which just drew pitiful giggles at its sheer stupidity, until it's explained much later. It's one thing trying to come up and present something smart, but another thing doing it convincingly and with loopholes covered.

Despite it clocking in under 90 minutes - I think it's a horror movie phenomenon to have that as a runtime benchmark - it gives that almost two hour feel with its slow buildup to tell what it wants to. Things begin to pick up toward the last 20 minutes, but it's a classic case of too little too late.

What saves the movie is how it changes tack and its revelation at the end. Again this is a common device used to try and elevate a seemingly simple horror movie into something a little bit extra in the hope of wowing an audience. It turned out rather satisfactorily, but leaves a bad aftertaste as you'll feel cheated somewhat. There are two ways a twist will make you feel - it either elevates the movie to a memorable level, or provides you with that hokey feeling. Unfortunately Forbidden Siren belonged more to the latter.

The saving grace will be its cinematography with its use of light, shadows and mirrors, but I will be that explicit - it's still not worth the time, so better to avoid this.

Friends With Money

It's a relatively short movie clocking in at just under 90 minutes, but it's pretty amazing that each one of the ensemble cast - Jennifer Aniston, Joan Cusack, Frances McDormand and Catherine Keener amongst others, have adequate screen time to bring to life their very different characters. It's a story about partners, choices, and life in general, finding familiar ground with all in the way it portrays friendships and the interactions in relationships.

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The Host (Gwoemul)

The Family That Stays Together...

This movie has already been much hyped because everyone is wondering what the Koreans saw in it to make it a resounding box office smash. So does it live up to expectations? Yes, in a different way. What I'll include below will be suitable more for a post viewing read, although most will probably have some prior knowledge about the movie from its trailers and poster. If you don't mind mild spoilers, you can proceed, until the part where I'll warn you about something major.

Watching this film will make you laugh at its comedic moments, feel a tinge of sadness in others and it might make you cry, or pound your heart with suspense, and will even satisfy the action movie lovers with some sequences. It's like a big pot of rojak - different ingredients mashed together, blended perfectly into a 2 hour long journey of pure entertainment with serious messages.

At the heart of it is a tale about family. Here, given its genre, there's no all-empowered super being or man's man who goes on a one man crusade against the beast. It's about what an ordinary family doing the extraordinary by digging deep and finding strength from within. The portrayal by the lead actors are quite believable, as you feel their pain, frustrations and idiosyncrasies as they go about trying to achieve their mission despite the odds. One thing's for sure, family ties run deep, with emphasis on unity, not individuality.

There're some key observations made about the human condition, how naturally curious we are when we spot things not normally seen, instinctively whipping out cameras to take pictures, and how we innocently provoke without realizing. Not too subtle jibes are made at how bumbling authorities are, and on the pompousness of the US forces in assuming control over the situation, sidestepping what they probably know as the real cause with a presentation of a smokescreen.

**Here's where the major spoilers begin**

The monster!! I absolutely have to blabber about it! I was half expecting Godzilla pounding through the streets of Seoul and pulverizing buildings to a pulp. But wait! The Host came up with something pretty refreshing - this monster, is midget! (if compared to conventional notions of what a monster would be). Herein lies one of the breakdowns in genre, but tenacity and nastiness is not measured on size alone - it's menacing and merciless when the time calls for it.

The creation of the monster came from a fictionalized imagining of a real life scenario gone wrong, with regards to the lack of respect to the environment, and on toxic pollution. If Godzilla was created in the nuclear age to highlight its dangers, then this being was created because of mankind's preference for the easy way out - through the kitchen sink.

The bugger looked beautifully ugly, but thanks to its excellent special effects teams (one of which is WETA, yeah, THAT WETA), it moves with slick grace and agility, I would even say it swaggers stylishly, It is so realistic, that never for a moment you'll think you're watching a cheesy monster flick (even though rubber suits are nostalgic).

** Major spoilers end **

The music is yet another plus point as it brought out the mood and plays with your emotions as well. The sound department has its work cut out in designing a unique roar, and you'll feel terrorized as if you're there on location as the creature rampages. For good measure, you might want to stay until the end of the credits for a little easter egg, and especially if you're watching it in a hall outfitted with a decent surround sound system.

All in all, two words: Highly recommended. Goes into my shortlist of movie of the year too!

P.S. I don't know why, but I was swearing at some parts of the movie (eg. "******** RUN!!") together with another group of strangers. We were having a hellishly good, fun time during the screening. Awesome!

Frostbiten

You Must Have Faith For It To Work

To think I was once avoiding horror movies because I thought I was chicken. Hell, I now believe the real reason's cause there are so many bad horror movies out there, that it's just not worth the time and money to watch them on the big screen. This Swedish movie unfortunately, is one of them.

Frostbiten started off promisingly, with a link back to the horrors of WWII, where soldiers were being cut down in size by the enemies. They stumble onto an unused hut, but before they can get a good night's rest, they realize that there is something mysterious about the entire place, and got attacked by strange creatures. It's quite an extended scene before the opening title, but we get fast forwarded to today.

Mother and daughter Annika (Petra Nielsen) and Saga (Grete Havnesköld) come to a new town to start life anew, but before they get settled down, it's a mixed bag of incidents which see Annika uncovering a deep dark secret in the hospital she works in, and Saga's teenage friends getting high on an experimental drug without their knowledge, and get turned into vampires. So begins a battle on both fronts as they fend off vampire rejects from Underworld.

The story is nothing to shout about, being very weakly made up of lame excuses just to feature the vampires in various fang-sinking-into-necks opportunities. Plenty of things went wrong, right up until its ending, which tried to be too intelligent for its own good with a suggestive open ended ending, and it doesn't make much sense. At times, the movie's littered with humour, but in cheesy ways as it wasn't able to decide whether to be funny, or dead serious with the antics. It's nothing scary, but there were copious amounts of blood used to up the gore factor.

Come to think of it, certain production aspects turned out quite childish with its lack of attention to continuity issues, although there were some sparks of brilliance in its special effects department. Other than that, if you really want to experiment with a foreign language horror movie, just wait for the discs to arrive.

On The Edge

You Have The Right To Remain Silent

At first glance, this movie might look like an Infernal Affairs clone, with Nick Cheung declaring he wants to be a "good cop", and with the element of an undercover cop in the triads. Actually, this could have sort of served as a tangent off IA1, with keen observations to how undercover cops find it tough to assimilate back to normalcy, as the movie shared, more than 50% do not make it pass their 3rd year.

Nick Cheung plays Harry, an undercover cop who has just busted one of the largest triad bosses - Don Dark (don't ask, played by the excellent Francis Ng), but so what? One would expect glory, recognition and a fat reward to go along, but surprise, in the real world, things like that go unappreciated more often than not. In most movies, the good guy takes the bad guy down in a blaze of glory, and one would expect the glorious moments to be hailed. Here, it's the exploration of how difficult it is actually to rid yourself of vices that you picked up over the years.

Given 8 years spent in the underworld, friendships are forged, and so that sense of brotherhood and loyalty become fiercely strong. And it is indeed this brand of devotion that casts a shadow on Harry, whether he has actually rid himself of underworld links, or somehow turned tails and is acting like a double agent. But you know you're stuck in a rut when both sides decide they couldn't trust you.

Assimilating back to society isn't always easy, and not having the support from those that matter to you will always make it all the more challenging. In the 8 years you've been living a lie as a different man, how would you expect others to look at you? It actually makes you wonder if it is humanly possible at all, to forget some of the best times of your life, and the relationships you hold so dearly to. After all, no man is an island.

A major plus point is the stellar supporting heavyweights like Francis Ng and Anthony Wong, though they may seem to have superficially replayed their roles from IA2, with a bit of mellowing from Ng and an extra sense of edginess from Wong. Rain Lee as Harry's girlfriend looked a bit out of place though, with her cutie pie looks totally in opposites with her tough-nails gangster moll character. There's also a deliberate contrast between the methods of those on different sides of the law, subtly hinting that in the end, it boils down to basic human principles of conduct.

To round up, the movie may be treading on a familiar genre. The multiple flashbacks are done very nicely as we see the years that Harry spent in the underworld intertwined and contrasting with the normal life he's trying to lead. I suspect it might not last long in its release here given the barrage of films out starting from next week, so you might want to give this movie a shot.

Tony Takitani

I Hope That's Not Designer Lingerie

Tony Takitani is a short film, clocking in at 75 minutes, but it's amazing how so much can be cramped into so short a time for a feature film. Telling the story of the titular character, played by Issei Ogata, we actually go backward an additional generation to learn of Tony's father Schozaburo Takitani, played by the same actor.

The movie had segregated within itself certain milestones of events, with the dad's story first, and It took awhile before Tony took over and moved the plot forward, or should I say, plodded forward. We observe how he meets the love of his life, Eiko (Rie Miyazawa, Twilight Samurai), who, like in a Taiwanese movie The Shoe Fairy (starring Vivian Hsu), has an obsession, not only shoes, but the entire designer fashion wardrobes.

The next half of the movie tells of the sadness Tony underwent when he loses his wife, and tries his best to forget the pain. Hence his weird classified ad he posted seeking someone who fitted his wife's frame, to come work for him, but wearing his wife's clothes, giving him a sense that she's somehow around him. Totally weird, in which he agreed too. But of all the scenes I would love the last one best, as if it served as a wake up call of not living one's life in the past, but to look to the future.

Perhaps the movie has a deliberate dull feeling to it, reflective of Tony's character. As mentioned, a lot of underlying themes and various emotions run through, but ultimately, I felt it was dry and boring at times, because nothing much happens - no big action, everything's pretty nuanced and controlled, so much so that scenes drag. The movie's beautifully shot with pretty images, but ring hollow in me from a lack of emotional resonance.

Effectively, it gave you a sense of loneliness and isolation that Tony goes through when his wife is lost, and the pain that sledgehammers in the silent moments, save for the narrative voice over, done to perfection as it integrates wonderfully with the character's monologue, or conversations. Not to forget too is the pretty distracting technique of having the camera pan from left to right between scene transitions.

Recommended only for art movie lovers, who'll probably have a field day with this slow moving movie.

The Intimate (Aein)

The Morning After

If I were to summarize this movie in a few words, this would be it: Serendipity with plenty of sex.

Telling a story of two strangers who meet by chance in an elevator, The Intimate follows their journey through the day and night (which doesn't seem to end by the way), as they discover about each other, and about themselves in the process. Kinda like Before Sunrise in its treatment, the lovers, nameless except known as Boy (Jo Dong-Hyuk) and Girl (Sung Hyun-Ah), play the usual courtship mind games, playing coy, being aggressive, taking turns to bust each others chops as they fall into each other's arms.

Sounds like your typical romance movie, no? At certain points the usual elements are there, like plot devices romanticizing a bench and hand drawn pictures, and the mushy things lovers whisper to the ears of another. Cliched highlights include one needing to leave the country the next day, and the other being engaged to someone else, and now both of them, by Fate, are presented a chance to do something totally different. But in this story, it managed to take aged old questions of doubt, and weave a compelling movie around them.

The basic question will be what is love. Is it supposed to be long drawn and lasting a lifetime, or is the feeling actually made up of short passionate bursts? And after being with someone for so long, is it a question of being afraid to leave the comfort zone of familiarity, or does it boil down truly to faithfulness? The nagging fear of being about to marry someone, and then you meet your soulmate - what do you do? Blame the person for turning up in your life too late? And it is somehow true that the longer you know someone, the more faults that you will find, and the question is, will you be able to live with those faults, or do you prefer to live in that constant crest of emotional highs and bailing out when the slightest inclination of such faults start to rear its head?

It helps that both leads are eye-candy, as they offer you a chance to answer some of those questions yourself if you were to put yourselves in their shoes and be offered the same set of temptations - here's what you currently have, and here's what someone else can offer. What would you do? If there is a gripe, it'll be the one-dimensional fiance that somehow has to be demonized in order to make the other option all the more appealing.

It's a relatively engaging movie, though watching the out takes while the end credits rolled made you appreciate the movie's direction a little more. While those scenes which were left out may be seen as more interesting, somehow I felt it would have disrupted the pace and dragged events rather than having it all compacted into a screen duration of 24 hours. It would have been a totally different look and feel altogether, but probably not for the better.

Ghost Game (Laa-thaa-phii)

The premise seemed interesting enough - a group of game contestants undertaking the ultimate dare, to rough it out in an unused prison renowned for its haunting given that it was the location of a massacre. The news film reel style at the beginning, without showing much gore, already set the atmosphere and mood, providing much anticipated scares for our 11 contestants. Again I'm sad to say that this horror flick didn't work for me.

It seemed like a bit of Battle Royale meeting Truman Show mixed with Survivor elements. While Battle Royale had a group of students sent to an island for them to whack the living daylights out of each other, in this one our motley crew had to rely more on psychology to outplay, outwit and outlast each other, as well as the supernatural elements. There's something in common though, in that they had ex-winners re-enter the competition. There're plenty of CCTV cameras and public announcement speakers installed throughout where instructions are yelled through, and images are recorded for public broadcast in the show Ghost Game.

Like Survivor, there were plenty of decisions made in the spirit of that game, together with familiar elements of alliances and mistrust, of second guessing good intentions and making wild conjectures, all in the name of playing the game and emerging the winner for that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Which actually left the scares wanting. Unfortunately we had to fall back on the usual lame quick cuts, sudden camera zooms, and extreme close ups accompanied by loud beats to race heartbeats. It might even leave you wondering about that aged old saying, that only if you're unlucky, could you see spirits wandering around you. Here, sightings aren't consistent if that aged old saying is to be believed, and that could be a bit frustrating. Setting the game to coincide with the anniversary of the massacre seemed like common sense for television ratings,

As a side, the eleven contestants here are actually from a variety show called Academy Fantasia in Thailand, and in similar fashion, they get "voted off" here too. The gem however turned out to be the scene played during the end credits, where the contestants come out to say a few words prior to being sent to the game location. Plenty of cheese as they ham it up in character, and watching it in hindsight, you can't help but to feel a tinge of despair.

P.S. I've read that the filmmakers had to apologize given the premise of the prison seemed to have cut too close to the Cambodian's Toul Sieng prison during the Khmer Rouge regime, with the depiction of genocide, and the loose reference in the movie in the form of a game show.

Art of the Devil 2 (Long Khong)

You Need Regular Dental Checkups!

I've been intrigued by Thai Voodoo for the longest time, not that I would want to be on the receiving end of it, but it makes you wonder the amount of clout and (real?) ability of these medicine men who put hexes and curses on your behalf, for a small fee. And it always seem that what they do to you, from simple artifacts like a voodoo doll, can inflict so much pain onto your real self with just a simple needle poked on a right position on the straw doll.

Art of the Devil 2 is not a sequel, in that it has no relation to the first (which I am now intrigued to watch as it stars Chai-Lai Angel Supaksorn Chaimongkol), although they deal with the same supernatural forces in Thai lore. It tells a story of a physically attractive model teacher, Ms Panor (Napakpapha Nakprasitte), and her group of students, one of whom she is a stepmother to. However, as with all misunderstandings, it stems off with what the eyes see and the ears here, and the mind believing. With black magic in the works, things are never what it seems, as the group of students revisit their teacher a few years after a tragic and shameful incident happened in school. Why, you'll never understand, but we need something to have them all put together to get something going.

This movie has plenty of gory moments which offers some good scares, given the disgusting things that happen to the victims of the hex. If torture scenes in Syrianna and Hard Candy made you squirm in your seat, then your stomach is up for more churning, given the previous two films did it more psychologically and with off-camera scenes, whereas here you're not spared the visual details, leaving none to the imagination, even if certain shots might look cheap and unrealistic. The gore grips you right from the start, giving you a hint that if you can't stand what you've just seen in the first few minutes, you won't be better off for the rest of the movie.

In an environment where almost everyone is not as innocent as they seem, keeping secrets close to their hearts, and the usage of black magic to achieve their individual desires and objectives commonplace, it perhaps served as a reminder not to dabble in the black arts, either as a practitioner or an end user, as there are always warnings of ill fate that befall upon them.

Unlike the Sixth Sense with its slick execution, script and delivery, Art of the Devil 2 had a rather satisfactory ending, but with the final stroke of the pen in creating the finale, it presented itself with a major loophole that seemed to have glossed over what transpired earlier, which is a big no-no in trying to force audiences to accept the "new truth".

However, if your intention is to get some scares, then this movie still delivers, if you'd be forgiving to the ending.