What Happens in Vegas...

Hell Yeah We're Married!

My only trip to the US (not counting the toddler days) where I can remember what the heck I was doing, was back in December 2005 (gee, time flies!) where I spent a total of 7 full days trawling the streets as well as the casinos up and down the Strip and its outskirts, and seriously, it's never as sexy as that portrayed in the movies (or that television series), though you'd truly never really run out of things to do, despite everything being overly expensive at tourist prices. I think I still possess a mental map of everything on the Strip!

And of course, Vegas is famous amongst other things besides the Elvis impersonators, live entertainment etc, is the ability to conduct quicky marriages, which is what Ashton Kutcher's Jack Fuller and Cameron Diaz's Joy McNally get themselves into during a night of drunken stupor and cheap dares, two lonely souls who journey to Sin City as an escapism from their failed lives, where you can enjoy all the pleasures the city have to offer, before the drudge comes kicking in when you receive that credit card bill.

So begins the story when the duo find themselves in a situation to annul their marriage given a night of impulse that they cannot remember, but cannot do so when McNally's quarter was inserted into a jackpot machine by Fuller, and that brought them a cool 3 million dollars jackpot. Which they can't agree how to split the money, and a quirky judge sentenced them to 6 months "hard marriage" to work through their marital vows, before their frozen cash can be touched. As what the trailer had already explicitly spelt out, it's War of the Roses in Mr and Mrs Smith styled couch-therapy sessions by Queen Latifah, with comedy ranging from the slapstick, to the plain juvenile toilet tricks.

Attempts to elevate the movie and give the characters more depth, come in the form of Jack Fuller learning to believe in himself and to shed his playboy, non-commital ways, and with Joy McNally having to learn to let her hair down, lighten up, and basically doing something she loves rather than to continue doing things that she dislikes, in true "live your dream" fashion. And throw in a quirky boss and ideal parents into the mix, you'd have a whole host of supporting cast to boost variety in this rather predictable tale, where you can see the outcome shining brightly like a star in a moonless night.

I thought Ashton Kutcher and Cameron Diaz could be playing themselves, i.e. one's dating an older woman, the other other no qualms in dating younger men. Well, at least their characters had never felt the need to reveal their ages, but you can tell Diaz is a spring chicken no longer since her big screen debut in The Mask. Typical of all her roles, Diaz again plays a ditzy blonde with quirky skill sets, and I thought somebody should really consider giving her a role in an action movie, since she has on display, really menacing looking biceps, and a scene where she got to show off her combo moves of a right hook and reverse roundhouse kick.

Kutcher on the other hand is, well, Kutcher from Punk'd, with nothing really new offered in his role of the smooth talking slacker with brooding good looks. Instead, the one who stole the show was sidekick Rob Corddry as Hater, Fuller's best friend and lawyer. He would already be familiar to some as the crazy Homeland Security agent in Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay, and I'd stick my neck out to say this is one guy to watch over the next few comedic movies, as he totally let it rip in this movie with his crazy antics.

At best, What Happens in Vegas is ideal for those itching for yet another formulaic romantic-comedy from the factories of Hollywood, or for those who missed out on the hot tickets for Speed Racer. Stay behind after the end credits roll for a final coda. There are 2 at the beginning of the end credits, but hold out right until the end before you decide to make for the exit.

Speed Racer

Matchbox Racers!

Go Speed Racer, Go Speed Racer, Go Speed Racer, Go!!!!!

No, I'm not a hardcore speed racer fan. My only contact with the character and the cartoon series some 20 odd years ago, was from a couple of episodes from free-to-air television courtesy of Malaysia's RTM. Back then, since I did not understand Malay (which the series was dubbed into), I could only gawk at the wide eyed and often wide, moving mouths of the characters as they race around circuits in their cars, half the time not knowing what was going on, except to root for the kid in the white helmet emblazoned with a red M, and that kid could really drive (from those lines drawn across the screen), and had a really cool car christened the Mach 5.

Now that I'm all, ahem, grown up, I still found myself rooting for that same kid in the same white helmet in the same car, albeit in a grown up version of the cartoon being put on screen. Gone are the dark and gloomy Matrix and Vendetta movies made by the Wachowski brothers Andy and Larry, and hello psychedelic colours that provide a visual sensory overload. From the trailer you would have seen the assault of neon and pastels, and not since Warren Beatty's Dick Tracy or Zhang Yimou's Hero had I seen colours being brought out with such maverick disregard. And guess what, it was one heck of a trippy ride, and fun.

That's certainly one of the first things anyone coming out of the screening would attest to, the colours, and of course the visual effects. Like the Star Wars prequel gone totally wild, CG were extensively used to create new worlds, cities and interiors that I would like to raise my hand now and say The Jetsons could probably be made on a shoestring too. In fact, I thought the actors could probably be replaced by cartoons as well, but that would mean a waste of the charm that each of the cast brought to their roles, and wasn't it a hoot to see Rain in his first role in a Hollywood movie getting severely beaten in his first scene?

In any case, what shone in this movie, besides the races, were the characters, their interaction with one another, and what they stand for. No qualms about Emile Hirsch in the titular role, and I thought the entire Racer family was well cast, from Pops (John Goodman in yet another series-to-movie role after his Fred Flintstone stint), Mom (Susan Sarandon), mechanic Sparky (Kick Gurry), kid brother Sprittle (Paulie Litt) who provides most of the slapstick together with pet monkey Chimp Chimp, and hot loyal girlfriend Trixie (Christina Ricci). The mysterious Racer X (Matthew Fox) also makes an appearance, and his secret identity is, well, an open secret even to those who's not in tuned to the original series.

The villains of course were purely one dimensional, and like Iron Man, Corporations are once again the main baddie whose motivation of pure greed for money goes against the spirit of sports in this instance. While the action on four wheels were breathtaking, there were ample moments which put on the brakes and allowed for a breather or two in giving some characters a little more depth. And the Wachowski's still can't rid themselves of kung-fu, giving almost everyone some set action pieces where they get to exhibit some fisticuffs, even though they might look quite awkward executing the moves.

But ah, the races. Straight out the cartoons, except with more realistic sound effects, and one for the fans - the retention of the specific effect when Speed activates the Mach 5's Auto Jacks. Pure pleasure to the ears, even though the visuals at times might be a blur with every car in "Ultimate Extreme Drift Mode" (TM by Stefan S) pulling off gravity-defying stunts consisting of never-ending-spins and drifts around tracks that don't stay still and resembling the zaniest roller coaster designs. There's enough variety in each race or track so that it doesn't seem repetitive, though I would like to warren a guess that everyone's favourite is probably the multi-leg Crucible underground tournament. What I liked about the narrative flow was how the races blend seamlessly with moments of drama thanks to creative editing, and of course, throwbacks to the animated series again with many a close up shots of drivers looking cool, or looking mean.

What's the best way to enjoy Speed Racer? My take is to be in a high (I will put a disclaimer as to how you're gonna achieve this, is totally up to you). Should there be an IMAX version/screening of this, then it's a natural and appropriate movie to do so. Summer looks good again with Iron Man and Speed Racer holding up the fort. Let's hope the rest meets and excels expectations as well.

And everyone please, to stock up on your knowledge of Speed Racer trivia and a look behind the many buttons and their functions on his steering wheel, this is one wiki site you must check out!

Tashan

Akshen!

Summer season is here when the choices in the cinemas are limited to what's the hottest movie of the week, given 99.9% of the screens dedicated to screening it. OK, so I may exaggerate on the percentage, but you get my drift. Besides stuff from Hollywood, Bollywood too have their own share of highly anticipated blockbusters, and from some of the trailers shown, I'm hyped to watch them too. Tashan was billed as one of THE most highly anticipated for 2008, but I was quite surprised at the lower than low turnout at the cinemas. When I watched Jodha Akbar, it was a full house, but it wasn't for Tashan.

After watching it, I knew why. It was entertaining, but it was fundamentally weak. Just like it's literal English title, which means "Style", Tashan is all style, but little substance. Not that it doesn't have the usual star power, but scenes felt forced, and some bordered on a tad ridiculous, even for Bollywood standards I must say. Which is quite surprising given that Tashan is directed and written by Vijay Krishna Acharya, who wrote Dhoom and Dhoom 2, both of which I enjoyed tremendously.

In his rookie directorial outing with Tashan, while you can't fault his direction, you'd probably scratch your head over the plot, which was clunky at best. It tried to force too many things into the story, though credit be given where it allowed you some avenue to question character motivation, but that came a little too late, and only toward the finale, which left you guessing for just a moment before it latched into full blown action mimicking many a Thai action movie, with Hong Kong's wirework and Hollywood's ludicrous firearms and gunplay with zero recoil. And in a bid to include everything including the kitchen sink, you have an assortment of vehicles appearing, and the one that took the cake, in a Dhoom 2 repeat, was the jetski boat in the middle of nowhere.

At best, Tashan can be enjoyed as unintentional comedy, and this is attributed to how the cast hammed up with their characters. Saif Ali Khan plays Jimmy Cliff, a call center executive who gives English tuition, only as a platform for fishing out new girlfriend material. His playboy ways gets junked aside when he meets with Pooja Singh (Kareena Kapoor), who's not exactly who she seems, the meek and sweet natured hottie. She engages Jimmy's services for her boss, mobster Bhaiyyaji (Anil Kapoor), who probably gets most of the laughs as he speaks broken English and phrases must like how an ah-beng does it. And to complete the quartet, Akshay Kumar plays Bachchan Pandey, an illiterate gangster for hire who got engaged by Bhaiyyaji to hunt down Jimmy and Pooja when they escape with money stolen from Bahiyyaji's business.

So begins a road trip of sorts, with friends who turned enemies, and enemies whom you know will become friends as the road trip wears on. Jimmy Cliff is probably the most implausible of all, because he goes from zero to hero, executing moves that would shame Rambo, in absolutely no time, which is quite out of character. Kareena Kapoor amps up the sex factor as she uses her charms to guile both men, and has plenty of opportunity to do so given the much touted bikini scenes, and other costumes that boast of plunging necklines or hemlines way above the knee. Every character has a backstory created, and I thought Akshay Kumar's Bachchan Pandey was probably the best, the most touching and the most fun of the lot, even though his character seemed a lot like a non-green Incredible Hulk with his gravity-defying leaps and power packing punches. His wounds also heal automatically, which impressively puts Wolverine to shame. And the best part is his theme song, which is damn alpha-male and played in ra-ra mode each time he takes on adversaries.

But sad to say, that's the only tune that is memorable, something that cheers "Bachchan-Pandey-Bachchan-Pandey". For most Bollywood movies I watch, I will usually be able to, despite the obvious language gaps, emerge from screenings humming a tune or two. I wasn't able to do that after Tashan, because the songs unfortunately just weren't catchy at all. Usually the song/dance routine works well into the storyline without any necessity to bring the characters out of the current scene or location. That I enjoy, versus plucking them out and plonking them into extreme settings high atop a mountain, or atop jagged rocks on the beach front.

Tashan probably didn't take itself too seriously, but coming from Vijay Krishna Acharya's story, you probably wanted something a little more decent rather than the ridiculous, and for continuity to be a little more careful as well. Billed as a blockbuster, now I can start to understand why the crowds have already shunned this one. Despite Akshay Kumr stealing the show, Tashan could have been better on the whole.

The Rookie Day 3: Extraction

Fans of 24, am sure you're already aware of an online series called The Rookie. Otherwise, you'd be glad to know that The Rookie has the exact look and feel of an episode of 24, and best yet, the clips are available online for viewing, FREE.

It's been nearly a year since television audiences have seen Jack Bauer, but the counter terrorism battle rages on. For fans who can't wait until January 2009 for the return of '24', Degree Men ® presents The Rookie: Day 3 Extraction.

The Rookie: Day 3 Extraction digital shorts chronicle the further adventures of American Counter Terrorism agent, Jason Blaine. Set within the same high-stakes world as '24', Blaine races against the clock to try rescue his boss, who is kidnapped by a nefarious drug cartel. This year's digital shorts will be released in six chapters, with each lasting three to four minutes.

You can catch Day 3 either at its YouTube Channel, or at the official webpage at degreerookie.com which also contains the webisodes for Days 1 and 2!

Here's Chapter 1 just to whet your appetite!


I'm Jason Blaine

Stan Lee Cameos

One of the fun things to look out for when watching a movie based on Marvel superheroes, is for the appearance of the grand-daddy creator of almost all the characters which have been given new life on the celluloid screen in recent years. At first it seemed only DC had the formula right for churning out blockbusters based on their flagship characters of Superman and Batman, though now Marvel slowly but surely, are also starting to find their feet.

I can't help but be amazed by the brilliance of Stan Lee in creating so many characters which have endeared and endured to this day, most of whom have been created since the 60s. And it was almost a no-brainer for the filmmakers too in trying to incorporate simple, cameo appearances by the Stan the man himself, from X-Men to Iron Man, Spider-Man to Hulk, he's been a gatecrasher, a postman, a building guard, many times passers-by, and even dispensed sound advice to our friendly neighbourhood web-crawler.

So without further ado, here's a clip that someone did, splicing together Stan's appearance in the many Marvel movies he has appeared in. Enjoy!



Source: Wired.com

Iron Man

Talk to the Hand

First things first, don't be a dweeb and leave the cinema hall before the end credits roll till the end. Contrary to some of the earlier reviews and reports, there IS a scene after the usual copyright and coincidental canned messages get their air time, and fanboys out there will cheer, as did I and at least 50 other folks in the hall who stayed behind. I'm not kidding and I'm putting the credibility of this entire site to say that it involves a certain Samuel L Jackson (yes, it's not cut from the print, and to those who cannot take even spoilers about this, skip the rest and proceed to the next paragraph) who introduced himself as a certain Mr Fury from S.H.I.E.L.D, and also a mention of The Avengers! And you'd think you were only teased with a potential War Machine in the sequel if it happens. Tsk!

With a little tinge of shame and regret, my rare dalliances with the Iron Man character stemmed from a few one off comic books, as well as occasions during the teenage years of spending time in the arcade with those Marvel games, where Iron Man was one of my preferred characters because it came together with his incredible arsenal of weapons from repulsor beams to this gigantic cannon which accompanied the execution of some complex combo moves. There's something sexy about the red and gold suit of armour, and having an array of weapons at the disposal of a player, makes perfect sense for variety in dispatching your enemies.

This may irk the fervent fans of Iron Man, but face it, the superhero belonged to Tier B where superheroes are concerned, languishing behind easily recognizable peers who already have movie after movie being made. But thanks to the advancement in digital technology, bringing Iron Man to life no longer consisted of the prospect and worrying thought of having a man running about in a rubber suit passing it off as metal, the way Ultraman would have been done, complete with mechanical clicks and whirrs as sound effects to try and fool the visual sensory. Here, we have a very detailed rendering of the entire design from scratch to final modification, and we're in at every step of the way, with many cheeky and sometimes a tad implausible scenes just for cheap laughs thrown in.

I thought Iron Man the story worked because of stark (pardon the pun) similarities with Batman Begins, also an origin story which took its time to dwell on the man behind the suit, nevermind at the sacrifice of having less action sequences, or by not giving the fans what they want through the showcase of more than the basic powers. Advanced capabilities can always find room in the sequel, and as the first movie used to establish its characters, I felt that it succeeded, given too that it had a cast of capables (just like Batman Begins had) to pull the movie through without resorting to over the top and campy performances, starting of course with the lead in Robert Downey Jr.

In a nutshell, Downey is Tony Stark through and through. His affinity for the character shines, and no doubt it bore some parallels between his own personal, and Stark's life in the narrative future when he hits the bottle. He was allowed to become a Two-Face of sorts, on one hand being and later acting out his flamboyance self whose mission in life was the continuation of his father's legacy of Stark Industries, a weapons conglomerate, versus his personal mission in ridding his own weapons from the hands of the bad guys, now updated to be freedom fighters in the Middle East. The dialogue contained within each scene of Stark's, except perhaps during captivity, is full of one-liners done in double quick time, you probably would think it boiled down to a whole host of natural ad-libbing.

But while Starks spends significant amount of time in his unsecured basement building his masterpiece, his human interaction come in the form of faithful secretary Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) who actually, for the first time I admit, looked really good on screen as Stark's most trusted aide, bringing about some serious spark of sexual tension and chemistry between the two characters of opposite sex, more so than any other comic book movie I have seen. And good friend from the air force Jim Rhodes (Terrence Howard) complete the circle of trust who knows of Stark's secret identity, and you'd be keeping your fingers crossed at the toss of a teaser of a certain War Machine appearance should the sequel be out.

Who's the main villain in the movie? It points the finger at Corporations, or at least here, the weapons manufacturers and the shady deals that go through in the name of profit, the sole objective for any corporation's existence. And Jeff Bridges, in a rare villanous role, got to personify that greed and wrestle for absolute power just like the trailer already suggested. While his performance is refreshing as he disappears behind the ball head and bushy beard, you could see his motivation and how the plot would have been developed to introduce the ultimate fodder for Iron Man to duke it out in a, sad to say, ordinary finale which any audience would probably be able to stay a step ahead.

As mentioned earlier, there are plenty of similarities with the Dark Knight of Gotham in Christopher Nolan's reboot, but more so because of properties inherent with the likeness between Bruce Wayne and Tony Stark. Both are incredibly wealthy to devote time outside of the day job to pursue their "hobby", both have to suffer personal tragedies in order to wake up to the cruel world, and in the movie, both fall prey to the corporate raider type, spend time perfecting their suit of war, have assistants they would trust their lives with, and of course save them from impending doom, and a finales set at their facilities.

But Iron Man is still a special effects extravaganza offering a thrill ride especially when he goes into battle mode, and without a doubt, Robert Downey Jr probably should be credited for raising the profile of this once Tier-B character, to perhaps becoming more recognizable now, and obviously, expanding the fan base of this weaponry filled suit of metal, which of course, in this origin movie, we were only given a glimpse of its potential. can everyone now spell sequel and clamour for more please? Iron Man has set the bar for the other upcoming comic book movies to try and surpass this summer season!

I'll Build Yours in the Sequel

Holy Poster Glut Batman!

Friends would know I'm a big enough Bat-fan to have a post like this up on my blog. So just when you thought that Batman Begins had too many posters, The Dark Knight just went into overdrive, and that's not to mention the number of viral sites and gimmicks that keep on popping up all over the Internet.

These were two of the earliest, which shows Batman overlooking some miscellaneous skyline for The Joker


And of course this made it clear that the skyline is Hong Kong's. Just what is Bats doing there, only the movie will tell...


Then there's the ultra-creative Why So Serious campaign


And this one is amongst my favourites, which I thought would probably send out chills if put up properly and strategically in a theatre premises, as if The Joker was really behind the poster panel...


Then you have the complimentary "Don't Piss With Me" head shots

Got Dart?
Got Card?
Erm... Got Badge?
And of course, all three can be combined together to make one mega poster


This one goes into my books as one of the most bad-ass posters of all time, inspiration probably borrowed from The Crow. Unless of course you start to wonder just who the heck had the time to blow out the windows in that fashion.


But This????

BAT-REMPIT!!!!

Sheesh, I no like the Bat-pod already...

Money Still No Enough - 10 Years of Jack Neo Movies

It's been 10 years since Money No Enough, and Jack Neo and his merry men from J-Team have gone to make no less than 11 feature films in the last decade, each one growing from the strength of the other, and most of which have broken the million dollar mark at the local box office. This evening, friends, cast and crew from his filmography turned up in full force to pay tribute to a local filmmaker who's possibly the most hardworking, often writing, directing, producing, starring, and sometimes even having a hand in crafting the funny songs featured in his movie. Talk about "bao-ka-liao"!

You can read my event coverage of "10 Years of Great Jack Neo Movies" at movieXclusive.com by clicking on the logo below.



And here's a blast from the past review of Money No Enough, a movie which is now being re-released for a limited run at GV cinemas:

Money No Enough is still holding the record for the highest grossing local film to date (over S$5 million), and with its tremendous box office success, this movie sparked a thought that made-in-Singapore commercial films do have a chance at the box office. It also heralded a slew of various copycats trying to jump on the same bandwagon, such as Where Got Problem and Lucky Number.

Written by Jack Neo, and directed by Tay Teck Lock (not Jack Neo, contrary to popular belief), this movie contained plenty of dialect dialogue, which probably was unprecedented for its time, as well as a slew of vulgarities which flew off the characters tongue with ease. Naturally these were unheard of in Jack's popular Comedy Night television variety cum comedy show, given strict television guidelines, and hence, having screen characters SWEAR and in DIALECT, was a bit of a novelty for local audiences so used to hearing the same thing at home, amongst friends or at coffeeshops.

And speaking of coffeeshops, it is almost de-facto that a local movie needed to feature one in order to be a bona-fide local movie. Money No Enough opens with a montage and a theme song, before settling down at a kopitiam (coffeeshop), where three friends, an office worker (Jack Neo), the ah-beng contractor (Mark Lee), and the kopi-kia (coffee boy) Henry Thia, converge and presented the first of many social commentary on the government and the people, of course, laced with comedy.

While many of the characters are stereotypes and caricatures, such as the aunties (mis)behaving in a hospital, loansharks and on insurance agents, most roles are politically incorrect and make no apologies for it, as they are exaggerated for local audiences to laugh at ourselves.

Some of the issues brought up might seem dated, but still hold certain truths in this time and age (it's only less than 10 years old, but already some landscape changes can be noticed). Issues like money or the lack thereof in a materialistic society, the graduate-non-graduate divide, and the keeping up with the Joneses are a reflection of the times in the late 90s during the economic crisis.

In any case, the hallmarks of a Jack Neo (written) movie can be seen to have started from here (although there were already some obscure HK/Taiwan movies that he had starred in). With the fusion of topical events from any coffeeshop talk's flavour of the moment, comedy, catchy songs, and caricatures, perhaps these is the success formula of making a viable commercial movie, given he's one of the few local filmmakers who almost consistently delivers at the box office.

Money No Enough is not without flaws, and it is fairly obvious from the raw delivery in sound. The ending is particularly weak, which is quite wasted given that it has an engaging beginning and middle portions in the vein of a good Hui Brothers styled movie, just that it didn't know how to end with a bang.

Nonetheless this movie has already set a record, and remains the local film to beat in terms of dollars. I would reckon for those interested in the revival of local films, or to chart the progress and sophistication of Jack Neo movies, then this is perhaps the movie to begin with.

Dance of the Dragon (龙之舞)

Kiss of the Dragon

I had initially rolled my eyes knowing that the title for this dance movie had to have the word "Dragon" in it, as I thought it's about high time we move away from mystical creatures and martial arts with movies based in Singapore, coupled with a very surreal setting of what seemed to be Chinatown, since no other races in our multi-cultural society were represented, not even as a token. But that aside, this International movie with cast and crew from the US, Australia and Singapore, made for a very standard film with good production values, though it had plenty of room to inject what was lacking the most - heart.

Not that it was absent totally. There are three distinct characters here, each played by someone of different nationality, and had in their own fiefdom, crafted scenes within their own comfort zone, but when put together, seem to have awkwardness stamped all over it. I shall begin with the strongest. This is no doubt Jang Hyuk's vehicle, as he stars as Tae, a Korean whom as a boy, thanks to his mother who took him to a dance performance, fell in love with the art, and vow to pursue this dream of his despite not knowing how to, and facing great opposition from his father, who deemed it a sissy sport and would have preferred he picked up martial arts as a hobby. So when he reached adulthood, and with savings from his factory job, he bids his parents goodbye, and off he comes to Singapore to attend a dance audition.

American Idol style no doubt, with artificial caustic remarks being thrown about by a lacklustre panel of three, but not before having a Singapore Tourism Board approved montage of the usual Singapore Skyline, Esplanade, Raffles Place et al shots that always plague every Singapore-based movie. And from here, let's move on to Fann's Emi Lim, whose signature is so easy to copy, I could've written plenty of cheques in her name. A has been dance instructor whose weak ankle meant a halt in competition, her retirement at the top of her game allowed her to sustain a school with plenty of students who can groove (much better than her of course), while she harbours the thought of one day returning to the ballroom. Taken in by the strikingly good looking Tae, coupled with the fact that he's a virgin (of dance), she relishes the challenge of unlearning what he had learnt, without partner and teacher, and I tell you, always cock teases him so much so that he begins to fall for her.

Alas Emi has a beau who doesn't pay her any attention, and Jason Scott Lee fills in this jealous boyfriend role with flared nostrils and wide hard-staring eyes with aplomb. As Cheng, who's also a has-been given his injured knee (a lot of injured has beens in this movie, and this pair's like made one for the other), his dojo, set up opposite the dance school along the same Wong Street, is running in the red, and he deals with shady characters like Lim Kay Tong's in order to keep his school afloat. Not happy with the good vibes between teacher and student, he tends to show off a lot of his martial arts capability in a bid to scare off the newbie dancer, only to set up an inevitable showdown between the two in due course.

To the movie's credit, the story's quite coherent, except that it relied on a number of cliches to carry the movie through, and not necessarily for the better. There were plenty of superficial subplots and elements that could have been developed further given the running time of close to 2 hours, but instead there were a number of slow moving scenes which while nice to look at, didn't provide depth any more than to establish some background for the characters. Amongst all, I liked Tae's story best, well since he's the main character and had adequate screen time dedicated, where the relationship between him and his father was one of the strongest in the movie with so much meant despite so little being said. Besides, I always enjoyed characters who can learn by observation or from books and videos, and in doing so, lack the basis of understanding which can sometimes plague their execution.

And there are a couple of really creative and unexpected development which I thought I had it nailed, but was wrong. Which of course is a plus point. But the more important question here is, can the leads dance? Scenes of dancing together were limited, and for the most parts Fann and Jang Hyuk danced solo. They were given plenty of opportunity to air the armpits, and the filmmakers were smart to have spliced little set pieces together rather than have dances in one continuous motion and scene, since this will definitely expose plenty of shortcomings especially for Fann's Emi, supposedly being World Class and all. What was worse, was the sudden inject of the song Hero by Enrique Iglesias, which I thought was somewhat inappropriate for a ballroom dance sequence, but I suppose fitted the scene at the time.

Thankfully though, the rest of the score for the movie was beautiful and memorable, the same one in which you can hear in the trailer. If memory serves me correct, almost every scene had a score to accompany the visuals, making it a rather musical film to sit through as well, though at times you have to grit your teeth as Emi seem to have a knack of spouting hokey dance philosophy. Production wise, I would liken it to last year's Cages where it's a different, beautiful side of Singapore being put on celluloid, almost romantic in quality and dreamlike.

Dance of the Dragon is not all bad, just that it lacked some amount of heart and detail to truly make it excellent. There's no doubt fans of Fann and Jang Hyuk will turn up in droves to catch this movie (like in today's screening), though there are also those who decided that enough is enough and had to walk out. In my opinion, this movie shouldn't have warranted that, but just don't set your sights and expectations too high in wanting to watch a movie with superb dancing or martial arts, of which it has neither, but took effort to craft believable scenes as best as it could.

Hansel & Gretel

We're Not Demonic! We Need Love!

I thought I'd foam in the mouth with yet another demonic kid horror movie, given the countless of such genre movies out there which set out to make innocent looking kids harbour plenty of ill intention behind them. But I thought the original Hansel and Gretel fairy tale was quite dark too, especially with the ending. You know, the kids who come to know of this gingerbread house where everything and anything can be eaten to fill their empty stomachs, only to culminate in their stuffing of the owner into a large stove so that they can take possession of the property to live (and eat) happily ever after.

OK, so if you believe my synopsis of the fairy tale, then you, like me, probably saw what many others don't. Anyway this Korean movie doesn't come close, only remotely in a certain scene, and the borrowing of the English title. The gingerbread house got replaced with a nice looking and inedible cottage in the middle of lush forest, though the amount of artificially coloured food still remains the same. Instead of two kids, we get three, who seem happy on the outside, but inside harbours some deep, dark, and unseen secrets. Until of course the movie decides to explain it all, as expected, in the last 30 minutes to make everything sensible.

While the poster might suggest horror, it's more of a thriller with little surprises. We all know that there's always some hideous back story that made the characters who they are currently, and almost always involve some bad episodes in life thus far. This time, it involves adults, and these children begin to develop suspicion of all adults who come into their lives. Pity Eun-Soo (Cheon Jeong-myeong), who got involved in a car accident, and got led by one of the children to live with them in their house. But the family in the Happy Children's Home, don't seem all the bit normal, and soon he discovers that he too seemed trapped within this surreal world with zero communications with the outside world. Heck, even the television's unplugged yet the only programme available is some really sadistic cartoon involving a rabbit and a bear.

The story might at first seem very ordinary though bleak, but grew from strength to strength as it went on, nevermind weak attempts at trying to elicit some cheap scares. I thought its basis of a story was strong, even though it did have a very screwed up version of the fairy tale most of us probably already know about. The set designs and art direction were all beautiful to look at, and most times you'll shift your focus to admiring the sets when events start to get repetitive, with Eun-Soo's attempts to get out of the house and the enchanted forest in more than 4 attempts, of course thwarted each time. Supporting characters like the adults who come and go, at first might make you scratch your head, but let that be the least of your worries, because once Santa Claus came visiting, you'll have to suspend your disbelief, otherwise this movie wouldn't work.

Hansel and Gretel's a pretty decent thriller, a mix of groundhog-day-ness with the usual trappings of cheap horror movies, boosted though by its rich production values. Themes of wanting to belong and non-reciprocated friendship, together with major trust issues, lift its plain storyline, and all round fine acting by the kids who will at first scare you, and then lead you to want to give them all a hug.

Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay

For reasons unexplained, I did not watch Harold and Kumar in their quest to look for White Castle on the big screen, even though movies like these are right up my alley (I need to de-stress from time to time, with what a friend of mine would describe movies like these as "cock shows"). However, I did catch the best bits (heh) of the original movie when I was waiting for things to happen on a film set, though technically I have still yet to watch it from start to end. With the sequel now being screened, I am so there already.

Beginning directly where the first movie had left off, Harold Lee (John Cho) and Kumar Patel (Karl Penn) are now en route to Amsterdam, weed capital of the world, where they can indulge in their favourite drug and be high all the time. Secondary objective is of course Harold's quest to look for Maria (Paula Garces), and on the way they bump into Vanessa (Danneel Harris), Kumar's ex-girlfriend who introduced him to the world of marijuana. But with the idiotic duo, what you see in the trailer had to happen, and being accused as agents of North Korea and Al-Qaeda, they get sent to Guantanamo Bay where they soon bust out of.

Like the first movie, we follow these two jokers from incident to incident, each playing like a stand alone comedy skit, as they try to evade capture from the Department of Homeland Security, and now with their new quest of looking up Vanessa, so that they can get her influential fiance to get them off the hook, coupled with Kumar's own vendetta of disrupting the upcoming wedding proceedings. I was somewhat surprised that this movie had some semblance of a flimsy plot to follow, such that it's not mindless random episodes all the way (such as throwing in the KKK out of nowhere).

The jokes come from you at all angles - verbal, slapstick, and sometimes just plain irreverent. And for those who are anal retentive, you'd probably foam at the source material for most of the jokes, ranging from the homophobic to the racist, executed so sublimely, you'd probably feel guilty for laughing out loud at the funny bits. And what's a movie like this without the usual gratuitous shots of body parts, female and male, with genitalia on display without a tinge of embarassment. What more, the camera lingers, especially when filmmakers Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg wanted to probably perpetuate their version of a happening bottomless party in your face. Yep, topless is overrated.

But I guess what made this movie click, was that it doesn't hold back, and dared to slow things down by dipping into melodrama-romatic moments which will raise your goosebumps. Friendship between the two idiots get tested, broken (momentararily) and healed faster than you can smoke a joint, and Love, well, let's see if the square root of three will make you go "awww" (some members of the audience actually did!)

All in all, Harold and Kumar rocks (Can't believe I'm actually saying that), and I guess it's time to hunt down a copy of the White Castle DVD to indulge unabashedly at their original escapade.

** P.S. Actually had a lot of complaints, but I will just summarize it as stating for a fact that the print at Grand Cathay was shite - a lot of noise, and a green line perpetually imprinted permanently on the screen. Also, the sound seemed only to come from the speakers in front, and the projectionist decided to give the middle finger fuck-you to 50% of the audience who stayed behind to see what happened to Neil Patrick Harris, by switching off the projector before the coda was played.

We Ain't Terrorizers, We're Idiots!

5th New Zealand Film Festival - 9 to 12 May 2008

The New Zealand Film Festival 2008 is presented by New Zealand Trade & Enterprise. The Festival will run from 9 to 12 May at Cinema Europa, GV VivoCity. Guess what, all screenings are rated R21!

Screening Schedule

Friday 9 May
7.00pm - Remembering Ed (66 mins) + Coffee and Allah (14mins)
9.00pm - Perfect Creature (87mins)

Saturday 10 May
4.30pm - Tongan Ninja (85mins)
7.00pm - Once Were Warriors (90mins)
9:00pm - Flight of the Conchrods (2 episodes x 27mins) + Take 3 (12mins)

Sunday 11 May
4.30pm - Remembering Ed (66 mins) + Coffee and Allah (14mins)
7.00pm - Tongan Ninja (85mins)
9.00pm - Perfect Creature (87mins)

Monday 12 May
7.00pm - Perfect Creature (87mins)
9.00pm - Once Were Warriors (90mins)


Tickets at $10.00 per session are available from 24 Apr 2008 on-line at www.gv.com.sg, AXS stations & GV VivoCity box-office.

SFS members are entitled to discounted tickets at S$9.00 per session on production of a valid SFS membership card in person at the GV VivoCity box-office (limited to one discounted ticket per member per session)


My personal selection of choice? I'll be catching them all if I can, otherwise it'll be Tongan Ninja, Perfect Creature and Remembering Ed!

Superhero Movie

We're Not Drenched

For a comedy which has animal humping and humping of dead bodies, being rated PG only means one thing - very certain censorship, and Superhero Movie failed to survive the censor's scissors, having an enormous, and I really mean enormous, chunk of the movie being removed. It was so badly cut, that the narrative doesn't make sense and takes you a while to try and mentally bridge the scenes together. I'm guessing it's a good 5 minutes being cut off, and a quick check at the box office reveals that it is censored due to religious sensitivities.

Seriously, in my opinion, anyone watching this movie would expect that anything goes and no topic too taboo to be made fun of. Pompous people shouldn't be watching this anyway, and would probably steer clear too, given so many other "normal" and safe movies to choose from this week, well, maybe perhaps except for witnessing how Harold and Kumar escape from Guantanamo Bay. I thought Stephen Hawking had it bad, being spoofed without remorse, and Tom Cruise became a punching bag too. And that's just two of amongst a host of celebrities being made fun of.

Making this comedy poking fun at the genre is a no-brainer. From Scary Movie having a go at the obsession of horror movies and horror remakes, to Epic Movie taking a comedic spin on movies testing buns of steel and Date Movie amping up the Comedic in the Romantic Comedy genre, there are the usual hits and misses, with those like Meet the Spartans sinking real badly. I must admit I was enjoying myself with Superhero Movie, laughing along with every joke that hit the mark, and laughing at those which were just plain lame. There are some moments of brilliance which was unfortunately featured mostly in the trailers, and as usual, those in the trailers didn't survive the final cut.

Drawing material from Batman, X-Men, Fantastic Four and its main storyline, structure and scenes adapting quite wholesale from Spider-Man (2002), it tells of the story of Rick Riker (Drake Bell) who's the Peter Parker clone, along with clones of Aunt May with Aunt Lucille Adams (Marion Ross) and the token Mary Jane Watson love interest with Jill Johnson (Sara Paxton). Leslie Nielsen lent his comedic pedigree as Uncle Albert Adams, while others like Pamela Anderson made unnecessary cameo appearances. The villain is a Green Goblin throwaway, though I thought some effort and creativity had gone into "Hourglass".

Depending on your mood, you might want something really dumb to while your time away after a long day's stress at work so don't approach this with all seriousness. It's unabashedly dumb, and doesn't pass off anything more than that. Stay tuned during the end credits roll as a chock full of deleted scenes and bloopers get played, though cannot compensate for the missing chunk that the censor's scissors took away. If you want to watch it uncut, then you'll probably have to get the DVD, from overseas of course.

61st Festival De Cannes In Competition

"24 City," China, Jia Zhangke
"Adoration," Canada, Atom Egoyan
"Changeling," U.S., Clint Eastwood
"Che," Spain, Steven Soderbergh
"Un Conte de noel," France, Arnaud Desplechin
"Daydreams," Turkey, Nuri Bilge Ceylan
"Delta," Hungary, Kornel Mundruczo
"Il Divo," Paolo Sorrentino, Italy
"Gomorra," Italy, Matteo Garrone
"La Frontiere de l'aube," France, Philippe Garrel
"Leonera," Argentina, Pablo Trapero
"Linha de Passe," Brazil, Walter Salles, Daniela Thomas
"La mujer sin cabeza," Argentina, Lucrecia Martel
"My Magic," Singapore, Eric Khoo
"The Palermo Shooting," Germany, Wim Wenders
"Serbis," Philippines, Brillante Mendoza
"The Silence of Lorna," Belgium, Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne
"Synecdoche, New York," U.S., Charlie Kaufman
"Waltz With Bashir," Israel, Ari Folman

Nim's Island

I Made Fire!

Fans of Abigail Breslin would definitely not want to miss this one, even though it's essentially a kiddie movie. Teaming up with Gerard Butler and Jodie Foster, I can't help but to imagine if Breslin's career would one day be an acclaimed one like Foster's is, given that after all the latter also started off as a child actor. Nim's Island is a refreshing change for me, one without the usual big-bang-boom trappings coupled with bad language, swear words and extreme bloody violence. It's in fact a perfect family movie for the kids out there and those who are still kids at heart!

You can read my review of Nim's Island at movieXclusive.com by clicking on the logo below.

Go Speed Go!!

For those who can't wait to catch Speed Racer on the big screen (and Rain fans to catch your idol in his first Hollywood film), there's going to be a Charity Gala Premiere on 6 May at GV Vivocity.

Partnering Golden Village Cinemas, the Singapore Disability Sports Council (SDSC) will be leveraging on this premiere to raise funds for the sustenance of their sports programmes and services catered for the needs of people with disability. Undertaking all the three roles – Singapore Sports Council, Singapore National Olympic Council and National Sports Associations – in one, the SDSC is the sole body in Singapore that is helping people across all types of disability to earn the opportunity to play sports.

Tickets are going at S$25 each, and for those who want to pledge tickets to the beneficiaries, you can do so too! Contact Nolan at 6342 3565 or nolan@sdsc.org.sg to book a hall for your employees/clients or buy individual tickets. More details can be found here!


Oh, and your ticket will come in a commemorative ticket holder too! I've got mine, and pledged 1 ticket, so do your part too :-)

Run Papa Run (一個好爸爸)

The Black Family

As far back as I can remember, Sylvia Chang was playing the tomboyish female inspector character opposite Karl Maka and Sam Hui in the Aces Go Places franchise, and it's been quite a transition for her from actress to acclaimed director. I haven't been watching a lot of her films lately, the last being Princess D and saw her in person during the local gala of the film. So in all honesty, I had decided to watch Run Papa Run based on her directing pedigree.

Run Papa Run reunites Louis Koo and Rene Liu again for the big screen, after their initial leading pairing in Happy Birthday. Here, they too play a couple that are polar opposites, Koo being in familiar territory as triad chief Lee Tin-Yun, and Liu as Mabel, an aspiring lawyer who decided to junk her high flying career to start a family with Tin-Yun, given after all, a shotgun wedding to begin with.

As most would say, fatherhood will begin to change a man, and for Tin-Yun, the arrival of daughter Hai-Yi begins an uphill battle within himself to change for the better. Gone are the recklessness of youth where fights and getting injured are part and parcel of territorial disputes, and begins to rebrand his illegal business to more legitimate ones, albeit some being a front for the same seedy business, but drugs is something he would not touch.

Sylvia Chang managed to present quite a sympathetic tale weaved primarily for the Tin-Yun character, and with deft touch provides multiple layers to his triad character, with ample comedic moments to lighten up the mood. Being essentially a superstitious character who has prophetic dreams (which we will see in an animated opening credits sequence), I thought Tin-Yun had provided some very interesting insights on his take of religion, having to convert to Catholicism, while yet maintaining his ties to Guan Gong, the deity of choice of many triad members out there.

But more importantly, it tells of the growing up of the Tin-Yun character over a period of many years, chronicling his ups and downs, rise and fall within the triads, though with good buddies Big Mouth (Lam Suet, check out his incredible hairstyle in the beginning), and Big Eyes, starring Max Mok in a welcome return to the big screen, even though both of them really didn't have a lot to do. As such, this movie is primarily a Louis Koo vehicle, and provided him a platform to showcase his acting range, while at the same time, crafting a very likable character. Rene Liu on the other hand, whilst given the meatier role in their previous collaboration Happy Birthday, clearly takes the backseat in this movie, as the long suffering wife whose pride and joy slowly drifts to become more like the father, who has spend a lot of time getting into and out of police stations, and finding it difficult to keep what Tun-Yun is doing, from their daughter.

However, the movie does take its time to tell its story, and toward the last act you do feel a little hard pressed for things to move a notch faster, as it creates a lot of subplots that you'd see coming from a mile away, which while nice to have, doesn't really contribute a lot to the story's depth. For Louis Koo fans, I know that this is one movie that you shouldn't miss!

Check It Out, Yo! (Chekeraccho!!)

Won't The Real Slim Shady Please Stand Up?

Check It Out, Yo! likely has flown under the radar of cinema listings here, given that the publicity machinery for this Japanese movie wasn't cranked, if at all. Along the veins of movies such as Swing Girls, Linda Linda Linda and even Hula Girls, what if a musical genre of sorts had male protagonists instead, just like how Waterboys did for synchronized swimming. Sounds like a no brainer idea, but while Check It Out, Yo! had its moments, it plateaued in its finale and didn't deliver the sucker punch required as per the previous movies mentioned, which is a pity of course. And it's not about the gender too.

The movie centers on Toru Isaka (Hayato Ichihara), a student at the crossroads of teenage life, who together with his good friends Tetsuo Tamashiro (Yuta Hiraoka, who was in Be With You and Swing Girls) and Akira Motobe (Tasuku Emoto) are trying to figure out what next to do with their lives. Their mutual female friend Yui Haebaru the tomboy (Mao Inoue) and wrestling freak, offers them a ticket each to the gig of the hottest indie rap band in town, the Workaholics, and it dawned upon them to aspire to be in a band too, given the countless female adulation that they will receive.

But given that they have zero experience in playing musical instruments, and an even non-existent track record in writing lyrics, it's all an uphill task made all the more challenging when they sign up to be the opening gig for the Workaholics, which means a do-or-die performance to deliver. And in between their training, Toru has to find time to romance his new crush Nagisa Nakamura (Ayumi Ito, voice of Tifa Lockhart of the Final Fantasy movies), the girlfriend of Workaholic's frontman Ryota Taram (Tetsuji Tamayama, from Nana), while at the same time being oblivious to the affections that Yui has for him, who in turn is liked by Tetsuo... my, my, the affairs of the heart do get complicated, don't they?

The movie was found to have been centered around this love heptagon, which meant that other aspects that you'd expect coming out of a musical, get casted aside. A pity of course, as there was only one hilarious and simply engaging musical sequence midway through the movie which highlighted their trials and determination to make it good in time for their performance, thanks to Yui's sister and brother-in-law, a large-sized hawaiian man who becomes the master of the boy's new band 098, but only just quite.

No doubt the visuals are extremely colourful and beautiful - I particularly liked those shots set in front of the aquarium - but these can't mask the relatively weak storyline despite having plenty of supporting cardboard characters like their individual, feuding parents and a teacher who can't get his personal relationships in order, to spice up the movie. And what I found to be an immense waste, is the entire sequence set up for the finale, which the finale failed to live up to, given that it's just a one song performance, and a truncated one at that too. While it may be cliche to have the protagonists succeed in the end, just like how Swing Girls and the mentioned movies had achieved, at least they left the audience with a sense of satisfaction in seeing how far they have progressed in their training. Here, it became a letdown, despite the potential that had been prepped.

However, Check It Out, Yo! Still remains a charming movie in its own right, barring the lack of a punch to the final moments. If you still intend to watch this, then you'd have to do so soon as it is likely to survive on screen for another week.

Funny Games U.S.

You're Not Funny

The next remake however, is an almost shot-for-shot, scene for scene treatment of Michael Haneke's own film back in 1997, now suffixed with U.S. in acknowledging the new funding and new cast that come to be in the movie. However, I question the real rationale why this would be remade for the modern audience, as the original seems like it's able to withstand the annals of time.

Of course having films remade this way is nothing new, with Gus Van Sant doing the same with Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, but at least it had someone else at the helm, probably wanting to challenge himself if his retelling, only with a change in case and everything else ceteris paribus, would be able to evoke the same emotional, horrific response. But I couldn't really understand a director remaking his own works, and a scene for scene one at that, except to perhaps work with a different cast in a different country.

Naomi Watts headlines the movie, and together with Tim Roth, they form the couple Ann and George, who with their kid Georgie (Devon Gearhart), are off for a vacation in their home away from home, and as the story goes, things start to get really strange when they begin to encounter the duo Paul (Michael Pitt) and Peter (Brady Corbet), dressed in white and in gloves, behaving quite strangely outside of social norms, and adamant in playing games as they soon find themselves captives under the hands of sociopaths.

While Haneke's intention of the original movie was to highlight the notion of senseless violence, I felt that having this remake done, is to bait folks like me who are back, curious to find out more, the second time round, despite being told that it's exactly the same. Like masochists who revisit their pain points, I too fall under this group of the curious, and again find myself being questioned on whose side am I on, and whether I'd begin to advocate violence against violence, as the only way to solve the issue at hand.

While Naomi Watts can play terrified, likely honed from her scream queen stint from King Kong, Michael Pitt deserves mention as the chillingly cold villain, and managed to equal Amo Frisch's performance of the same character in the original. Other than that, Tim Roth's character as usual is wasted, because his potential threat level has been reduced, and Brady Corbet as the partner also managed to equal Frank Giering of the original, though of course being more of a sidekick to Paul.

If one should recommend which version to go for, I'd say you can go for either or. But if you had already watched the original, then you might want to give this a skip as it doesn't offer any other new insights, since after all, it's the same story, development and finale, even right down to the heavy rock soundtrack used.

Sleuth

Master and Apprentice

Today marks the Remakes day, where I take a look at two movies which are given an up-to-date treatment, and not unlike the general others, these have the creative forces back to lend certain credibility that it's not run of the mill product.

First up is Sleuth, where Michael Caine returns as one of the two roles, but this time, playing the other character opposite the one he was casted in the original, making way to protege of sorts, Jude Law, to take over. It's quite interesting that this marks the second time that Law is playing a Caine character in a remake, the first being the titular role in the movie Alfie. If this keeps up, I guess by the time he rolls around his senior citizen age, he might as well gun for the role of Alfred Pennyworth in a Batman movie.

I have to admit that I was a bit apprehensive when I learnt of the running time of this remake, that it's almost half of what the original was. I wondered which aspects of the original story would be summarized or worse, compromised, and in the worst case, presented only one half of the story. And I was pleasantly surprised that this is not a blind shot for shot remake, but one which retained the core essence while providing a very shiny, glossy veneer to spice up the visuals. The original had looked too much of a stage play with quite gaudy sets, but in Kenneth Branagh's update coupled with Harold Pinter working on the screenplay, it became more posh and classy. And gone too is the creepily irritating clown.

As stated earlier, Michael Caine now plays Andrew Wyke, a renowned novelist whose wife is having an affair with Jude Law's Milo Tindle, a hairdresser. Wyke sets up a meeting with Tindle and the two begin to play a cat and mouse mind game, relying on wit and trading gentlemanly insults laced with puns in a one-upmanship fashion, both out trying to prove their worth to each other, and of course to stroke their own egos in the process. To tell you more will be to spoil the fun, but suffice to say that things do get a little interesting and extreme as the story goes along, at no time being boring,

Even though this is a remake, it will not bore those who have watched the original, as there's a little bit more explored and offered toward the end, which will certainly raise some eyebrows, and take you by surprise. Of course the tightening of the story helped, and doesn't indulge too much on non-necessities that dragged the original. Chemistry between Caine and Law is excellent as they feed off each other's energies in fleshing their roles, and Caine was actually more menacing than Laurence Olivier in the original as Andrew Wyke. Law on the other hand brings the usual roguish charm to Milo, and in a particular scene, I thought he probably would have been in contention as The Joker, and should Christopher Nolan require someone to step into the late Heath Ledger's shoes, then look no further - in any case Nolan has replaced actors for the same role before, so it shouldn't really come as a surprise if the Joker character survives past The Dark Knight.

Between the original and this remake, I would prefer this version instead, for its relatively more palatable run time, and keeping things moving forward consistently. Being updated for the modern times also helped, so if I were to recommend anyone interesting in watching Sleuth, go for the remake instead. The score for the movie is also mesmerizing too, and earns brownie points.