Hotaru the Movie: It's Only a Little Light in My Life (Eiga Hotaru no Hikari / 映画 ホタルノヒカリ)

There She Goes
Prior to the movie, I never understood what's a "Dried Up Woman" in the Japanese context, other than to imagine how suggestive that title would probably ever be when unceremoniously bestowed on a lady. Hotaru the Movie is based on the manga series by Satoru Hiura, and in 2007, a television series got produced starring Haruka Ayase and Naohito Fujiki in the title roles of lovebirds Hotaru Takano and Seiichi Takano respectively, a series which got a second season in 2010, from which the movie continues from.

Those not brought up to speed by the television series would find it suffice to know that Hataru Takano works for an interior design company, and she's quite the capable career lady, she's really the opposite when at home. A sloth if you'd like, preferring to relax on her veranda, stretched out and with beer in hand. Housework is not in her vocabulary, and messiness is but a second nature. Her boss Seiichi Takano coincidentally happens to be her landlord's son, which leads to her constant, cloying calls of "Boss", after a relationship develops.

The entry point into the film is an opportunity to set up a big budget spectacle for a romantic comedy to work, with the first act introducing the basic tenets of each lead character, and with Rome being put forth as a likely potential honeymoon venue. True to her character, Hotaru prefers to laze at home rather than to travel hundreds of miles to tour an overseas location, but the business trip opportunity that Seiichi gets himself onto, meant a fairly reluctant Hotaru going along after realizing that it just might be fulfilling one of the dreams of her partner. Cue the many touristy shots of famous landmarks that the duo will visit throughout the course of the film, which I'm sure will bring back nice memories of anyone who had visited the Italian capital city before.

But in expanding the storyline, writer Fumie Mizuhashi introduced a brother and sister in Rio (Yasuko Matsuyuki) and Yu Saeki (Yuya Tegoshi) whom Hotaru and Seiichi will encounter in their honeymoon, which somehow become one of those unwanted gatecrashers to the party. They bring about emotional baggage that threaten to stall the narrative and shift focus, especially when Hotaru and Rio start t hang out to look for the purportedly kidnapped Seiichi, and with Rio introduced as yet another Dried Up Woman as well. Yu's role is to add some comedic flair as the childish brother of Rio, although this role doesn't seem to add up too much.

Thankfully, this film triumphs in having the presence of Haruka Ayase, and between her and Naohito Fujiki, it's hands down just who the real star of the film is, and the more popular character of the two. Seiichi is a little stiff and played too seriously, prim and proper almost all the time, so it's without a doubt that Hotaru herself is the main draw and attraction. Ayase nails it as the zany, bubbly girl who really can't be too bothered about decorum, whether in Japan or overseas, and has enough antics up her sleeve to endear herself to just about anyone. It's really laugh out loud material with Ayase showing a knack for comedic timing, and some of the best scenes involve both leading characters misunderstanding and misreading intentions with what's actually being said or done, and the constant embarrassment Hotaru sometimes bring into their relationship.

Those who cannot stand anyone who cloys, or acts cute, may find it a definite turn off, but clearly this is a film not meant for you then, since it's meant for the legions of fans of both the manga and television series to continue where they last left off. There are a couple of surprises all contained within the final act that will please fans, and open up more avenues either for a follow up film, or yet another television series. Only time will tell!

[BR] The Chemical Brothers: Don't Think (2012)

Friends will know I'm a fan of The Chemical Brothers, especially since spending school days in labs with their music constantly played as an apt distraction from work needed to be done. So I've spent a fair bit of time with their music, but yet to attend any of their performances / concerts even if they had swung by into Singapore - I can't remember. So I was indeed surprised to see this Blu-Ray available in a warehouse sale because it's a fairly recent product, so it has to be rescued from the bargain bin. No regrets there.

Filmed with a 20 person camera crew during last year's Fuji Rock Festival in Japan in front of a 50,000 strong crowd, since it's after all, the final headline act, Don't Think is a live album and concert film rolled into one, with views throughout either from amongst the party-goers, at the stage, or a top down view of the console to see Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons in action. It puts you right there together with the thousands of people, just minus the sweat and smell, and soon you'd find yourself bobbing to, and probably dancing along, as the Brothers work it out.

Directed by Adam Smith, there's a little bit of a narrative going on as well, as there are periodic breaks from the usual stage-audience cut-aways, to following Mario Kobayashi Stopford, credited as the Girl at Fuji, as we get to walk around a bit at the concert venue to check out the trails between performance venues, and various food and drinks shops fueling hungry and thirsty people taking a break from the non-stop festival. It puts you right there and then as if you're part of the festivities, even if you're really just lounging at home and watching this through a screen.

But the highlight of course is the staggering LED screen projecting hundreds of psychedelic images and laser light effects that accompany the many tunes the Chemical Brothers are spinning from the console, and it is these visuals that makes this film an apt substitute of being there, from ugly looking clowns to colourful silhouettes trancing to the beats. There's even an advisory the the strobbing effect may affect viewers with photo-sensitive epilepsy or other similar conditions, so be warned! It's quite unlike any other concert film where the focus is almost always on the performer, since there's nothing too interesting from seeing Rowlands and Simons operating the console, but this gets compensated manifold by the lights and effects show on display.

The Blu Ray is region free, and is presented in an anamorphic widescreen transfer which at times does show some grain, with a choice to listen to the soundtrack in 2.0 or 7.1 Dolby Digital, the latter which of course is the obvious and better reason since you'd want to recreate that sense surround concert experience. The Blu Ray also comes packaged with the CD containing just the live audio with the same tracks as played during the concert, and there's a booklet that comes within.

Ek Tha Tiger

Always Time To Romance
Salman Khan in recent years have been in top form, becoming the box office phenomenon and cementing his popularity and legacy with iconic roles in films from Wanted, Dabangg, Ready, Bodyguard, and now Ek Tha Tiger. Not to diss the other filmmakers who have enjoyed success together with Salman, but his first work under the Yash Raj banner has the usual YR gloss being applied, making it quite the stylish affair to accentuate Salman's charisma on screen as the larger than life Tiger, formidable and arguably the most fearsome field agent for RAW, India's external spy arm.

Pakistan had reportedly banned the film, since the story deals with RAW vs Pakistan's ISI in highlighting the obvious odds between them, in a spy versus spy world where the opening act had Tiger tail, intimidate, interrogate, battle, and finally walking away victorious from scores of ISI agents hot on his trail. We see him exercising his reputation first hand, and is what 007 is to MI6, and come to observe plenty of his parkour like skills in many rooftop chases throughout the film, with Salman doing what Salman does best in his many action roles, to thunderous applause of approval from fans in the audience.

The setting in this film is ambitious, with similar 007 jet setting to beautiful though not quite far flung locations with the likes of Iraq, Ireland, and even Cuba, so with different locales brings about different stunt teams and choreographers to vary the flavour of the action. It's a little pity though that at times, because of Salman's bulk in physique, it's quite discerning to note when a stuntman takes Tiger's place, since one would not want to risk the big star's safety in some of the more dangerous stunts. And because Salman will always be Salman in a film and does what he does best, there is no lack of camp and sense of fun, with movie logic thrown in by the bucketloads for good measure, otherwise you can't get away with sliding down a hill on a car door and passing through highway traffic unscathed, or have the ability to call upon a ramp in the middle of a runway. Yes, we live for moments like this in a Hindi action movie.

Still, with big budget action spectacle, such as the stopping of a runaway tram being one of many highlights, the story grounds itself into a romantic one. On his latest mission to spy on an Indian scientist allegedly giving away trade secrets on India's anti-missile system, he falls for the scientist's caretaker Zoya (Katrina Kaif) unwittingly, and having not been in love before (you see, it's an occupational hazard), he turns from tiger to tame pussy cat in her presence, going extra miles and veering out of mission objectives (he would deny it of course) just to spend more time with her. And ultimately, it is this emotion that will cause him to hang a target board on his back from both RAW and ISI, and for a man in love, will do just about anything to be able to walk into the sunset with his lady love.

Spilt into two halves, the narrative in the first comes complete with comedic moments, especially with Tiger's Ally McBeal-ish moments of fantasy each time Zoya's questions becomes something of a funny reminiscence that screams of what he would like to explain, but can't. It gets all serious with the politics in the second half though, with fears from Tiger's direct supervisors of his potential of leaking information of his country into the enemies should he be captured, so in true clandestine style, the Tiger has to be put down without prejudice. Such is the world of the movie spy, with a twist in the romance that Shakespeare himself would be proud of, especially when it has to rival the bard's greatest love story ever.

It's no doubt that Ek Tha Tiger would be the blockbuster it's expected to be, for its lush production values now combined with two of the hottest Hindi stars of the present moment. Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif sizzle on screen with their chemistry each time they appear together, whether for a lovers' sharing of sweet nothings, or when it's time to hit the action button. At some points in the last act come questions of loyalty and allegiance that would put you on the edge of your seat because you'll find yourself drawn into rooting for them to get out of the deadly scenario they have put themselves under, though credit has to be given for not stretching those moments too far that it gets bogged down by its own doing.

The songs in the film serve as another major highlight, since they punctuate the romance and the action, without a song and dance moment in the film being felt out of place. Banjaara had Sukhwinder Singh's vocals, and allowed Katrina Kaif to become the clotheshorse with a number of costume changes throughout. But my personal favourite from the soundtrack is Mashallah, though featured in the film only as the end credits roll. Anyone doubting the chemistry between the leads, should just take a look at any of the film's music videos to be convinced.

Directed by Kabir Khan, who was at the helm with films like Kabul Express, and New York, he has shown a knack for being able to craft stories that are larger than life, and being entrusted with Ek Tha Tiger after only two films with the studio, demonstrates the confidence it has in the abilities of the director. Hopefully, with the announcement of a sequel being green lit, we'd see another Tiger outing with Kabir at the helm again. Definitely recommended, for those eager to watch a Hindi blockbuster that can rival Hollywood's anytime.

The Expendables 2

For Planet Hollywood!
The mercenaries are back! And if the response from the box office is stellar, I suppose The Expendables can build upon a formula that's established through the two films to date, that somehow follows how James Bond would have done it, with its longevity inspiring similar treatment. There's the opening big bang action sequence, followed by Bruce Willis' shady CIA operative Mr Church coming on to provide Barney (Sylvester Stallone) and his team a challenge they cannot refuse (by way of blackmail). Technology and weapons go down to bare basics with loads of guns, knives and brass knuckles, with room for a female companion somewhere, against a mob boss played by somebody well known.

The Muscles from Brussels Jean-Claude Van Damme had agreed to step into the shoes of the villainous boss called erm, Vilain, and shows he still got the moves with his signature roundhouse kicks. His plan is to make billions through mining weapons grade plutonium from a mine mapped out by the CIA, and together with lackey Hector (Scott Adkins), snarl in cocky fashion for the most parts, with Hector doing most of the dirty work of enslaving villagers to do their dirty bio-hazardous work. I guess egos got put aside when both got signed on to play villains amongst hundreds of faceless goons who are plain fodder when the Expendables come knocking, no thanks to a personal vendetta being set up early in the movie, giving Barney just cause for tracking, hunting, then killing.

Don't expect The Expendables sequel to be any brainier than the original of course, since nothing is cerebral here, and anything that exhibits a little bit of ingenuity, or brains, get mocked at. Just look at how Dolph Lundgren's Gunner Jensen got treated throughout as a mad scientist equivalent. It's really all about the bigger the guns, muscles and explosions, with the first scene establishing just how our heroes would plough through their adversaries - with ease like hot knife through butter. There's plenty of CG blood, gore, decapitations of various appendage done in a myriad of styles, they're all dumbed down to somewhat cartoony violence - where no matter what the faceless goons throw at The Expendables, nothing sticks, with vice versa accuracy the other way round. You may balk at scenes involving high caliber weapons literally ripping through a hole in someone's body or blowing up heads to smithereens, but it's the way the heroes become executioners, all without remorse.

Directing duties are given to Simon West, and in all honesty, he ensured a better way to shoot all the action, that is a leg up from how Stallone decided to do it, which was a blurry mash of clashing bodies in extreme closeups. Here we get to see who does what, with some incredible stunts filled with movie logic loopholes, you'd fare better if you leave your inhibitions at the door, and enjoy this action film for what it is. The screenplay by Richard Wenk and Stallone doesn't leave any room for character development, except for the continued buddy bromance between Barney and his right hand man Lee Christmas (Jason Statham). And their crew also got pared down with Jet Li appearing in just the first two scenes, with the team made up most of the time by Barney, Lee, Gunner, Hale (Terry Crews) and Toll (Randy Couture), with Yu Nan replacing Li as the token female and Chinese character who balances brains, guts and brawn.

What this outing now had, is plenty of jokes. It doesn't pretend to be what it's not, and junks seriousness, ever willing to trade in laughs at every opportunity. There are enough corny one liners here, and action set ups, that parody the action careers of Stallone, Willis and Schwarzenegger combined, the trio whom most audiences are really here to watch gracing the same screen together. And let's not forget good old Chuck Norris as Booker, with a tip of the hat going in the direction of the countless of Chuck Norris jokes that get a leg up when told by the legendary man himself, with his Booker having a reputation of being much of a lone wolf, coupled with a knack of appearing when needed, and given the abilities of all his action film roles combined.

The story centers on a vendetta to be settled between The Expendables and Vilain, and being a personal one too, with a handful of emotional scenes for Stallone to flex his acting chops a little. In what would be an uncanny coincidence, Stallone himself had to battle personal loss during the promotional tour of this film with the passing of his son. Despite having his crew made up of veterans of action roles past, Stallone continues to show that he has a fun-filled, violent action franchise that's picking up traction, and has enough legs to warrant more films to come, especially when more names like Snipes and Eastwood have been bandied around as potential inclusions. Action fans, this is something that you won't want to miss, especially if you've grown up in the 80s and 90s!

The Silent War (听风者 / Ting Feng Zhe)

Follow Me
If China has an NSA equivalent in the 1950s, then perhaps this secret unit codenamed 701 may be it, with its huge army of operatives employed in listening, code making, code breaking, and having field agents out there move in when the intelligence war is won, and time for some real action. Based on the novel "Plot Against" by Mai Jia, writer-directors Felix Chong and Alan Mak combine forces once again to weave an intricate spy thriller that's full of their usual innovativeness employed in storytelling, and reunites them with leading man Tony Leung, after their project Confession of Pain.

I can imagine how they could have enticed Tony to pick up the role. After all, one of the most memorable sequences in Infernal Affairs has Tony Leung engaged in a back channel communication with the police through morse code. And morse code takes centerstage here, with the directors perhaps having challenged the actor an opportunity to brush up his skills. Sure I may not understand morse, and nor can I vouch for the authenticity of what's being communicated in the film, and if my dad was still around he could decipher all the dits and the dats in a jiffy. In any case, any film with the thespian on board is worth a second look, and here, the filmmakers threw another gauntlet, by having him play a blind man, taking away those soulful eyes from the equation, to force the actor out of his comfort zone and deprive him one of his most mesmerizing gifts.

And of course, it's not a surprise that Tony Leung still aces his role of He Bin, an assistant to a piano tuner, who is somewhat like a peer of Daredevil, with his extra sensory prowess channelled into his ability to listen to sounds miles away, or to discern voices from noise. He is discovered by Zhou Xun's 701 operative Chang Xue Ning, one of the best in the business, and their adversarial relationship soon gives into a budding friendship, before hinting of something more. But in the 50s and sworn to a job she pledged her life to, the romance doesn't get anywhere, especially when Shen Jing (Mavis Fan) enters the picture, a fellow operative in the larger family dealing with code breaking, with whom Xue Ning entrusts He Bin to, given her mission to weed out the enemy number known as "Chungking".

Wait, isn't this supposed to be a thriller? It sure was primed to be one, with the first hour dealing with He Bin's discovery, and reluctance to assist the 701 unit, who have to re-locate all the telegraphic channels of the enemy, which suddenly went silent, and having been switched to something else. Blinded in a way, the 701 is desperate to have its listening channels back online, lest their operatives get into harms way. So in comes He Bin and his uncanny ability to zone in beyond the noise, and hunt down the enemy's communication lines, so that surveillance can be re-established. It's a pretty tight set up to introduce us to all the major characters, giving us a little glimpse into their back stories, and motivations.

But it degenerated into its romantic entanglement for a little too long, before the directors realize their over indulgence. It did work out however, in showing the deep friendship between the three central characters involved in the love triangle, with Zhou Xun playing it really like a cool cat, unfazed by competition and knowing her place in the order of battle, while Tony Leung did convince as the illiterate man blessed with a gift that is ruthlessly milked by the organization if not for a friendly face attached to the unit, and the compassion shown. Mavis Fan rounds up the role as the demure, next best alternative, and doesn't really have much to do save to pop up in the final act offering clues.

Rather than opt for big bang sequences, scenes here are kept relatively minimal, lens beautifully by Anthony Pun, with special effects saved for making what He Bin can do, in a very visual sense, bordering on piecing together hypotheses and conclusions that can be drawn from powers of deduction. The period costumes and sets beautifully adorn each scene, and it's somewhat a refreshing change with a period Chinese story that's set up without the usual Japan bashing, with the "enemy" here being the Nationalists in a tussle for power over Mainland China through the employment of spies, and intelligence gathering. It's an unconventional war that's the mainstay focus here, and the filmmakers did their best in contrasting the brutal field work with the more idyllic background that some get to work in, all fighting for the same objective, but in vastly different environments.

The finale did remind me of The Godfather in a way, operatic but here, somewhat anti-climatic given the surprise thrown up in order to deal the characters with an emotional sucker punch. But by and large when the film really got down to its highlights of cold calculations rather than having emotions in the way, it's gripping at best, boasting all round performances from the leads. Even Wang Xuebing as 701's chief nicknamed "Devil" projects screen presence that threatened to steal the show despite having to play wingman here, and I'm already interested to take a closer look at this filmography.

The Silent War may not be Felix Chong and Alan Mak's best work, nor Tony Leung's for that matter despite having to perform with a handicap, but it did serve up sufficient moments that differ from the usual found in the genre, and provided for an entertaining two hours in a world of spy versus spy. Recommended!

Iron Sky Post Screening Q&A with CG Supervisor Lee Stringer

Click on the image below to bring out the details.

The Q&A session on 25th August will talk about Great VFX without breaking the bank in Singapore. If Iron Sky can do it with so little money, so can Singapore. The Q&A session will be emceed by Michael Lim, founder, Singapore Visual Effects and Animation. Advance tickets already available online and at Cathay Cineplexes.

You can read my review of Iron Sky here.

Iron Sky

Ready For a New World Order?
If too many cooks may have spoiled the broth, then tell that to the filmmakers of Iron Sky. Possibly the first of its kind in successfully crowd-sourcing a portion of its budget from the fans (even before that term became sexy), and also taking on a collective and collaboration approach from conception to marketing the film, Iron Sky milked the Internet for what it's worth, building up a community of collaborators and fans who got involved one way or another. It showed how crowdsourcing can be reality, and arguably how inputs and help from the network at large actually became assets, rather than liabilities.

I mean, a premise that involves Nazis on the dark side of the moon, can't be taken too seriously, with an absurdity approach to the spawning of the narrative. As the story by Johanna Sinisalo and Jarmo Puskala goes, the Nazis of World War II have colonized that area of the moon when escaping Germany in 1945, and plotting a revenge invasion of sorts some 67 years later, if only they have enough computing power to bring their largest warship, the Gotterdammerung, to engineering reality. These Nazis, ever so resourceful, has access to Helium-3, as well as blueprints to crafting equipment and weaponry that make them look very much like steam punk engineers, with incredible attention paid to details.

It's the year 2018, and the President of the United States (Stephanie Paul), sort of like a Sarah Palin lookalike, is up for re-election. Sending an African American male model, James Washington (Christopher Kirby), to the moon may just about excite the entire electorate, but as it turned out, Washington got captured, and the entire effort turned out to be a public relations nightmare. We're introduced to the Germans who seem to be stuck under the 1940s doctrine and mindset, as coached by Renate Richter (Julia Dietze), fiancee of the ambitious Klaus Adler (Gotz Otto) who had set his sights at usurping leadership to become the new Fuhrer, and to invade Earth at first opportunity.

This Finnish-German-Australian production is full on satire, especially when they directly poke fun at all of Nazi Germany's ideology, and mocking their ways from wanting to create the perfect Aryan race, right down to highlighting the absurdness of their beliefs, with plenty of insider references and jokes that will probably make real Nazi sympathizers weep. While comical, it's also fairly serious at times in its treatment, with themes that will resonate in today's world, about those who are easily indoctrinated or brainwashed into beliefs, and how such conditioning by power hungry individuals can be used to build a base of followers who are held back on skewed rationale, being so secular that this in-breeding of sorts become shackles of the mind.

But this is a film that is as much about the United States of America than it is about the Nazis. It takes another satirical look at the US, her allies and traditional enemies, and laughs at the paper diplomacy each country adopts to defend their self interests. The words of the country representatives are just talk, and treaties mean nothing when everyone signs them with fingers crossed behind their backs, with the usual merry go round finger pointing very much reflecting the political situation of today. And the US has gotten the worst of jibes (and perhaps little love there) with the filmmakers making statements about their foreign policy, as led by the President's number one biatch/campaign manager turned Sky Captain wannabe Vivian Wagner (Peta Sergeant), I can't help but to crack up each time these two women break up the mood and starting to make girlie comments on each other.

The Wow factor here is the special effects that can rival the best that Hollywood can rely upon for its blockbusters. Extremely well done whether or not it's involving a small scene, or set against animated backgrounds that don't exist. To learn about how the effects were done is even more remarkable, given the limited resources available as compared to a typical Hollywood blockbuster, but enabling the creators to come up with creative knock offs, and paying homage to, classics from Star Wars to Star Trek, and all the while laced with comedy that even Austin Powers, or the Zuckers would be proud of.

Iron Sky is about cooperation, and testament to the power of the collaborative spirit. On one level, it doesn't take itself too seriously with its number of zany scenes played out purely for laughs, but on another level, it's chock full of issues critical of today's political climate. Recommended!

[Short Film] Batman: Puppet Master

There was a time when Edward Nigma aka The Riddler was mooted and rumoured to be the villain for the Batman film after The Dark Knight, but that remained unfulfilled with Christopher Nolan opting for Bane in The Dark Knight Rises. Still, that doesn't stop fans from picking up on that intent, and making one of the better, if not the best short film right now, about the Batman.

Done under similar settings and treatment to entrench their short film in between the events of The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises, Batman: Puppet Master has a number of positives going for it, such as bringing back Victor Szasz from Batman Begins and giving him an expanded role, and introducing The Ventriloquist / Scarface into the Nolan Bat-universe. And of course there's Edward Nigma himself, never addressed as The Riddler (perhaps not yet), and having something of an origin going on to address his need for a cane, as well as giving his character a new spin.

Synopsis

Someone's been letting inmates out of Arkham Asylum...

In the months following the death of Harvey Dent, Batman, still a wanted fugitive, is pushed to his limits as a new crime wave hits Gotham. Batman's search to find who's responsible leads him to a showdown with the masochistic serial killer Victor Zsasz.

Meanwhile Gotham's newest crime boss, a mysterious figure known as Scarface, has an meeting with Edward Nigma, an FBI agent, sworn to bring down Batman at all costs.

You can watch the short film here, and see if you'd agree with me that this is a very well made, tightly scripted, short film that should deserve some recognition for the effort put in. Perhaps then we can also see a logical follow up in the story as well, because of the potential it had set itself up!


Related Links
Official Webpage: http://www.batmanpuppetmaster.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/BatmanPuppetMaster
Twitter: Twitter.com/dailyriddler

[DVD] Talentime (2009)

Dearly Departed, and Missed
Like Mukhsin, Yasmin Ahmad's final feature film Talentime had a theatrical release in Singapore, but unfortunately there isn't distribution for the DVD. So those in Singapore will have to make do with the Malaysian DVD release, and unfortunately the reproduction leaves much to be desired. It's also not easy to hunt down a copy with English subtitles, and thankfully I had a friend do that for me recently given a trip to Kuala Lumpur.

It's almost touch and go, given that the details of the DVD printed on the sleeve, for some unknown reason, only lists down the film as having Malay subtitles only. After all, Yasmin's Talentime has a mixture of the major languages used in her country Malaysia, and I believe English was one of the dominant languages used by the characters in the film, since the teenagers are in a multi-racial co-ed school, and have to rely on English, other than Bahasa, as the lingua-franca. Having watched this a number of times already, I can probably get by with not having the English subtitles available, but that would suck if I were to rewatch the film some time down the road. What you could do, if you manage to track down a copy at a shop, is to request that the DVD be played, so that you could have a chance to verify if the subtitles are available in Malay only, or has English ones available. But the DVDs are getting scarce, so I'd recommend that you'd grab any copy available first in any case.

For the brilliance of her films, the DVD releases of her filmography has unfortunately been found wanting. Rabun is only available on VCD and is out of print, and so is Sepet - the Singapore DVD release having the best reproduction and the Malaysian one requiring cuts to be made. Singapore's DVD release of Gubra is also the best version out there, but after that film, the rest didn't really have a proper transfer. Mukhsin was in letterbox format and seemed to have been lifted from a fairly bad print, with care put into audio presentation instead, and so was Muallaf, although the latter was in an anamorphic widescreen presentation, and more importantly, without cuts. Talentime though was again in the letterbox presentation, with some detectable noise in the print.

You can read my review of Talentime here.

The Region Free DVD by Primeworks Studios and MVM Home Entertainment presents the film in the letterbox format, with subtitles available in Malay and English, despite having it printed on the DVD sleeve as "Bahasa Malaysia" only, and even imprinting that notice on the DVD disc itself. So as already mentioned, track a copy down, and request for a verification. Audio is available in Stereo only, and scene selection is over 9 chapters. There are no extras found in this release, which is a real pity. But you can probably make do with the blog entries that can be found in Yasmin's blogs The Storyteller and The Filmmaker, where she dropped nuggets of information from her films, especially the later ones, including Talentime.

My hope is that one day, all of Yasmin Ahmad's films could be remastered properly so that future generations can get to enjoy her films in the manner as they were intended. It may not be easy navigating through all the rights and ownership, but if there's a will, there will be a way.

Magic Mike

Ride 'Em, Cowboy!
Fans of Channing Tatum wouldn't miss him much even if the summer blockbuster GI Joe: Retaliation is now undergoing some massive post production 3D, or as rumours have been buzzing about a major re-write and reshoot so as to have Tatum's character play an expanded role than originally intended. After all, his star is beginning to shine, and it would be foolish to write his character off. Thankfully then that Magic Mike did indeed make it to Singapore, and boy will it please his female fans to see a lot more than they would have bargained for, together with a number of hunks in a male revue to tease and titillate.

Based loosely on Tatum's own experiences as a male stripper when he was 19, Magic Mike takes us into the world of the men behind their persona and on-stage antics, which naturally comes complete with a full repetoire of phallic motions, pelvic thrusts and almost dry humping for customers who turn up in droves to watch their male fantasies in action. And there's some truth in what the owner of the Xquisite club, Dallas (Matthew McConaughey), says about money being made from these fantasies, as he shows the ropes to rookie Adam (Alex Pettyfer), recruited by Tatum's titular character when they met during one of his many day jobs.

And for someone down and out, but willing to do anything it takes to earn a living, this lifestyle may seem like a good option to make that quick buck, parted easily when providing a little cock and tease to legions of screaming fans who want to have a piece of you. The given is to be blessed with good looks, with diligence put into hours of work out sessions to sculpt a body worthy of a god. And then with the right contacts and chance, the doors get opened. This is the tale of two men, one a self-appointed mentor to the other, and how some get led astray because of availability and opportunity.

But of course Adam's story comes packaged with the usual pitfalls that come to haunt those looking, and are eager for, quick success. The lifestyle of drugs, women, and money from illicit means rear their ugly head, as if to reinforce stereotypes of those engaged in the business that it comes part and parcel of, and it's extremely difficult to refuse unless one quits the scene totally. There are of course those, personified by Mike, who are in need as a means to get a different end, which in his case is to raise enough capital to get credit for a custom furniture business. Hopes and dreams also extend to relationships one try to establish, especially when they usually develop from something sexual, and are hardly the permanence anyone is looking for. For convenience, Adam's sister Brooke (Cody Horn) becomes the object of mutual attraction for Mike, as he figures out his on-off open relationship with Joanna (Olivia Munn).

Steven Soderbergh has crafted what would be one of his most profitable films to date, with production costing about 7 million, but having already raked more than 100 million at the box office. Shot in a style that's almost documentary in nature, the line is never crossed here, with those looking for hard sexual scenes needing to look elsewhere. Most of the time the performers stay very close to the line against indecency, with dry humping and simulated sex being routines of choice. Some portions of the film do turn dry at times, especially when scenes aren't centered at the men, but to develop the budding relationship between Brooke and Mike, and then explode when routines get their screen time. The dramatic scenes serve as fillers for the real feast for the eyes, and the revue sequences were definitely a lot more fun, with various uniformed routines bound to elicit laughter from all sections of the audience, and probably tease the female crowd at the same time as well.

Until Channing Tatum returns to street dancing like from his Step Up days, Magic Mike is probably the closest a dance fan can watch him in action, or for his fanbase to catch some of the routines he had probably performed when he had yet to burst onto the Hollywood scene. His acting, like most of the guys here save for McConaughey, still requires more work, but boy this guy still got the moves.

Brave

Taking Aim
Brave is a small film, but don't get me wrong. I suppose learning from the mistake that Cars 2 made, Pixar probably realized that bigger doesn't always necessarily mean better, and this film told what it wanted to tell in a fairly straightforward fashion. To be honest I wasn't too thrilled with the teasers and trailer, but the end product was way better, and a surprise. Being a Disney film as well, it somehow felt that it couldn't escape from the formula that Disney had already established with its animated stories, although that may be a good thing since Pixar hasn't really broached the same subject, yet.

So under tremendous pressure from being an offspring of one of the juggernauts in the CG animated film arena, Brave was courageous enough to go for the familiar that Disney had to offer, but done in Pixar's style. We have a female director in Brenda Chapman at the helm, who co-wrote the screenplay with Steve Purcell, Mark Andrews and Irene Mecchi, which like in fairy tales, takes place with Kings and Queens, Princesses and Princes, Witches and Magic Spells, rooted in old Scotland. It's Scottish and the filmmakers aren't apologetic about the heavy accents, and the protagonist is a teenage girl, which fits the mold of the famous princesses under Disney's fold. Fiercely independent with a mind of her own, and always eager to question, with a penchant to break tradition, Merida (voiced by Kelly Macdonald) isn't your typical demure princess, but like Disney princesses in recent years, have grown to encapsulate values of the modern woman, with abilities to equal, or even surpass, the many burly men, and none too burly peers, rather than to be the typical damsel in distress.

This is probably the very first mother-daughter story arc for Pixar, and one of the rare few like The Invincibles and Ratatouille that has human protagonists. Chapman and team bring about a lot of female sensitivity when crafting the characters here, and this especially stands out in both Queen Elinor (Emma Thompson) and Merida of course, with the former being a proponent of tradition, and very much a stickler for protocol, that women in their position should know how to conduct themselves, and avail themselves for marriage to seal alliances and such. Merida on the other hand, is that quintessential tomboy, never batting an eyelid at scaling mountains and walls, or charging through the forests with her horse, and is a formidable archer to boot. Doted, she finds her birthright stifling, and most of the first act sees her self-sabotage at a Games conducted to find her a beau from three clans. This is natural avenue for comedy to happen given the varied abilities of her suitors, and the family background they come from.

But the distinction in Brave, comes from the mother-daughter tussle, with both sides failing to appeal to the other to listen. In a rebellious response, Merida runs away from home, only to encounter the Witch (Julie Walters), whose help Merida enlists to conjure a magic cake in order to change her mom's attitude, but this of course presents something quite expected given the blatant clues left lying around. It's a classic tale of being careful with what you wish for, and then the tale of regret in desire a revert to what once was. It's not going to be easy, and with help from her triplet brothers (who inevitably are primed to steal the show, with spin off potential at the side), Merida has to make things right before the deadline of two sunrises.

As always, Pixar's animation quality is impeccable, and the studio seemed to have cracked one of the holy grails in how vivid one can make a character's hair appear to be. This is no Tangled, and throughout the film you can really sense how Merida's bright red hair would have felt, with the action scenes providing much of a challenge for air, erm, hair flow, and you'd really be convince it's probably real hair up there on screen. The animals in the film, from horses to bears, are also very well detailed, and it's as close to what one would expect from the animal kingdom as possible. Like most animated films from Disney and Pixar, Brave also had some relatively off moments in its comical scenarios, given that for the most parts it's fairly dark in mood, with scenes that deal with the occult and magical beings.

What I had enjoyed about the film, is how simple it took the notion of things happening for a reason, and made it a critical emotional punch. It boiled down to having a solid story and crafting characters whom you will care for, or grow to care about. And if you'd take a step back, you'd also probably realize that the magic cake did really make Merida's wish come true, albeit in a very roundabout fashion. Things may not seem like they are in effect at the time, but usually with the benefit of hindsight, you'd come to appreciate why certain things happened in a certain way to ultimately achieve the results one desires. The witch had her chance for redemption, given an earlier and grave mistake made that had effected a lower profile of a wood cover, and took it well, confident enough not to warrant any follow up scenes, except perhaps to fulfill a promise shown at the stinger at the end of credits.

Merida, without a doubt, joins the ranks of the other classical Disney Princesses. Highly recommended!

Like all Pixar feature films, I'd always look forward to the short film that precedes the main feature proper, and the tale here, La Luna, deals with a little boy's ingenuity, in a fantasy tale about how the Moon can change its look, thanks to a three-generation family of grandfather-father-son who have this thankless task of sweeping up reflective stars from the surface of the moon. Beneath the cute looking facades of the characters - the father with a bushy moustache and the grandfather with an incredibly long beard - this short film tells about how one finally becomes one's own man, with some support given from one's kin. Again this shows off Pixar's storytelling ability in making a touching film, sans spoken dialogue. Absolutely beautiful.

The Bourne Legacy

Where's The Nearest McDonald's?
One of the more acclaimed and successful film franchise in recent years is the Bourne series of films, I'd guess many had thought that this franchise could not continue if without the return of director Paul Greengrass, and leading actor Matt Damon as Jason Bourne. However it's a case of milking the cash cow, and under the hands of another director and lead actor, can the same universe continue, or will a reboot be required? Christopher Nolan may have left his The Dark Knight Rises at this crossroads, the same point in which The Bourne Legacy takes off from, and I'm really pleased at how Tony Gilroy's version of the Bourne film had turned out, with Jeremy Renner proving to be a force to be reckoned with as well.

Written by the Gilroy brothers Dan and director Tony, with the latter having screenplay responsibilities for the earlier Bourne films as well, they had set up Legacy to tangent off from Ultimatum, with the beginning here taking place some 6 weeks before Ultimatum's, and running in a parallel timeline. The return of characters both major and minor in cameo appearances convince we're still in the same universe, and dealing with similar shady secret operatives who are hell bent at containing the damage that Jason Bourne is out to do through his expose of all the clandestine projects under the CIA. Rather than close the doors revolving round the possibility of Jason Bourne's return, Legacy had set it up so that the next film, if it happens, has more doors opened up for the narrative to move forward.

But for now the first hour can be extremely dry, as we take many steps back to see the earlier stages of the programme that Jason Bourne was put under, with the guinea pigs at various stages of experimentation, who remain dependent on the regular drug doses they have to take to maintain their super soldier abilities with heightened senses and physicality. We get introduced to Jeremy Renner's Aaron Cross, who's also on the project, and learn of the existence of many others, who are all on the crosshairs of the agencies they serve, in order to kill them off for the longevity of the programmes they are put under. Led by Edward Norton's Retired Col. Eric Byer who's brought in to contain the situation and threat that Jason Bourne is posing, Aaron Cross outwits them through an episode taken a leaf out of Grey, allowing us some man versus drone plane action sequences that set up Cross to be quite a formidable Bourne clone.

The introduction of Rachel Weisz' Dr Marta Shearing was in essence to provide for a Marie type character whom Cross can run around cities with in escape from their hunters, but more importantly to serve as a link to the drug formulation used to turn those in the programme into formidable assassins, being one of many scientists involved in genetic research, which as usual, comes with the deliberate weaponization from new research. To add to the story, how anyone can get to the level of Jason Bourne's expertise is given an explanation here, which is something yet to be explored in detail until now. One thing's for sure, the role is not one that's the typical damsel in distress, although being involved in a deliberate massacre may trigger some negative reactions in light of what had happened in the USA. It's one of the better stand out, though more harrowing, scenes in the movie, which may undoubtedly strike too close to home for the Americans, and the box office.

Jeremy Renner's stock had risen in recent years after The Hurt Locker, with involvement in steady franchises such as Mission: Impossible, and Marvel's comic book films, and whether or not he'll take over Tom Cruise for further M:I adventures remain to be seen. But he's already cementing his role as Aaron Cross, and looks set to take the Bourne movies forward, even if there are rumours of a pairing with Damon for the next film. Renner worked the action sequences with aplomb, whether it calls for fisticuffs, rooftop chases or spectacularly weaving dangerously through Manila's traffic on a motorbike, and is convincing as an ex-army operative turned guinea pig who now has to bite the hand that fed it, constantly on the move in order to stay alive. It's early in his story arc, and it may seem Cross is on the backtrack for the most parts, so it would be interesting if, like Bourne, he's allowed to take the fight back to his hunters.

It took about 60 minutes before The Bourne Legacy exploded into life, and swung into the high gear formula its predecessors have been known for, but without the shaky cam cinematography that alienated and irritated some. Tony Gilroy decided to go for traditional techniques without being too flashy, which served well. Familiar ingredients defining the Bourne movies continue here, with the jet-setting, cat and mouse chases, and battle of wits. Protocol also comes in the form of the hunt being commanded from a control room setting in which Norton's Eric barks orders, and the multitude of ground work and effort going into tracking the needle in the haystack which is Cross and Marta. It's the hunter who becomes the prey, and vice versa reversal of roles, that has Legacy continue the good work set up by the initial trilogy.

If you'd take a step back, The Bourne Legacy had really kept it simple by introducing a slightly different premise than we're already familiar with, which in tongue and cheek fashion, went on to have the patient seek out his doctor for more medication, only to be brought to the factory for the drugs he requires, and an effort made to be weaned off them. All these, with their employers hot on their tracks in order to finish them off, and keep their clandestine projects under wraps. It may not be the best film of the franchise given that it's the beginning of another, and had dwelled a little longer to have everything set up, but once it got its act together, the adrenaline never stopped pumping. It's also interesting to note how many variations of Extreme Ways can Moby come up with! Highly recommended!

Greedy Ghost (贪心鬼见鬼 / Tan Xin Gui Jian Gui)

Huat Ah!
It's the month of August already, and with National Day fanfare it's time for a local film to hit our shores. This time round, the regional co-production of Greedy Ghost got the much coveted spot that traditionally spells box office gold (in local terms at least), in the horror comedy genre that is gaining traction amongst filmmakers here, with another 2 more films - My Ghost Partner and Hsien of the Dead, primed for theatrical release soon. Those who have been following my local film reviews will know that some of the worst of late happened to have Boris Boo at the helm, but I'm quite pleased to note that Greedy Ghost proves to be his best work to date as a director.

I suppose recognition has to be given when it is due, but that's not to mean that Greedy Ghost is flawless and had a lot going for it. The story, written by Boo and Mark Lee, centers yet around Singapore's obssession with luck, gambling and lottery. We still can't get over the phenomenal box office success of Money No Enough, and do remember though in the aftermath of that film, a slew of copycats came out that revolved around the same things, such as Lucky Number, and The Best Bet which was directed by Jack Neo. If you'd take a step back, Greedy Ghost deals with karma and retribution in our relentless pursuit for riches and material wealth, most times at the expense of others. It's a cautionary tale about this obsessiveness in gambling, and how it touches almost every facet of the lives of the compulsive gambler, where everything is and can be made a bet, coupled with the means and compromises one is willing to make in order to win. And stuck in urban legend is of course, the seeking of spirits to provide winning lottery numbers.

So here comes the spiritual, or horror aspects of Greedy Ghost, which surprisingly, for a film touted to be a horror comedy, has neither. There are surely no scary moments in the film, bar the horrific acting of some of the actors, the chief of which would be Brendan Yuen's Zou Run Fa / Ah Fa character, the resident good for nothing loud mouth. And for comedy, it's almost expected that the presence of Henry Thia as Ah Hui, the timid, almost monk-like character with few strands of hair left, would bring on the laughs, but even that failed to garner a few chuckles, with his rather restrained outing compared to his works in any typical J-Team production under Jack Neo. So it's not a surprise that the film failed in its marketing attempt to brand it as a horror comedy, but exceled for its dramatic moments as mentioned earlier on the examination into the psyche of the Singaporean gambler, in a movie that had two main but separate narrative threads running.

The biggest name in the movie, Taiwanese TV personality Kang Kang, in what would be his first leading role in a feature film, stars as Ah Lim, who has an entire main story working for him. Friends with the other two men, he finds a wordless scripture, and courtesy of co-writer and producer Mark Lee who voices the spirit, this scripture happens to provide Ah Lim with a series of winning Toto numbers. It took a while for repetition to set in, with the spirit convincing Ah Lim to buy those numbers and strike it rich, and under persistant goading, Ah Lim succumbs to temptation (or threats), and becomes rich beyond his wildest dreams. That of course brings about a change in character, and a caveat that since these earnings were won through the help of a spirit, there's the tacit requirement that the larger the winning, the shorter the lifespan, unless these gains get lost permanently. The battle for material wealth, and longevity or lack thereof, is set.

The other story deals with Ah Hui and Ah Fa's job as grave diggers, with the latter being none too bright than to take jewelery from a corpse, deliberately breaking her bones in the process, despite Ah Hui's blase attempts to convince otherwise. Needless to say, they start to get followed and haunted by "Madam Butterfly", and the film follows their desperate attempts to shake this spirit off their backs, employing a series of mediums and ghost-catchers (for cameo appearances by the likes of Irene Ang, and Chua En Lai) to help in an exorcism, culminating in a very bland final act in a forest, with Jessica Liu (also in her first feature film), as Ah Fa's dim witted girlfriend (whom any feminist will want to hang), getting more involved after a rather uninteresting and sporadic first hour.

Technically, this film does boast a few nicely CG to move the story along, but the biggest culprit here is lighting. The film seemed to have been shot under extremely dim conditions, as if lighting is beyond budgetary reach, but felt necessitated and therefore by its intended genre. As mentioned, Boris Boo had finally stepped out of the long shadow that is the J-Team, and showed how he can make a better film without that reputational albatross around his neck. Greedy Ghost, as an original co-creation with Mark Lee, shows that he's probably more comfortable working with material of his own, rather than being a director for hire, going by disastrous track records such as Aku Tak Bodoh (that didn't deviate from the film it was based on), and Phua Chu Kang The Movie, which is based off the once popular local sitcom. Gamely dressed in drag for a cameo, I suppose having more creative space meant a much enjoyable time bringing his creation to the big screen, which shows in the final product.

Rock of Ages

I Love Rock and Roll!
If you've grown up in the 80s and 90s, then you'd probably be able to identify most, if not all of the songs featured in Rock of Ages, unless Rock music isn't your cup of tea. Directed by Adam Shankman who was at the helm for Hairspray, also another musical brought to the silver screen, Rock of Ages will probably be remembered down the road for one thing - Tom Cruise hamming it up as a rock god.

As Stacee Jaxx, Cruise ran away with the film despite his limited screen time, and not being part of the main narrative involving small town girl Sherrie Christian (Julianne Hough) meeting big city boy Drew Boley (Diego Boneta), a romance that is average at best, not because they didn't try and had one of the best voices in this ensemble, but because Cruise's character has charisma that just alienated the rest each time he's on screen. As a burnt out rocker looking for that spark of inspiration to regain what he does best, his less than sober turn brings on the laughs, and probably only Cruise's Les Grossman persona can outdo what he had done with Jaxx.

Otherwise, the story almost played out like Footloose, where instead of having dancing being demonized, we have rock music being hissed upon by the conservatives led by the Mayor's wife (Catherine Zeta-Jones), who harbours a secret that you can see coming a mile away. Then there's Alec Baldwin and Russell Brand's characters Dennis and Lonny, who owns the bar and helps run it respectively, being caught up with being swindled by Jaxx's shady manager Paul (Paul Giamatti), and having unpaid taxes that threaten to close their renowned Bourbon Room bar, the launch pad of many famed rockers who were given a chance to showcase their abilities.

The songs are of course, top drawer stuff, although the ensemble's cast delivery is mixed at best, some having what it takes to sing, while others best stick to their day jobs. Still, as far as I'm concerned, Rock of Ages is Stacee Jaxx at his best even if the character is in the doldrums. Rock never did die, some say, and this is testament to that. Rock on!

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

20th Israel Film Festival

Looking at the Calendar of Film Events on the right hand sidebar, it does seem like a busy September this year with various programmes lined up for the cinephile, amongst which the 20th anniversary of the Israel Film Festival (5-11 September) at The Cathay Cineplexes, will begin ticketing from this Friday 10 August.

6 award-winning films have been selected for this year's festival, with Sundance winner Restoration being the opening film, as well as the showcasing of Oscar nominee Footnote. Women in Israeli cinema are also given a spotlight with three women-centric films in My Lovely Sister, a poignant melodrama about sibling rivalry and reconciliation, Jellyfish, the story of three very different Tel Aviv women whose intersecting stories weave an unlikely portrait of modern Israeli life, and The Secrets, which tells the story of two brilliant young women who discover their own voices in a repressive orthodox culture. Last but not least, there's Intimate Grammar, an adaptation of the acclaimed novel “The Book of Intimate Grammar” by David Grossman.

Gracing this year's edition of the festival will be Restoration’s screenwriter, Erez Kavel - Winner of the screenplay award at Sundance world cinema competition (2011) as well as the Crystal globe at Karlovy Vary Film Festival (2011).

For more details about the Festival and to keep abreast of festival happenings, check out this Facebook link.

Gangs of Wasseypur - Part 1 (Gangs of वासेपुर)

Even Gangsters Need to Eat
Co-written and directed by Anurag Kashyap, this film will probably propel the filmmaker into the ranks occupied by the likes of Coppola and Scorsese in crafting Mafia styled epics, filled with the themes of brotherhood, revenge, betrayal, sex and violence. Showcased at this year's Cannes Directors' Fortnight with its sequel screened back to back, Kashyap has brought forth a sprawling, three generation span long tale of the titular Gangs of the coal mining town, where three crime families battle one another for infamy, riches and power supremacy.

And what he had done to provide some gravitas to this tale, was a semi-documentary look at its background against the town of Wasseypur, where we witness how the wheelings and dealings between shady businessmen and their workers, and how some become politicians through bullying, gangster tactics, the laundering of money, and eventually buying support to ascend the political ladder. It's an intriguing commentary about, by extension, the country's state of affairs, and how some can grow influence through the use of hired muscles out to do their dirty work, for the duration of their useful lifespan, before being discarded.

Beginning in explosive fashion with a full assault on a property, key figures get introduced, but only to keep things under wraps until the companion film in Part 2. We then get brought back to the 40s Wasseypur and Dhanbad land, where the British found themselves up against the formidable forces of the Qureshis , only for Shahid Khan (Jaideep Ahlawat) to impersonate their mysterious leader, pre-empt their attacks and undercut the Qureshis in their own game. Soon the Khans got exiled, only for Shahid to be brought back to Wasseypur when Ramadhir Singh (Tigmanshu Dhulia), a rich, corrupt industrialist, needed a muscle man to help in his exploitation of workers. But jealously meant Ramandhir's orders to get rid of Shahid, and thus opening up the feud to the second generation, led by Sardar Khan (Manoj Bajpai) who is hell bent on revenge.

But in a tragi-comedy sort of way, the character of Sardar is somewhat tough on the outside with his ruthlessness, but all soft and fuzzy inside with his libido being lacking in control, with first wife Nagma (Richa Chadda) being relatively tolerant of his gallivanting ways only because she gets pregnant too easily, and the introduction of a Bengali girl Durga (Reema Sen) whom he met while on the run. This sets up the third generation of cast with Sardar's sons Danish (Vineet Singh) and Faizal (Nawazuddin Siddiqui), with a hint on what's to come disrupt his family dynamics with illegitimate son Definite, entering the picture, whom we'll see more of in the next film whose trailer gets airtime right after the end credits.

On the other corner are the heir of the Qureshis in Ehsaan (Vipin Sharma) and Sultan (Pankaj Tripathy), who are caught in the middle with their alliance with Ramandhir, and the marriage of Sultan's sister Sharma (Amirota Jha). And what makes it interesting in the entire male dominated world, is the story of the women behind the men, as seen from the major character arcs on Sardar's family involved in romance of some sort, playing critical roles in defining the male characters and contrasting them in both their private and public lives, and instrumental especially in the final scene, and going into the next film.

It might be overwhelming at first with a myriad of characters being introduced, but Kashyap got his presentation all under control like an old hand, bringing on new characters with proper title flashes, and providing adequate screen time for each to establish his or her backstory. This wonderfully crafts out motivations and characteristics of each family member, especially between the sons of Sardar, who will all play pivotal roles in the sequel, since the very first scene here would have shown each of them under different camps, and teasing us with just how allegiances would play out with family members now standing under different banners. Part of the engagement now would be to develop the narrative to reach the inevitable, and with the ensemble set up, the possibilities are endless.

And as such, Gangs of Wasseypur has its fair share of surprises thrown about, where those slighted will almost always come back with a vengeance. Revenge may be high on Sardar's agenda, but there's a permeating poetic justice that provides a cruel twist of irony, with the narrative rich enough to allow various subplots to populate the story and to add a vivid texture to the characters instead of letting them become one dimensional characters. It's a sprawling epic that called upon the best of Bollywood sans the usual Masala formula, to showcase the skills, craftsmanship and talent in the industry that are capable of making a serious, critically acclaimed film with commercial appeal. Definitely highly recommended, although I'm reserving judgement until Part 2 when the film is complete. If you haven't watched an Indian film for some time already, if at all, then make Gangs of Wasseypur your launch point now.

25th Singapore International Film Festival... Postponed!

The announcement of the postponement was found on the Singapore International Film Festival's Facebook page in a posting made on Friday 3 August 2012 at 842pm

Hello faithful fans, film makers and new comers!

We regret to inform that despite all our great efforts the Singapore International Film Festival 2012 has been postponed due to inadequate funding. The 2013 Singapore International Film Festival will be under the same theme “Future Visions” and it will take place in the first quarter of 2013. Watch our facebook page and website for more details.

Which is a shame really, considering that this was to be its Silver Jubilee. Then again, perhaps the dirty word of a reboot, may be necessary considering the number of gaffes made last year.

Headhunters (Hodejegerne)

Survivor
By the time this film reaches its conclusion, you can just about tell that Hollywood would have knocked on the producer's doors, and extended a contract for rights to a remake. With the success of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Hollywood is probably now turning its sights to Scandinavia, and this Norwegian film has all the ingredients that is set to thrill audiences ready for a nice mystery that will leave you guessing just how the protagonist will be reeling out of the troubles that he had committed.

The bulk of the credit goes to Aksel Hennie, who stars as the protagonist Roger Brown, the go-to person should anyone need a job reference. The top dog headhunter in his industry, with arrogance and swagger to boot, his opening monologue about Reputation is so seductive that you'll hang on to his every word. But Jo Nesbø's novel is more than meets the eye, and Brown has a separate occupation. With his contacts and multitudes of interviews set up with potential candidates for C-level jobs, opportunity comes in setting up meetings, and then robbing them blind of valuable art, with counterfeits in their place so that his handiwork won't go detected for some time. Brown readily admits he's overspending, with expenses all going into impressing his wife Diana (Synnøve Macody Lund), who is extremely high maintenance.

What would seem a routine open and shut attempt with his latest job seeker, Clas Greve (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), turned out to be quite the nightmare, and the film kicks into high gear when Brown suspects his wife having an affair with this strapping man, a one time mercenary soldier who had found better fortune as a now-retrenched CEO of a technology company, and who has a long lost painting stored in his Norwegian home. Again, Nesbø's story throws us a line, and hooks us into what would turn out to be an extremely engaging, in-your-seat cat and mouse game and battle of wits between these two men, which brings to mind the definition of the title.

It's clearly segregated into three acts, as it explores the pride before the downfall, brought about by underestimating one's enemy, and not taking precautions to finish any job, thanks to complacency. Horror fans would like to take note of the middle act, as director Morten Tyldum surely adapted the techniques from understanding the technicalities and workings in keeping suspense on an all time high, never letting up in pace, and keeping the narrative moving at breakneck speed. It plays on our fears of being hunted, and cornered, with desperate measures being called upon for survival, and all these while trying to piece together just who, and more importantly, why, are developments being much against the favour of the protagonist, and to witness how anyone can wriggle their way out of the fix presented.

Headhunters is plenty of fun, in a dark and bleak sort of way, that dwells into the deep recesses of the twisted. Surprises pop up when you think you got a grip on what's going to happen next, and catches you offguard. And what's really appreciated is that you'd never feel like you're being strung along conveniently throughout the story, with clues and setups being established properly, together with a taut finale that will leave you breathless, but satisfied and rewarded. Headhunters is as close to the perfect thriller as you can get. A definite recommendation, and inclusion to anyone's shortlist of the year's best!

Seeking a Friend for the End of the World

Restaurant at the End of the World
The end of the world, or the apocalypse. Stories, themes and elements that have always found an intriguing place in cinema, and in recent years, some of the more memorable ones include Japan's Fish Story, to Lars von Trier's Melancholia, which I have to admit its final scene leaving me gasping for breath. But Seeking a Friend for the End of the World isn't all that serious, though serious enough to discuss the same issues that deal with the probable collapse of our moral compass, with morality going to the dogs during the countdown to Earth's end of days, yet leaving room for light comedic touches without going overboard into slapstick. Writer-director Lorene Scafaria seemed to have struck gold with this.

Tremendous work had gone into the story, exploring, probing, creating subplots that had gone into eventful, closed loops, that by the time the finale rolls by, it's satisfying, moving, and you'd feel a sense of having sat through carefully concocted reminders about life itself without the feeling of it being overbearing. It takes a what if approach in its premise, presenting that remote possibility of a 70 mile wide asteroid hurling toward's Earth's orbit, with the final attempt to change its trajectory botched. There's no Bruce Willis and crew from Armaggedon here, so everyone is given 3 weeks to impact, and the extinction of mankind as we know it.

When faced with an end of days, the film probably covered the widest spectrum of how the general populace would behave. Will you dabble in things that you haven't done before, or close yourself underground, buckled down with supplies that will see you through survival for at least six months? Or will you set caution to the wind, and engage in vices from drugs to obsessive drinking, and having as much sex as possible, knowing that the threat of disease has no meaning when all life is given a deadline? Will you still want to maintain all morality that defines humanity, or subscribe to the mob and throw humanity out of the window? Granted that this film didn't really exhaust a huge budget, it did enough to present the last three weeks of mankind, both the good aspects, and the worst of it.

And Lorene Scafaria does it through the use of two primary characters in Steve Carell's Dodge and Keira Knightley's Penny, two neighbours who didn't know of each other's existence, until all hell breaks loose, and through chance, discover that they can click. Well, quite. Dodge's wife Linda (Nancy Carell, Steve's real life wife) decided to just literally run away when all hope is lost, and leaves Dodge in quite the dejected state, not knowing why his marriage vows didn't last through to the end, and reminisces about his high school sweetheart who actually got away. Penny has just broken up with her no good boyfriend, and together, while escaping from the mob, made an impromptu, informal pact, that she will help him muster up some courage while seeking out his lost love, given her last known address from 3 months ago, while he will help her find an airplane good enough to send her back to her family.

It's a road trip of sorts, similar to Scafaria's earlier screenplay of Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, only set to an apocalyptic background. There's good music, enjoyed through vinyl no less, wacky and zany situations that the duo find themselves (the diner with its constantly high staff stood out the most), and plenty of time to perform that soul search, while inevitably falling in love. There's plenty of real world truths put on the table for discussion, and will touch a raw nerve when you put yourself in the same shoes. For the first time feature film director, no fancy stunts were pulled, presenting the film in honest terms that focused on the story it wanted to tell, rooted by the leading characters. What I liked about it is that it didn't try to be deliberately funny, but humour comes and exists only because that's probably the most light hearted manner to approach known annihilation given a preparatory lead time.

I had enjoyed the films that Steve Carell had starred in, but I especially enjoy the more dramatic characters he portrays, such as the titular character in Dan in Real Life, or even Crazy, Stupid, Love. He brings to life the average Joe that everyone can relate to, and has a knack and flair in bringing comedy to those roles without being blatant or overt about it. And Keira Knightley pairs up really well with him here, being that live wire, and kooky lass who sleeps extremely soundly, with emotional baggage brought along for the trip. Scafaria's tale evolved from its premise, exploring mortality and morality, before scoping it down to a more intimate portrait about two strangers who find friendship and love, and thankfully these two actors made it oh so believable, and sweet, although there were times, given the script, that the mid-section felt bogged down by its conversations.

Still, it's that aged old reminder about never leaving behind regrets that's wrapped around by the narrative, and the finale really sledgehammered emotions through with the introduction of Martin Sheen's character, that one will inevitably tear as it reaches its conclusion, coupled with that final parting by Mark Moses' television anchorman who pops up at random scenes as a checkpoint within those 3 weeks. Relationships boil down to not how much time we spend with one another, but the quality of those times spent that matters. And that is an adage that never goes out of fashion, drawing attention to itself in this moving piece of work. I'll be seeking out a friend too, to experience this again. Highly recommended, and a definite plus as one of the top films of this year!

Total Recall

Caught!
I guess the floodgates are now open. Adapting Philip K. Dick's stories are no longer enough, and now a trend may follow either to remake the films that have already been done, to give it another spin for a new generation, or how about remaking all of the films starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, starting from Conan, and now Total Recall. For sure, Colin Farrell can't step into the ex-Mr Universe's hulking frame in playing the construction worker turned double agent Douglas Quaid through what would seem like a fantasy walk in the park for the mind gone all wrong, but if you'd put away your memory of the past film, then his outing here would stand out against his recent slate of projects, bringing him back to action-hero mould even if Len Wiseman's vision here turned a little bit suspect.

Fans of the original film will see only slight similarities in this one, since it took on a different adventure altogether after the familiar introduction. Quaid experiencing a nightmare of a dream only to wake up beside the sexy wife in Lori (Kate Beckinsale, in a role played by Sharon Stone previously, in lingerie no less), and finding that there's probably more to life than just home and work. Enticed by the fantasy inducing company called Rekall where one can live out one's fantasy for a fee, Douglas soon discovers he got more than he bargained for. The contraption's design got brought over, and so did the cult favourite in the three breasted woman, which Singapore back then didn't get to see at all because our censors found it offensive and unreal. The identity mask also has another go, although with less fun, being solely functional and little else.

But what was sorely missed in this remake, is the quip after quip of Arnie-isms, those puns made each time Douglas Quaid did something smart alecky, dispatched an opponent, or just wanted to drawl on something in his Austrian accent. In the typical Arnie movie, there's always room for fun, jokes, and those legendary one liners. Here, all we get are dead serious moments, with the whole look and feel being laden with the need to feel all gritty. Colin Farrell wears a scowl throughout, being perplexed and confused about his true identity in Jason Bourne style complete with mysterious artifacts stored in a safe deposit box, and having doubts to the role he has to play in the entire battle between the Haves and Have Nots.

This Total Recall requires that you junk all memories of the Schwarzenegger film, in order to enjoy the new narrative involving a chemical fallout across all lands save for Britain and parts of Europe now being part of a Greater Britain, and Australia, known as The Colony (yes, some slight historical references here). There's no Mars this time round, as the story gets set strictly on Earth, involving a carnival styled train service that commutes between the two territories, having to pass adjacent to the Earth's core, for some nifty CG effects involving gravitational force reversal.

CG seemed to be what Director Len Wiseman ordered for the film, with green screen effects and CG laden landscapes peppering the entire movie, that makes you wonder about the tagline "What is real?" indeed. It's big on action sequences and slight on actual story, with pauses only to allow the film to breathe a little, before embarking on yet another stunt sequence that involves plenty of running for Douglas Quaid, and his new found love interest / revolutionary partner Melina (Jessica Biel), as they escape from rooftops to elevators, pass through deadly three dimensional elevator shafts and tunnels, fighting their way past synthetic troopers ala Star Wars. It does get pretty generic after a while, that these sequences all start to look very much the same, and probably a Star Wars: Clone Wars episode gone wrong.

Also for the tagline of "What is real?", this remake doesn't really keep you in suspense in a what is, and what is not thought, because for this new generation of audiences, Len Wiseman probably considered it best if everything was spoonfed. So there's no need to guess, and everything got explained verbatim, that you'd know whether it's real, otherwise, and just about every plot and character twist being laid out for all and sundry. Between the two female leads, Kate Beckinsale got more screen time for obvious reasons, though it's not everyday that we get to see her in a negative role. It's clearly expanded here, with her Melina being something of an amalgam of the roles played by Sharon Stone and Michael Ironside as the relentless pursuer of Douglas Quaid, adamant in hunting him down and finishing him off, against orders.

Ultimately, Total Recall 2012 is one big amusement park ride. This will probably be enjoyable for anyone in for an average CG action adventure extravaganza and have no knowledge of the fun blockbuster the first one was, but for the rest of us who have seen Paul Verhoeven's version, this one definitely pales in comparison, in story, action and just plain fun. And Arnold Schwarzenegger was in his prime then, with big shoes that didn't get filled this time round.