Under the Hawthorn Tree (山楂树之恋 / Shan Zha Shu Zhi Lian)

Romance is in the Air

With his many recent works that are nothing short of being opulent, and an Olympic project that was sheer spectacle, director Zhang Yimou still shows he has what it takes to take it down some notches in telling a simple, but no less emotional, tale of first love and romance, set during the Cultural Revolution in 60s and 70s China. It is this historical setting that perhaps piqued interest in bringing the Internet novel by Ai Mi onto the big screen, which lifts it beyond a typical romantic weepy.

Starring newcomer Zhou Dongyu - mind you Zhang Yimou has this knack of bringing new faces to the scene - and Shawn Dou as the star crossed lovers Jing and Sun respectively, the story tackles both the saccharine sweet moments that the duo have to steal away from society's prying eyes, and that of objections that come from Jing's mother. It's a time when Chairman Mao is very much revered, and the story takes aim at how his policies impacted the ordinary man on the street, giving rise to complications on survival matters, especially if you're deemed an intellect and are sent to be re-educated as with Jing's father, held as a political prisoner, and her teacher mom into becoming a school cleaner, earning extra through the folding 1000 envelopes for a single cent.

Constantly cautioned on her family's lack of status and being under the scrutiny of the powers that be, hopes are pinned on Jing as the next generation to lift their family's plight, since there are also two other younger siblings to take care of, rather than to spend time in romantic affairs of the heart with Sun. But undeterred, both parties forge on despite the rich and poor, have and have not divide, with Sun's more privileged background meant a lot more giving on materials on his end to ensure that his loved one makes it through what life has dished out to her under the current circumstances.

The story also doesn't shy away from the airing of grouses, which is probably quite unheard of and bordering on treason too, at least for its time when such statements get made in hushed tones. While one can be quite gung ho about it as proclaiming one's love for another, it's another ball game altogether when taking pot shots at an establishment. The secrecy of the lovers relationship provide ample moments for the usual tried and tested formula of stolen glances, growing into more daring meets involving some frolicking into a river, and moments of temptation when they're all but alone in a rented room.

Having the lovers meet when Jing was sent to the countryside as part of curricular and Sun being attached to a geological project meant the film can bask in a lot of lush landscapes brought out by beautiful cinematography. The art direction was top notch to make this period piece believable, and some of the best moments in the film occur when little things get detailed and time spent to showcase it, such as the amount of propaganda posters pasted on walls, as well as that of a rousing morale boosting song performed by the students with aplomb, even if some of them do not quite actually harbour the same sentiments as what's being sung out loud.

The fresh faced leads also breathed some life into what would be a typical narrative of a romantic weepy. Zhou Dongyu is excellent as the innocent and wide-eyed girl who takes on a very firm stance against her mother's wishes, putting a risk in jeopardizing her family's fate, and that of her own future, should she be found out. Shawn Dou plays his hunky character of the almost perfect man with that steely determination of wanting the best for his loved one, yet being presented with a dilemma of a request made by an elder, which I'm sure many guys out there would share in similar emotions if put in the same boat. At some angles he reminded me of a certain television actor in Singapore as well, but blessed with better acting ability.

In a way the story's quite sprawling, and not everything from the novel can be filmed without sacrificing pace, and this accounted for the very frequent use of intertitles to split the scenes into logical chapters. I would rank this as one of Zhang Yimou's more accessible films, and certainly one that shows he's more than capable to tackle a rather straightforward tale no lacking in powerful emotions and melodrama. Recommended!

The King's Speech

This Records You

There is word that the Weinsteins want a different cut to be released later this month that's sans the plenty of swearing, so thank heavens we get to watch it right now before it gets unceremoniously molested by its own producers. Doing that will diminish the film I suppose, since it takes away what I thought would be one's natural propensity to curse when things don't really go our way or according to plan. It may not seem royal, but heck, we're all humans after all. Needless to say the hype surrounding this is of its recent win at the Golden Globes amongst others during this awards season, and having to garner the most nominations means all eyes will be on this film wherever it goes. And it's simply delightful, pure and simple.

Interest is always high on the British monarch and the next big thing on the agenda is the wedding ceremony between Prince William and Kate Middleton. The countless of biographies available make natural adaptation into compelling films, from more period The Other Boleyn Girl to the two Elizabeth films by Shekhar Kapur and even something more contemporary such as Stephen Frear's The Queen. These films are deeply rooted in familiar history as they snapshot a period of time during the respective monarch's reign, not to mention the characters that come and go during the period, both famous and infamous. In The King's Speech, I'm rather surprised that the many subplots put in were purposeful, and tells a bigger story about how King George VI ascended the throne due to circumstances, rather than just a story that's obsessively focused on his speech issues.

Played by Colin Firth, King George VI before he became King of England in the late 30s, was the Duke of York whose inability in speaking publicly because of his stammer meant being kept under wraps and outshone by his brother, the heir apparent to the throne (Guy Pearce), and much to the disappointment of their father King George V (Michael Gambon) since the former is deep in controversy himself, having to consort with a commoner who's soon to be twice divorced (Wallis Simpson, played by Eve Best). It's actually because of this abdication that the current royal lineage is where it's at now, and for the uninitiated, here's that bit of historical trivia for you since this film goes back four generations and has plenty of character cameos such as Winston Churchill (Timothy Spall) during his pre-Prime Ministership days.

No thanks to the advancement of radio and broadcast technology that had inevitably shamed the big man in public, the Duchess of York (Helena Bonham Carter) persistently sets her husband up with doctors to cure him of his impediment, only for her efforts to finally reach Lionel Logue (Rush), a speech therapist whose methods are most unorthodox, although his results speak for themselves. But like in any teacher-student relationship, success all depends on the efforts and determination of the student, and this isn't easy when someone is of a higher social standing than oneself, and believes in that standing from time to time coupled with an impatiently fiery temper borne out of countless of frustrating years.

Two big reasons why you must absolutely watch The King's Speech - Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush. Two of some of the best in the business outside of America, they give pitch perfect performances and share that slick chemistry to make their characters' relationship, from mentor to student, healer to the ill, royalty and subject, and finally friends, all the more delightful to sit through that progress. It's a solid story on frienship, and David Seidler's tale covers amazing ground in its narrative space, going both both breadth and depth, with nice little reveals at appropriate times to bring about some emotional power punches, be it Lionel's wife Myrtle (Jennifer Ehle) stumbling upon her VIP guests, or that conversation between experience and paper qualifications, something I think which will hit home here as well.

Firth makes his stammer believable and you feel sorry for him being thrust into the limelight when he's really not ready for it, worried to bungle it up and to become an embarassment to his nation. It is this fighting of his own personal battle that becomes a beacon and an inspiration to his subjects and countrymen to conquer their own fears and uncertainty, and of course to stand up to the dark forces clouding Europe at the time. You'll feel every inch of his frustration at his predicament, and the skepticism toward Lionel Logue's methods which to him doesn't seem to solve the issue at hand.

Tom Hooper, who directed The Damned United and had similar themes involving a maverick's attempt to excel and inspire, definitely knows a thing or two about putting a successful partnership on screen, and Geoffrey Rush proves to be that perfect counterpunch to Firth's King, whose pitch perfect enunciation of the English language lacked heart, which of course is the opposite of that in King George VI. What I also enjoyed is Hooper not employing tactics which other directors may employ in either fading to black at the critical crescendo built up or having the actual speech played while the credits rolled, providing something effective in reminding us that it's the process, and not the destination, that proves to be of importance and a highlight.

It's a tough one to choose between The Social Network and The King's Speech come Oscar season, but between the two, this one has a more inspiring, uplifting and positive tale about friendship, while the former touches on the destructive nature that success brings about amongst friends which is quite ironic given the creation of a world-beating social network that's supposed to promote communication and interaction between friends. I suppose it depends on what mood the voters are in when they cast their vote, but if given a choice, The King's Speech would be mine. Highly recommended, so don't miss this on the big screen!

No Strings Attached

Time For Some Romance

Trending is powerful. When an idea seemed viable, a series of films will get made, from end of the world stuff, to vampires and alien invasions, and it's even applicable to the romantic comedy genre. I wonder who came up with the recent thought about designing a film exploring the friends with benefits concept, and here we're faced with at least three of such films having Hollywood starlets in various stages of undress, from Love with Other Drugs, No Strings Attached milking the Valentine's Day weekend here, and soon Friends with Benefits starring Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis. Seems like f*ck buddies are getting mainstream acceptance with everyone jumping onto the same bandwagon in Tinseltown.

But more powerful than that, is the shift toward the alpha-female type of character, even if just for a while, laying the ground rules and setting the parameters in which a courtship, friendship and relationship should be based upon. Gone out the window are the demure and needy types, and in come female characters who know what they want, are high fliers, doing charitable causes and the likes, and just having the guys strung around their finger. Rudyard Kipling's "... the female of the species is more deadly than the male..." is steadfast here, where the only time the male characters are needed, is for that recreational purpose. They do not want commitment, nor settle down or want to be in a long term relationship, skipping past chances to get emotionally hurt, and prefer to keep things status quo in their singledom.

Ashton Kutcher goes against type since he's always the stud of any film and stars as Adam, an aspiring television screenwriter who has absolutely no luck with women, even having to suffer some loss of face with his ex-girlfriends preferring a relationships with his television star dad (Kevin Kline). Who is way older. But richer of course. Throughout his 15 years we see how he has this magnetic attraction for Emma (Natalie Portman) and vice versa, only that both of them fail to want to admit it, with Emma preferring a no-frills sexual relationship in lieu of a proper one that involves feelings. For a guy, I suppose this is something quite agreeable, so Adam goes for it.

While Love and Other Drugs got an M18 rating for its gratuitous nudity, this one was rated the same but had none of the showing of that much skin, only because it featured a pair of lesbians going at it while clothed. Both Adam and Emma only go at it like crazy jackrabbits in a montage, and other than that the narrative treaded on perfect rom-com ground, without quite the intelligent and interesting story that Love and Other Drugs had. Still, with Ivan Reitman (who makes a cameo too) at the helm, one would have thought that it may have offered at least something out of the ordinary, but no such luck as the film had it pat down right to the expected finale on how things would turn out in Hollywood.

If you think you've seen enough of Natalie Portman lately, think again. The current It girl who has been sweeping up awards for her Black Swan portrayal, she's having a busy 2011 as well with the upcoming Marvel summer blockbuster Thor and other films such as Your Highness and Cloud Atlas. While she and Kutcher share some delightful chemistry, being first of all good lookers is almost the requisite in any romantic film, the casting of the two who have such a difference in height also made it as passing jibes in the film, while you can't help but to notice some distracting camera angles being employed to make the difference none too jarring so that they can share the same frame, or perhaps Portman could have been standing on a soapbox.

Like one character said, we don't choose who we fall in love with, and we just do. That perhaps came out as one of the rare few times that you'll be nodding at some enlightenment, otherwise you'll be basking in some of the really bad innuendos and jokes, and wondering why the need for such a large supporting cast such as Cary Elwes, Ludacris, Jake M. Johnson, Greta Gerwig, Lake Bell and Mindy Kaling all coming on as very rote caricatures. Sure it's good enough for that Valentine's Day lineup, but it's none too memorable once the lights come on, without the benefit of a strong story running parallel to the romance.

The Rite

Where's Your Mask and Cape?

In many ways The Rite has plenty of thematic parallels with the recent exorcism film The Last Exorcism, although the latter one was filmed in found footage mockumentary style, while this one boasted quite a departure for director Mikael Hafstrom, who's probably better known for his Shanghai and 1408. To tackle a horror film on this subgenre would be interesting but unfortunately this attempt was marred by pacing which was absolutely off the mark, with nothing really squemish or frightening, that those looking toward a good scary outing may emerge disappointed.

If you'd know by now, you'd approach any films that's based on or inspired by true events with that requisite grain of salt, since dramatization takes a huge chunk off realism, especially if it comes from Hollywood. But if this story was really true, especially its pivotal event in the last act, then it goes to show that man being man is always vulnerable to manipulation, and in a more religious context, susceptible to sinning. Examples are aplenty in the real world about false prophets and those who succumb to worldly temptations, and there will be some who enter religion for all the wrong, personal and selfish reasons.

Just like Michael Kovak (Colin O'Donoghue), who entered the clergy just to escape from his mortician father (Rutger Hauer) and their family undertaking business, just to obtain a scholarship, and any scholarship at that. It actually kills many birds with one stone, since Michael loathes his dad and can be away for an extended period of time on study, he still keeps in line with one of two occupations of his lineage, and gets a qualification to boot. Simply put, Michael isn't in it for long, wanting to exploit an opportunity, much to the detriment of mentor Father Matthew (Toby Jones), who decides to persuade him by sending him to Rome under the tutelage of Father Xavier (Ciaran Hinds), who offered him what would be the in-thing, and a qualification severely lacking in the Church - that of being an exorcist.

But wait, for a man without faith to tangle with the devil and his minions, surely there's no better way to commit career suicide (and not to mention the losing of one's soul to eternal damnation)? Enter Anthony Hopkins as Father Lucas Trevant, an experienced exorcist who takes Michael under his wing in the most unorthodox of circumstances, introductions and mentorship, where he throws Michael right into the deep end of the pool, only for Michael to repeatedly throw cold water at what he's witnessing. Like the pairing between Fox Mulder and Dana Scully in the X-Files, one's a believer, while the other's quite the skeptic, and putting them both together offers perspectives from both sides, with one adamant in trying to convince the other of their collective faith, and the other rejecting blind faith and preferring to stick to a scientific counterpoint.

It's the classic tussle of trying to prove the existence of something to someone who disbelieves, though you cannot avoid the fact that for a hero to exist, there must be a villain to begin with, that there's no good without evil. For Michael who doesn't believe in god, surely he doesn't believe in the devil, and thus shows no fear when being confronted - an ideal trait now lacking one key component in faith. Like The Last Exorcism, the character development for its protagonist is obvious, with Michael who thinks the victims are mentally sick from perpetual abuse and requires scientific medical help than from someone who repeatedly chants and sprinkles holy water. I had a little remote thought that things could have been staged in an elaborate manner to push someone over the edge to total submission and conversion, but hey, it's a thought that I felt could spice things up a little for an after film discussion.

Mikael Hafstrom crafted an atmospheric piece full of wonderful cinematography to bring out a general creepiness throughout the entire film, only for his pacing to let it all down. I've never been involved in a real exorcism and don't intend to, but I suppose what's being shown here could be pretty much like what's in real life, basically with nothing much happening unlike what's being portrayed in the movies with turning heads, spewing of bile, and various other physical gymnastics. There's almost zilch on that so don't come expecting brilliant special effects to make someone fly through the air, or do impossibly inhuman stunts.

Colin O'Donoghue's pretty lightweight as the main lead of Michael Kovak although I appreciate his backstory which sure did take its time to unravel, and it's quite believable how one would become who he is from something traumatic, although his redemption came quite as a matter of plot convenience. The real scene stealer here is undoubtedly Sir Anthony Hopkins, whose verbal tussles, and there were plenty, with the devil was velvety and smooth, like butter spread on hot toast. Yes the exorcisms you see here are nothing more than one involving a war of the words for the most parts, and Hopkins' delivery makes this worthwhile, able to send chills down your spine especially in the final act. No amount of special effects or computer trickery employed by similar movies can outdo what Hopkins does with his virtuoso performance.

Boasting the likes of others such as Alice Braga, Toby Jones and Rutger Hauer for that matter in various bit roles, The Rite is only tolerable because of Hopkins' presence, without which this would be a stretch and a yawnfest that had overstayed its welcome. You can read up the actual events that inspired this story here

What Women Want (我知女人心 / Wo Zhi Nv Ren Xin)

What Do You Want, Really?

The release of films here is getting quite predictable in the first two months of the year, with releases primed for the Lunar New Year weekend with plots that are family friendly comedies, and everything else that's on the Golden Globes and Oscar list of nominees. In between there's the Valentine's Day programme with romantic comedies such as Just Go With It, No Strings Attached and also this remake of the Hollywood film starring Helen Hunt and Mel Gibson before he self-destructed his career. Before we proceed I thought you may want to know I've never watched the original, since I was never convinced Gibson could be a romantic lead, and as it turns out he's more action packed than lovey-dovey in his real life exploits too.

But back to this Pan-Chinese production, starring Singaporean Gong Li (I could say that, couldn't I?) and Malaysian PR Andy Lau as they take on the roles played by Hunt and Gibson respectively, where their characters Li Yi-Long and Sun Zi Gang are professional rivals in the advertising arena, who slowly find themselves drawn to each other romantically since they spend countless of hours in office in their dog eat dog profession. From their swanky office in Beijing to equally chic looking chill out watering holes - there's always the guzzling of wine in almost all their scenes together, talk about the affluence and a little bit of alcohol to withstand each other's nerves and charms - they find that they do actually click, but only because Zi Gang has a secret so powerful, I'm sure all men want to have that same ability, perhaps minus the need to be zapped by one point twenty one jigawatts.

Zi Gang is the atypical ladies man, a smooth talker who knows how to rub women the right way and into his bed. Being the high flying creative director in a female dominant office, he gets every attention every day and is thought to be primed for the executive role, only for his company to hire Yi-Long from a rival agency, because the market as it seems is seeing the rise in the power of the female dollar, and the company is of the opinion of having a female at the helm would boost their chances. Talk about being sexist here.

Things chug along and a freak accident while getting in touch with his feminine side (anima) gives Zi Gang the ability to listen in on the thoughts of all females, which while being thought of as a curse in the initial stages, becomes weaponized as a tool in the market place as he susses out opinions, ideas and especially strategies as cooked up by his rival Yi-Long. It's espionage at the highest and most subtle of levels, and the use of this power also extends to trying to improve ties with his rebellious teenage daughter, which is one of three subplots that unnecessarily bloats the plot and running time, the other two being the relationship between Zi Gang and his dad who irritates the bejesus out of everyone in the old folks home with his breakfast morning soprano singing, and a needless romance with a barista who's more eye candy than anything else.

The best part of the movie is of course the countless montage sequences set during Zi Gang's initial confusion as he navigates through countless of sexists (but are they accurate?) thoughts from the fairer sex, which provided for some light comedy contrasting against the very heavily rote romantic set pieces. But these moments are few and far between especially when the romantic angle starts to muscle its way in to the second half of the film, when the concept and premise start to wear thin. Some parts also don't make much sense, and a few stem from the business perspective, such as how nobody within the industry know how the hotshots or peer competitors look like, or how the financial difficulties of the firm you're joining is not well researched into and got blindsided, or even how the hiring and firing policies of the company don't make much HR sense either.

Andy Lau and Gong Li do share some chemistry as potential rivals and corporate competitors, though Lau looked visibly aged while I have to admit the latter looked more radiant in her role. There's nothing in the characters to challenge these two veteran performers, though you can take a sneak peek into their NG sequences when the end credits roll to give an idea which were some of the parts that they tripped up.

You can tell that writer-director Chen Daming relied heavily on the Hollywood sensibilities in crafting this film, right down to the predominant English songs in the soundtrack. But what got delivered was an average fare that didn't quite excite or ignited a sustainable interest in its overly long run time, and coupled with some really slipshod CG which will unfortunately distract (check out that "fish in the tank" when Zi Gang stands out in the pouring rain).

Just Go With It

Happy Pretend Family

Director Dennis Dugan was responsible for a number of comedies with funnyman Adam Sandler, from Happy Gilmore to Big Daddy in the 90s, to the more recent fare of I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry, You Don't Mess with the Zohan, and Grown Ups. I'm a big fan of some of these if I may say low brow offerings, but hey, don't berate me for having a good time. As with most of the comedies Sandler has starred in thus far, most straddle between two broad areas of being funny, and yet having some major drama and/or romantic fare to bulk up the running time, making the films seem more like two halves put together.

And Just Go With It is no different. Based on a French stage play and an earlier film called Cactus Flower in the 60s (hence making this a modern day remake of sorts), this movie has both all out, riotous scenes designed to make you laugh, yet having depth following a tried and tested formula for a romance, which gets catalyzed by a little white lie that grows out of control, needing as one character puts it, an index card to keep track of the sprawling tales they have to tell and keep at in order to not puncture their respective ruses.

So the comedy here involves lies and truths, with Adam Sandler's renowned plastic surgeon Danny finding out the power of sympathy and the sex that comes with it with his wearing of a wedding ring, only that he hasn't got married just yet, playing on how some swingers just love to get it going with married men. Just when he's serious about Palmer (Brooklyn Decker), a really young girl for his age, she finds that wedding band, and he cooks up the story that he's actually getting a divorce. Palmer needing proof meant Danny's persuasion (with benefits in kind) of his assistant / reception Katherine (Jennifer Aniston), a divorcee with two kids, to pose as his soon to be ex-wife, and then roping in her children Maggie (Bailee Madison) and Michael (Griffin Gluck) to pose as his as well.

And it goes two ways, since Katherine has a thing about her rival from school for many years (I shall not name this A-list actress so as not to spoil the surprise on her comedic performance, so don't go up looking IMDb.com, ok?), and uses her pretense with Danny to try and keep up with the Joneses. Needless to say their scheme of being husband and wife means to keep up with the multitude of lies for each different scenario, either Danny's or Katherine's, which naturally lead to some fun scenarios. But the funniest of course belongs to that between Sandler, Madison and Gluck, one who decides to ham it up with a British accent, while the other is just plain sombre, and their tip top act as the father-children draws countless of laughter since Danny often finds himself being blackmailed by the kids, who are doing a perfect job. The phototaking scene on the golf course is priceless, and possibly one of the funniest in the film.

Then comes the dramatic, romantic half, where you can see it coming from a mile away when both Sandler and Aniston's Danny and Katherine come on screen, with their banter, the premise, the setup and such all spelling f-o-r-m-u-l-a, and you'll just about know what happens between them. The romance between Danny and Palmer then looked like a shade of Ben Stiller's The Heartbreak Kid in a way, and like many other romantic comedies like Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Hawaii serves as the perfect backdrop for friendships and relationships to unravel, and also to provide the Hilton hotel another major product placement opportunity after Up in the Air.

A film like this will never steer clear of toilet humour, and they are here by the truckloads. Yes it's lowbrow sometimes, but a great way to de-stress after a hard day's work, since you know exactly what you're in for, and the film delivers just that.

2nd Singapore Short Film Awards

Organized by The Substation and Objectifs: Centre for Photography and Filmmaking, this year's Singapore Short Film Awards (SSFA) will take place on 6 March 2011, and as a run up to the Awards ceremony, all film entries and nominees will be screened at the Substation Theatre from 28 February to 6 March 2011. Into its second year, 126 entries were received and 30 have been nominated in various categories such as Best Director, Best Editor, and a new category included this year for Best Experimental.

This year's Honorary Award goes to Wee Li Lin, whose second film Forever (我愛你愛你愛你) will be slated for its Singapore premiere on 3 March 2011. A screening of Li Lin's previous short films will also be included in the SSFA screening schedule.

Admission to the film screenings is by donation, while the Awards show is by invitation only.

You can find the list of nominees here, and the details of the selected few given the honour of passing judgement.

In conjunction with the SSFA, there will be a film poster exhibition of Singapore Films, dubbed MISE EN SIN, that will take place in the Foyer area and Random Room of The Substation. Organized by SINdie, this is your chance to gawk over 100 film posters from about 60 Singapore filmmakers.

So mark those dates on your calendar, and click on this link for more details!

I Found Number Four, Have You?

Catch I Am Number Four Movie starting from 24th February 2011 and join the official Disney Studios Singapore Facebook & Twitter page!

[DVD] W. (2008)

He's The Boss

Oliver Stone is no stranger at making films about ex Presidents of the United States, going back to JFK, Richard Nixon and now the 43rd President of the USA, which is more remarkable since George W. Bush is still around, and this film was made and released toward the end of his presidency, and by no means being less critical of what would be the obvious sore point during his term. W. was screened here in a special 2009 SIFF screening with Oliver Stone in attendance to present and conduct a Q&A session, but alas it was kind of last minute so only the lucky few from the Tisch school (they brought him in anyway) and those able to secure limited tickets were able to participate.

A film like this about local politicians will probably never be made here during my lifetime under similar circumstances, being a fictionalized account of key politicians and their policies that define their office, whether good, bad or controversial. JFK was more of a postmortem on his assassination in Texas, and Nixon began with shades of Watergate. So for this film, the decision to invade Iraq take centerstage, and in a brilliant opening scene once past a fantasy one with George W. Bush (Josh Brolin), come a jaw dropping Oval Office introduction with the key players that will play critical roles during that 8 years, such as Karl Rove (Toby Jones), Paul Wolfowitz (Dennis Boutsikaris), Colin Powell (Jeffrey Wright), Condoleezza Rice (Thandie Newton), Donald Rumsfeld (Scott Glenn), George Tenet (Bruce McGill) and Vice President Dick Cheney (Richard Dreyfuss), with the actors looking almost like the real McCoy through makeup and prosthetics.

And this mimicry didn't just stop at the Oval Office to maintain that level of authenticity, as it extended to that of Iraq War general Tommy Franks (Michael Gaston), his parents George H. W. Bush (James Cromwell) the ex President and wife Barbara Bush (Ellen Burstyn) and even foreign heads of state in Tony Blair (Ioan Gruffudd). But of course the best performance of them all is the titular character in George W, and Josh Brolin does an incredible job so much so that you would do a double take each time in a scene as he nails down mannerisms and voice, that it became really uncanny.

The narrative flashes back and forth, similar to that in Nixon, to showcase the growth and development of a man who started off as quite the slacker in life stuck with a prestigious last name that he found hard to live up to, and rather than opening doors felt that it was instead being used to unfairly measure his worth in life. The film deals with the daddy issues and frequent bust ups between Father and Son, with the Senior Bush always vocal to express Junior being his disappointment. So in some ways, George W is adamant in wanting to make a name for himself, and what more when he believes he's answering a call from God when making that challenge for the highest office in the land, against all odds and family, save for his wife Laura (Elizabeth Banks), to want to make a name for himself and finally be respected.

But we know where all that went, with the many Bushisms that became like a tragic stand up comic. What made this film a compelling watch, is because of the many powerful though speculative scenes that Stone had crafted to pull you into the Oval Office and the backdoor wheelings and dealing shenanigans that go on, at times accentuating the point that the elites have powerful strings to pull and networks to count upon to push their agenda through. Many details throughout his formative years, and the run up to his decisions into and during his first term all come summarized in succinct fashion, with riveting conversations that will keep you glued as you agree or disagree to the perspectives put on the plate. Even something quite inconsequential, though making the headlines no less, like his pretzel choking also found its way here.

And in a mirror to the opening Oval Office scene came another in the Situation Room which I had enjoyed, since it deals with plenty of debate on the bigger picture and eventual revelation of the true intent for an invasion, and how to hoodwink everyone else in going with them into an unnecessary war. And to mirror this scene was yet another brilliantly crafted round table finger pointing session when things seem to run amok and beyond what they had expected, even though warning shots had been fired very early on. This scene I thought was a way where Stone can name and shame the entire cabinet and tell on their lack of integrity in keeping the country on a war keel. Which in ways also go against George W. Bush's born again faith, though you're left to your own devices to go into deep thought about it since scenes were limited (never forgotten with end of meeting prayers), though enough to impact.

Most incidents were skimmed over for favour of more character development, though you can always fill in the blanks with so many other films that were made which were critical of the same policies, or crafted to offer another viewpoint, such as Paul Greengrass' Green Zone in the soldiers search for non-existent WMD, or even the recent Naomi Watts starrer in Fair Game in dealing with the manipulation of limited intelligence used to justify the war.

This is an Oliver Stone film biography on a prominent politician so one can never expect it to be definitive, but just an angle from the filmmaker presented, with credible research being done to amalgamate key incidents from multiple sources with some dramatic license taken. It's not accurate history for sure, but an excellent cobbling of the gist of the moment and term of a president whose policies have impacted everyone around the world up to this day, and more so leaving a lot of pieces for the incumbent to pick up from. A definite recommended watch!

The Region 1 DVD by Lionsgate presents the film in an anamorphic widescreen format that is of impeccable visual quality, with audio available in English 5.1 Dolby Digital EX and English 2.0 Dolby Digital, with subtitles in English and Spanish and scene selection over 24 Chapters. When the disc is popped into the player it autoplays with previews (5:00) for The Haunting in Connecticut, New in Town, and the following DVD previews (8:25) for Religulous, The Lucky Ones, Rambo and Control Room. and The Doors on Blu Ray (1:24).

There aren't a lot of Special Features packaged into it, but all of them were quality inclusions. The Audio Commentary with Director Oliver Stone is chock full of details, not of the technical kind, but containing so much more thoughts, ideas and opinions that Oliver Stone has on the character that obviously didn't have time to make it all into the film. You can get to hear this thoughts all the way, right to the end of the credit roll, and this is something not to be missed.

Dangerous Dynasty: The Bush Legacy (17:47) has interviews with various personalities from writers to ex political staff detailing the various abuses by the Bush administration that runs against and contravenes plenty of what a democracy stands for, and the lines of separation of duties that got blurred. A Theatrical Trailer (1:34) is included, but the mother-load of extras here is the inclusion of a DVD-ROM: "W" - Filmmakers' Research and Annotations Guide, which is a whopping 108 page pdf file containing the sources, backgrounds, quotes, incidents, articles, statements and so on that highlight just how well researched this film was before hitting production. A definite read if your interest has been piqued by the film.

And rounding up the special features is Also From Lionsgate which is a set of preview trailers that were exactly the same as the set that autoplays.

The Rebound

Shall We Hook Up?

While nothing much can be done with the censors' scissors over at Black Swan, The Rebound had a scene shortened which the censors are quite clear to point the finger back the the distributor for its request to opt for a lower rating. In any case, this film is edited, at the scene where in the trailer you see a kid ask Justin Bartha if he was peeing into Catherine Zeta-Jones. So much for a joke that's not given a runway to build up.

Written and directed by Bart Freundlich, The Rebound tells the story of how the going to be divorced mom Sandy (Zeta-Jones) had relocated herself and her two kids Sadie (Eliza Callahan / Kelly Gould) and Frank Jr (Andrew and Jake Cherry) to New York City to start their lives anew, and runs into a drifting Aram Finklestein (Justin Bartha) who's still at the crossroads of his life, not knowing what to do with it and taking the odd jobs as a barista, and helping out at a Women's home. The rebound here could be referring to both leads, since one is in an estranged period with her spouse, and the other just reeling from being used by his French ex-girlfriend for a green card. As you'd have it, he soon becomes the nanny of Sadie's kids when she either gets set up to go on a blind date, or when routines at work in a sports channel run beyond what's reasonable to get her home, and from there the pair hit it off, 15 years age gap notwithstanding.

For this to work, I suppose the chemistry between the leads had to be believable. Zeta-Jones still look gorgeous and it's no wonder how any one would not want to give a relationship a go, while Justin Bartha fit right in as the kid out of college, and being an incredible help around the kids become a plus point for their hook up. Freundlich brings about tried and tested scenes pulled from a typical romantic comedy genre, and it actually just coasts along as we see how the couple tries to figure out their relationship, which of course serves up the requisite frowns from friends and family, especially Aram's (played by Art Garfunkel - yes that Garfunkel! And Joanna Gleason as Dad and Mom respectively).

So it begs the question whether it's socially acceptable for a younger man to go out with an older woman, or vice versa which are scenarios dealt with in other films. For this one, I suppose it's up to your threshold whether it'll work (and the limit to the age gap that you find acceptable), and for the most parts you'll actually find yourself rooting for them, even as their scenes as a couple do take some time to become reality. Which in the meantime you're more than entertained by the antics of Sandy's two kids and that of Aram, which become some of the best comedic scenes in the film. There's this other out of this world comedic situation involving Sandy and her blind date who turns out to be a chiropractic practitioner with some really filthy habits.

However for all the ideas that the narrative had built up, there's a nagging suspicion that it didn't know how to end, which accounted for its very abrupt final act that continued along the path of each lead character's growth in life and finding their true calling. For what it's worth there's even an Eat Pray Love inspired montage sequence for Aram, before everything fizzled hurriedly back to the usual Hollywood finale, that while it was a tremendous letdown, still makes this an ideal choice as a date movie even though it comes with that empty feeling at the end of it all.

Black Swan

Transformation

It's clearly no surprise about the full house in today's sneak preview of Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan, given the buzz built from lead actress Natalie Portman's win at the Golden Globes, and various other Oscar nominations now surrounding it, including an outside chance of winning Best Picture come end of the month. And as if the slow mutilation of Portman's Nina isn't enough to chip away at her good girl persona and character, you can just about trust our local censors for wanting to get a piece of the action as well through exercising its scissors to mutilate the film in a critical scene between Mila Kunis and Portman when the latter ultimately experienced the crescendo of her letting go.

I think many in my generation and older have seen how Natalie Portman has grown up in cinema, from her unforgettable introduction into the silver screen through Luc Besson's Leon the Professional, to the more adult role now offered by Darren Aronofsky to push her boundaries, and in a case of life imitating art and vice versa, it's somehow surreal that it's precisely the same boundaries that Portman's character Nina the ballerina has to break through in order to own her role as the Swan Queen in Swan Lake. It's also deals with the perils of getting too absorbed into a role to the point of obsession, having that line that separates reality and fantasy get really blurred, to the detriment of the self-absorbed thespian, and here we observe Nina's horrific metamorphosis from all things good to a mean, and psychotic even, streak.

One of the highlights of the film is how layered Andre Heinz's story is, taking place on many planes and even running parallel to that in real life with Natalie Portman taking on an adult role, and of course that between her character Nina and the Swan Queen in Swan Lake. Like the latter, Nina becomes a little bit paranoid that her lucky run may just get derailed by the introduction of another talented dancer Lily (Mila Kunis), who has that extra X-factor to outshine her, and similar to the taking away of the Prince of her dreams, would actually get an outside chance to steal her dream leading role from right under her nose, something that she (and any other ballerina in a troupe) would covert through all means possible.

You can just about see how this film is like a companion piece to Aronofsky's The Wrestler, with both taking place in niche entertainment circles that call for being at the physical peak, as well as countless of hours in training just to be able to entertain an audience, gain fans, admirers and followers, and wow when the lights come on in the ring or stage. Character wise, they're of the opposite ends, with one being at the twilight of one's career, and the other given a window of opportunity to shine.

But back to Natalie Portman, her performance here is nothing less than magnificent, and like many other actors before her, she too her undergone some physical transformation to be that zero fat ballerina with impeccable graces, doing a great job in bringing forth her character's constant obsession with perfection, pummeling herself in training if she's not meeting her own incredible standards. We witness her transformation from innocence to rebellious in that quest to, as advised, transcend what she already is, into something she isn't and overcoming her inhibitions, thereby adding a surprising wow factor in her performance. It is this transformation all within the film, that will make one sit up and take notice as she tussles from nice, to bad, to somewhere in between.

Like its fellow Oscar contender The Fighter, Black Swan also boasts wonderful performances from its supporting cast. Mila Kunis as Lily was great as the competition who always seem to be inching closer and closer as a bona fide replacement should Nina finally get pushed over the edge, and provides constant fodder for Nina to always look over her shoulder. Vincent Cassell also always look comfortable playing slimy roles, and as the artistic director of the ballet company that's seeking new funding through a new production with a promising new lead, makes enough moves on Nina that you can on one hand feel he's taking advantage of the ingenue, yet on the other hand knows just all the right buttons to push to get a performance of a lifetime from his ballerinas. Winona Ryder has a small role here as the discarded ballerina has-been, and Barbara Hershey shines as the protective mom of Nina's who's constant fussing over her daughter and her prospective successes which becomes a confirmed recipe for exploding past the stifling environment she provides Nina with.

I was also looking forward to listening to Clint Mansell's score in this film since he has so far scored most, if not all, of Aronofsky's films, but somehow it got drowned out. Be warned though that not only is this film an effective psychological thriller with plenty of reflective surfaces in almost all the scenes to peel into the inner world of Nina and her inevitable change, but it is also as effective somehow as a horror film toward the latter half with its frightening scenes, employing some of the usual bag of tricks in raking up the good old fashion scares to a successful degree. Definitely highly recommended, although I will advise to seek out a more complete film elsewhere rather than to head to the cinemas for a disrespectful, mutilated cut.

If You Are The One 2 (非诚勿扰2 / Fei Cheng Wu Rao 2)

Where is the Love?

If You Are The One didn't enjoy too long a run at the local cinemas here, although it did make it to one of my favourites of the year 2009. I had reservations whether Chinese director Feng Xiaogang could make an outright romantic film despite being known for more big budgeted spectacles such as Assembly and the recent Aftershocks, and he had proven me wrong then. However, this first attempt at making a follow up film of his own didn't fare too well, bringing to mind if one doesn't have a proper and strong story to work on, then a sequel will never make sense.

What I found extremely charming in the first film, besides the point of pairing Ge You and Shu Qi opposite each other as unlikely lovers, in a sort of beauty and the beast, old cow versus tender grass situations, will be the tremendous amount of witticisms that Feng had put into his film, sharing delightful nuggets of jibes, sayings and idiosyncrasies of his observation of relationships and modern love. Yes there were some picturesque locations to sweeten the deal as well, but that was something secondary to the main plot, a backdrop serving as staple to all romantic films.

In this effort however, we flit from the Great Wall of China right down to Le Meridien's Shimei Bay Beach Resort in Hainan Island (note to self to must check this out one day) and to chic Beijing, only for the locales to become what's the highlight of the film, and the story taking a firm backseat. Not only that, the narrative was in really a tale of two halves, the first being a firm continuation from where we left off and tried to preserve plenty of positives from the original, but the second was somewhat a letdown as it dealt with a different kind of relationship in that of friendship between Ge You's Qin Fen and Sun Honglei's Xiangshan, the latter who is found to be suffering from an incurable disease.

There were plenty of scenes that didn't make much sense nor to further the plot, making the close to two hour film a really long plod to the finishing line. Starting with a Divorce Ceremony which was really unnecessary, there was a beauty pageant that you don't get to see many beauties, an after event rave party, a wine auction, and a farewell party which I think is the fad here even from Bollywood with its fairly recent Guzaarish. All these scenes serve little interest and purpose other than to announce to the world that China has arrived (check out that homage shot on the military's naval warship too), and to show off how ostentatious the filthy rich in China can truly be.

The lack of chemistry between Ge You and Shu Qi somehow took a really wrong turn here, and the differences in their characters really stood out, so much so that the best scenes here don't involve the lovebirds at all, which is a pity since their togetherness, or attempts at being together served as a highlight. When the same got treated here, it somehow rang into the familiar territory that the Twilight films possess, with the protagonists stuck in an endless Yes-No ("ai-mai") state of mind, with Qin Fen being adamant in wanting to make his trial marriage to Shu Qi's Xiao Xiao work but then spending most of their time throwing a tantrum, and the latter realizing that it's not actually love she's experiencing.

I do get the point Qin Fen is trying to make about eventually needing his wife to care for him since he's significantly older, but isn't this trial marriage plan nothing but a sham designed to stifle relationships, rather than to enhance it? We become caught up with a lot of what-if's instead of trying to live the now in life, and being lost in the many moments of indecision that come to plague a relationship that's just trying too hard to make it work. And what this couple were trying to dabble in, is in some ways uncanny to Nicholas Tse's love philosophy (ok, something which I read online) which deals with four stages from Passion, Romance, Family Love then Friendship, the latter most which is what Qin Fen and Xiao Xiao are trying to see if it will work, since the first two are likely to exist in the early stages of any relationship, and Family Love, well, being out of topic in this film.

This could be director Feng Xiaogang's unfortunate first dud and I hope there won't be another half-hearted attempt with his next, although the doors were blatantly thrown wide open for a possible follow up on this one. If that happens, then hopefully it'll bring back the magical charms of what made the first film tick, and banish this as a blip like those temporal hiccups found in almost all relationships.

Triangle

Watch It!

It was just the other weekend that I had watched the Lost at Sea episode of Surviving Disaster (hosted by Cade Cortley), and there was this sense of deja vu in watching the first act of this film, since its six primary characters had embarked on a leisurely sailing expedition of sorts with friends and acquaintances, only for a really sudden and mean electrical storm to catch them offguard, not to mention a vague interception of an SOS distress call, and before you know it, most of the survival skills learnt on television began to be applied by the characters here, though not quite accurately since they were out in the open for some time, until a big black ominous looking cruise ship comes their way of rescue.

And that was the beginning of all things that go bump, a long drawn mystery as to why the ship has to be empty and void of any human life save for our motley crew, and other beings who seem adamant in wanting to finish them off. You may think it's a slasher flick with supernatural elements at this point, but that detracts you from what I thought was the brilliance of the story, as it showed hand pretty early, leaving you guess just what is really up the filmmaker's sleeves. For instance, almost all the principal characters save one were gone before the midway mark, and you'd probably worry what else is there in the film to keep it going, as it continues to dwell on repetition and deja vu.

The name Christopher Smith may not ring any bells, until perhaps I mention he was responsible for Severance, which ranks up there as one of my personal favourites for its really inventive treatment of a horror-comedy-thriller, one that will make you cringe as much as you laugh our loud. The only element that works against his story here is the kind of paradox similarly shared with genres like time-travel that you have to buy into for it to work, but here it's more of a groundhog day situation with the protagonist, single mom Jess (Melissa George) being caught up in a game of survival and to find a way to get herself out of a rut of a cycle.

You see, what I really enjoyed about the film, despite something like this being done to death even by films such as the Matrix trilogy, is that Smith had upped the intensity and complexity without dishing out more than it can handle. Like its title, it's made up of three repeated iterations to get to one full circle, and it is this exploration of each side that makes it really compelling to sit through, as it forces you to perform simultaneous mental gymnastics. Little clues and elements of gore (I hate to say) help keep each iteration fresh, and enabled the story to ultimately be simple and compact to grasp.

Melissa George is also at her element to carry this film through, with scream queen experience obtained from a filmography which includes 30 Days of Night and Turistas, putting her in fine position whether it is like a damsel desperately in distress, or able to dig deep within to try and battle her way out, since her character has an emotional anchor in that of her autistic son who needs to be taken care of back home.

Triangle requires patience, since it throws your preconceived notions of how such a film can get crafted, with enough red herrings and suspenseful moments thrown your way to keep you engaged and at the edge of your seat. While special effects may set to wow you especially when employed on a big scale to bring you the horrors of open ocean sailing into a storm, it is the curveball that ultimately propels this into something more than above average fare. Recommended!

[DVD] Scarface (1983)

Big Machine Gun

Even if you have never seen Scarface the movie, you may have heard about its notoriety for having some of the most F-bombs uttered on film, and one of the most violent of all time with more than two thousand bullets fired and pumped into the bodies of victims, and that infamous chain saw dismemberment scene which in all honesty pales in comparison to lesser made torture porn flicks, and frankly, it isn't explicit, and that goes to show the brilliance in the filmmaking that allowed you to feel all the same.

Directed by Brian De Palma from a script written by Oliver Stone, Scarface is a remake of sorts of an old 30s Hollywood film now updated for the early 80s, set against the historical event when Fidel Castro's Cuba allowed Cubans to flood to the USA, but more so allowing prisoners from his jails to set sail for its neighbour. As such, this accounts for an expected increase in problems since you now have more people in your land but not as much opportunities being presented, and a life of crime is always enticing for one to go into when forced into a corner. And for Tony Montana (Al Pacino) and his best friend Manny Ribera (Steven Bauer), such is their introduction into a new life set about by their circumstances as new immigrants.

The film chronicles the meteoric rise of the foul mouthed Tony Montana from the lowest of the pecking order of a drug cartel, to his gaining of trust and proving of his usefulness to mob boss Frank Lopez (Robert Loggia), before breaking it all off to fund his own racket with ties linked to Bolivia's drug baron Alejandro Sosa (Paul Shenar), making tons of money, gaining plenty of influential power and the love of one his ex-boss' moll Elvira (Michelle Pfeiffer), before falling prey to the long held mantra that one does not dabble into the bad habit one trafficked in, thus paving the way for increased paranoia to an inevitable, dramatic and violent downfall.

It puts under the microscope in some ways, a skewed scrutiny of the failed American dream, where it's applied to a life of crime with hard striving young men seeking the good life through shortcuts, seeing the money dished out by the barons as something to aspire to should they work at it in the same industry, where violence is part and parcel of the game to gain turf or get rid of competition. There's no right or wrong here since the authorities and help are easily available through the greasing of the right palms, where one can come to the country with nothing, and make it right to the top with the right connections and attitudes. But as they say, the power of greed knows no bounds, and

Al Pacino delivers a crazy, one hell of a kind performance as the cocksure Tony Montana from Cuba, eager to make it big in the world, and has only his balls and guts to rely on in his forceful barge into the big league of gangsters. Ruthless to the core with little positives to his character, Pacino portrays this gangster quite unlike the more quiet intellect required in his Godfather Michael Corleone role, and is in full contrast here though both also deal with his characters' ascension to power. Pacino owns Tony Montana in the way that can probably never be replicated, and goes down in cinematic history as one of the most foul-mouthed gangsters ever to grace the big screen. Steven Bauer puts up a commendable job as his right hand man Manny, though he disappears midway into the film before popping up in the last act, and a pity that the story didn't go beyond its potential of how this character could have, or not, had the world at his feet.

The two actresses in Michelle Pfeiffer and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio were really like gangster molls, seen and not heard for the most parts, except for the latter who as Gina Montana, Tony's sister, also undergo a transformation like her brother, though hers is for the worst. Introduced as sweet, nubile and full of innocence, we see how easy money from her brother's coffers turn her into what he loathes, and there's really that unnecessary hint of crossing that incestuous suggestion toward the end, which thankfully stopped at that. Michelle Pfeiffer was completed wasted as Elvira the classic gangster moll, a crack cocaine addict who preens and purrs most of the time, offering little except to look pretty in skimpy clothes.

Brian De Palma remains one of my favourite directors, and I've always associated him with a slickness in quality in his presentation. Scarface is no different, as he directs this violent epic filled with excesses and opulence to capture the spirit of the times and of the flamboyance of its characters, in a kind of operatic fashion laced with tragedy and poetic justice. While some aspects of the film didn't withstand the test of time, with the limit on how technology could have enhanced a scene through visual effects, De Palma though has crafted enough scenes on the whole to make Scarface one really memorable gangster film to have plenty of stuff to remember it by, and Stone's script has plenty of wonderful, iconic one liners that put Tony Montana on the pedestal with other contemporary gangster characters.

The Two Disc Platinum Edition of Scarface from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment comes integrated with three other movie disc sets as part of an omnibus Gangsters collection. Disc 1 contains the remastered version of the feature film presented in an anamorphic widescreen presentation, though some scenes were expectedly grainy coming from an 80s film, on the whole there wasn't any noticeable pops and cackles, with tremendous quality to it. There's an entirely new enhanced audio for the English language track, available in either 5.1 Dolby Digital or DTS, and other audio options are in Spanish or French 2.0 Dolby Digital. Subtitles are available in English Closed Captioned, Spanish and French, while scene selection for this close to three hour film is spread over 35 chapters.

The only Bonus Feature in Disc One is the Scarface Scorecard which lists down the number of F-bombs uttered and number of bullets fired in a running counter as the film went along, which stands at 226 and 2049 respectively by the time the end credits rolled.

Disc Two is the Bonus Features Disc, with most features in the letterbox format, audio in English Dolby Digital 2.0 only, and subtitles available in English Closed Captioned, Spanish and French.

The Deleted Scenes (22:30) presents a total of 15 such scenes that are presented in various stages of incompletion, and I'm not just about to list them all down, other than to point out that some are only a few seconds long such as Tony buying Gina clothes or that of Tony waiting for Frank to leave the club before approaching Elvira by the pool, while others are different takes of the same scene that made it to the movie, if only from a different angle, or a closeup. For instance, Tony and Manny's conversation in the internment camp, or that in the car drive around en route to the Colombian job. There was even a blooper, and of course those that were really snipped off from the final product such as Tony and Manny's visit to George the lawyer to get him on their payroll, and Tony talking to cops on patrol just as a bomb was put under a car.

I'm not sure why this feature got included, but it did. Making of Scarface: The Video Game (12:04) takes a look at the design of the open world game with a look at the graphics and interviews with the various voice actors. but more interestingly, is based on a storyline that's takes place in an alternate reality from the ending of the film, where you get to play Tony Montana and shoot yourself out of the mansion, get out of Florida, lie low, get back again and plot your revenge against Sosa. What's more, even the gameplay itself is filled with plenty of F-bombs, and buttons for you to taunt others in vulgar fashion. Guess I have to play it to see for myself!

The World of Tony Montana (11:39) is that walk into the fast and definitely seedier lifestyles of drug lords, as told by cops from various agencies who have to deal with them on a daily basis, explaining the crimes of the time, the social corruption, and how violence is part and parcel of the drug game, with paranoia being an inevitable by-product.

The next three features when combined together make quite a behind the scenes documentary. The Rebirth (10:09) begins with an introduction to the original Paul Muni film that was set during the Prohibition, before interviews with the various filmmakers such as Producer Marty Bregman, director Brian De Palma, writer Oliver Stone and actor Al Pacino reminisce about the project came to fruition. Nuggets of information such as how David Rabe was the first screenwriter, and how Sidney Lumet gave the team an idea to set it in the world of cocaine, and left the project as he disagreed with Stone's story. Oliver Stone's segments were perhaps the most enlightening as he recounted his own addiction, and his dangerous research done in South America, concluded with how he wasn't given the reins to direct this!

The Acting (15:06) touches on how the filmmakers decided on the cast of Al Pacino, Steven Bauer, Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert Loggia and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, while The Creating (29:35) is the meat in presenting the making-of equivalent, with interviews with the cast and crew talking about aspects of the film from the colour palette to the sets, how certain scenes such as that in the Babylon Club were filmed, and of course, the battle surrounding the initial X-rating this film was given.

Rounding off the bonus features disc is a look at TV Clips (2:49), which compare the differences between the actual movie shots, and those that had to be dubbed over for a general television audience, which means toning down the language significantly with some hilarious results, as well as the snipping of violence and nudity.

[DVD] The Lookout (2007)

And I Thought I Was Good Looking

The news these days on Joseph Gordon-Levitt is the talks with director Christopher Nolan with regards to a possible role in The Dark Knight Rises. The actor did a tremendous job as the point man in Nolan's Inception with a set action piece that serves as the unforgettable highlight, and starred in one of my favourite films in 2009 - (500) Days of Summer, that I decided to take a peek back into his filmography, and hence this film.

The Lookout is a debut feature film directing effort by Scott Frank, who is probably better known as the screenwriter for Out of Sight and Get Shorty. And his writing shines here as he creates that rare film that is rich in characterization, and didn't fall into the trap of being indulgent with his scenes or characters, crafting characters whom we care for, pacing the story tight and not put to waste the scenes included. It's a classic tale of a promising someone being cut down to size by a tragedy and having to live with the mistakes made, fused with a heist plot that made it all a very compelling premise.

And who better to play this character of Chris Pratt than Joseph Gordon-Levitt? It called for a lot of emotion and in some ways is a challenge to keep something quite rote, fresh. Playing a man who has to rely on his notebook since his memory and brain got totally whacked from an accident that took the lives of his friends, Gordon-Levitt made Chris a little sympathetic, yet struggling to live with a handicap that he has to jot down things to remember, and having to get past sequencing and forgetfulness issues. It's a brilliant character portrayal of a man whose life got ripped from him, and is stuck in limbo of sorts that he can't really help it.

The story moves up a notch when we learn of his job as a bank janitor at night, forming a friendship with the township's sheriff, and the introduction of Gary Spargo (Matthew Goode) who claims to know Chris' sister, and slowly but surely is enticing Chris into his grand plot of robbing a bank from the inside, with help of course through Chris. But to do so means the gaining of trust, and what would always help will be to bring on some lady charms with Luvlee (Isla Fisher). Being slighted in the normal world would push our protagonist into the arms of crime - Matthew Goode in excellent form here as the devil incarnate offering an opportunity of no longer being looked down by others, since the mantra that's so seductive and so real that's shared, involves the saying that whoever has the money has the power.

Scott Frank kept everything deliberate, and puts things together in very intelligent fashion as things all come to a heady crescendo for a climatic end. Rather than to jump right into the more sexier aspects of what would be a bank robbery and then an opportunity for redemption to happen, he spends considerable time crafting the character of Chris Pratt for the audience and dwelling on his mental affliction, that an insurmountable emotional payload gets invested, which worked wonders. Jeff Daniels as the visually challenged Lewis also had a couple of scenes that will move, perhaps being a representation of someone who is at peace with his disability, making the most out of it, and an invisible goal for Chris to ultimately be at, given the struggles that the latter have to undergo now.

With a great soundtrack to boot, The Lookout is a character driven, excellent piece of storytelling that deserves to be seen by a wider audience. Don't miss it if you have the chance, or if you're a fan of Joseph Gordon-Levitt, then this is a definite must watch to see him in action and showcasing just why he's such a brilliant actor of his generation.

The Region 1 DVD by Miramax Home Entertainment presents the feature film in an anamorphic widescreen transfer, with audio options available in English or French Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. Subtitles are available in English with close captioning, French and Spanish, and scene selection is available over 15 chapters. The disc autoplays with previews (8:17) featuring Becoming Jane, Eagle vs Shark, The Invisible and an anti-piracy clip.

The Bonus Features include Behind the Mind of Chris Pratt (9:25), which contains limited behind the scenes clips, and interviews with writer-director Scott Frank, co-star Jeff Daniels, but mostly with main lead Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who talks predominantly about his internalizing of the Chris Pratt character, and his experiences gained during research when he talks to real people who had suffered traumatic head injuries.

Sequencing The Lookout (19:58) is then the actual behind the scenes, making of documentary that talked about how the project came to fruition from financing to casting, consisting of various interviews with cast and crew, set scouting and three scenes which had more details shared in a parting, thanksgiving dinner, and one at a diner between Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Jeff Daniels.

The Audio Commentary has writer-director Scott Frank being extremely modest with his first feature hiccups, and Director of Photography Alar Kivilo, who put in plenty of information on the technical aspects involved in shooting this film. This even comes subtitled so you can read it off the screen while watching the movie. Rounding up the Bonus Features is the Sneak Peeks section, which consists of trailers that had autoplayed when the disc is popped into the player, and Renaissance (1:19), Neverwas (2:10), The Hoax (2:30) and Our Very Own (2:19)

Big Feet @ Tropfest

Taken from its YouTube official page: Tropfest is the world's largest short film festival. It was founded at Sydney's Tropicana cafe in 1993 by Australian-born filmmaker, John Polson (Swimfan, Hide and Seek, Tenderness) and now has a single-night attendance of around 150,000 in Australia each February, as well as thousands more in New York and other cities at other times of the year. It is known for being the world's most exciting platform for up and coming film makers to gain international exposure.

Tropfest's mission is to continue to develop the most exciting forum in the world for audiences to come together and celebrate premium short films; and to continue to offer young filmmakers a bigger and better platform from which to launch their professional careers.

In this year's entry is a Singaporean produced short film called Big Feet which is on the verge of making it to the final 16 of Tropfest, happening in Sydney on 20th February. Big Feet is set in Singapore, and tells the bittersweet story of a young girl whose love of running is jeopardised by her ambitious father who pushes her to become a winner.

You can watch the video which is embedded above, but more importantly, head down to the Tropfest site to give it your vote to be one of the 16 Finalists through a public vote!

All's Well Ends Well 2011 (最強囍事 / Ji Keung Hei Si 2011)

So Feminine

Donnie Yen in a comedy? I suppose the filmmakers here managed to convince him that he has what it takes to make everyone laugh out loud, but at the expected expense of Yen being a parody of his famed Ip Man character in the various inevitable cheeky spoofs that poke fun at Wong Kar-wai's upcoming effort, cutting the same silhouetted figure and pose like the released teaser poster to hammer the point in. Joining the franchise is also Lynn Hung who plays an uptight rich bitch, and Ip Man producer Raymond Wong continuing the franchise here as a fugly rich businessman who just cannot please his girlfriend Dream Dream (Yan Ni).

So has the sixth installment of the All's Well End's Well franchise finally showed that it is lacking stamina to continue the series? After all there's essentially not much of a story, try as both Chan Hing-Ka, who co-directs the film with Janet Chun, and Edmond Wong to try and flog a dead horse. The success of the earlier films had, well, Stephen Chow, and more mo-lei-tau jokes, and the latter films try really hard to seem more intellectual, and hoped that the throwing in of more stars with bit roles could help to usher in the crowds. After all, the film has to end with mass weddings as part of its formula, so you'll just about know how things will have to be engineered.

As mentioned, there's Raymond Wong's oil tycoon Ken who amuses his girlfriend Dream with buying her a Mainland Chinese cosmetics company Beauty, and being clueless about running her new company, she employs Sammy (Louis Koo), a famous make up artist whose effeminate nature is nothing but an elaborate ploy to get close to girls, and in Beauty, a firm where he's the only male employee, needless to say it's heaven though it doesn't go beyond bust jokes. Assisting him is Cecelia Cheung in a comeback role as Claire, a girl with low esteem being wooed by billionaire Syd (Chapman To), who got attracted to Claire because of her low-maintenance ways, and her obvious non gold digging nature. Rounding up the cast are Donnie Yen as Ron, Sammy's old make up school classmate who's uprooted by Sammy from the neighbourhood cosmetic counter to the big league, and Carina Lau as a failed writer who is the object of Yen's affection and obsession.

Characters are cardboard thin as far as comedies go, and here they are merely caricatures with little development, all primed for a few set comedic scenes. Those that fall flat are the ones involving Donnie Yen and Carina Lau, since they involve really needless and uninteresting cosplay/daydreaming sequences. Yen shows he's totally miscast in this genre, and frankly should stick to action flicks. Carina Lau seemed to be in a role that's really disjointed and disconnected with the rest of the cast, so in all her scenes really stuck out like a sore thumb. Those involving Chapman To were no better since they were more like Cyrano de Bergerac, where Louis Koo's Sammy becomes Bergerac in helping To's rich man woo who his assistant, whom we all know he will develop the hots for eventually since she's the only non-artificial person in an environment full of hypocrisy. And what's with the point of cross dressing anyhow?

But thankfully there were scenes that worked to bring on the laughs, and if anyone needs a reason to sit through this, there are two scenes which stood out, involving a mahjong scene with the inclusion of Ronald Cheng, and that involving Sammy and Ron visiting the latter's family, which evokes the mantra of how messages get so easily misconstrued, followed by side splitting analogies involving straws. If not for these episodes, the film goes through plenty of low points as it found itself stuck in a relentless need to firm up an adequate storyline joining all of its parts together. It didn't work, and you'll probably find more joy with individual, stand-alone segments as mentioned.

Will there be another All's Well Ends Well? I shudder to think that there will be one in 2012. The formula is pretty dead, and hopefully we either get to see fresh ideas being injected, or a boost to the cast with more natural comedians roped in, or do what like the other Hong Kong Lunar New Year film did, by gunning for something a little bit different, though still keeping to its flood-the-film-with-an-incredible-ensemble concept. Sandra Ng had jumped ship, and it's no rocket science required to see just why.

I Love Hong Kong (我爱香港 开心万岁 / Ngo Oi HK Hoi Sam Maan Seoi)

Trying To Eat Our Tofu?

I guess one good turn deserves another, so following the well received 72 Tenants of Prosperity, Eric Tsang once again rounds up the who's who in Hong Kong entertainment to come up with yet another offering for the Lunar New Year period with a star studded ensemble cast leading the charge against another produced by Raymong Wong. As far as Hong Kong comedies go, this is cooked up to perfect Mo Lei Tau (nonsensical) standards in bringing on the laughs, with spoofs and physical comedy galore to tickle your funny bone.

The main crux of the story takes place in what would be the Hong Kong equivalent of Singapore's HDB flats, where its tenants stay in modest apartments forming close knit communities. This of course runs parallel to Eric Tsang's earlier film in 72 Tenants last year, with stories set around the neighbourhood and revolving around characters in the community. Here we are introduced to the Ng family, where a failed business in China meant Ng Shun (Tony Leung Ka-Fai) and wife Shun So (Sandra Ng) having to uproot their home back to Aberdeen where their father Ng Tung (Stanley Fung) stays, which of course brings back various memories of key incidents in Shun's life through a series of flashbacks. In tow are their three kids Ng Ming (Aarif Lee credited as Aarif Rahman here) an employee at the Food and Environmental Hygiene department, a wannabe model Ng Chi (Mag Lam) too conservative for the industry, and Ng King (Chan Wing Lam) the youngest daughter.

In comes Lung (Eric Tsang) the neighbour and good friend of Ng Shun, whose abrupt disappearance years back also demolished his credibility and casted doubts on his integrity when he was alleged to have siphoned off the community's charity fund, but as the story wore on with Bosco Wong and Wong Cho-Lam playing the youth versions of Shun and Lung, it opened up to plenty of flashbacks, most of which are simply side-splitting hilarious, laced with nostalgia of the times. This is in effect the narrative style of 72 Tenants, though if compared to the latter, this one lacked a more coherent plot - if you have read the synopsis of the film then it gives you the broad outline of the story, which you don't really get to see it all put on film. Which is a pity because scenes get put together in quite disparate fashion, as if extracting the best of in what's shot, and leaving out plenty of coherent story details.

But if it's a comedy you want then it's a comedy you'll get. With the number of comedians on board, Mo Lei Tau was the order of the day in joke design, poking fun at the quirks of everyday living, as well as carefully crafted set pieces that are reminisce of Hong Kong movies of old, such as ghost films and a direct spoof of Johnny To's The Mission, right down to Lam Suet in a starring role. At times it dug at its own plot development with mock lament that such tales could only happen in films, drawing attention where sometimes art imitates life, and vice versa. Sandra Ng is probably at her element here with great physical comedy and perfect timing when her character got roped in to an emergency television shoot where her "calafare" role meant getting physically abused by Wayne Lai, and an inexplicable development involving being cling wrapped. Other highlights include Tony Leung and Eric Tsang trying to wriggle their way out of a fix when their shenanigans got exposed in a bread shop, or a scene involving the delivery of a baby and the use of a suction pump, ala the Bollywood film 3 Idiots.

There are times when some social commentary and awareness topics got worked into the story, such as how checks are made on the tenants to ensure no overcrowding, the crookedness of how come business conduct themselves in the pursuit of increasing revenues, the immorality of real estate conglomerates in trying to disrupt lives through "redevelopment" projects, or even preachy ones such as the monologue on illegal hawking. But I suppose even if you tend to switch off during these moments, there is no lack of spot-the-stars to entertain oneself since almost every single character that makes an appearance here, is played by a who's who. See if you can spot as many as the touted 198 stars on display in a single film!

And for as long as we continue to have Hong Kong films dubbed, I will continue to add that some of the jokes will definitely get lost in translation. Sandra Ng had a hilarious scene where she dresses down and adopts a more Chinese accented Cantonese in order to obtain some special privileges when in the market. The joke was hinged entirely on a none too subtle mispronunciation that got totally tanked when in Mandarin, losing everything to a non Mandarin equivalent to try and bring the joke across, and naturally falling flat. There are other instances in the film that continues to baffle why an audience here cannot enjoy a Hong Kong film for what it is, after all, some DVDs here do get offered in multiple language tracks, Cantonese included. Let's not kid ourselves, Hong Kongers can speak Mandarin, but face it, Cantonese is the lingua franca of the city.

Without a doubt this star-studded film will attract its staple audience weaned on the many HK films and TVB drama serials, and its feel good factor of family and neighbourliness are always welcomed topics during this festive period of good tidings.

U2 3D

From This
To That!

Waiting for U2 to play in Singapore is like waiting for snow to fall on this island. Enough red herrings have been passed around from time to time, so why wait when you can choose the next best alternative, and that's to soak up a U2 concert atmosphere minus the sweaty bodies without worry of rain to come spoil the parade. If you're not aware, the Science Center - yes of all places, it's a National Geographic film you see - is currently screening U2 3D at The Annexe block during the Fri-Sun weekends until the end of Feb.

With the Omnimax theatre under renovations, one may have reservations on what The Annexe has in its projection arsenal. After all, the picture you see above looks more like a school hall type with a large projection screen put on stage. I share similar concerns, but thankfully once the film started, you'll realize that the capabilities are adequate. The picture is crystal clear, and the sound system powerful enough to provide that surround sound desperately needed to put you right in the centre of the action. Meaning no warbled audio, and no echoes, at least that's what would have spoiled my experience. Sit up close to allow the screen to envelope your peripheral vision, and you're in for quite the ride with the quartet of Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr.

With a total of 14 songs in the set list which included 2 during the encore (With or Without You, woohoo!) and Yahweh during the closing credits, U2 3D was one of the select films that played to an invite only audience during Singapore's 3DX Film Festival back in November 2008. It took that long for this to be finally released here to the non-invited folks, but it's better late than never. 3D concert movies are nothing new these days, with the likes of Miley Cyrus, the Jonah Brothers and Justin Bieber's coming up real soon, but U2 3D was the grand-daddy of them all, with no punches pulled in a mission to evangelize 3D as a medium for concert films. Chocked full of many firsts in the shooting department right down to editing the film, it had aimed to deliver and make a concept point that it just works, and delivered on that promise this film did.

The film depicts a concert from U2's Vertigo Tour in Buenos Aires and the sheer amount of preparation and work put into making this film a reality is simply astounding, and deserves a read at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U2 . Fans of the group will find delight in the set list, and while I had enjoyed myself it really is too short as time always fly by when you're having fun. Before you know it the lights will come on, and it's all over. Some shots were deliberately shot to exploit the typical 3D gimmick, such as Bono stretching his arms and fingers out toward the camera, or Adam Clayton swinging his guitar up close to the screen, but these purposed scenes were few and far between. What you'll get instead are the typical concert shots of audiences going wild and bobbing up and down like jack rabbits, and plenty of wide shots to see how wildly popular the group is with the South Americans.

But of course nothing beats being able to see the quartet up close, which in a concert even if you're standing in the mosh pit you're still quite a distance away to see if Bono blinked. With the wide shots you'll also get to see the production brilliance of the concert (though sometimes you may feel the multiple cameras boosted the concert's look good factor), especially with that mega LED wall behind the group. I must admit I was more of a fan of the group's earlier works, and not so much of the more recent discography. With plenty of activism hours put in, inevitably some would creep into their songs and concerts, and this one was no different, especially with songs like Miss Sarajevo that provided Bono ample opportunity to be really preachy that it stuck out like a sore thumb.

In any case, this film was used to evangelize 3D as a viable medium to allow for a more immersive film experience, so that's the irony in preachiness in itself. I still think it's but a dream to be able to see U2 in an actual concert here, so fans shouldn't hold their breaths, and should just head toward the Science Centre to watch this alternative offering instead. And realize just what the concert calendar here has been missing for so many years.