P2

You Can Run But You Can't Hide

The premise is laughable, because there is absolutely no building, not by local standards anyway I believe, that one can find oneself stuck in a situation like this. A lot of conveniences and coincidences taken into liberty in a story that is just plain lazy, containing plenty of unintentional laughter. It took almost a year to make it to the screens here despite the DVD already being found in the shops, and what was more appalling is that the NC16 rating for violence, still contains a number of jarring cuts to spoil some potential saving graces.

You can read my review of P2 at movieXclusive.com by clicking on the logo below.

Prom Night

Who's Prom King and Queen?

This movie was slipping off the release radar, and after watching it, I thought it would make better sense for this stinker to head straight for the video market, and even then, only watch it if there's absolutely nothing else to watch. Or only if you're need for some cheap laughs at how cliche everything is, and the nonsensical plot - OK, so granted that films like these don't deserve one. But to label this a slasher flick, or attempts to market it as such, just cheapens the genre further. Zero suspense, zero tension, repeated tricks, more waking up from dreams nonsense, low body count, and check this out - paper cut type wounds for massive knife inflicted injuries?

Yeah right.

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

Children of Glory (Szabadság, Szerelem)

Bleeding For My Country

Nobody likes to be cheated against in sports, especially so when participating in national level events, and worse, having a supposedly neutral referee awarding dubious decisions that work against your favour, even if it's clear cut they're either receiving some kickbacks, or are genuinely blind. To the Hungarian water-polo team playing against their occupiers the Soviet Union in the 1950s, it meant bowing to rough tactics and having no respite at all.

Perhaps what took me by surprise, is how rich the production values are for this movie. Like films set against an historical backdrop, such as Black Book, Lust, Caution and the likes, Children of Glory never scrimped at fleshing out the masses who got themselves involved in the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, where a simple protest in a university spiralled into armed resistance involving thousands marching through the streets, showing their dissatisfaction of mistreatment by the Russians, and the usual chants of "Russians Go Home!".

While on a macro level it introduced us to the era of Soviet occupation in most of the eastern Europe bloc, this is essentially also a love story, between a national hero of a water polo player Karcsi Szabo (Ivan Fenyo) and student activist Viki Falk (Kata Dobo). Naturally their relationship doesn't start off smoothly, with a clash of ideals given that Karcsi is in a privileged position for his value to the country in sports, and having more to lose if the status quo is changed. For Viki, it's change that she, and her fellow student leaders, want to initiate, no matter how small their actions are, but soon enough, it became a hydra that went out of control, giving them a little victory, before the big sledgehammer of a retaliation when any typical authoritarian regime respond with their military might.

I guess with those in power, and having those who privilege themselves under such conditions, change will always seem threatening, be it to current lifestyles, or fear for their lives. It might appear selfish as demonstrated by Karcsi's mother in self preservation, constantly reminding Karcsi of his duty to win medals for his country, and not to mix with negative influences such as Viki, associated with trouble for her bearing of arms, and being part of the inner circle of the change movement. But we know love can't keep these two apart, right?

What made Children of Glory a delight, was besides the scenes of historical value, and its recreation of street battles, it had possibly the first water-polo sports game in a movie I had watched, and filmed it with plenty of excitement that you can't help but to cheer the Hungarian team on as they battle for pride, and for their countrymen's struggles back home, as they meet arch nemesis Russia during the 1956 Melbourne Olympic games, resulting in what was a bloody match in the pool. I thought this segment was very well shot, though you had to really sit through the film to be rewarded for a segment toward the finale.

Wonderful acting, rich costumes and sets, together with a blend of history to lend some narrative gravitas, make Children of Glory an excellent movie on many fronts. I like it enough for it to make it to my highly recommended list, and contender for the top 10 movies of the year list.

Live!

Choosing Our Victim

As reality television become staple programming, we have contestants playing games around the world, or just doing so on an island. We have those that propel some into instant fame upon winning a singing competition, and audience participation is key if ratings are to rocket through the sky. Live! allows the audience a little of behind the scenes action in a mockumentary that takes a look at how such programmes get conceived with always an eye looking at the ratings, and the other eye looking at potential revenue stream in the form of selling air time to advertisers.

Eva Mendes, who also serves as executive producer, stars as Katy, a network station's programming manager out to look for the next big thing to save their flagging station ratings amongst the CBS and the NBCs. In one brainstorming session, the thought of Russian roulette got bounced around, and given the nature of the game - where one puts a loaded gun to the head and pulls the trigger - it borders on simple human decency, and who would want to allow someone getting killed live on air being put out by their station?

And there's where the mockumentary kicks into full gear for the first hour, where we follow Katy (conveniently she has an indie film crew following her in a bid to make their own documentary) around the office and engage in some heavy politicking and lobbying of her brainchild through departments such as marketing, sales, legal as represented by corporate counsel Don (Andre Braugher) and even to convince the network presidents herself. And it is indeed interesting as you see all the coporate backstabbing, back-biting, and elevator pitches get delivered with conviction to sell something as radical as this, with the stroking of egos constantly being proven to be effective.

We also get to be chummy with the would be contestants, as we dig a little into their backgrounds as diverse as an extreme sports athlete, to a farmer struggling to keep his family afloat, from an actress wannabe, to a gay Latino looking for some self-respect. It played out akin to the American Dreamz, but toning down on the cheesy comedy aspects of it. Naturally you expect some stereotyping here, but one thing common with everyone is, so long as you're holding a loaded gun to your head, all bets are off and only a pull of the trigger, if they survive, will decide if they get to stay alive and walk away with the prize money of US$5 million. Which makes you wonder, would you risk it all to do the same, for the same amount of money?

The last moments of the film provide that debut episode, and truth be told, it is rather interesting to watch, playing to our voyeuristic tendencies which make reality TV so popular these days. It's openly admitting to satisfying our blood lust, with death on screen for the masses, like old styled gladiatorial fights, or public executions where you deliberate attend just to see what you've come to see. Those unfamiliar with how live or game shows are produced, get a look behind the scenes as well in the coordination of technical expertise and manipulation to milk shots of the moment, for the goggle box audience.

While this is fiction through and through, I wouldn't help but shudder if one day we do have such game shows being put live on the air, packaged as entertainment. Written and directed by Bill Guttentag (who brought us the documentary Nanking), this film does seem rather plain sailing, until of course a shocker of a finale which you probably didn't see it coming, re-emphasizing of course, whether TV violence has a negative aspect to daily lives.

Live! is an exclusive showcase at GV Vivocity Cinema Europa

Help Me Eros (Bang Bang Wo Ai Shen / 幫幫我愛神)

Call Center Belle

I've got to admit that while I find it difficult to enjoy the works of Tsai Ming-liang and his protege Lee Kang-sheng, there's still something about it that still draws me to their movies, perhaps in a determined attempt to try and cut through the usual droning of themes like alienation and loneliness, to discover if there's anything else that I could connect to and hang on for the duration of the movie. I thought I'd find something here, but unfortunately it degenerated into something quite messy midway, before some redemption in the finale afforded some relief.

Telling the story of Ah Jie, Lee himself plays the protagonist who in a stroke of a bear market, was reduced to a pauper, having his assets like his home and car impounded by the authorities. Does it deter him? Of course not, as he still goes back to the pound to drive away his vehicle, and continues to ignore the seal outside his apartment. He sells his belongings in an effort to try and raise whatever little cash he can, and in his idle time, he tends to his high-grade homegrown marijuana plants, which he cultivates and smokes to get high in his own little escapism from the hardships of life.

In an attempt to connect, he befriends plenty of betel-nut beauties (one played by Yin Shin as Shin), and stalks whom he thinks is Chyi, a lady he got to know from his calls to a sex-chat hotline, allowing him to fantasize about the hot chick with the hot voice. It's really quite pathetic though, because I thought it's always ironic that hot voices over a telephone line belong to someone other than can be labelled shallowly with the term "hot". Or at least Help Me Eros plays along this line of generalization. The betel-nut beauties on the other hand, is a trade that follows the mantra of skimpier clothes leading to better patronage, and some 10 years ago when I was in Taiwan, this is a phenomenon that's quite true, as you pass by booths set up along highways, and these ladies in their various state of undress, try to entice you for a stop to get your regular packet of cigarettes, or to get into the habit of chewing the equivalent of gum.

But this is not just a story about Ah Jie, as the real Chyi (played by Jane Liao) is the other character placed under the spotlight. She's horizontally challenged, no thanks to the various delicacies that her cook husband Ah Rong (Dennis Nieh) concocts as part of his television food programme. And indeed, it is this portion of the movie that I found much more intriguing, as it was almost documentary like. There were some nicely down parallels between how the food was prepared and designed, and the state of the characters. Like when we're introduced to Ah Jie, we see a live fish being slaughtered in an inhumane manner, clobbered in the head, before having its body cut out, and when presented on the plate, it's still bloody alive, gasping for air. I can't imagine anyone having the stomach to eat it, and this desperation in staying alive, prepares us for Ah Jie's character who is at wits end.

Chyi too finds herself pretty lonely with a husband who perhaps found a new love (with a guy), and while she dispenses advice over the phone, she's clearly in need of some herself. Lacking intimacy in her life, she had to resort to getting it on with a bathtub of eels. Yup, you heard me right. In fact, those expecting some eroticism might find a number of such scenes here being quite unsexy, despite its R21 rating, perhaps having those highly offensive ones edited away. Some old uncles expected to see plenty of naked flesh, but in art film fashion, these have been dealt with so nicely that they can't help but to walk off.

I learnt for starters to appreciate such a film, not to try and look at it as a whole, but to enjoy the moment, where strengths of individual scenes surpass one trying to find deeper meaning in something. Particularly enjoyable scenes include one which Ah Jie and Shin go on a joyride and having their pictures taken (you must check this out), and the ending which like many other surreal scenes in the movie, paints a very dream-like, picturesque postcard portrait.

[5th Singapore Short Cuts] 1st Week

Into its 5th Edition, the singapore Short Cuts remain one of our premier festivals showcasing the very best of short films that had been made the year preceeding it. Presented by The Substation with support from the National Museum of Singapore and Singapore Film commission, today marks the opening of the festival, with a lineup from some of the best and memorable shorts from the previous editions. I had seen about half the shorts here, and will rehash some of my older reviews for it, together with new thoughts having watched them another time today.

Lorong 27 - Kenny Tan

A short film about Geylang way before Pleasure Factory, while it's set in Singapore's red light district, it takes quite a hilarious look at its generalized inhabitants such as the prostitute, the loan shark, the coffee-shop proprietor, and pimply schoolboys who can't wait to savor newly minted pornography bought from a street corner illegal shop. Told through the eyes of a Caucasian exchange student, this comedy covers a lot of ground about the misconceptions that one easily has of Geylang, and the message rings through loud and clear at the end, reminding the audience about quite a cliche in never to judge a book by its cover.

Pontianak - Raihan Haarun
(Adapted from an earlier review)

Probably the only one with a poster-on-a-postcard, it's quite surprising to discover that Pontianak is a student-led effort. It had this all round creepy feel to it, and I had actually expected more shock-and-awe tactics to be used. However, it was more restrained rather than presenting an in-your-face all out horror movie with the usual cliches, though there is this use of a demonic kid, ever so popular these days.

Beginning with a funeral, the elements of Pontianak is adequately included here, like the nails, the banana tree, though what was I would have dug into was the actual appearance of the lady-in-white-with-fangs herself.

Lim Poh Huat - Lee Wong
(Adapted from an earlier review)

The title of this short film is the name of main character Lim Poh Huat. Some of you might have seen his photographs and interview with Sunday Times some years back, which was also featured in this film.

Poh Huat is a security guard, with a passion for acting. However, with his lack of looks (face it, it's reality), he only gets supporting roles or as an extra/cameo appearances in local television serials like Crimewatch and Frontline.

Besides acting, his hobbies are vast and varied, like donating blood and sperm - he's won a bronze award for blood donation you know? And dig this, the dude has also published a book called "Confessions of a Struggling Actor". How cool is that?

This is a mini documentary about a person with a simple outlook in life. He is comfortable with his lot, and that is what makes him happy and contended, despite his sparse lifestyle. Most of the footage features interviews with Poh Huat as he discusses about his life and work. It's not boring as he fills us in on little known facts, and his actions are comedic at times (like his kung fu practice at the rooftop of his workplace).

If anything, it is about optimism and about doing something in which you have the passion for. That's how life should be lived.

Embryo - Loo Zihan
(Adapted from an earlier review)

The clue to interpreting this experimental short is in the title itself. Having seen some of Zihan's earlier shorts and Solos (co-directed by Kan Lume), Zihan is a very visual person, and uses abstraction to bring his ideas across. Almost always without dialogue, he gives the audience space to interpret the images on screen, and here, there's only actress Ruby Pan as a schoolgirl in her pinafore, stuck in a courtyard, with red pails, eggs, red dye and plenty of water to rival Japanese horror movies. With a background soundtrack of bubbles underwater, how else would you interpret the short?

Zo Gang + Zo Hee - Jacen Tan
(Adapted from earlier reviews here and here)

From the writer-director who brought us the Internet cult hit Tak Giu, and Zo Peng, comes his latest short film Zo Gang, translated to mean "Go Work", which unlike most of the films in today's lineup, is a light-hearted comedy which will strike a chord in every aspiring creative person in the local movie or music industry. You can count on Jacen's brand on local humour to bring that smile to your face, and its breezy pace, coupled with nuggets of funny jabs, make this a definite crowd pleaser.

And if you thought that Merlion Tan was a complainer in Jacen Tan's previous short Zo Gang, Zo Hee starts from where the previous short left off, and he now redeems himself by actually setting out to make his own film, and does so of course with plenty of Hosaywood brand of humour. Commissioned by The Substation as part of its Moving Images 10th Anniversary celebrations to capture the essence of indie filmmaking here in Singapore, while Zo Gang had included some hilarious generalizations about local film audiences toward home grown movies, and featured some cameo appearances by local musicians, look out for the filmmakers that Jacen had given a go in the sequel, Zo Hee (Make Movie), and the creation of a new character - I'd say there will be someone emerging from the screening who will utter those words/lines made famous in the short!

Though relatively longer in duration, there were some scenes which somehow tangent slightly from the main narrative, but this is forgiven given the necessary Substation moments that the short seeks to pay a little homage to, and for some of the Moving Images programme (like First Cut) to be "advertised" rather quickly. For those who are not familiar with the programme, Zo Hee will serve to quickly bring them up to speed. And nothing really beats watching this short at the Guiness Theatre as things go full circle, making it a great companion piece to Zo Gang.

While it's not an open secret that Jacen's shorts have been making waves overseas and being programmed in festivals, there was like a 2-3 minute clip of a compilation of jubilant folks from around the world, whom I thought had enjoyed Jacen's works, and celebrated by exclaiming on camera "Ho-Say, Lah!". Hosaywood is more than best in Singapore, JB and Batam, and have fans now hailing from almost every continent in the world. If that is not Ho-Say enough, then I don't know what is! Someone fund him to make feature film, can?

*****

As staple in the programme, a Q&A session was conducted with the directors, although today's session had only Loo Zihan (director of Embryo), Lim Poh Huat (actor, and subject of a documentary) and Jacen Tan (director of Zo Gang and Zo Hee), together with moderator Low Beng Kheng of The Substation Moving Images Programme. As always, here's the excerpt from this afternoon's Q&A session, and any inaccuracies are faults of mine alone.

LtoR: Loo Zihan, Lim Poh Huat, Jacen Tan and Low Beng Kheng

Q: Embryo was a short that stood out. Could you elaborate on your idea and the concept behind it?
Zihan: It was a collaboration with actress Ruby Pan, and it was actually meant as a theatre piece which she performed overseas. We decided to develop it into a film, and it ended up as a site specific piece at the location.

Q: When was your film made, and at what age were you when it was made? How old are you now and what are you working as?
Poh Huat: I'm still a security guard, and am now 43. The film was made in 2002 after the publication of my book. The director Lee Wong contacted the publishing film, and through them looked for me. The film was shot over a year, as it was difficult to find something interesting in my life; I've got nothing special! The book was published in April 2002, and the film was done between August 2002 to August 2003, which was when I received the Bronze Award (for his blood donation effort).

Poh Huat also went on to thank Eric Khoo for opportunities in his movies, like Zombie Dogs, Be With Me and the recent My Magic, which premiered in Cannes. He also revealed that he had a starring role in Zhao Wei Films' Invisible Children, directed by Brian Gothong Tan, and that the movie should be releasing soon.

Q: How different is the experience between making films for TV, and feature length films for the screen?
Poh Huat: TV takes a long time to shoot with a lot of waiting time. For features, the duration is much shorter, though you could be asked to reshoot something numerous times in order to perfect the shot.

Q: How long did it take to film Embryo, and how many takes did it take for the water pouring scene at the end?
Zihan: It was shot in about 2 days as part of a school assignment at the old police station at Pearl's Hill. The final scene was done in one take, and although I wasn't satisfied with it, I felt that the take still sufficed to convey the message I wanted to bring across.

Q: Do you think it's still a lose-lose situation to make a film in Singapore?
Jacen: I've essentially made my movies with no budget. I've gotten some funding for Zo Hee, but that was used to pay my cast and crew. So I've done it with no money at all, save for eating and taking bus to the Substation!

Q: Are what you portrayed your personal experiences from film making?
Jacen: I'm not for complaining, but I portrayed some of the topics as something funny. Many filmmakers have faced some of these issues discussed here, and some of the constraints have been kinda silly.


Q: How did you find your cast and crew, since I note that some of them are from local bands?
Jacen: Most of them are my friends, and I'm a keen follower of the music scene here.

Q: How did you make your "Hosaywood" logo?
Jacen: Photoshop! Actually I just had to replace 2 letters!

Q: To the 2 directors, John Woo was in town recently, and expressed interest in working with local directors. Would you?
Jacen: Sure, why not?
Zihan: I think it depends on the story I have to tell, and whether it is in line with his type of films.

Q: Forgive me for being dense, but I don't understand your film. Could you explain it to me?
Zihan: I'm always in a dilemma when someone asks me to explain my film, because sometimes talking about it or explaining it would spoil the fun!

*****

Tickets for the 2nd week have already been given away, but I'm pretty sure that there will be those who have collected them but not turn up on the actual day. Next week's venue will be at the Substation, so please make sure you hit the correct venue! See you there (if I don't get recalled back to camp)!

Red Cliff (Chi Bi / 赤壁)

Good Job

Red Cliff marks John Woo's return to his Asian filmmaking roots following his stint in Hollywood, and with a budget of US$80 million, many have touted this as a blockbuster epic that Asians would be proud of, especially one coming from Woo. A dream project of his, Red Cliff undoubtedly garnered plenty of buzz since Day One, and its casting has been nothing short of a musical chairs game, with actors revolving in and out of the door, especially when Chow Yun-Fat and Tony Leung Chiu-Wai had announced their departure from the project, only for the latter to return to fill in Chow's shoes, and Takeshi Kaneshiro to take over the void left by Leung.

Given the result of the movie, I'd dare say that whatever Chow's reasons were to leave the project, he probably would be kicking his own rear now. Red Cliff is nothing short of spectacular and worthy to be ranked up there as far as epic war movies based on a historical context are concerned. Adapting not from the much beloved novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, but from more grounded historical accounts, this marks a very ambitious adaptation as it is based on a tumultuous time in China's feuding warlords history, set just about and after the downfall of the Han dynasty, where warlords vie for power and China being split into three large kingdoms led by Cao Cao (played by Zhang Fengyi), Sun Quan (Chang Chen) and Liu Bei (Yong You). Since it would be near impossible to condense the richness of the entire period into a series of films, Red Cliff focuses on one of the turning points and popular milestones, which provides ample opportunity for action sequences, and for wily battle strategies and plans to get formulated and executed.

John Woo's admiration for General Zhao Yun's qualities cannot be more obvious when it is he who opens the first battle proper, with a very familiar character episode involving the rescue of the infant son (and future lord) of his master Liu Bei, thereby sealing his reputation of valor, earning admiration even from enemy Cao Cao. Fans of Liu Bei's camp will undoubtedly cheer at the appearances of his sworn brothers General Guan Yu (who is worshipped as a deity until this very day, and remains one of my favourite characters besides Zhao Yun) and General Zhang Fei, whose gruffness translates to instant war-ready prowess. While Liu's army is clearly routed in a military loss, it explained the dilemma of Liu's leadership. One which is based on sincerity, a quality which persuaded his chief military strategist and genius all round Zhuge Liang (Takeshi Kaneshiro) to join his cause, but one which lacked military strength in numbers, despite having some of the best generals of the time under his leadership.

Which of course Cao Cao admires and probably is envious about, given his superior strength in numbers came from surrendering armies, whose loyalty remains questionable, and of course with individual generals who can't surpass the abilities of those from Liu. Playing the king like a puppet and having him issue a decree for permission to pursue Liu Bei who has fled southwards, he sets his sights also on warlord Sun Quan, for a more personal reason akin to the story of Helen of Troy. Zhuge Liang, knowing their current weakness, seeks an alliance between the armies of Liu and Sun Quan, and this forms most of the first half, where he had to play envoy to cajole and persuade, especially in convincing Sun Quan's most trusted advisor Zhou Yu (Tony Leung) that war is inevitable and they should form a win-win partnership.

And here's where great minds think alike, and watching both Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang do a friendly pit against each other is nothing short of amazing, where so little says so much. It helps of course that both Tony Leung and Takeshi Kaneshiro have been paired up as leading men on screen before, in Wong Kar-wai's Chungking Express and in Andrew Lau and Alan Mak's Confession of Pain too, lending some much established and credible chemistry as men who share admiration in each other's ability, especially when Zhou Yu seemed to have a fairer balance between fighting skill and intellect. With one side having highly disciplined soldiers with good morale, and the other having renowned generals to be leaders, it doesn't take a genius to realize the advantages gained in fending off a common enemy together.

The fight sequences were pure spectacle, with old school wire work combined with technological wizardry to showcase some large scale battle sequences at a macro level, or to highlight the immense naval numbers that Cao Cao brings to battle. Formations and strategies take centerstage in a first major confrontation on land, where one gets to see John Woo's interpretation of Zhuge Liang's "ba-gua" (8 stratagems) strategy, made more entertaining through the continuation of what we have already seen in each general's fighting ability, each given a unique style befitting the characters in folklore, such as Guan Yu and his Guan Dao (Green Dragon Crescent Blade) and Zhao Yun (Hu Jun) and his spear. There's the usual bellowing cape and slow motion in Woo's signature style, but these were kept to a minimum, as are the pigeons (though they do make an appearance, but serving some purpose).

Perhaps it is the success of the fight sequences that had left some lamenting for more, but bear in mind this is just but the first half of the movie, setting things up. The major war sequences of course are left in the second movie which we will get to see come early next year. Like The Matrix Reloaded and Revolutions, expect the next movie to go on an all out assault. I felt that already is a fair balance of drama and action here, especially when this installment has to cover a broad base given numerous characters, which should provide fans (of Three Kingdoms) something to cheer about. Chang Chen provides his Sun Quan with enough self-doubt, and in a small story arc has to seek his inner confidence ala King Leonidas in 300, while model Lin Chiling's much touted debut movie appearance, was limited to just a few scenes of lovey-dovey moments, which unfortunately for audiences in Singapore, her sex scene with Tony Leung got edited out in order for distributors to get a PG rating to put more bums on seats.

I had wondered how Tony Leung would have faired as Zhuge Liang instead of Kaneshiro, but felt that the musical chairs casting somehow became a blessing in disguise. Kaneshiro's good looks might have made some doubt his ability to play the smartest man alive during the era, but he did an excellent job in bringing out the humility and self-deprecation of the man whose never flashy nor overconfident of his abilities, and one who swears his talents to his lord Liu Bei. Tony Leung on the other hand brought about a fine balance of brains and brawn to the Zhou Yu character, whom I suspect in Woo's version, would be credited with much success for his part in Red Cliff, rather than the accolades all going to Zhuge Liang. After you see the reliable Tony Leung in this role, you'll know for sure that Chow Yun-Fatt could probably never had brought the kind of gravitas Leung brought to the role.

Forget about the pretender of a Three Kingdoms movie in Ressurection of the Dragon. John Woo's Red Cliff is the real deal, even though this is just the first installment of a two parter meant for an Asian release, while those in the Western World would have to settle for a shortened, combined movie, one which I suspect Vicky Zhao's role as Princess Sun ShangXiang would probably be reduced, along with various instances where scenes were allowed to indulge to showcase some CGI used in an unprecedented manner for an Asian movie. To address the confusion of different run time from different publications, I did a clocking of the movie, and it runs a total of 2 hours and 24 minutes credit to credit (but that's the Singapore edited version).

Red Cliff is hands down highly recommended, not only for those familiar with the story (and who're likely to find fault with some minor tweaks to supporting characters in involvement and names), but makes a great entry point to the rich stories of brotherhood, valor, bravery which sits snugly in any John Woo movie, and I guess to reintroduce a whole new generation to the era of the warring states, especially to our friends in the West. John Woo had given plenty of respect to the source material, and his meticulous treatment had shone through some of the slower scenes, such as taking time to highlight the peacetime roles of the various generals of the Liu Bei camp. This movie, even though its half of a movie, goes into my books as a contender for movie of the year, and I can't wait to continue where it left off!

Some links:
1. Guan Yu Profile
2. Zhao Yun Profile
3. Zhuge Liang Profile
4. Records of Three Kingdoms
5. Romance of the Three Kingdoms
6. Battle of Red Cliffs

Hellboy II: The Golden Army

We're Back

Created by Mike Mignola, Hellboy is the devil from Hell who in a parallel universe, was summoned by the Nazi occultists in a bid to save the Third Reich from crumbling. With the successful intervention of Allied soldiers and scientists, this kid devil was prevented from doing its intended deed, and being raised by the US in a secret lab, he gets conscripted to the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense to apply the lid on some X-Files worthy creatures who from time to time require a physical application of Hellboy's Right Hand of Doom to send them back to where they came from.

I liked Guillermo del Toro's cinematic incarnation of the character so much that I had forked out good money to purchase the 3-disc Director's Cut edition of his 2004 Hellboy. Hellboy II: The Golden Army, starts off with a teenage Hellboy being told the legend of the said army, in a prologue that looked very much like something ripped from Lord of the Rings, perhaps Del Toro's wink at the audience that he's a worthy successor to Peter Jackson in taking on franchise with The Hobbit, dealing with elves, dwarves and one crown to rule them all, split into 3 pieces in a truce between a mythical world and the humans, to maintain the peace between them, and to keep the Golden Army deactivated and at bay. It's something like the activation codes to a nuclear bomb, where once unleashed and the world tasted its ability, a tacit vow to never again use such destructive powers had to be kept.

Until of course you have those who crave power to come at an opportune time to seize what was thought to be rightfully his, with Prince Nuada (Luke Goss) staging a coup and in pursuit of his sister Princess Nuala (Anna Walton) to recover the last piece of the puzzle. But we can count on our big red devil to stand in his way right? Not quite. I thought this storyline had been played out fairly frequently, what with the last one of their kind being caught up in an unappreciative world. Think Superman, Spider-man, Hancock, X-Men and just about any typical superhero and you get the drift. For Hellboy's case it boiled down to something as banal as his looks and the lack thereof, putting a mirror in front of us and making us blush at how we generalize or accept people at first glance so long as they please our eyes, and being wary toward those with physical flaws.

But while I thought such themes would have been developed in depth here given its runtime, surprisingly it didn't. And for a lot of its subplots or not-too-subtle messages that tried to muscle its way through, such as us humans being deemed unworthy to inherit the Earth and other related environmental messages, they generally great brushed aside without providing much of a second thought after their introduction at one point or another. Are we looking for deep, profound exploration of themes, or an all round good time? Hellboy II tended to slant toward the latter, but does so by providing us some excellent characterization between the players, never mind if the vilain Prince Nuada seem so one-dimensional.

What proved to be a riot here, is Ron Perlman's Hellboy, like watching an old friend come back again, one whose gruff exterior and sarcastic wisecracks betray the soft nature of his, especially toward his main squeeze Liz Sherman (Selma Blair) who returns with a chic hairdo and in better control of her powers, though somewhat still being underused. Abe Sapien (Doug Jones with his voice for the character intact) got provided an expanded role, and no doubt his fans will celebrate his being integral to the plot, especially his scenes of camaraderie with Hellboy. Here, their friendship got a little challenged by the introduction of a new superior from Germany, Dr Johann Kraus (John Alexander / James Dodd, voiced by Seth MacFarlane), a gaseous being kept inside a containment unit whose sticking by the book conflicts with Hellboy's settle-with-the-fist and laissez-faire attitude.

Following his Pan's Labyrinth, Del Toro again showcases his highly imaginative creature creations small and large, and I thought it was rather interesting that the creatures are always more than meets the eye, with threat levels you never could tell from their presentation. This movie becomes an expected special effects extravaganza with busy creations that would sit right up there with science fiction greats, and The Golden Army's reputation of being virtually indestructable, brings new and true meaning to the term autonomous computing. While I think some may gripe over the kung-fu fight scenes, since having Prince Nuada as a highly skilled martial arts exponent, the mano-a-mano between hero and villain brings to mind memorable fight sequences such as that in Once Upon A Time in China's Ladder Duel, and this one doesn't pale in comparison, which says a lot.

However the clincher for me in the movie is how very simple day to day misunderstandings and grappling with the notion of feelings, seem to baffle our heroes more so than the easily dispatched monsters. First love take centerstage, as does love that is already mature. And what I thought was a brilliant move, probably in prepping us up for a possible sequel, was a reminder of Hellboy's heritage and true origins, as well as how decisions made here would have repercussions and have set in motion some storyline to continue where certain scenes here had left off, especially with the brewing of to-hell-with-the-world mindsets setting in. I hope we don't have to wait another 4 years to see another Hellboy movie, especially if this one is as successful as its predecessor.

In a crowded summer box-office, I guess Hellboy would have made its way through via its niche audience, and there's little doubt that the this installment would have won over new fans as well. If one should summarize the movie in one sentence, then it will be that it is full of fantastical visual fun! Recommended though personally I'd still prefer the first one, and I want a big baby of my own too!

Money No Enough 2 Trailers

I guess most of you would have laughed at Mark Lee and Henry Thia's antics at the cinemas with their Money No Enough 2 reminders to turn off your cell phones. So what does Money No Enough 2, the pseudo-sequel to the local box office champion, Money No Enough, look like?


From the trailer, it seems that Jack has continued with collaborating with talents up north, and has a number of computer based effects to bring to us... Formula 1!!! As well as to stage a mass street march protest! But what's still undeniably Neo's style, is the inclusion of the coffeeshop talk, literally!

Teaser/TV Spot:

Tell you the truth, I can't wait to watch this, trusting that Jack Neo will once again have his movie touch upon a fair share of contemporary local issues like our recent obsession with increasing cost of living, as well as some veiled jabs at the you-know-whos.

Money No Enough 2 debuts on 31 July 2008! Mark it on your calendar!

Directing Asia Presents: John Woo & The Battle of Red Cliff

The National Library Board managed to take some time off director John Woo's busy one day schedule in Singapore to promote his latest movie Red Cliff, and got him to give a talk at The Pod.

Just a little bit of Trivia about the venue - John Woo's Paycheck had in its climatic scene, a battle between Ben Affleck and Aaron Eckhart taking place in a lab with a supercomputer that can predict the future. In Bollywood's Krrish, which was shot in Singapore, they too erm, adapted that bit of the storyline, with a finale set that seemed a complete ripoff homage to John's movie. And the location of the lair in Krrish was none other than an amalgamation of The Esplanade, and you guessed it, The Pod, where the main baddie's office with a view was probably exactly where John was sitting on stage.

Here's John!
I have a total of 10 video clips covering the entire talk, and most of the Q&A, so check back again once I painstakingly manage to upload them byte by byte. The talk was in Mandarin, and if I have time I'll try (note the keyword here) to translate this in English.

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movieXclusive.com has a feature write up on the press conference held earlier in the day, together with pictures taken from the event. You can access the article page by clicking on the logo below:

The Bank Job

So We Have Fire

If I remember it rightly, the very first time I saw Jason Statham star in a movie, it was in Guy Ritchie's Snatch, and since then he's had his fair share of crime capers ranging from the remake of The Italian Job where he starred as Handsome Rob, to mindless, high octane action movies like The Transporter series where he's the star vehicle (pardon the pun). While these movies can't possible earn him any action awards, you can't deny the fact that this guy's pretty charismatic in his own right, and I've no qualms about watching him play characters on either side of the fence, taking on his opponents in Crank or War, holding his own opposite Jet Li.

While we await for the next installment of The Transporter or Crank, or The Brazilian Job, his The Bank Job sure took longer than expected to make its way to our shores, where the DVD should be released later this week. But as always, I'd recommend to watch this bank caper on the big screen. Don't expect plenty of Statham's signature moves when he takes on his opponents here, as he relies pretty much on his wits in order to survive a web of tangled intrigued where a simple open and shut case of a bank heist, turned out to be much larger than his team could digest, involving, check this out - high ranking government officials, the royal family, the British secret service, local neighbourhood cops, local neighbourhood crooked cops, gangsters, brothel owners, a society rebel, and an old flame. Phew!

Based loosely on the Baker Street Llyods Bank robbery in 1971, Statham stars as Terry Leather, a two-bit lowly crook who's given an opportunity by Martine Love (Saffron Burrows) to break into the said bank, given inside information about the bank's security systems, and unknown to Leather, having the heist unofficially sanctioned by people in the right places. The job is simple, to break into the bank vault where the safe deposit boxes are, and make away with everything inside. But of course the real value lies in some incriminating photographs found within the boxes, and I thought this played out like The Inside Job.

Only that it doesn't primarily take place from within the bank most of the time. The Bank Job covers a much larger spectrum, of conspiracies and trust issues between the members of the heist, as well as between shady characters who each have their own agenda of self-preservation. With plenty of dirty little secrets hidden snugly inside those safe deposit boxes, their respective owners while having a sense of fear permeate through their bones upon hearing the news, more so want to uncover the culprits, and recover their assets. It tells of the unwanted trouble and attention brought towards the perpetrators, as they realize that their apparently simple job, turns out to be a Pandora's box.

If this was enacted based exactly on case files, then you can't help but to chuckle at how sometimes Fate and just plain silly luck would shine upon the players of the game, and enable coincidental circumstances to happen in order to have everything work out in a certain favour. And in either half of the story, from the enactment to the untying of the knotty situation they're stuck in, The Bank Job fulfills in keeping things light, funny, and given the many shenanigans that politicians get themselves into, it just reminds you that some things don't change.

Those looking for elaborate plans and probes in heist movies Ocean's Eleven style will be disappointed, but if you're looking for something leaning toward spy versus spy stuff and one-upmanship, with a classic underdog story to boot, then The Bank Job should already be in your must-watch list this week!

Deception

This Never Happened

The big joke making its rounds here about this movie was in its promotional poster for this part of the world. Perhaps to the West, Maggie Q would be just the chick from MI:3 and didn't warrant top billing, or a photograph in its poster. Here, we have a badly pasted "extra" face of hers plastered on the poster, supposedly banking on her popularity with Asians. Only that as it turned out, she only has 5 minutes worth of screentime, appearing in black lacy lingerie, and doing nothing. If that's the case, then Natasha Henstridge should also be included in the poster, since she's famous for showing off her body in the Species movies, and continues to do so here to remind everyone she hasn't really lost it yet.

While Hancock has been proven not guilty of putting everything in the trailer that you can write a review out of it, the same cannot be said of Deception, no matter how its title sounded like in trying to throw you off track. It is exactly as it is played out in the 2 odd minutes of it, so if you were to want and try to enjoy this, do not watch any of its trailer nor its stills. It really ruined it outright, stripping away all surprises in store. And while Hancock kept important stuff under wraps to bring about heightened pleasure when all get revealed, Deception's "surprise" was like a limp premature ejaculation which didn't make much sense, and insults the audience.

But that's not to say that it was bad all the way. The premise had potential, and if you're going into it blind, then there are enough to intrigue you, especially when it comes to the turn. Ewan McGregor slicks back his hair and puts on glasses to give himself the stereotypical bookish accountant look, in a firm to audit their books. As with all audits, keeping lonely late night vigils is a norm as everyone in the firm you're auditing automatically shun you, for fear of getting questioned. His Jonathan McQuarry cuts a pitiable figure that most of us in the corporate world will probably understand.

In comes a highly sociable, humourous, and charismatic legal counsel of the firm, Wyatt Bose (played by Hugh Jackman, who also serves as producer), and the two hit it off over a late night filled with jokes and the sharing of pot in a conference room, before getting so chummy with each other, that going to strip clubs to chill out seemed perfectly ok. In a careless accident, they switch cell phones, and before you know it, Jonathan gets all excited over the prospect of milking Wyatt's exclusive high society sex club membership, where members call each other up anonymously through the service, and asks a seemingly innocent question "Are you free tonight?".

Sure there are rules to Sex Club, such as no names, no details, no casual chit-chats, just the caller booking a room at the hotel, and the callee turning up as arranged to get their respective rocks off. I'm sure by now plenty of ah-peks would be interested to watch the movie already, but its M18 rating ensured that everything put on screen isn't hardcore stuff. I won't be surprised too if something of this nature already exists, serving a rich clientele who spend 90% of their waking hours in the office, leaving no time for anything else. Think of it as a matchmaking service that goes into that bit of extra.

Complicating matters of course is when Jonathan falls genuinely in love with one of the members called S (Michelle Williams), whom he met outside of the club at a train station. Being totally smitten with her, he refuses to do the deed, and breaks almost all the rules. Then begin the cat and mouse mind games, which of course would have worked, but the last act just became convenience after convenience, that made it eventually a very lazy piece of storytelling.

Deception tried, but didn't try hard enough. It had great foreplay, adequate skills, but no stamina to last the distance. Strictly for fans of McGregor and Jackman only, and of course those who still want to check Maggie Q out in lingerie, or to admire that Hendstridge still has it in her.

It's a Boy Girl Thing

You and Me, or I?

I know what you're saying. There are countless of movies out there involving body switches, either parental-kid (like Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis in Freaky Friday), and cross-gender, be it deliberate (like Amanda Bynes in She's The Man) or through inexplicable supernatural occurence (like Jack Neo's Just Follow Law, or The Hot Chick starring Rob Schneider and Rachel McAdams). Whatever the case is, it seems that such stories still can find a market and a demand, otherwise they wouldn't be made, will they? And comedies which arise from such situations almost always seem to recycle some jokes, removing plenty of lustre from what could have been funny, but not so, because of familiarity with the subject matter.

Surprisingly, It's a Boy Girl Thing still worked, for me at least. Sure, it had the usual jokes with respect to changing and getting used to the new bodies, taking advantage of the change to get chummy with the boys/girls with ulterior motives, and doing everything just wrong deliberately so as to get back at the person whose body you now possess. But what this one had, was plenty of heart, pounding on the universal theme of empathy, of not being able to fully understand someone, until you get under their skin and walk around in it, in which case this movie of course took things literally.

Samaire Armstrong stars as Nell Bedworth, who's into literature, and whose snooty, prim and proper parents are holding their hopes of her daughter getting into Yale. Her neighbour is school quarterback jock Woody Deane (Kevin Zegers), whose family is pretty much of the average joe, laissez faire type, whose dream for their son is to work at a sweatshop from 9 to 5. Naturally the school jock has a minor aspiration different from his parent's expectation, and that is to score a college education through football.

It's no rocket science that the two of them don't get along, and as the opening credits illustrate, they get on each other's nerves ever so often, that some ancient god decide to play a prank on them by switching their bodies. Thus unleashing pandemonium in their lives as they have to grapple with living in a foreign body, as well as to ensure that they stay on their respective course to pursue their dreams. It also becomes the usual opposite attracts story, starting with their adversary with each other, to the inevitable finale, but what indeed was marvelous here, were the little scenes crafted where they have to begin to lean more about each other, and to gain each other's trust.

What I felt helped the movie was its decision to junk a lot of unnecessary subplots that usually bloat such movies, to just keep it simple and very focused, delivering almost every time it called for a punchline, or during non-comedic moments with serious drama, while laying off the melodramatics. Simple words uttered, simple actions made, spoke loads and went the mile. The chemistry between Samaire Armstrong and Kevin Zegers worked wonders too, whether they're playing it straight, or playing each other's characters, and sometimes there are situations where you just have to do a double take to put things into their correct perspective.

If there should be a gripe, it would be the jarring edit made for an NC16 rating. This is one movie that didn't fear getting into the politically incorrect field, filled with nudity and plenty of coarse language, which I thought was somewhat of an adults-only version of a genre done so many times. And if you're a fan of rap and hip-hop, then you'll probably find yourself grooving to the soundtrack from Eminem to the Black Eyed Peas.

This movie comes recommended. It's not perfect, but it was jolly good fun.

10 Promises To My Dog (Inu To Watashi No 10 No Yakusoku)

This is My Socks!

You probably cannot count just how many doggie movies are out there, with its fair share coming out of Japan. Neither can I, and ever since Hachiko I thought none could stand up to the loyalty of that dog, but I guess I was wrong. You think you know the usual drill when it comes to stories about man's best friend, but I guess one can always count on the Japanese to weave a story based on much melodrama that somehow works, no matter if it at first glance might seem to be familiar.

Like how the dog remains unflinchingly loyal to its owner, good or bad in its owner's treatment of it. Or how it can always be relied on to provide that listening ear, even though they obviously don't speak our language, or best of all, how as a puppy the camera always capture their best angle to make you wish you could go home to one who that will always wag its tail and playfully pounce on you as a greeting, as if you're the best person in the world that stepped through the door.

The 10 promises referred to here isn't exactly 10 of the best that one would actually commit to the pet, but rather, a pact of understanding from both parties that build on trust. And that turns out to be key to the story, as it extends not only between animals and man, but across relationships that both parties will forge with others and fellow species as well. In fact, some of these serve as universal reminders, and I suppose young kids who are brought to see this G-rated film, will probably come to understand that it takes a lot of responsibility to take care of a pet, especially when one's priorities in life tend to change as one grows up within the average lifespan of, in this case, a dog.

Told over 10 years, the film stars Mayuko Fukuda and Lena Tanaka as the character of Akari, a young girl who seem to suffer from setback after setback ranging from family to relationship issues, despite her sunshine cheery demeanour. And the best parts in the movie pertain to the carefully crafted story about family, about being there for your loved ones, and making precious moments count. And with the 10 promises, we will journey with Akari to see if she can commit to the pact successfully, or not.

But it's not just a story about a girl and her dog, and there's where this movie shines in being different from the usual run off the mill stories. There's a small sub plot involving Akari's golden retriever Socks in its ability to become a therapy dog, both for herself, and good friend Hoshi (Ryo Kase). And it chief strength was in how it weaved a very nice, touching story about family, of being there every moment that you can, and making such moment matter. Just like how Akari's father Saito (Etushi Toyokawa, in a role that perhaps many can identify with) places work in a higher priority than family in order to put bread on the table, but realizes that work just isn't everything as time will just pass you by. And it served as an interesting parallel when Akari loathes her father's non-presence, but slowly we see her succumbing to these same attitudes as well, much to the disappointment of, well, everyone else.

Despite a romantic angle being ploughed into the movie at its midpoint on, its family one still stood its ground and delivered the melodramatic payload when it mattered, to tug at your heartstrings during the inevitable finale. And while listening to the Japanese cast bravely sing their way through Time After Time, I'd figured that while it fit the movie nicely with the message it wanted to bring across, perhaps this version of the song will sooth calm nerves:

Highly recommended if you have never seen a movie about man and his best friend, or if the last one you've watched was a few years ago. Otherwise you should know what to expect when it goes into dramatic overdrive.

A Month of Hungry Ghosts / 鬼节 - 7th August 2008!

I guess the local festivities during the Lunar Seventh Month continues to draw interest, especially for film material. Of the movies released during or about the month, namely Kelvin Tong's The Maid and Royston Tan's 881, both have been phenomenal success at the local box office. This year, a feature length documentary will be hitting our screens come 7th August, and if the stills are to be believed, then the documentary is likely to cover a wide spectrum about the festival on the whole.

Here's the synopsis by director Tony Kern:

Every year in parts of Asia during the seventh lunar month it is believed that the gates of Hell are opened and all the souls are set free to wander the earth. At this time many spirits roam around trying to fulfill their past needs, wants and desires. These are the "hungry ghosts." Many religious rituals and folk performances, such as street operas, take place during the seventh lunar month in order to try and appease the spirits. A MONTH OF HUNGRY GHOSTS is my documentary of this event.

Trailer:


Click here to visit the movie's Official Website!

[Michelangelo Antonioni Retrospective] Al di Là Delle Nuvole (Beyond the Clouds) (1995)

Prelude to a Kiss

This the the final feature film that Michelangelo Antonioni directed, with the help of Wim Wenders, and adapts from his short story collection "That Bowling Alley on the Tiber". Beyond the Clouds contain 4 short stories with familiar themes that we've come to be accustomed to from his earlier works, and sums up those themes in vignettes which are weaved together via Wenders' directed scenes involving John Malkovich's The Director character. However, most of the stories seemed to offer little or no depth that we're used to from an Antonioni movie, while Malkovich's narration of supposed depth rattled on with unclear diction that sounded a tad pretentious and out of place.

Nonetheless, all four stories seem to touch on chance encounters, and extremely quick romances that played out more like lust at first sight, perhaps due to the lack of time (since they're short stories anyway) to allow for a more layered approach to carefully define and craft the characters as we know from a typical Antonioni movie. And the obsessive approach here is for the characters to disrobe to showcase a lack of deeper connection sacrificed for the immediate satisfaction of the flesh. Maybe this is the point to want to bring across with an observation of the more modern relationship?

The first story, Story of a Love Affair That Never Existed, tells the romance between Silvano (Kim Rossi Stuart) and Carmen (Ines Sastre), who meet when one asks the other for directions to a hotel, and later meet at a cafe. It's as if Fate is playing games on them when they meet, but part and meet again much later, but like the games people play, it's almost like a ">L'Avventura or a La Notte with the lack of communication, and of the expectations from the man.

John Malkovich's director character takes central role in the next short, who exhibited some really lecherous looks toward a girl working at a shop, played by Sophie Marceau. She is deeply disturbed and made to feel uncomfortable, but somehow plucked up the courage to approach him, and in what I thought was to scare him off, tells him her background that she murdered her father by stabbing him 12 times. But in a flash these two are off toward bedroom gymnastics.

The next short, Don't Look for Me, is the longest of the lot, with Peter Weller playing a cheating husband who has to choose between his mistress (Chiara Caselli) or his wife, played by Fanny Ardant. Perhaps the more star studded of the lot, with Jean Reno also stepping in for a coda at the end of it, which sort of expands the little universe in which this short exists. But unfortunately Reno's involvement also got relegated to some stifle of laughter as it goes into the implausible domain with laser quick romantic involvement. There was a key element adapted from L'Eclisse with a kiss between a couple through a glass panel too, while the introductory tale about the story of souls was quite interesting. If there's a negative theme here this short wants to play upon, it'll be the duplicity of man.

In between this short and the next was a small scene which reunited our couple from La Notte, Marcello Mastroianni and Jeanne Moreau, where the former was painting a landscape which was reminiscent of that in Red Desert. Finally, we have the final shot This Body of Dirt, with Vincent Perez as a young man going after a girl (Irene Jacob) whom he just met, and falling in love with her, only to realize that it is a love that is too late. It's a relatively talkie piece, just like the first story, with the characters engaging in conversation while walking the streets of the city they're in, which sort of brings to mind Richard Linklater's Before Sunrise.

While on the whole the movie may have succeeded as individual pieces, they never quite measure up as a combined effort given the "excuse" to link them up was a film director's exploration of possible stories and a look for inspiration for his next film.

This movie also marks the end of the Michelangelo Antonioni Retrospective proper at the National Museum. For those who enjoyed Antonioni's masterpiece trilogy L'Avventura, La Notte and L'Eclisse, the 3 films are up for a second screening consecutively and in chronological order tomorrow, so be sure to catch them once again in their 35mm glory.

Hancock

The New X-Man

I'll stick my neck out and state this: Should anyone tell you Hancock is not a good superhero movie, then that somebody probably isn't a superhero comic book fan to begin with. Or perhaps prefers the heroes as morally upright boy scouts with unexplainable fetish for lycra tights. And for those who reckon that the Hancock trailer had shown its hand, for once I thought that a trailer barely, and I mean barely, scratched the surface of what surprisingly was a thoroughly enjoyable story, which will take its stand proudly amongst this year's line up of comic book/super hero movies.

But first, I'd got to admit, I'm a Will Smith fan. So at least you might have this review put into perspective. I've been enjoying the Will Smith Express with the kind of movies he's been doing for his career, even for the badly received Wild Wild West. But this guy has been in almost every genre from action (thanks to Michael Bay) to science fiction with I, Robot, romantic comedy with Hitch, a powerful dramatic performance with The Pursuit of Happyness, and the recent remake I Am Legend, and each one I find little or no fault with. In fact, save for one or two movies in his filmography which I have not watched, it's no wonder that Smith's A-list material for his legion of fans around the world, having a name that can marquee a blockbuster movie, and one of the more consistently bankable contemporary stars.

And Hancock (ok, for this review I'd lay off all the jokes) continues in this tradition of entertainment that isn't frivolous. To tell you more about the story would be to ruin whatever surprise it has in store, so I'll not do that. Suffice to say that like all superhero movies, Hancock is also about sacrifice, and I think that's a theme that the genre cannot do away with. It's almost always an exploration about doing the right thing, be it for the love of mankind, or those that touch on the more personal. If you'd believe the trailer as it suggests, then it's suffice to say that Hancock had to grapple with bad public relations from his jerk like behaviour (stuffing heads up arses being his arsenal of choice), and that assistance comes free through the services of Ray Embrey (Jason Bateman), a life which he saved by, well, causing millions of dollars in damages. If I were to scratch the surface just a little bit deeper, then I'd say that Ray represents the kind of normal life that Hancock probably wished to have, the simple, no save-the-world responsibility lifestyle, with a nice little family with wife Mary (Charlize Theron) and son Aaron (Jae Head) to boot.

Director Peter Berg, who last brought us The Kingdom, dabbles with plenty of technology to bring us a man who can fly, possess incredible strength and being invulnerable to bullets. What I'd enjoyed about his take on this superhero movie, is that he didn't find a need to explain everything in verbatim, i.e. what are the powers he possess, where did he come from, and so on. sure they are addressed, but there's no need for putting it in your face, which I suspect lesser directors would have filmed flashbacks, origin subplots, enemies who are megalomaniacs who want to conquer the universe, and so on. They can be mentioned in passing, or a glance, or to let it work it out in your imagination, which of course is a powerful tool. And keeping it simple helped too, as I was really thrilled at how effective, and deceptively simple, its crescendo was developed, that it's tough to fight back tears as it goes for the juggernaut to reach out for your emotions.

Clearly there were bits from the trailer which were probably put in as red herrings, or likely to have been reserved for the DVD as deleted scenes. While it runs at just over 90 minutes, the pace is frenetic, though of course not without the usual loopholes, especially with a major sequence probably to show off some cool graphics. If I were to gripe about certain things, it would be how YouTube got a significant product placement, and not actually having the actual, exact clips available (I may be wrong but I did do a search), and having the camera seemed to want to take a jab at Will Smith action movies of old by continuously circling around his face ala Bad Boys. Some may also gripe about not having to see much of the born again Hancock in action, but again, the strength of this movie lies not in how it delivers its set action pieces.

So what's my verdict? To Berg, Smith and the rest of the cast and crew, Good Job! And don't be a jerk and bolt for the exits the minute the end credits start to roll, or you deserve to have your head stuffed up another's arse.

The Strangers

Scream

So when Underworld co-star Kate Beckinsale got to make a horror/thriller with Vacancy while waiting for the green light on a possible Underworld pre/sequel, Scott Speedman too had to do something equivalent, and so got himself signed up with The Strangers, written and directed by Bryan Bertino, which takes a fictional look at what it purports to be based on true events with regards to the senseless acts of violence committed against James Hoyt (Speedman) and Kristen McKay (Liv Tyler).

Whether it be real or not, it takes its time to tell you that more than 1.4 million violent crimes happen on average in the USA, which of course works out to be... hell a lot. And it puts this at the back of your mind that it could happen to just about anyone, which after watching the movie, you'd more or less agree, given its less than sophisticated means of attack. Ss with all horror movies coming out of Tinseltown these days, it's the usual in-your-face slasher flicks / torture porn that get made, going one up against each other through being creative with weapons, blood and gore. Here it kept things simple, using common household tools against you.

It's a movie without a lot of dialogue between the characters, given that the assailants do not speak with one another, or lapse into the usual monologue with their victims. They do what they need to do quickly when the time calls for it, otherwise their theatrics allow the filmmakers to max out the surround sound system in the theatre with plenty of running about, throwing of stuff against doors/windows, together with testing out their light and shadow play thoroughly. And technically, you've got to tip your hat towards its flawless execution (pardon the pun).

The backstory to the characters of Kristen and James show us that while they are a loving couple, James' premature proposal to Kristen, and her rejection, put them in an awkward situation where he had plenty of yes-I-do aftermath activities planned out, such as a night at his parent's summer home, and a road trip thereafter, all thrown into disarray. They still reach that home away from home, but are not really communicating with each other. And with observed weakness comes opportunity for the perpetrators to complete their surveillance, and launch their systematic attack.

Which for the first hour, it almost became the Liv Tyler show, as she single-handedly holds your attention with her frantic looks and powerful lungs, while trying to wish it all away as a bad dream. Bryan Bertino succeeds in driving through the tension, suspense and fear of having unknown strangers in an unfamiliar home, and at 4am in the morning with their constant knocking and mischievous, deadly pranks, can really take its toil on you. There are loopholes of course in this story, such as failure to hold ground, and to never, ever split up, but I guess these folks never learn from the many horror movies that preceded it.

So when it went into its final 20 odd minutes, you can sense a feeling of dread, both for the characters, and the rather repetitive run-hide-seek continuum. Like Michael Haneke's Funny Games, there never is a rationale shared with the audience even though they continuously dish out violence, and while Haneke's villains were rather chatty, the ones here never bother to talk any more than they should, and coupled with their childish masks, make them a bit more terrifying when they come out of the dark.

Not a masterpiece, and surely less intellectual than Funny Games, but definitely has its moments, and managed to send some chills down unsuspecting spines, like that row of punks sitting on the same row as me and actually squirmed at their seats.

[Michelangelo Antonioni Retrospective] Antonioni, Lo Sguardo Che Cambio' Il Cinema (Antonioni: The Vision That Changed Cinema) (2001)

The other documentary screened today is this one, which is a more conventional documentary of sorts which traces the rise and success of Antonioni as a respected, and acclaimed filmmaker. There are plenty of behind the scenes clips and valuable photos from all his movies, and incorporated some segments from the earlier documentary by Lino Micciche.

Naturally, Monica Vitti also had some time devoted to her, as Antonioni shared how he met Vitti by chance, and started their collaboration when he signed her up as an understudy to Dorian Gray. The making of one of his most famous films, L'Avventura, was also given the spotlight, and we have Monica Vitti recounting the experience with the rough seas, an anecdote involving their lunches, and of course the notorious weather during filming. What perhaps was of extreme value here, was a deleted scene from the movie which was called "the cobbler scene", which involves a meeting up with a quirky cobbler who taught Claudia and Sandro some game.

Michelangelo Antonioni also talked about his philosophy in making films, and this documentary had plenty of interviews in one form or another, some gleaned from television, where we hear him speak about the films at length, and covered almost every feature film of his. Rounding up of course are the mentions of the numerous awards that he has garnered throughout his career, and the notable ones got featured in this documentary as well, where in one thank-you speech, he unselfishly acknowledged Vitti's hard work in his films.

I suppose this is one documentary that every Antonioni fan should without a doubt, get their hands on to watch.

[Michelangelo Antonioni Retrospective] Antonioni Visto Da Antonioni (Antonioni Seen by Antonioni) (1978)

Finally the documentaries I was waiting to watch, in order to have a glimpse and chance to listen to what Antonioni had to say about his own films, and to shed some insight into the manner of his work. Given that he has recently passed away, the only way we're gonna glean information straight from the horse's mouth, would be from his recorded interviews and featurettes made about his life.

Antonioni Seen By Antonioni is a rare interview done by film critic Lino Micciche in 1978 after a retrospective of Antonioni's movies were played on television. Hearing from the maestro himself, he touched on the changes in his movies from neo-realism to the 50s and 60s, and about the techniques he employed.

A major talking point was censorship, where he shared with us that the Italian episode in The Vanquished was his first great battle with the censors which they eventually won. The segment was supposed to be about neo-fascism, with a man who committed suicide but made to look like it was a murder by his political rivals. That had to be changed to what we now see, as he had to make do with a young man smuggling cigarettes instead.

There was also talk about his films being unfeeling, sophisticated and intelligent, but I guess, confirming my suspicion that his movies are quite women-centric, his opinion was that women are a more subtle filter of reality. Interesting thought.