Step Up

White Boys Can Dance?

I think I'm fast becoming a fan of the dance genre. The moves and the music just gets to me, be it Mad Hot Ballroom styled documentaries, or street hip hop, or a fusion of both, like in the recent Take The Lead. Step Up is one such movie, full of youthful energy that makes you want to stand up and do a jig or two.

The storyline though is nothing to shout about. It stuck to formula with leads that don't get along, and yet fitting like a glove as they heat up both the dance floor as well as one another's hearts. It's your usual bad-boy-good-girl pairing, with inspiration rubbing off each other, and the usual white-trash and upper strata of society mix and exploration of differences, or maybe perhaps, some similarities. Like its dance moves, the story's a fusion of improvisation and structure, so despite the tinge of familiarity, you'll probably forgive it as it allows you to do a quantum leap to get headlong into the scheme of things.

But what struck me is how similar this movie's structure and lead character are to Eminem's 8 Mile, with the same mould of a "white rabbit" boy, from the underclass, trying to triumph against odds that he faces in his quest to do something worthwhile with his life. Replace 8 Mile's freestyle rapping with street hip hop dance, and you get Channing Tatum's Tyler Gage, the dude from the hood with hardcore dance attitude yo!

This bro I can tell is gonna heat up the screens for the ladies in da house. You can hear silent female sighs each time he comes on to do his thing. If you find him familiar, yep, he was playing opposite Amanda Byrnes in She's The Man as the captain of the football team. Step Up's other lead is Jenna Dewan as the rich girl Nora Clark pursuing a dance career, and has to come up with some slick choreographed moves for her final year project to gain the attention of scouts from the industry. No prizes if you think you know who she has to turn to for help. There are various supporting characters, but I'd like to highlight R&B singer Mario's stint as a music producer-student who has this knack of rocking da house from tunes spun from his macbook (yep, product placement).

But before you dismiss this as yet another run of the mill dance movie, it's actually both adequately entertaining, and fused with a right amount of drama, for character development purposes. Pursuing of dreams, of living up to promises made, of being there for friends, these are but some of the tired but tested sub plots that make its usual rounds in the movie.

As always, you never really get to see the entire dance sequence during rehearsals, until the finale where it's full-dress-show-off time. And director Anne Fletcher, who choreographed moves for plenty of movies, pulls this one off brilliantly. It was well worth the wait, even if it all ended in a saccharine sweet manner.

So You Think You Can Dance?

DOA: Dead or Alive

Whoever Floats Your Boat

When my friend and I saw the poster for this, we simultaneously said we were going to watch it when it gets released. It actually took me this long to get down to it, given schedules and the likes. Five beautiful babes on screen, and it took me more than a week to view it? Something must not be right you say?

Yes, this movie is as guilty a trip as Crank, only to have one action hero replaced by five from the opposite sex. Other than the girls on screen, everything else is a yawn, and the fights, full of wire stunts and computer assisted imagery, are so juvenile and basic, with nothing sophisticated to wow you.

In short, the story is brutally simple, based on the formula storyline of a group of fighters journeying to some mysterious island where the best of the best gather for some slugfest. Hey, even Bruce Lee's Enter the Dragon was something of a similar premise, but that's a classic in itself. What rang closer to DOA is another earlier, inspired also by a video game, called Mortal Kombat. Like MK, DOA plays out exactly like a game, with fights ending with printed KOs, and filled with plenty of one-fight characters who seem to disappear from the story whether or not they win or lose. They're quickly forgotten anyhow, with almost zero special powers like those in MK to leave any memorable impression.

Which brings us to the chicks, the primary stars of the movie. Holly Valance helms the group in her big screen debut, as Christie Allen the beautiful jewel thief (yes, that's her fighting sans bra, but the camera just had to be in the way for a PG rating). Jaime Pressly stars as wrestler Tina Armstrong, Sarah Carter as Helena Douglas, daughter of the founder of DOA, Natassia Malthe as Ayane, who incidentally starred in another comic book inspired flop Elektra as Typhoid Mary, and last but not least, freckled face Devon Aoki as some hokey Japanese princess Kasumi. With so many girls on screen, it gave director Corey Yuen plenty of excuses for close ups and flaunting of various assets.

But wait, what of the guys you say? There are 3 notables. The first is Colin Chou, who had some other kungfu movies under his belt - as Huo Yuanjia's father in Fearless, and Seraph in the Matrix sequels. Here, he stars as the ultimate best of the best fighter Hayate, who incidentally is Kasumi's sister. MK alumni Robin Chou makes an appearance too, as a pirate in a minor role. Eric Roberts, the other notable in the movie rooting from the side of the guys, is chief baddie, but one who is devoid of good acting and really lousy fighting skills.

What's the plot you may ask? If you try to look for one, it's about each of the characters in the DOA island having their own agenda for accepting the invite. Kasumi's in it to look for her lost brother Hayate, Christie's in it to steal the 10 million dollars prize money, Tina wants to prove herself as a serious fighter, and the list goes on. Do we really care? Absolutely not. In less than 90 minutes, we see them flit from one scene in the next, backed by techno music, in a loophole filled story. Even the diabolical plot hatched is inspired by Batman Forever's Edward Nygma (The Riddler), which is of course, a bore. Oh, and miraculously, almost every girl in DOA manage to romance a little while kicking butt.

My favourite scene is apparently not any of the fight scenes, but one featuring beach volleyball. No prizes if you managed to guess why, and perhaps, the only scene in the movie worth the price on a weekday.

A Good Year

Some Guys...
Have All The Luck!

The first time director Ridley Scott and actor Russell Crowe paired together, they made the award winning Gladiator, and perhaps surprised folks that a mainstream action movie could snag the best picture Oscar. Here, they come together again for a pretty feel good movie, but I don't expect that this would win any major honours. Not that it's a bad film, but it's quite vanilla plain, that you could guess every other step of how the narrative and plot will unfold.

Based on a book by Peter Mayle, A Good Year has plenty of life references to wine and vineyards, made as a comparison and reminder on how to live life. It's quite unlike Sideways, which was more of a road trip movie and had its plot revolve around wine. A Good Year has its revolve around an arse hole of a character, Maximillian Skinner (Russell Crowe), the successful bond trader everyone loves to hate, given his ruthless knack on the trading bourses, and making loads of obscene money.

So he learns that he had inherited a chateau in France, the same one he had spent his childhood (little Max played by Freddie Highmore) summer holidays in with his Uncle Henry (Albert Finney), but instead the first thing that crosses his mind is, how much is it worth should he sell it?

It's a look at how you want to live life, making loads of money versus living it out with plenty of heart, and love. Love for the people who once made a difference to your life, and love and appreciation of life itself. Time to stop and smell the roses, versus the corporate rat race filled with backstabbing and office politics. And naturally when finding out about oneself, a look back at one's roots will always be a good way to start.

There are a number of sub plots weaved into the movie, like the sudden appearance of a possible illegitimate cousin, Christie (Abbie Cornish), who could complicate matters of inheritance, of the opposition of resident vineyard caretaker Francis (Didier Bourdon), and of course, romance in the form of a feisty French woman Fanny (Marion Cotillard), amongst others. There's also a bit about the different wine standards thrown in, which serves only to confuse, rudimentarily. There's a ring of familiarity to these characters, and at a glance, you would probably be able to guess the parts they play to develop the story, as do the little nagging business bits in the movie, but by making all these threads come together, and certain plot devices as well, only served to deliver up to expectations in an all's well that ends well.

Some random thoughts - I loved the song by Alizee used in the movie, and quite surprised that it actually made it other than just be featured in the trailer. The movie also turned out to be quite the technological showcase, at least in the beginning, accompanying Max's progressive change. You have GPS, and almost an ad feel to Max's use of his PDA phone for calls, photo taking, the whole works. And if you think Crowe's outfits looked snazzy, yes, he's outfitted by Armani.

The very first time I took notice of Russell Crowe, was when he played the villain in Virtuosity. Back then I thought that the guy had something going for him. And I've been convinced, having watched his last 6 movies, that he's a pretty fine actor, though his buffed and gruff demeanour had the tabloids highlighting his every shenanigan. Albert Finney and Freddie Highmore make a good pairing as well, given their limited screen time as the Uncle and his young nephew spending summer together. And don't get me started on the eye candy, who, well, remain eye candy for the most parts.

A Good Year runs on an even keel, and feels light by the time it ends. Let's hope the next collaboration between Scott and Crowe in American Gangster, with the addition of Denzel Washington (who played opposite Crowe in Virtuosity), will be something more explosive.

"Winning's not everything, it's the only thing!" - Maximillian Skinner

The Tiger and the Snow (La Tigre E La Neve)

I'm Italian!

The Tiger and the Snow is a beautiful romantic movie, and it opened quite perfectly with an awesome ballad "You Can Never Hold Back Spring", performed by Tom Waits himself. Written and directed by Italian Roberto Benigni (famed for the wonderful LIfe is Beautiful), he also stars as the lead Attilio de Giovanni, a lovestruck poet who falls for a woman in his recurring dreams.

Only of course, to wake up each time he dreams of them at the alter, and when she is about to declare her undying love for him, punctuated with promises of hot sex. Yes, you read that right. But I digress. In reality, he's an absent minded poetry professor who always forgets where he parks his car. But despite his quirky looks and demeanor (are Benigni's characters always like that I wonder), imagine the pandemonium within him when he finally meets the woman in his dreams, Vittoria (the object of his obsession played by wife in real life Nicoletta Braschi), an acquaintance of fellow writer Fuad (Jean Reno).

Meeting in the dreams, and meeting for real can hardly be any different, and his infatuation with and love for Vittoria goes unrequited. Until of course we examine through to the rest of the movie, how unconditional and large this love for her is, when he takes it upon himself to journey to and through war-strife Iraq to save her from injury, through hell and high water, in dogged pursuit of elements that can save the love of his life.

Although infused with bits of comedy now and then, the movie takes a long hard look at how much one will do for someone else whom you love deeply. It might be a case of "nothing is impossible", given the will and the affection. But what if you know that what you're doing will likely to be unnoticed, or unappreciated, or unrequited. Then what? Hence the power of unconditional love. Truly very rare indeed. Should you feel, as the movie progresses, that certain bits seemed a little out of place, my advice is to persevere until the end, where a sleight of hand twist is introduced, and given the 20/20 hindsight, you'll begin to ponder, and understand this love a little more.

It's bittersweet, and with moments that might touch you. But alas, this is no Life is Beautiful, and although it has its moments with the beautiful make belief cinematographic elements in the end, it somehow lacked that extra bit of emotional depth to truly move an audience.

Oh, and that fellow blonde teacher, now she's hot!

Crank

My Heart's Pumping Already!

Just so you know, I'm a fan of Jason Statham, but before you jump to conclusions that I'm gonna give a positive spin on Crank because I'm a fan boy, do note that if you cannot stand mindless action movies, if you're not a Statham fan, flowery vulgarities are not your cup of tea, and MTV styled quick cuts give you headaches, then forget it, Crank is not for you.

Otherwise, you're in for an adrenaline pumping ride. And what a ride it is. While Statham has been in a variety of movies, sometimes in bit roles (Collateral), or sharing the limelight (The Italian Job remake), or playing villainous characters (like Cellular), he does prove at times that he could carry off his own vehicle (pardon the pun) in films like the Transporter series. You may quibble about his acting, or the movies he starred in don't allow any range to be seen, but hey, this dude's got presence. And in action movies, that's what matters. Can he be to this decade what Stallone-Van Damme-Schwarzeneggar have been to theirs?

Statham stars as Chev Chelios, an unsavoury character, a professional hitman finding himself in deep, deep trouble. As always, the bad guys like monologues, and slow deaths, hence right at the start he's injected with a synthetic drug known as the Beijing Cocktail. To survive, he must keep his adrenaline flowing and heart rate high. Relaxing and taking five, will be lethal. So begins a riotous run around town, staying alive with every conceivable adrenaline pumping ideas based on sex, drugs and even rock and roll, in his desperate quest to fish out his perpetrators and exact his brand of violent justice.

It's extremely non politically correct, and the dialogue, well, you'll either love it, or loathe it. And directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor really loaded this movie with plenty of smart alecky effects and quirky edits, you'll need some time to adjust to the style imposed. Don't go looking for a very smart storyline with award winning acting, because you won't find any, given the very blatant loopholes in certain scenes, plunging plausibility right down the drain. But who cares, so long as the action's great and the pace just never letting up. Best part is that given the local rating, nothing's being censored, so you can see every gory scene (some reminiscent of Hostel, Saw, and the likes), witness sexploitative characters, and hear every swear word in its full glory.

And another plus points for the male audience, Amy Smart stars in a decorative role as Eve, Chev's main squeeze, who doesn't show up until close to the hour's mark in a less than 90 minute movie. The character's here plainly to serve up and fulfill deep dark sexual desires. Heck, I'd bet most in the audience were crossing their fingers for some major wardrobe malfunction!

Strictly for the fans, and hell yeah, it's one heck of a ride! And stay tuned until the end of the credits too! Can't wait for his new movie Rogue where he goes up against Jet Li!

Me Against The Odds

Flushed Away

It's Wallace and Gromit!

Hugh Jackman is everywhere these days, from reprising his iconic Wolverine role in summer blockbuster X3, to starring twice alongside Scarlett Johansson in Woody Allen's Scoop and Christopher Nolan's The Prestige, and now, just lending his voice to a lead character in the animated film Flushed Away, co-starring his summer blockbuster star Sir Ian McKellen. Soon to come will be Darren Aronofsky's The Fountain. Whew! There seems to be no stopping this Hollywood flavour of the month!

Despite this animated movie being yet another one of many based on talking animals, Flushed Away doesn't try too hard to be funny by steamrolling pop culture into the story. It just is funny with its deft touches, be it dialogue, slapstick, or various sight gags. Although it's set primarily in the sewers, it's beautiful chaos, with loads of little details all over that you'll probably need to watch it twice over to appreciate all the effort put in to create the computerized graphical sets.

At first glance, you might think you're watching a Wallace and Gromit animated show. Yes, this is produced by the same studio, Aardman Animations, in association with Dreamworks, and it is no wonder that the animation, although computer generated, maintained a very clay like look and feel, as well as character designs bearing similar resemblance in style to W&G.

The story is simple enough, yet adequately satisfying by the time the end credits roll. As the trailer suggested, Aristocratic rat pet Roddy from Kensington (Hugh Jackman) thought he just had the whole classy apartment to himself, when an unexpected guest Sid (Shane Richie) from the sewers gatecrashes into his abode, and ejects him through the "jacuzzi". All these in less than 10 minutes. So begins a mad journey in an unknown sewer world which replicated the modern London City above it with junk, where he has to figure out friend from foe, and find his way back to where he belongs.

The themes of family and friends do not come on too strongly, instead the story preferred to let the character interactions bring forth the messages. Supporting or interfering in his quest are characters like Rita (Kate Winslet), The Toad (Ian McKellen), French Le Frog (Jean Reno), and rat minions Whitey (Bill Nighy) and Spike (Andy Serkis). It's quite commendable that in its less than 90 minutes runtime, it allowed for quite a bit of set action pieces to develop, along with almost laugh-a-minute lines of dialogue, a good mix of songs (Hugh sings!) and ooh, a diabolical plot.

But what perhaps is the show stealer, are the sewer slugs. Ever popping up and performing at the right time, I'm sure they are crowd favourites despite their less than pleasant looking exterior. I wonder if they do sell the soft toy version, as it should be quite hilarious.

If too many animated flicks left this year has left you jaded with the genre, Flushed Away just flushes away the competition. Worth checking out on the big screen!

The Covenant

A Damsel In Distress?
Call In The Frat Boys!

Don't think too much when watching this movie. That's my advice, but it worked as an excellent therapy right after surviving the horrendous local film Return to Pontianak. The Covenant is guilty pleasure, of watching something full of effects, zero storyline to think about, great looking cast and the usual fast cars and quick action.

Alpha males will have another reason to rejoice, given the leading characters come from the so-called elite of the community, nicknamed "The Sons of Ipswich" for their founding fathers' efforts in building the town they live in. All of them are your usual good looking hunky frat boys, with fast cars, and cute chicks in tow. However, our gang of four harbour a deep secret, that each of them have supernatural powers that they can use for whatever they want, and how they want. The only catch is that with each use of their powers, they will physically age. So, do you wanna trade good looks, for absolute power?

But of course, the Book of Damnation (gee) instills certain rules, and introduces the audience to hokey witchcraft and imagined mysticism. Naturally no one's interested in that stuff, except to watch with glee how our frat boys will (ab)use their powers. It's addictive, you know, having such abilities, and given the mysticism added in, it's no longer the drugs, nor the sex, nor the rock and roll that get these boys going, but the addiction of being omni-potent in place of power, wealth and fame. The leader of the pack, as per all juvenile stories, is the most powerful of the lot, and preaches time and time again on the virtues of restraint. Until one day the team faces an unexplainable disturbance in The Force (oops, wrong movie, but you get the drift), and have to discover just exactly what the disturbance is.

No honours will go towards acting abilities, and I feel those in the audience with strong sense of feminism will go up in arms about how the lead female character is portrayed. You know, the one who will go weak in the knees for the hottest looking guy and literally and blatantly flings herself at him. The guys too fare no better, always trying to ooze machismo and drip testosterone at every opportunity, and enjoy replicating Underworld-styled leaping off rooftops.

For a movie like this, there are no efforts spared in jazzing up the special effects. While on the whole it's all good, there are portions of it which made scenes look like extended screen versions of the video game Street Fighter, and taking a leaf too from Asia's StormRiders (Feng Yun) in creating battle scenes. You know it's time for formula, when fights are choreographed according to an alternative rock soundtrack. While the action is good, the pacing of the movie could be improved loads. It couldn't decide whether it wanted to be mysterious, horrific, reliant on action or wanting to take its romantic bits seriously. It seemed that director Renny Harlin had a lot of ideas for the feel of the movie, but couldn't decide which to put focus on, and in the end, threw everything into the pot for a mix.

It's like an all boys "The Craft", also set in school, except that their powers are inherited, and the story examines what's it like to use power with a price. If you need something to immerse yourself to forget about a hard day's work, then The Covenant probably is your choice. Oh, and this is one movie in which the trailer tells the whole damn story.

[Cine.SG] Return to Pontianak

This Ain't Your Mama's Pontianak!

Asian horror movies have always been popular here, and even local film The Maid by Kelvin Tong managed to strike gold at the box office, here and overseas as well, going against the grain of thought that local movies do not make money. However, in the recent surge of local movie making, there was another Singapore horror movie made, Return to Pontianak, which seemed to hold some promise with its reimagining / retelling of the legendary Malay female spirit. There were signs that it was bad - a friend's warning, and the turnout for the screening was a paltry 10-15 persons, but I just had to watch it for myself.

The verdict? This made in 2001 movie reeks, and reminds you of failed attempts by filmmakers around the world in taking something quite established, and then giving their own creative spin on it. While some might work, most of them will go the way of the Hollywood Godzilla. If this Pontianak were to go head long with the original Pontianak in a one on one, director Djinn's version will be made to wash the original's flowing white garbs. While the originals made in the 50s and 60s (I watched Sumpah Pontianak starring Maria Menado) were cheesy and lacking in grand special effects, they had a lot of heart. This one absolutely doesn't.

Made after the highly successful Blair Witch Project (1999), this is one movie which should be seen, as a lesson learnt in how NOT to make a horror film. It's strange that much of it emulated Blair Witch, with its forest setting, characters roaming around getting routinely lost, and its highly puke inducing jerky camera motions. While Blair Witch had a reason for it, Return to Pontianak's boils down to budget. Neither has it any scary moments or atmosphere, aside from some mumbo-jumbo recitings and the awful soundtrack which is a horror in itself.

While characters in most horror movies are throwaways, and only in established classics that you have a tinge of development, the characters developed for Return to Pontianak are those that happen to be of the irritating kind. They don't look good (Hollywood compensates for the lack of story with awesome eye candy), and neither do they spout interesting lines. Dialogue is awful and contrived, and the bad sound design makes things worse. Caricatures abound, you have a group of five, led by the protagonist called Charity (Hiep Thi Le) (the last time I heard this name was in Hong Kong's StormRiders), who developed a sudden urge to seek out her biological parents in the jungles of Pontianak (hence the title, other than the reference to the "hantu"). Joining her are a fugly man-girl called Uzi (Eleanor Lee), whose mouth is automatically set to spout vulgarities like a sub-machine gun, an ignorant slacker ang mo Luke (Steve Banks), the boring techno-geek Raymond (Victor Khong), and a pretty useless and incompetent local guide called Eye (Fadali).

For the first hour, nothing much happens, and you have to endure bad bitching, bad acting, bad acting, bad sound, bad cinematography. That is until a mysterious couples appear, and the cliches associated with horror movie making come out in some force, although bad makeup, and more bad acting continue to plague the movie. Thankfully, the sound design improved in the last 30 minutes, but that's because most of the time the movie is silent, save for the rustling sounds of a tropical rainforest.

And what of Pontianak herself? Well, she comes out in the day. Which is preposterous. And she's totally lacking in prowess that made her infamous. Worse yet, this Pontianak is totally devoid of motivations and origins, and doesn't differentiate herself with any other ordinary ghost and goblin out there. For anyone not versed in the Pontianak lore, you might wonder what's the big deal. All in all, an extremely poor retelling.

But if there is any consolation, it's that perhaps the filmmakers learnt from this bad episode, and given Djinn's Perth (2005), you can see a fairly large jump in terms of storytelling craft. A better budget probably helped, and maybe the realization that something more rooted to earth is the better path for him?

Retitled Voodoo Nightmare for the overseas market, this movie has not much voodoo magic, but plenty of nightmares. Nightmares of a movie gone totally wrong.

Operation Undercover (Wo Hu)

"Wo Hu" literally translates to "Crouching Tiger" (yeah yeah, one half of that famous Chinese proverb/movie of the same title), which refers to hidden talents, agendas and the likes. In yet another Hong Kong triad movie produced by the infamous Wong Jing, Operation Undercover (the less stylish English title) tells the story of how Hong Kong's police sent a rumoured thousand undercover cops to infiltrate the triads at all levels, leading to numerous high profiled arrests of triad members.

But no, this story doesn't begin and end just like that. It's actually a misnomer of a plot device, and you're not going to see thousands of similar Tony Leung/Andy Lau characters invading the screen. In fact, this movie is anything but pitting mole against mole. While the story may seem to be familiar, with the theme of the discovery and realization of bad hats in any organization, and those whose hearts and intentions are pure, the delivery, although stylistically looking similar to Infernal Affairs with its strained blue hues, actually excelled, very much dependent on the ensemble cast.

It's great to see Miu Kiu Wai back on the big screen after a long hiatus. In fact, this film had a number of actors whom we haven't seen for a while. With Wai playing a police superintendent, the rest make up the triads. I haven't seen Julian Cheung take on a bad guy role before, even though his scheming character here is nothing to shout about. Regular insane character actor Francis Ng returns to his mould, although his performance here surpassed the recent Exiled and On the Edge. A welcome return is Jordan Chan, famed for his dynamic pairing with Ekin Cheng in the Young and Dangerous franchise, playing a hen-pecked and muddled gangster chief, and rounding up the triad organization at the top, is Eric Tsang, probably in a role we're so familiar with given his Infernal Affairs connection. Shawn Yue cameos too as an assassin with few words.

Given the slew of movies in the same genre, you might balk at this one, given the low level publicity muscle, and probable thoughts of it emulating Election or Infernal Affairs. But the filmmakers perhaps realized the inevitable comparisons, and have early in the movie, given subtle jibes at those other movies, as a reminder that hey, we're from the same genre, but we're not emulating anyone, although the themes and plots might be threading the same ground. It doesn't take the typical microscopic look at the life of undercovers, but adopts a macroscopic view instead. Suggestions were provided as to how undercover cops lead their lives, and how much license they are given to walk on the wrong side of the law. Sadly this potentially interesting aspect wasn't looked into much, and came more of an afterthought following a surprising revelation.

The usual scheming and double crossings surface rather fast and furious in the second half of the movie, and it's quite puzzling to wonder why a bit part mushy romance was thrown in to upset the pace. While the subplot might be used to gain some sympathy for the characters involved, it could have been a darker film should this aspect not be explored, and it's quite unnecessary at times. My guess would be actually for the actress to make some kind of debut performance and sharing the credits with a rather stellar cast. Or perhaps to highlight the point again that some gangsters do have hearts (of gold) as well.

The finale, if wrapped up earlier, could have made the movie feel more compact and satisfying. However, it chose to end abruptly, and leaving things so open, there is room for a possible sequel. I won't hold my breath for that to happen though.

An Inconvenient Truth

Heal The World

"You can't make somebody understand something if their salary depends upon them not understanding it." - Upton Sinclair

Now if there's a story that's terrifying, An Inconvenient Truth is more horrifying that the recent slew of horror and disaster films out there, because, if you buy the message, this is true, and what's happening right here right now. We can't escape the consequences if we continue doing what we do to harm Nature, but yet we still have the power and ability to make a difference.

Sounds simplistic? Well, maybe. Then again, cynicism will not help any bit. An Inconvenient Truth is a documentary, touching on the very issues of our survival and existence on this only planet we call Earth, the only one we can call home. Al Gore, used to be the next president of the United States, or could be if going by popular vote, brings to us, on the big screen with the assistance of director Davis Guggenheim, an issue he holds dearly, as seen in his relentless crusade around the world, to spread the message that the Earth is sending out SOSes, and we need to respond.

The issue of global warming, and the cranky weather and natural disasters we are facing of late, is nothing new. But perhaps, in about 100 minutes, here is something, a presentation that hits home, that summarizes succinctly all the cause and effects, the whys and the how tos. Filled with charts, facts and figures, and lively animation, these are but some of the techniques Gore uses in his slideshow presentation to ring home the message. In fact, I would say it's an excellent package put together for presentation, and anyone could take away a tip or two, on effective public speaking.

To some, the documentary is a no-brainer to put together, as most of it focuses on Gore delivering his message, as if you were there listening to him from the stage floor. True, the setup might not be impressive, but the message is too engaging for you to realize that it might be a little bit lazy in the filmmaking aspects. Having said that, it's precisely jazzier styles were not adopted to keep the attention on the message instead.

And keep to the message it does, with just little time on the outside of what Gore does on his travels, some little glimpses into his family life, life before, during and after the close-call year 2000 presidential elections. You do wonder though, about the what-ifs, should he had won the elections, and what difference he would have made on these issues when in the White House.

It is clear that modern civilization has an increasing negative impact on the environment, and with the mega developing countries seeking its path to economic equity, one would only shudder at how much more damage could be done, and the devastating after effects. Politics usually steer clear of issues like these, and instead, picks and chooses battles with a higher confidence of success. It's sad, but true.

The funniest part about this, and I'd bet during any screening, is whether anyone will buy into what was being delivered. There are tips handed out during the end credits, on how individuals like you and me could help do our part to save the environment. They aren't huge projects, but very simple ones. And no prizes for guessing there are many uninterested, heading straight for the door when the credits start to roll.

"It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so." - Mark Twain

Watch this, and let's do our part!

Visit the official website at http://www.climatecrisis.net for more information.

[Japanese Film Fest] Linda Linda Linda

Introducing The All Girl Band!

The closing film of this year's Japanese Film Festival, I was half expecting it to end with a rousing and wild finale, given its similarities to last year's commercial release Swing Girls, which also set its story with characters involved in putting up a musical performance. However, it didn't quite live up to expectation, but nonetheless the journey was still pleasing to the eyes (ahem).

Unlike Swing Girls where the characters had no idea how to play with the jazz band instruments, the group in Linda Linda Linda have been jamming in their own rock band, so they have some prior experience. Save for their lead singer, who was hastily recruited, and turned out to be a Korean (you'd recognize her from The Host), from the school's Korea-Japan foreign student exchange programme.

So begins the frantic pace of finalizing the composition of the group - lead vocalist Son (Bae Du-Na), drummer Kyoko (Aki Maeda), guitarist Kei (Yu Kashii, last seen in Death Note), and bassist Nozomi (Shiori Sekine), and the independent as well as combined practice and training sessions. The songs were as catchy as the lyrics were inane (well, if the English subtitles were to be trusted), taken from Japanese pink rock band The Blue Hearts. Naturally you'll need the element of adversity, and it comes in the form of a lack of venues to practice before their big day performance during the school's rock festival.

As per formula, you'll always have the misfits put together and then bonding just in time for their show. It's no different for Linda Linda Linda, as ultimately it's still a feel good movie. It follows the same technique in teasing the audience on the group's performing ability as they improve day by day, in not showing you their performing of the songs in full, and builds up anticipation for that bring-the-house-down finale. However, it lacked certain deftness in resolving the multiple minor subplots (like romance) it opened, preferring to leave them unresolved or open ended.

And when the final performance did come on, it's too little too late, with its lack of oomph in delivery, cutting short on the promised 3 song medley. It's a pity though, as the journey to the destination really hinted on a big-bang adrenaline filled ending.

[Japanese Film Fest] Dead Run (Shisso)

Essentially the movie tells of the story of the central character, Shuji (Yuga Tegoshi), and his ultimate downfall from grace. However, with the way the narrative is set up, you'll most likely be bewildered as to how the movie is going to develop and which direction it's going to take. It's quite messy with its many ideas thrown in at multiple points, each may or may not providing the resolution you're seeking.

In fact, it has so many ideas (since it's adapted from a novel), that it's almost like watching an incident laden life of a young boy growing up into a teenager, examining and observing his interactions with unexpected members of society, ranging from small town gangsters, to big town Yakuzas, from gangster molls to his own female peer in Eri (Hanae Kan), who shares the same passion for running as Shuji does.

There are quite a number of characters introduced to facilitate this, and more often than not, you only get to know of their background in a rather slow revelation. The movie takes its time to develop the characters and their backgrounds - so don't be expecting the conventional approach. It's a pity though, that some characters become throwaway ones, even after significant screentime had been dedicated featuring them. Of importance is the character of a priest, Father Yuichi (Etsushi Toyokawa), which had a rather rich background story developed and set up as the "Boo Radley" of the movie. Given the screentime devoted, I was rather puzzled when it turned out that he too became a disappearing act in the middle portion, before returning for a bit part in the finale.

Like most of the other movies shown during the festival, this one also had a segment of its setting in a classroom, and has its fair share of featuring children in lead roles, albeit up to the one-third mark where the more adult actors took over. And lead actor Yuga Tegoshi did an excellent job in his Shuji - a confused boy, utterly moulded by the environment around him, his loneliness stemmed from a disappearing family, and his quest to seek companionship bringing him to Osaka and Tokyo.

What finally redeemed the movie was its last third, where it got its act back together, and realized its direction towards its final push to end the movie. It's a full circle tale after all, with a message never to judge a book by its cover, or to judge a character based on hearsay. And what finally hit you, assisting you in sitting through the convoluted storyline, is the excellent piano musical score done by SENS.

p.s. at one point in time the projection seemed to have tilted downwards, cutting off the bottom half where the subtitles are. Thankfully there was just one (inconsequential) line of dialogue uttered, and was fixed before anything major happened in the story.

p.p.s. I thought at one point it had a scene somewhat similar to Sepet, with the handphone bit!

[Japanese Film Fest] The Professor and His Beloved Equation (Hakase No Aishita Sushiki)

The Feel Good Factor

This is a very beautiful movie.

If Mathematics was never your choice subject in school, with the way the subject is presented in this movie, I'm sure it'll win some new fans over. The last time I can remember where Maths was used as a central plot device was in Ron Howard's A Beautiful Mind, but here, it gains a lot more mileage than that Hollywood movie.

I enjoyed the method in which Maths was written into the script, into the characters, and given a life of its own. It revived interest in things like perfect numbers, prime numbers, pi, the imaginary number, and Euler's famous equation. Even if you're clueless about the concepts of these terms, the movie will succinctly introduce them in a highly enjoyable manner. I'm actually quite in awe how complex terms can be weaved so simply into the entire narrative, and made it all work together so well.

Borrowing a similar plot device to Memento, a Maths professor suffers from current memory loss, and can only remember events up until his accident. Everything else that is current lasts only 80 minutes, which is why he relies on little notes and his blackboards to remind himself of important current information each time he comes back to square one. A housekeeper is hired to look after him, and despite the trying times and unique circumstances, both of them manage to strike a deep friendship, through the help of mathematics - one who inspires, and the other who admires. The friendship develops further as the housekeeper's 10 year old son, nicknamed by the Professor "Root" for his square head, comes into the picture, and three of their lives become intertwined.

There are many touching moments in the movie, and almost everything revolved around mathematics, food, and even baseball! But you'd come to understand that the movie goes beyond that, and clearly the message is in the philosophy of maths itself, using concepts and applying it to real life, to living life. As such, it made the mathematical concepts introduced here quite accessible and easy to understand.

The formation of friendships is core to the story, and the antagonist is none other than a jealous sister-in-law trying to break up what seemed to be going good for everyone involved. I sort of paralleled it to real life, in a not-too-recent episode which I and a few friends personally encountered, and the subsequent treatment we suffered. It makes you wonder how sometimes, even though with honest and sincere intentions, and out of the earnestness in valuing a friendship, you're demonized.

It's quite uncanny, but all 3 characters in the professor, the housekeeper and her son are all quite lovable, both in character and in presentation. The cinematography is brilliant too, bringing out the best in the landscapes of the town that they live in, in a picturesque like fashion.

I liked the simplicity of the movie, and the feel good factor that exudes from it. It's very beautiful and poetic to watch, given its even and comfortable pace, and it's definitely one of my favourite movies of the year, and my choice as the best film during this festival! The last time I had such a feeling watching a movie was last year's Be With You (not to be confused with Eric Khoo's Be With Me). This is a must-watch if you have the opportunity!

[Japanese Film Fest] Kamome Diner (Kamome Shokudo)

The Movie Poster

This is Naoko Ogigami's third feature film, and the first Japanese film to be shot entirely in Finland, land of the midnight sun. As I mentioned in some other postings, cinema allows you to be transported to fantasy worlds, and of course in a more realistic sense, going to countries we have yet to set foot upon.

The movie is set around a Japanese diner in Finland, and its owner, Sachie (Satomi Kobayashi). The story revolves around the diner, as well as the friendships that Sachie develops, with customer and crew. The food, "soul foods" as in the menu, can make anyone salivate and feel hunger pangs, especially when the movie was screened into dinner time.

Pretty nothing much happens in Kamome Diner, except that there are plenty of people flitting in and out of the eatery. It's like watching a television series with episodes strung together, each putting the focus and theme on guest characters of the show, how they interact with the established leads. We are introduced to Sachie's first customer, a Finnish teenager who enjoys Japanese anime, and from there, one thing leads to another, as Sachie meets up with Midori (Hairi Katagiri), also another Japanese who left Japan to seek her fortunes in a strange land.

The customers in the diner is set up in the story such that it's directly proportionate to the friendships established by Sachie. It's like a vicious circle being broken, with the seizing of opportunities and the chance of befriending a customer, comes the breaking down of hesitation that others have about something that is new, something less seen, something different. And as it grows, so too does the number of friendships being formed, nurtured and developed, akin to the care put into the creation of recipes and the cooking of food.

By the end of it, everyone had undergone changes in their lives for the better, through subtle interactions, lessons learnt, and all these in a rather mundane manner of living life, in normal day to day activities.

The cast is a mix of Japanese and Finnish, and the dialogue too a mix of languages. But given its themes of friendship, belief, keeping the faith and being positive just about everything, it's ultimately a feel good movie, with plenty of subtleties, a dash of humour, and generous servings of well intentions.

**********



After the screening, we had an opportunity to meet up with director Naoko Ogigami, who was in attendance to present both her movies for the day. It was a relatively small group who stayed back, about 20 of us, including the SFS crew, and we were treated to a snack of Japanese rice cakes and tea, which was a very nice gesture, given the significance of the food in the movie, as well as the fact that it was already close to dinner time.



I won't be covering anything significant about the Q&A, except to add that Naoko is extremely shy and soft-spoken, and actually let slip that she doesn't really like to direct (!), and prefers writing instead. Her movies so far have not been shot in the capital Tokyo, and she revealed candidly that she was afraid of the Yakuza. I suppose they probably could intimidate any film crew on set with the obligatory requirement of paying protection money?



In any case, almost everyone acknowledged that given the male dominated film industry in Japan, it was refreshing to have a female perspective in the industry, as to the films made and stories told.



The Q&A lasted about an hour, and ended without much fanfare. Discussions were launched into her inspirations, her background, and of course the actress Masako Motai, who will be in her next film as well, currently still under development.

[Japanese Film Fest] Yoshino's Barber Shop (Barber Yoshino)

It's a Fad I Tell You!

In the village of Kaminoe, it's idyllic, quiet, everything looks quite normal. Except when you realize a quirky trait amongst the little boys - all of them are sporting this bowled hairstyle! And I mean ALL the boys! At first it looks quite cute, and the movie too, until suddenly, you start to question if this is something taken to the extreme. With the arrival of a new kid from the outside, sporting totally hip, dyed hair, herein lies the perfect catalyst for impending change, or is it?

On the surface, it may look like a children's story, with the group of boys befriending this new kid, and having a sort of peer effect on him to get his hairstyle changed to fit in, of course much to his reluctance. On the other hand, this individual's appearance in town made the boys rethink their norms of maintaining their hairstyles, no thanks to one of their moms, the matronly looking Yoshiko (Masako Motai), whose barber shop dishes out the standard hairstyle for all the boys in the village.

But like a recent Chinese movie Little Red Flowers, Yoshino's Barber Shop works at a deeper level as well. While children and folks not wishing to use their noodle can still enjoy the saccharine sweet storyline, episodes and admire the cinematography, those who wish to delve just a little bit deeper, will find a social commentary from writer-director Naoko Ogigami, on traditions and customs that we hold on too, despite their irrelevance in today's society. When questioned and challenged, those who hold these traditions dear, will nonetheless find it preposterous for someone else, especially from the younger generation, to question those customs. Sometimes when things are done in rote, or for the sake of doing, the rationales behind the festivals and tradition, will be lost in the hullabaloo of celebrations.

At times the movie did feel a bit slow moving, but it provided the space for additional, deeper thoughts. The finale was complete with wicked, dark humour, but it addressed the desires of youth quite aptly, with their wanting to be cool, and innate streak of rebellion inside to always want to challenge the norms, as that equates to being cool.

If you enjoy movies with kids playing the leads, then Yoshino's Barber Shop will rank up there with Little Red Flowers, in tackling similar adult themes in what seems to be a made for children's movie.

[Japanese Film Fest] The All-Out Nine - Field of Nightmares (Gyakkyo Nine)

All Out!

After yesterday's relatively boring selection, this sports comedy served up a pleasant surprise. The crowd was larger than I expected for the paid portion of the festival starting from today, and hey, it's not bad that The All-Out Nine was on widescreen at the National Museum Gallery Theatre.

Adapted from manga, The All-Out Nine - Field of Nightmares, set its tone for madcap humour right from the onset, with a big looming black object flying on screen towards Earth, in the spirit of Star Wars. We're introduced to the lead character Toshi Fukutsu (Tetsuji Tamayama), the "All-Out" school's baseball team captain, as he pleads with his principal, in kung-fu fashion, not to shut down the team for its lack of honours.

I'm unsure if the manga carried the same tone in its presentation, but the look and feel of the movie borrowed a huge leaf from Stephen Chow's Shaolin Soccer (SS), with its wacky crew of sub-par players, in a team called "All-Out" (like SS's town of Pig-Sty), and within the crew, there's always the obligatory pudgy guy and resident babe. In fact, most characters here are cardboard characters, one dimensional and most of the time inserted and appearing just for laughs, like the baseball team coach, whose experience is in Sepak Takraw, and who look and sounds more like a motivational speaker rather than a sports coach. His appearance was damn hilarious, and irrelevant as well.

The running theme through the story is on Adversity, and how, through an indomitable spirit, challenges, no matter how impossible (and they are) can probably be overcome. And these implausible challenges come fast and furious, and at times don't make much sense. Then again, you remember this is a farcical movie anyway, with many moments filled with extreme animation and special effects, making it look very manga like, especially with those gigantic overhanging words of wisdom.

But unlike SS which builds the moments to a crescendo of a finale, The All-Out Nine seemed to be doing it in reverse. It had a brilliant start and middle with your senses assaulted with different humour ranging from verbal to the slapstick, but somehow lost its steam halfway. At some points you know what the filmmakers are going to pull out of the humour hat, but if compared to SS, you'll see without a doubt which one is relatively superior. Somehow the story didn't allow for many opponents to be presented, and the final game was dragged out for too long, with tiring ideas.

Nonetheless, this film is meant to be light and campy, and I feel made a good start to the second half of the festival. More to come tomorrow, with director Ogigami Naoko in attendance for her films Yoshino's Barber Shop and Kamone Diner. If my luck holds, then expect pics and a podcast of sorts!

[Japanese Film Fest] Dixieland Daimyo (Jazz Daimyo)

My initial reaction was, this sure is one strange movie. Set in the late 19th century and after the end of the American Civil War, three slaves decided to make their way back to Africa, but en route, found themselves on the shores of Japan after a shipwreck. From then on, it's a weird mix of Japanese shogun intrigue and jazz music fused into a somewhat nonsensical end.

The introduction needed a little getting used to, since the Americans were clearly speaking in English, but had their speech dubbed over with voices speaking Japanese. Subtitles and intertitles became Japanese at certain points of the story, although English subtitles were used when they had their voices dubbed. So it's listening to two concurrent language tracks, and reading the English subtitles.

The storyline and its characters were peculiar as well. Essentially, it's about the chancing upon a group of gaijins who bring along their musical instruments and talent for jazz (well, actually not quite. They only know one song, and it's played ad nausem after plenty of practice), and sharing their passion for music with the native Japanese. And it all turned out to be one huge STOMP-like ensemble performance and a trance like rave party, which seemed pretty out of place given the development of the storyline.

Actually, what storyline? The "intrigue in the palace" styled story isn't inspiring, and for most parts it just bores. There are some characters which had potential to be something more, like the martial arts skilled princess, but given its runtime of less than 90 minutes, it's already hard pressed to get any more character development.

So that leaves the finale, which looks like an extended music video. But what I thought was interesting, was the way how the portrayal of "leaving society" was handled, with the jazz performance, and the depiction of turmoil and inevitable changes happening above their performing grounds. There were murmurings around me about how absurd it all is, but I thought it was quite neatly done, and brought its own message across in a very non-conventional way.

Today's session marks the end of the free screenings from the Japanese Film Fest, and the end of the use of the 166mm film projector. From tomorrow, the sessions are the paid ones, so am curious to see what's the turnout gonna be like. In any case, the highlight will be director Ogigami Naoko gracing the screenings of Yoshino's Barber Shop and Kamome Diner on Saturday, and I'm really looking forward to Linda Linda Linda.

The coverage continues. More to come!

The Almost Weekly Wednesday Midnight Bulletin #5

This week's another one of those insane week with multiple movies making their premieres. With the opening of more screens and more venues available, this should only spell well for cinema goers if the chains continue their respective exclusive showcases to differentiate their cinema halls from others. The selection is wide, but here's the lowdown on this week's worthy picks!

Flick of the Week
An Inconvenient Truth gets my vote for Flick of the Week. I'm still stuck with my commitment to reviewing the movies at the Japanese Film Festival (now on at the National Museum Gallery Theatre), so I haven't had the chance to preview this documentary. But it nonetheless gets my vote as a must see this week, tackling an important crucial theme of global warming. Helmed by The Ex-Almost US President Al Gore, I suspect that the movie will linger in our minds for some time, however it'll be duly forgotten in due course. Such is the state of affairs, and if any of you made life changing decisions, let me know!

BLOCKBUSTER
The US Coast Guard gets the Top Gun treatment, and testosterone gets smeared on the big screen with macho men sweating it on on the high seas. The Guardian marks the comeback of Kevin Costner in an heroic role, and given the dearth of heroic movies these days, this is one welcome change. One of those tribute movies to uniformed groups, it's formula, with Bryan Adams contributing yet another theme song to a movie.

The DUD I
You know, the hype gets to you, the marketing budget bursting to promote it everywhere, but it's all because of the need to cover up a really weak product. The Sinking of Japan, touted as probably the mother of all disaster movies, is a disaster in itself. Don't waste your time, or your money. But yes, the slick advertising campaign will most likely get to you. Don't say you've not been warned!

The DUD II
With so many movies opening, it isn't difficult to locate another turkey. Directed by Oxide Pang, one half of the Pang brothers who had a mixture of hits and misses with their horror movies. In Diary, they take a detour into psychological thrillers. Charlene Choi, the lead actress and one half of Hong Kong Pop Duo Twins, takes a plunge into a very different role here, and given that this is possible her showcase, it's a must watch for her fans. Otherwise, it's a tad too experimental and repetitive, with a storyline that borrows quite a bit from easily identifiable contemporary movies.

The DUD III
OK, so this one ain't that bad, that's why it's the last of the DUD trilogy for the week. If you approach The OH in Ohio as you hope to expect it to be as good as The 40 Year Old Virgin, then prepare to be disappointed. Otherwise this movie does have its moments, but I still think the queen of on-screen orgasm still belongs to Meg Ryan in When Harry Met Sally.

Acquired Tastes

Days of Glory was one of the movies in the recently concluded French Film Festival for 2006, and it makes it commercial debut this week. Before you go "not another war movie again", this one is slightly different, as it looks at mercenaries fighting for change, and a chance to be recognized in a land that does not love them back, for all the blood and sweat they shed to reclaim France from the Axis Powers during WWII. Compelling.

I would watch DOA (or Dead on Arrival), based on the video game, just to see if Devon Aoki gets to look good on screen. 2 Fast 2 Furious managed to make her look fugly, and she looked like she could use some colour in Sin City. Don't hold your breaths as this is a definite chick flick, and probably strictly for the game fans.

The last acquired taste will be Operation Undercover, following straight from the heels of last week's Exiled. Hong Kong Triad movies seem to be on a resurgence, so it will be interesting to see what's the differentiating factor in this one.

See you at the movies!

[Japanese Film Fest] Free and Easy Special Version (Tsuribaka Nisshi Supesharu)

The sudden heavy downpour in the late evening made me think that the turnout today might be less than the previous days, but I was wrong. A sizable crowd soon built up and the theatre was about 70% packed for the screening this evening.

The screening started with a call for understanding from the organizers. You see, the print they obtained from Japan is widescreen (scoped), but the projector unfortunately didn't have the proper lenses to show it in its original aspect ratio. So the result was a relatively squashed picture, which looked quite hilarious as limbs were anatomically impossibly short. It's a surprise though that none in the audience decided to walk out, which was good since you can basically sit through it once you get used to the wrong screening ratio.

The Free and Easy series is based on a popular Japanese manga, and the slew of movies starting from 1988 attests to its longevity. Co-written by Yoji Yamada and starring Toshiyuki Nishida (from the Gakko movies), Free and Easy Special Edition continues the comedy and melodrama about two good friends who are avid anglers. The movie fortunately doesn't require you to know much of the background or what had transpired in earlier movies. It's pretty much stand alone, and you'll get the hang of the character dynamics after a while.

As a bit of a limited background of the movie based on only this installment, Densuke Hamasaki (Toshiyuki Nishida) and Ichinosuke Suzuki (Rentako Mikuni) are 2 fishing buddies. They take angling quite seriously, so much so that like football fans who swear that football is better then sex, these two men too, swear in the same language for fishing. However, both of them work in the same construction company, with Suzuki being the CEO, and Hamasaki, the lowly average office worker, and to avoid gossip of nepotism etc, they keep their private and public lives very much separate, hence bringing about opportunities for some laughter in this comedy drama.

The movie plays out like a typical television drama, and this installment seemed like two episodes spliced into one. The first story focused on an arranged matchmaking story with the spotlight on the younger actors, in a typical plot consisting of boy-meets-girl-too-shy-to-approach-arrange-special-meeting-they-like-each-other-but-there's-a-third-party cliche. Much of the drama belongs to this segment. On the other story, some comedic relief kicks in as a mistaken affair between Hamasaki's wife Michiko (Miyoko Asada) and Suzuki brings about some disharmony to the Hamasaki household, especially when Densuke is finding it difficult to sleep with his wife (lol).

The pacing of the movie is a bit slow, and given its television look and feel, does seem to be trying at times as you can't wait to decipher what's going to happen next. Given the improper screening, I couldn't quite determine fairly how the actors performed, but suffice to say that there are moments of exaggeration, and the plot at times do seem a bit contrived. But it provided decent entertainment in less than 2 hours, on a rainy weekday evening.

[Japanese Film Fest] Kikujiro (Kikujirô No Natsu)

So Who's the Childish One Now?

The last Kitano Takeshi movie for the day, Kikujiro is very much unlike the previous two movies. If anyone would think that Takeshi is only famous for, and can make only violent movies, then this one would make you do an about turn. Even the narrative style is quite different from the limited few of his movies I've been exposed to. Being PG rated (Hana-Bi was NC16), the queue of those expected to watch this film was again snaking, even though most of the (free) tickets were already snapped up.

The story centers on the deep friendship which develops between a quirky, mean and uncouth middle-aged man, and a young boy. It doesn't start off rosy, as Kikujiro (played by Takeshi himself) gets assigned, against his wishes, chaperon duties to assist and ensure that the young boy Masao (Yusuke Sekiguchi) gets to find his mother. So begins a road trip of sorts, with the duo encountering a host of situations and characters (aren't road trips all like that?)

The movie can be seen as two distinct halves, with the first half in my opinion the more superior portion of the film. It centers upon the journey, on the quest to seek out Masao's mother in another county. We get to follow our mismatched duo through various escapades through their hitchhiking adventures, with one involving racing amongst cyclists (in a betting game), which is one of my favourite moments in the story. Everything else afterwards in this half is built up from that one incident, adding much to the comedic aspects that actually, although predictably, bring on some genuine laughs.

The second half is perhaps what disappoints, with its introduction of over the top characters in 2 biker gang type guys, and a farmer. Here, the sequence of events sticks out unconvincingly, even though it's possibly trying to tug at your heartstrings and bring back memories of the days of childhood, where you have adults engaging in children's games, just to keep the children entertained. The play acting with strangers take its toil as it wore on, and became a bit of a drag with repetitive childish scenes of play acting. Takeshi isn't adorable, try as he might, and some may cringe at his "act cute" moments. Somehow Yusuke Sekiguchi, who plays Masao, doesn't seem to act cute at all, and I thought it was kind of mirroring real life - imagine between a baby and an adult, who's the one playing the fool most of the time in their interactions with each other?

Nonetheless, Kikujiro is still an admirable story on friendship, amongst the unlikeliest of couples, with Kikujiro cutting a father like figure to Masao's little child. Come to think of it, it's like a road trip movie between father and son, and the braving of odds to cement some credible ties by the time the end credits come rolling.