My Ex: Haunted Lover (แฟนใหม่ / Fan Mai)

We Need a Holiday

If you haven't watched the first film, don't fret since everything that happened then got wiped away as being a fictional film in the opening of this one with one minor returning character, as we see how Cee (Ratchawin Wongviriya) and her friends caught her two timing boyfriend Aof (Thongpoom Siripipat) red handed in the same cinema on a date with Ying (Marion Affolter), who would go on to fall from her apartment, breaking her neck at the edge of the pool to horrific effect, and become the resident ghoul of the film. All under 10 minutes.

But it's a test of endurance over the next 70 odd minutes as what's essentially short film material got dragged out into a feature film through the use of repetitive scenes (how many times do we need to see that neck snap) and the filmmakers not knowing just when to call a scene quits, lingering on for far longer than welcomed, serving little purpose other than to pad the runtime. It's quite frustrating as well to see how scenes get created for no purpose other than to introduce the next jump scare that turns out to be no surprise given the poor buildup, show off some nifty special effects that the Thai film industry is currently capable of, or the worst of them all, the dream sequences or segment of a film within a film, where Cee's half sister Bowie (Atthama Chiwanitchaphan) the actress commented that the horror genre is riddled with scenes like these set to confuse the audience.

Quite the self fulfilling prophecy in some ways which director Piyapan Choopetch, who returns to direct this lacklustre sequel, is responsible for. The build up of the film follows Cee, Bowie and their friends who get invited by film producer Karn (Pete Thongjua) who also owns a resort in which the film within the film takes place in, offering nothing more than chances for frolicking in pools or beaches, and the romantic triangle between Cee, Bowie and Karn, which got extended of course to include that of Aof, and Ying, and frankly, any more that you probably won't care much about.

Then comes the motherload of the final act which essentially provides the requisite twist in order to justify the existence of a horror cum slasher flick that came out of the blue, and in some ways following a cheat sheet progress chart. It's one thing when the filmmakers have an end in mind, but insulting the intelligence of its audience by pulling off a fast one just reeks of desperation, plodding the pace through extending moments for double and triple takes. I for one had enjoyed the first film like a guilt trip, but this one proved to be stretching it far too much.

Primed for a third installment with an Ananda Everingham cameo at the end of this, I'm not holding my breath for that to happen unless the story got significantly ramped up, though the prospect of Ananda revisiting the genre which launched him to global recognition is highly interesting to say the least.

Mars Needs Moms

To Infinity

There's animation and then there's the animation based on motion capturing, which had seen the likes of films such as The Polar Express and the recent A Christmas Carol. For personal reasons I don't quite dig this particular brand of art, straddling neither here nor there with its desire to be photo realistic, yet tinged with that hint of exaggerated elements that can only be made through the animated medium rather than live action. Then again if the artwork didn't impress, the story did for a bit, with a surprisingly strong emotional core attached to it that many can identify with, especially if we had been mean to our own moms before.

Mars needs moms, only because the Martians themselves are so bad at parenting and want to outsource this function, given a shift in idealogy no thanks to a mean matriarch at the helm of their society, buried deep beneath the surface such that our Pathfinder is rather useless at detecting lifeforms. As Mars doesn't have the necessary support environment, Moms get kidnapped from Earth, sent back to Mars, have their parenting DNA sucked out of their beings, implanted into Nannybots, before being obliterated in the process which involves the sun - yes Martians are environmental friendly and use renewable solar energy.

The next mom on the Martian's target is Milo's mom (Joan Cusack), who impressed through their deep space surveillance camera with her ability to keep the naughty Milo (Seth Green) under control from taking out the trash to sending him to his room for not eating his veggies. Some hurtful exchange of words from son to mother, before he discovers the Martian's ploy and made himself a stowaway on a spaceship back to Mars, where he turns from prisoner to rescuer with the help of a perpertually high Gribble (Dan Fogler), who teaches him a thing or two about survival on the red planet, wanting Max to become his BFF if not for the latter's insistence to save his mom.

So begins a quick adventure of about an hour with an audacious rescue mission to exploit its 3D-ness (watching this on 2D, there weren't many sequences designed to do that, really), also with the help of convenient online, realtime translator sets the humans use to communicate with their Martian helper in Ki (Elisabeth Harnois), a somewhat non-conformist female Martian being influenced by the Flower Power propaganda the Martians have while researching Earth, graffiti painting the dull look of Mars with psychedelic colours. An unnecessary subplot occurs with the romantic dalliances between Martian and Man (really, eww), as well as some commentary about nature versus nurture with the male martians not being cared for by Moms and becoming more like Apes when left to their own devices when forced away from civilizations - there are two layers here, one being the females ruling the world, with the male species through the lack of nurturing going back to their primal selves.

Still, what made this film bearable for the most parts is the emotional core of the story stemming from Milo's regret in saying what could possibly be the meanest comment anyone can make toward their moms, which intensified his sense of urgency and regret as he races against the clock to save his her. You'll be hard pressed not to tear up (oh the manipulation, Disney), though the insult to intelligence if you're older than 5 years come from the final act, involving the lack of breathable air which I thought on one hand was brave of Disney to attempt something a little bit more shocking as is, but on the other pulled its punches with what was very implausible, that robbed it of its credibility.

The only aspect which impressed was the sheer amount of work going on behind the motion capture, where you can see plenty of behind the scenes effort when the end credits were rolling, where the actors are strapped to multiple sensors of all kinds placed on their bodies while they act out their scenes made up of sparse looking, makeshift sets that double up for the real thing. Some nice touches also involved the first person perspective when the Martians speak, where we get to hear both Martian and English language tracks simultaneously as if we have put on the translating device ourselves.

Rango

New Sheriff In Town

This is the story of a humble chameleon that is destined for greater things, being put on his true calling by a freak accident that got him literally thrown out the window of his comfort zone, and into the big bad real world, the canvas in which he will bungle and stumble into recognition. Director Gore Verbinski is probably well known in recent years for this Pirates of the Caribbean action adventure trilogy, and he brings that swashbuckling sense of storytelling into the animated realm with Industrial Light and Magic's maiden venture into a full length animated feature film.

But to offer up some guarantees chartering into unknown waters, Verbinski brings onboard some of his pirates alumni to provide that A-list voice cast for animated characters that don't look at all a tad adorable - imagine selling a rattlesnake or a chameleon as a soft toy - providing that additional oomph that this is no run of the mill venture to test waters, but a serious attempt at great storytelling with great visuals, and its Western movie homage fires on all cylinders to bring about a rip roaring comical adventure that's suited more for the young adult and upwards demographics.

There's Johnny Depp playing the titular character, a motormouth who daydreams of being a somebody, and finds that in this strange new world with the town called Dirt that he discovers in the middle of the Mojave Desert, comes an opportunity to live out his dreams of a badass with a reputation of ridding his opponents with just one bullet off his sixshooter. The town folks lap up all his stories when Rango accidentally finishes off one of the town's greatest predators, and got rewarded with being the new Sheriff in town. While he knows he's a complete fluke, that doesn't stop Rango from living up the attention, with deadlier foes all coming in the horizon given the food chain concept of there always being another predator just around the corner, especially with the absence of something higher up.

But for those expecting a simple tale of Rango overcoming such obstacles in his path in his road to enlightenment, you'll find that expectation soundly busted with the same sense of complexity that Verbinski brings to the Pirates films, where the plot here tangents off in all possible intertwining angles, where the villains are more political and the problems faced by the town of Dirt being more macro than micro and quite contemporary too with the reminder on the scarcity of fresh water that our real world at large face, calling for attention to be paid to the plot crafted by John Logan, Gore Verbinski and James Ward Byrkit, that rewards at the end when they converge.

Fans of Western films will undoubtedly identify with the myriad of homage paying moments in Rango, culminating in the appearance of the Spirit of the West (Timothy Olyphant), who without a doubt resembled one of the greatest Western characters played by Clint Eastwood in the Sergio Leone films. I thought it would be a treat if Eastwood had lent his voice, but it was not to be. Still, the voice acting of the likes of Isla Fisher, Abigail Breslin, Alfred Molina, Bill Nighy, Ned Beatty and Ray Winstone are nothing to scoff about.

The animation is top notch and will give Pixar, Disney and those ahead in the game a firm run for the money. You'll feel the heat and parched landscapes of the desert, coupled with texture rich creatures created. Rango also struck a fine balance between dramatic, dialogue heavy moments with its kinetic big set action sequences, and Verbinski once again underscores his brilliance in creating a large action adventure, with one of my favourites here being the aerial and land battles midway through the film with Rango and his ragtag gang running away from adversaries who utilizes the flight of the bats as an aerial threat. Really edge of your seat, exciting stuff conjured.

For those who have enough of animation dwelling on the cutesy nature pandering to the younger audiences and with that ulterior motive to sell toys, Rango will be that breath of fresh air to reinforce the notion that animation can be for adults to enjoy as well, if rightly done with the right ingredients used to tell a good story with great, zany comedy to top it all off. Highly recommended, and this strikes early gold into my shortlist of one of the best films thus far this year.

Red Riding Hood

What Big Eyes You Have

It's almost inevitable for many to link this to Twilight just because director Catherine Hardwicke is at the helm, and the story having elements of a love triangle coupled with the presence of a werewolf - yes the big bad wolf has evolved from being Big Bad to hulking proportions seen in the Twilight films, but don't let this unwarranted association detract you from what would be quite an adult retelling of this aged old story done in stylized terms and dripping with plenty of sensuality.

The largest credit here will go to the story as re-imagined by David Johnson, crafting something that would appeal to the Twilight generation weaned on a love story with some supernatural elements that many fantasy films of late would have aspired to be, but failed. It's kept relatively simple with the basic character set up of Red Riding Hood, her family, the grandma out in the woods, the wolf and the woodcutter saviour, but updated for the modern audience in quite intelligent, engaging terms, putting together an intriguing guess who mystery with tragic twists.

Amanda Seyfield may have progressed to more adult fare in Atom Egoyan's Chloe, but here retained some girlish innocence with quite the bold, rebellious streak hidden underneath her Valerie's virginal demeanour, forming a long friendship that blossomed into a relationship with woodcutter Peter (Shiloh Fernandez). But alas her family in wanting her to have a better life, betrothed her to blacksmith Henry (Max Irons), whom she is dead set against in marrying. In what would be like taking a leaf from M Night Shayamalan's The Village or Christophe Gans' Brotherhood of the Wolf, the community here is plagued by a werewolf problem, where 20 years of sacrificing animals for a truce have come to naught when Valerie's sister is found murdered, thus sparking off the villager's proactive hunt for the werewolf, coupled with help from the outside coming from Father Solomon (Gary Oldman), and his posse who seem to have abandoned from the Crusades.

Though limited, this film does boast some nicely designed set action pieces in many large scaled battles, where Gary Oldman was at his element in wielding his character's unorthodox brand of justified punishment techniques, and being that self appointed voice in the name of religion to impose his will and style on the villagers. Once again the statement of hypocrisy reared its ugly head as a theme here. The production sets were gorgeous and so were the many costumes, with the crimson cloak and hood making a very striking appearance in stark contrast to the colour schemes around it, leading to very aesthetically pleasing scenes thanks to its picturesque environments and cinematography.

Much has been said about Shiloh Fernandez who is better known as the Edward Reject, but I suppose stardom came late for this star whose good looks here will probably earn him a lot of fans given his alpha-male role. Max Irons too didn't let his lineage down, providing that ample, conflicted fodder for competition. Ah, the choices that a girl has to make to swear allegiance to one camp only. Additional supporting roles from Virginia Madsen, Billy Burke, Julie Christie, Lukas Haas and others all add to the fun in allowing the audience to partake in the deduction of the mystery in the film, which turned out, to me at least, quite the surprise thanks to the many inherent red herrings and suggestions which are more than likely to throw you off track.

Like the reboot of Star Trek, Red Riding Hood is that surprise package in being able to find some common ground and believable rationale to tell the story the way it had to, coupled with recognizable elements from the classic so as not to alienate fans or abandoning what made it stand out altogether. The soundtrack of the film is to die for in my opinion, and I can't get the tunes out of my head, enough to go look for the soundtrack to experience the sensuousness all over again. My, what big features this film had indeed. Recommended!

Morning Glory

Seriously We Gotta Listen to a Rookie?

It's almost a ritual every morning that I turn on the TV to the breakfast programme Primetime Morning on Channel NewsAsia, just to scan through the ticker tape of news snippets, as well as to listen to the news headlines, in addition to business news and whatever lifestyle segments they put on from movies to music to celebrity interviews. For those curious to know a little bit about the happenings behind the scenes, involving an army and some meticulous preparation and decisions in addition to going live jitters, Morning Glory may just be right up your alley.

Sure there have been many such films that have been done countless of times over, but I guess it's always refreshing to see how another set of actors get put through what would be quite formulaic in treatment, and pull of a couple of laughs in this comedy when they hit the right spots. Directed by Roger Mitchell who gave us Changing Lanes and Notting Hill, based upon the story by Aline Brosh McKenna who was responsible for chick flicks such as 27 Dresses and The Devil Wears Prada, Morning Glory has Rachel McAdams playing the female protagonist Becky Fuller, a television producer who finds herself unceremoniously retrenched within the first 10 minutes of the show, and is essentially her journey through a second chance provided in her career to turn around the fortunes of a flagging morning TV show.

So throw in the usual plot devices such as comical side show characters who become her crew both in front and behind the camera, bickering anchors in an ex beauty queen turned presenter Colleen Peck (Diane Keaton), and world famous journalist Mike Pomeroy (Harrison Ford) with the largest ego possible who got recruited by Becky through exploiting his contract, all coming together to make the magic of a morning show work, ever threatened by low ratings and an unpopular lineup of features. Add to that a romantic angle with another television producer Adam Bennett (Patrick Wilson) and you have what's essentially a zero to hero flick chick that Aline Brosh McKenna had crafted consistently in her repertoire.

What worked was Rachel McAdams nailing her role as the extreme go-getter, being work obsessed and just about having everything else in her life put on the wayside. I feel this is something many workaholics will be able to identify with, and her comical struggles in trying to achieve that work-life/romantic balance, wanting to prove herself in this chance, and trying to gel a team whose morale is already rock bottom to steer in her direction of leading them to more respectable television ratings. Having veterans Diane Keaton and Harrison Ford opposite each other as bickering anchors also provided for much of the comedy in the film, and it's not everyday we see one being sprightly, and the other as the grouchy opposite.

What didn't work was how trivial the entire film became, in part being the sticking to formula that allowed you to keep one step ahead each time, without any surprises along the way. It's almost mechanical, and I wouldn't have minded that route if the more technical behind the scenes nature were touched upon, which it didn't of course. For all the potential of differences between Keaton and Ford's characters, it was really too little too late, and Patrick Wilson became nothing more than a caricature even though his character is romantic foil for McAdam's. For all the acting wealth at its disposal including Jeff Goldblum, almost everyone didn't go beyond the cardboard stereotypes.

The gem in this film is probably the banter between the rookie Becky Fuller and the egoistical veteran journalist Mike Pomeroy, as one tries to convince the other that the world had moved on, and it is no shame to evolve into another package for a different audience, coming from what seems to be a pedigree and privileged background built from years of experience. It's all about the teamwork and never about the individual, though the strengths from a single source could provide that added gravitas to boost the fortunes of the team. This film had its moments, but they are few and far between, being extremely light in treatment of its subject matter.

[In His Time: The Films of Edward Yang] A Confucian Confusion (独立时代 / Du Li Shi Dai)

Confused

This stage of the retrospect has moved to the 90s of Edward Yang's career, and I've left A Brigher Summer Day for the weekend instead. After three films of Yang's on the trot involving heavy and heady tales on the systematic breakdown of relationships, this one may seem like that breath of fresh air being an almost laugh a minute comedy, but who would have thought that it presented one of the most stinging criticism by the filmmaker on Taiwan society at the point of great economic progress, where moral values and principles get thrown out in the pursuit of material success, and in its place people become empty, souless vessels?

Perhaps the telling remark of A Confucius Confusion comes in its introductory intertitles, and while I may not fully appreciate the deep meaning behind the couplets and why they actually ended hanging in mid air, the words do seem to point out that Taiwan is an economic Tiger, achieving great success in about 20 years and this rapid road to wealth had consequences now explored by the filmmaker through the myriad of characters created and criticized about, being extremely cynical for the most parts, and shows a particular disdain that Yang probably had on the yuppie generation.

The characters here crisscrosses into one another's lives, and it's pretty exhausting to keep track of everyone and everything they do, especially since they are all quite unlikable - I think Yang has a knack for creating such characters to the point that we don't hate them, but are disdain about their existence, perhaps being reflective at times on some of the identifiable traits that we ourselves do possess in a parallel, economic wonder that seemed to be lacking a coherent, solid identity, with the pursuit of economic wealth being a top drawer focus, and everything else being secondary.

Which makes one of the character's concept fairly interesting, as Larry (Danny Deng) talks at length about emotional investment, and his philosophy on it as he tries to practice what he preached. It's fairly simple in a way, though when you spell it out it makes one seem like a calculative bastard with ulterior motives in friendship, being there for others, and expecting that one day someone will be there for you too in a somewhat reciprocal treatment. Like I said, it's a very cynical view, and there are enough in this 125 minute film to see how everyone just drips cynicism all the time, engaging in musical chairs styled friendship with shifting loyalties, friends only when it suits or benefits.

Even someone who seem to be innocent like Qi Qi (Chen Shang Qi) becomes outcast in some way as putting up pretences, and the film warns of how void and empty a society this can be should everyone adopt a disbelieving attitude, wondering if the things people do out of goodwill, come laced with a more sinister motive behind it. Amongst the other characters are Ni Shi Jun (whom I know more from the Hong Kong movie Esprit D'Amour starring Alan Tam many, many years ago) as Molly the head of a multi-media company, Akeem (Bosem Wang) as the boyfriend who constantly suspects that Molly is having an affair, and Birdy (Wang Yeming) the loud mouthed amorous writer who's being accused as a plagiarist, whom I think becomes the loudest mouthpiece for Yang to air his barbed criticisms aimed squarely on the state of artistry in the creative industries.

As I mentioned, the shenanigans of the characters are extremely tiring to bear witness to, although the comedy come at a pace that's fast and furious, with a joke just around every corner delivered under rapid fire dialogue, which A Confucian Confusion excelled in. I somehow disliked how the narrative unfolded through the constant use of bilingual intertitles, but hey, what do I know?

P.S. And who would have expected that the NMS managed to get Pierre Rissient in person to make a brief introduction to the film and of course to talk a little bit about Edward Yang! I think everyone in attendance today were quite shell shocked since this wasn't part of the intended programme! Nice!

*****

The National Museum is now presenting a Retrospective of Edward Yang (November 6, 1947 – June 29, 2007), one of Taiwan's leading filmmakers in its New Wave, probably best known for his film Yi Yi (2000) which got him the Best Director Award at Cannes.

It's a complete retrospective that will offer an insight into his life through roundtable sessions with his former collaborators, friends and academics. and you can find the full details of the screening over at this link, which contains a profile of specially invited guests, film titles, screening details, and a list of the free admission programmes.

Here's a quick summary:

In His Time: The Films of Edward Yang
A Programme of the National Museum Cinémathèque
Day/Date: Wednesday, 2 March – Sunday, 13 March 2011
Time: Various screening times
Venue: Gallery Theatre, Basement, National Museum of Singapore 93 Stamford Road, Singapore 178897
Tickets: $8 per person, $6.40 (concession), [excluding SISTIC fee]
MRT Station: City Hall/Dhoby Ghaut
Website: www.nationalmusuem.sg
Contact: 6332 3659 / 6332 5642

and you can find out more details from this link.

How Do You Know

The Whining Three

Written and directed by James L. Brooks, How Do You Know is a romantic comedy that decided to go on a roundabout manner in presenting its many messages about love and life rather than cutting to the chase, having many indecisive characters figuring just what to do at important milestones, and basically having them stuck there to bloat this close to two hours. It's a little frustrating to watch plenty of whining going all round, and I felt that much can be salvaged if the pace was kept snappy and succinct.

Two narrative threads run through the film, revolving around a growing romantic triangle between the characters of Lisa (Reese Whiterspoon), a baseball player on the national team who discovers that her life thus far has been unceremoniously cut down after it's decided by the head coach that it's time for her to make way for new blood, George (Paul Rudd) the CEO of his father's company who has been charged by the Federal Court for a Sarbanes-Oxley type of fraud that can see him potentially facing jail time, though of no fault of his own other than to assume things are coasting along, and Matty (Owen Wilson) the successful sportsman whom Lisa is dating in an on-off-on manner.

While it may seem like a character study of all three, everyone shares a basic characteristic of being excessively whiny, and at times needy, wanting things to go their way, and requiring listening ears to hear them out. I understand that most are at major crossroads - one not knowing what to do coming out of a sports career her whole life to date, the other facing felony charges through no fault of his own, with the suspicion that his dad (Jack Nicholson) may be responsible for the whole shebang and he's the scapegoat being set up for the fall, coupled with being ostracized by the people he knows, and Wilson's Matty deciding to no longer become the playboy Casanova and go monogamous for Lisa - but observing them go through their mood swings sometimes don't always make for a good comedy.

And too much of something makes this extremely tired to sit through, and it's a painful endurance to the final act where things get pieced together and a semblance of a certain direction Brooks wants to take with this. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed each and every nugget of experience and advice that Brooks wanted to dispense through the characters, especially that between Lisa and George where they ultimately learn and share through their conversations, even though Lisa tries hard to keep things platonic, and we the audience know that George secretly desires more. Moments I thought had plenty of substance belonged to the tale about Playdoh - presents becoming meaningful when they come with a morale lifting story - and that involving shutting up to think rather than to engage in verbal barrage that will probably serve more bad than good.

Owen Wilson may be sleepwalking in this role here since he doesn't offer much as the alpha male jock who's none too bright though possessing enough to surprise sporadically, while Reese Whiterspoon probably needed a meatier role than this one, having to play a character gone neurotic when realizing she's out of her own comfort zone like fish out of water. Paul Rudd though continues to grow from strength to strength, showing he has what it takes to shine in serious dramatic moments, laced with that likability of being an everyday Joe that you'll probably root for. However, all three stars get outshone by the presence of Jack Nicholson each time he comes onto the scene, and frankly his last few scenes opposite Paul Rudd was some of the best this film had to offer.

Still, the performance of the cast failed to steer this film out of its self-indulgence, deciding to run on the spot rather than to move the story along. It's one thing dispensing good advice, but it's another if one likes to listen to one's own voice. I would like to love this film as I did James L. Brooks' Spanglish which remains amongst one of my favourites, but alas it went on aimlessly for far too long and wasn't able to salvage the damage done.

[In His Time: The Films of Edward Yang] The Terrorizers (恐怖份子 / Kong Bu Fen Zi)

Go!

The opening film of this retrospective a few days ago, The Terrorizers was presented in a gorgeous restored digital transfer that is beautiful to gawk at every frame, and in essence what would have probably been seen during its first ever debut back in 1986. It's not cheap nor easy to have a film remastered and restored to get rid of pops, cackles and dirt, or to readjust its colour grading, as seen during the promotional clip on its restoration before the film proper, and it's really an excellent job done given the tremendous amount of effort behind the scene.

Edward Yang's third feature film, co-written with Hsiao Yeh, may have given the audience an ultimate red herring with an action oriented introduction complete with cops and robbers and a shootout, only for that to serve as just about the only real action sequence in this film that's steeped in what would be a relatively violent outcome by the time the end credits rolled. The Terrorizers tells a myriad of inter-weaving storylines involving a myriad of characters, such as Wang An's delinquent Eurasian girl who runs a call girl scam where she robs her clientele in hotel rooms and a photographer's obsession with her when he snaps her escape from the cops.

But the storyline that just begged for attention, is something similar like his first two films that dealt with the breakdown in relationships against the backdrop of modernity, and how modern life and its expectations chip at passion and romance, where couples rarely emerge unscathed from failure to communicate their true intentions. I suppose it is akin to the filmmaker's way of constant warning, given a trilogy now focused on this aspect, that to have emotions kept within oneself would only pave way for a massive blowout when the last straw is reached, and this offers no chance whatsoever for reconciliation, only destruction, and the humiliation that comes along with it.

We see it all coming from the first time the couple of Yue Fen (Cora Miao) and her husband Li Zhong (Lee Li Chun) got introduced, where the former's writer's block complaint becomes an avenue to be chided by her husband, who deemed her issue rather unimportant given that it is a work of fiction, and not life and death. Clearly this lack of sensitivity was the seed sowed, before a random cataclysmic event evolves this into her wanting to leave the matrimonial home for a place where she can get some escape and seek out inspiration, which turned out to be nothing more than seeking out an ex-lover to carry out an affair with.

While you may want to sympathize with the husband, wait. Edward Yang and Hsiao Yeh for some reasons crafted a number of characters here who are mostly lacking in morals. Li Zhong, eyeing a promotion which he thinks is a given with the death of his boss, goes to the extent of framing a fellow co-worker so that he can eliminate the competition for that move upwards, which makes him quite the bastard who gets his karmic just desserts through the infidelity of his wife, which ultimately humiliates the man who has to wear a green hat, and is without a defining career which he so highly prizes it as sort of a beacon in social stature.

One can imagine just who the real terrorizers are in the film - it's easy to point the fingers at criminals as depicted in the beginning of the film, or whoever is holding that gun to exact some form of revenge against pride, but clearly in this instance, it's really the female of the species who continue to torment emotionally especially when the silent treatment gets exacted, which I feel is possibly the cruelest form of torture to a loved one. The ending is much talked about, and in my opinion seemed to stem either as material from the fictional book that Yue Fen finally churned out, or an alternative reality which points to a consistently bleak outcome of that modern day grind in life.

*****

The National Museum is now presenting a Retrospective of Edward Yang (November 6, 1947 – June 29, 2007), one of Taiwan's leading filmmakers in its New Wave, probably best known for his film Yi Yi (2000) which got him the Best Director Award at Cannes.

It's a complete retrospective that will offer an insight into his life through roundtable sessions with his former collaborators, friends and academics. and you can find the full details of the screening over at this link, which contains a profile of specially invited guests, film titles, screening details, and a list of the free admission programmes.

Here's a quick summary:

In His Time: The Films of Edward Yang
A Programme of the National Museum Cinémathèque
Day/Date: Wednesday, 2 March – Sunday, 13 March 2011
Time: Various screening times
Venue: Gallery Theatre, Basement, National Museum of Singapore 93 Stamford Road, Singapore 178897
Tickets: $8 per person, $6.40 (concession), [excluding SISTIC fee]
MRT Station: City Hall/Dhoby Ghaut
Website: www.nationalmusuem.sg
Contact: 6332 3659 / 6332 5642

and you can find out more details from this link.

All About Love (得閒炒飯 / Duk Haan Chau Faan)

Sealed With a Kiss

Fans of Vivian Chow unite! It's been ages since her last feature film appearance, and it's no secret that she's making a comeback of sorts to the entertainment arena. While her fans are probably around my age now, I think there will be many who will throng to the cinemas to watch her take on what's probably her most interesting one to date apart from being the usual flower vase because of her good looks, made fun of when she first appears in All About Love where a photographer took a random shot of her sitting in a bench, and the no lacking of lighters offered by anonymous hands when she pops a cigarette in her mouth. Yes the demure looking girl of everyone's dreams is back.

Produced and directed by Ann Hui, All About Love tackles the fairly recent coming out of the closet discriminatory issues faced by non-heterosexuals in Hong Kong, although these issues are probably applicable outside of the island as well. The narrative is ambitiously double pronged, in addressing concerns experienced by single unwed mothers, and that of same sex marriages and family, and blurred the line of distinction between the two separate issues by having them linked together. Playing ex-lovers, Vivian Chow's Anita and Sandra Ng's Macy meet through attending a course on pregnancy, and while discovering that they each are expecting a child - with independent flashbacks going back 10 weeks to how they got impregnated - their moment together through repeated long walks to and from their respective apartments reignites their passion for each other, as well as bringing back the complicated issue that they have to deal with in every relationship - the big C word Commitment.

The story by Yee Shan Yeung is filled with plenty of comedy to make light the very serious issues that get put forth, which Ann Hui junks showy techniques for having discussions very in your face, and done almost talking heads documentary style with key characters standing on soapboxes making their case. There are at least two moments in the film, one quite early on, where Macy's bisexual nature enters the discussion, and provides for her character to berate others in their hypocrisy since they apply the same discriminatory eye to those belonging to an even smaller niche behaviour. And it's not all about sex, as domestic violence gets thrown into the picture as well, though I suspect treated with a very slight hand since issues get settled through the provision of orgasms. Yes you read that right, and having the abuser (Eddie Cheung) let off the hook as well in some ways.

But nonetheless it provides for some thought provoking moments, which will catalyze and fuel post viewing discussions, especially with very subversive characters like Eddie Cheung's Robert as mentioned above, including that of a potent one night stand, as well as William Chan's Mike, a guy who's way younger than Anita, but still having the hots for her much to her irritation, since she's perceived by friends and colleagues as a cougar on the prowl for fresh meat. The film takes on such issues squarely on the head, and you'd wonder how everyone can finally get along with each other without getting in one another's way since everyone's pretty much a headstrong character.

At times this looked like the perfect activist film, with scenes dedicated to raising of protests and awareness of difficult issues that we are guilty of sweeping under the carpet, until a passionate group brings everything out for airing. The films direction seemed to move from character issues and their emotional core, to that of being rather preachy, coupled with a clueless finale in not knowing how best to call it quits, deciding on a discotheque scene (which I suspect could have belonged somewhere earlier but spliced here) with a cameo by veteran actress Fung Bo Bo. For all its passionate awareness raising issues, it somehow fizzled out toward the end, which is quite a pity.

I'm still interested in tracking how our powers that be will treat films like these, where the topics at hand aren't quite acceptable by them and get put under the microscopic lens of censorship. An exclusive showcase which is rated R21 (no explicit sex scenes here, nor gratuitous nudity or violence), curiously there could be some double standards here with that of the treatment of The Kids Are All Right, which got the same rating but restricted further to one single print. While the excuse given for that decision was based on that film normalizing same sex relationships, this one too had elements of that, except that it happens as a postscript, and worse, showcases how loopholes are exploited through sham marriages. Food for thought actually.

There are two beautiful elements in this film that provided that visual eye candy. First of course is the Central-Mid-levels Escalators in Hong Kong Island. All of Hong Kong is probably a large film set, but nothing beats the iconic escalators where many scenes were played out against, given the very interesting locale of slopes, shops and stairs to pepper the background. Then I will undeniably state that Vivian Chow still looks gorgeous for her age, and in some ways seem to defy aging with her very own fountain of youth, making it seem like almost yesterday when she bowed out from the limelight. Her role while very different from ones tackled before, didn't make it too much of a challenge since she's still that whimsical lady, as Sandra Ng once again proved her acting prowess as the very confused bisexual who's afraid to be tied down.

Personally I thought there were moments where this film had characters that did no favours to the group it wanted to portray, since it treated orientation issues as quite trivial, especially flip-flopping in decisions to want to remain straight, or not. Still it comes with a number of compelling arguments that makes it worthwhile to sit through to formulate your own opinions, and why not do so with the number of eye candy around too? Not one of Ann Hui's strongest works, but recommended nonetheless!

[In His Time: The Films of Edward Yang] Taipei Story (青梅竹马 / Qing Mei Zu Ma)

Eye To Eye

Edward Yang's second feature film deals with the systematic breakdown of a relationship in urban Taiwan society, and to say the least I'm always emotionally apprehensive with something like this because it's terribly bleak without any positive reprise, as it chips away slowly but surely toward an inevitable finale. Still, while not as sprawling as his first feature, Taipei Story is just as masterful in its treatment of topics of being alienated in your own society, and being unable to escape from past glories that frankly nobody gives a hoot about.

Two big names in Taiwan put on their acting chops as leading performers of this film, the first being Tsai Chin the songstress who would go on to become Yang's first wife, and starring opposite her is Hou Hsiao-Hsien, the acclaimed film director whom you would have seen earlier in a more comical (or at least going by the laughs his small role received) part of being part of a management posse. And frankly, he has that tremendous charisma in front of the screen, just that his talents also extend going behind the camera more often than he is in front of one. They play the couple Chin and Lon respectively, where the film opens with the couple looking at an apartment they can call their own. All seems well at first, until the story by Yang, Hou Hsiao-Hsien and Chu Tien-Wen begin to unfold and reveal the cracks that exist beneath.

You're not going to be successful each time you sweep things under the carpet, and here the issues are many which includes a sudden turn of events in the career of Chin, being quite confident about her promotion in the beginning before a forced acquisition of the company she works for meant her position is made redundant. Seeking solace and a listening ear from her boyfriend Lon looked like a tall order, with Lon being preoccupied with trying to assimilate back to society having spent some time in Los Angeles, and struggling to find his identity since he's still stuck in the glorious years of the past with his Lttlle League baseball success. From this point on your suspicion of the lack of intimacy rears its ugly head, as one poignant scene involves Lon just staring blankly at his lover who had mentioned the demise of her career, but you can tell just how badly he wants to go back to the television baseball game, and a recorded one at that.

Chin constantly hiding behind large, and I mean large, sunglasses also makes it difficult for the viewer, and others around her, to gaze into her soul since the eyes hold the key to that, and probably added to her frustration of being misunderstood without knowing she's also partly responsible for that. Hou Hsiao-Hsien on the other hand plays that swaggering protagonist with aplomb, intense and constantly on the edge to give others a piece of his mind or two when they cross him through snide remarks, which ultimately this hot headedness and growing impetuousness will prove to be his downfall, not being able to fulfill the dream he once had with the woman he once loved.

In many ways this urban saga highlighting the troubles, issues and concerns of a working middle class are easily identifiable with even for us folks in Singapore, where many of us are juggling careers with other passions (normally tussling for the limited time we have to spend on them), and the various roles that we play in life, from being a family member, to a friend or a colleague. It's painful to watch as these get put on screen, and those looking for escapism in film will be confronted squarely with what's essentially those issues that one desires to escape from.

Here are people stuck with the roles that they cannot run from, and sometimes societal pressures also mean that one has to help the elders to bail out from their situation in what's essentially a wait-and-see, or to tackle things as they come by, one at a time approach. We can tell how beholden Lon is to Chin's father, and the latter's troubles also mean an additional financial pressure placed on Lon. Then on the relationship front come complications from an ex seeking a divorce, and a fellow co-worker looking for companionship with his own impending divorce - seems like any relationship here in the film is constantly on the rocks, such as Lon's taxi friend whom he runs (literally) into - and these present challenges to what's already a fragile couple waiting for an eruption of emotional and trust issues.

Yang's film seems to suggest these are urban traits inevitable at the pace society's moving, trading rapid economic growth for relationship woes as the people's focus changes direction with different priorities being misplaced. From his earlier work, these issues were explored, and they continue here in more depth since the number of characters are more than halved to allow focus and depth of exploration. I'm already curious and optimistic that more of such themes will pop out in the subsequent films in this retrospect (having read their synopsis) and it does seem bleaker in the road up ahead. Recommended, although personally I'd prefer Yang's first film to this one, probably because this cuts too close to home and reality.

*****

The National Museum is now presenting a Retrospective of Edward Yang (November 6, 1947 – June 29, 2007), one of Taiwan's leading filmmakers in its New Wave, probably best known for his film Yi Yi (2000) which got him the Best Director Award at Cannes.

It's a complete retrospective that will offer an insight into his life through roundtable sessions with his former collaborators, friends and academics. and you can find the full details of the screening over at this link, which contains a profile of specially invited guests, film titles, screening details, and a list of the free admission programmes.

Here's a quick summary:

In His Time: The Films of Edward Yang
A Programme of the National Museum Cinémathèque
Day/Date: Wednesday, 2 March – Sunday, 13 March 2011
Time: Various screening times
Venue: Gallery Theatre, Basement, National Museum of Singapore 93 Stamford Road, Singapore 178897
Tickets: $8 per person, $6.40 (concession), [excluding SISTIC fee]
MRT Station: City Hall/Dhoby Ghaut
Website: www.nationalmusuem.sg
Contact: 6332 3659 / 6332 5642

and you can find out more details from this link.

[In His Time: The Films of Edward Yang] That Day, on the Beach (海滩的一天 / Hai Tan De Yi Tian)

My Story, and More

I'm genuinely bowled over by Edward Yang's first directorial feature film, having false started with a short in an omnibus of four with In Our Time, and having written The Winter of 1905. That Day, On The Beach is a sprawling 167 minutes of pure cinema, blessed with an incredible cast who brought out the intense story that unravelled through a series of flashbacks, and at times, flashbacks within flashbacks, that demonstrated Edward Yang's tremendous control over all aspects of this production. Don't let the running time put you off, as there's no waste to everything put on screen, all for a stated purpose adding up to the many themes explored.

The film opens with Qing Qing (Terry Hu), a world renowned pianist who reluctantly looks up an old friend, Jia Li (Sylvia Chang) for an afternoon tea time chat to catch up on old times, since Qing Qing had dated Jia Li's brother Jia Lin (Zhuo Ming Xiang) very early on in their lives. As Jia Li recounts this past, we're introduced to her family where their doctor father rules the household with an iron fist, as do most Chinese families of the time, and choices are made for them from the hobby of listening to classical music, to that of their eventual arranged marriage, which stood in the way of Qing Qing and Jia Lin. Not wanting to suffer the same unhappy fate as her brother, Jia Li elopes with her teenage beau De Wei (David Mao), which opened up the door to a lot more stories to be told on Jia Li's life, culminating in a L'Avventura-ish mystery of a disappearing man.

Imagine catching up with a long lost friend and trying to backfill all that had happened between those missing years, and that's what this film felt like, engaging you from the start as you follow the proceedings attentively, almost in curious voyeuristic fashion swallowing every sliver of information hook, line and sinker. There are shifting points of view from character to character that makes this a story about varying perceptions to same events, and the bulk dealt with the director's view points of the death of romance, and the issues that inevitably arise to plague a marriage of two souls, discussing the issue of how the modern day office life of a go-getting attitude will take its toil on married life, and the usual trust or the lack thereof that stems from suspicion that can snowball into something disastrous, made worse by disappearing passion in a relationship.

Sylvia Chang is a one woman tour-de-force here, and this film shows why she's one of the best in her heydays. Taking on the role of a woman maturing over her trials, tribulations and baptism of fire, she shows she's quite the chameleon playing the character over different age groups, made possible - and for the audience to follow with ease over the narrative timeline - through the creative use of hairdos and wigs, as she transforms from innocent schoolgirl, to dutiful wife, to finally what would seem as a confident, successful businesswoman. She breathes life into the multi-faceted character of Jia Li as she engages friends, husband, and a fleeting moment of near infidelity with ease, with the right emotions punctuating each scene.

And coupled with the strong performance, I can't praise the story more than enough through its layers and layers that deal with different familiar family and relationship issues over time. Edward Yang also keeps up that anticipation of wanting more with actually delivering over and above that expectation, with subplots and new themes popping up with each segment of Jia Li's life, a social commentary of sorts on the state of affairs in the era portrayed, which lifts That Day, On The Beach above what could just be an above average melodrama if under a different helmer. Christopher Doyle lenses this film early in his career, which of course is a plus point for those acquainted with his works, and the editing is top notch in the various transitions between timelines, providing parallels from one cut to the other, never confusing, but enhancing the feel and mood of the story.

It's hard to believe this incredible film is only Edward Yang's feature debut, that promises a lot more to come from the maestro as this retrospect goes on, culminating in what would arguable be his most famous film Yi Yi. Meanwhile, this is one film that resonates tremendously and possesses that great re-watch factor that not every film can possess. Highly recommended, so don't miss this since there's a repeat screening next Thurday 10 March.

*****

The National Museum is now presenting a Retrospective of Edward Yang (November 6, 1947 – June 29, 2007), one of Taiwan's leading filmmakers in its New Wave, probably best known for his film Yi Yi (2000) which got him the Best Director Award at Cannes.

It's a complete retrospective that will offer an insight into his life through roundtable sessions with his former collaborators, friends and academics. and you can find the full details of the screening over at this link, which contains a profile of specially invited guests, film titles, screening details, and a list of the free admission programmes.

Here's a quick summary:

In His Time: The Films of Edward Yang
A Programme of the National Museum Cinémathèque
Day/Date: Wednesday, 2 March – Sunday, 13 March 2011
Time: Various screening times
Venue: Gallery Theatre, Basement, National Museum of Singapore 93 Stamford Road, Singapore 178897
Tickets: $8 per person, $6.40 (concession), [excluding SISTIC fee]
MRT Station: City Hall/Dhoby Ghaut
Website: www.nationalmusuem.sg
Contact: 6332 3659 / 6332 5642

and you can find out more details from this link.

[In His Time: The Films of Edward Yang] In Our Time (光阴的故事)

We've Got Time

An omnibus of four short films by four Taiwanese directors said to have ushered in the Taiwanese New Wave, In Our Time marks what would be my introduction to an Edward Yang film, being the second segment in this lineup. With the works of others responsible for this new era in Taiwan cinema, I now add a few more directors to my ever burgeoning list of must-watch movies, and to no surprise, I actually found the segment Say Your Name by Chang Yi to be my favourite of the lot, starring Sylvia Chang (a filmmaker in her own right these days) as one half of a couple in a madcap comedy, which happened to be of the shortest running time of the lot.

Put together, these films each represent a decade from the 50s to the 80s, and naturally presents a snapshot view of the lives and times of the Taiwanese. Tao Teh Chen tackles the first with Little Dragon Head, a story about a young boy and his favourite Dragon (looks like Godzilla though) toy, which in some ways serve as his silent confidante, or a security blanket so to speak. It's actually a childhood story about school and family woes as experienced by the boy, and contains a sweet little romance between him and the little girl of an aunt, whom the boy's family visits quite frequently, and from adversity blossoms firm friendship.

Expectation was next to be presented, directed by our retrospect's auteur, and tells a family tale of a girl, her older sister and their widowed mom. Her friend is a younger nerdy boy whom she teachers how to bike as a subplot, but the main crux centers on the girl's blossoming sexual awakening when a handsome teenager rents a room in their home, and how her sister gets a leg up through her more direct approach. No, there's nothing visually raunchy, and it's all kept within PG limits, but we do get to see how Edward Yang tackles youth and women in films, and the many themes and ideas squeezed into this short.

The stories depart from the more pensive mood to get more comical after that, with Ko I-Chen's The Jumping Frog starring Li Kuo-Hsiu as the lead protagonist nicknamed "Fatty" though in reality he's anything but. His lack of social skills especially with the opposite sex give rise to laughs, and his character provides plenty of voice overs to tell of his inner thoughts and to move the story forward. Keep a look out for that scene involving his stint as a driver, and his commentary on how bossy his women clientele can be! And rounding up the series is Say Your Name by Zhang Yi, the shortest film in the line up that is what comedies are made of, with the zany misadventures of a man wrapped in only his towel, being found to be locked outside his apartment, giving rise to many comical situations especially of being mistaken for a thief when he tries to plot his reentry into his own home.

If you're game to watch additional films from this Taiwanese maestro, then you will surely want to take note of screening and ticketing details that I included below. Do note that both screenings to A Bright Summer Day have been sold out, so do not hesitate to watch the others lest they get sold out too!

*****

The National Museum is now presenting a Retrospective of Edward Yang (November 6, 1947 – June 29, 2007), one of Taiwan's leading filmmakers in its New Wave, probably best known for his film Yi Yi (2000) which got him the Best Director Award at Cannes.

It's a complete retrospective that will offer an insight into his life through roundtable sessions with his former collaborators, friends and academics. and you can find the full details of the screening over at this link, which contains a profile of specially invited guests, film titles, screening details, and a list of the free admission programmes.

Here's a quick summary:

In His Time: The Films of Edward Yang
A Programme of the National Museum Cinémathèque
Day/Date: Wednesday, 2 March – Sunday, 13 March 2011
Time: Various screening times
Venue: Gallery Theatre, Basement, National Museum of Singapore 93 Stamford Road, Singapore 178897
Tickets: $8 per person, $6.40 (concession), [excluding SISTIC fee]
MRT Station: City Hall/Dhoby Ghaut
Website: www.nationalmusuem.sg
Contact: 6332 3659 / 6332 5642

and you can find out more details from this link.

Forever (我愛你愛你愛你 / Wo Ai Ni Ai Ni Ai Ni)

Where Are You...

Making its debut at two international film festivals last December, Wee Li Lin's second directorial effort, Forever, comes home this week, adding itself to the limited romantic comedy sub-genre of a chick flick coming out of Singapore. I thought it more to be a tragedy though, considering the episodes revolving around a bizarre love triangle of a New Order proportion, of a woman so delusional and scheming, it's Fatal Attraction done Singapore style sans sex and violence, hitting home through its plenty of identifiable subversive elements, and made all the more terrifying when you learn the antagonist is inspired from someone who actually exist. Oh the horror!

Joanna Dong plays Joey, a high flying executive in what seems to be an amalgamation of all the quasi-government matchmaking agencies here known as the Wedding Education Department (WED), responsible for churning out propaganda videos to show how the Singapore Plan of getting married at the right age at the right time is nothing but leading to eternal bliss (and in fact Li Lin does put us through this in the opening scene!). Little does her boss (Alice Lim) realize that her blue-eyed staff Joey is a closet sociopath whose wardrobe is blue-centric, living in a world of her own after getting smitten during her video making encounter with GIn (Mo Tzu Yi), a music scholar from Taiwan teaching in a local school, where they star as a just-married couple in bridal regalia in a national advertisement.

So begins an obsession stalking of her prey, very adamant in thinking that he IS the man of her dreams, in essence blurring that line between reality and fantasy, made worse by that goosebump raising moments each time they call each other "Groomie" or "Bridey", with one party taking it a lot more seriously and emotionally than the other. We shift into second gear when Joey realizes Gin is engaged to the rich lass Cecilia (Sarah Ng), who too realizes the existence of that propaganda video involving her fiance, so all hell breaks loose with claws unsheathed to inflict serious damage to snag the man they both love. Some guys would love this kind of attention, but to go overboard here like what Joey does, is certainly very creepy, enough to block a phone number after an insane proclamation of love.

Forever doesn't look as lush as the director's first feature film Gone Shopping, with its fairy tale like moments, rich colours and who-can-resist upmarket fashion in the malls featured. but seemed a little bit more subdued deliberately to fit a narrative which is a little darker in mood and tone, with clean fun clearly being poked at the authorities that be involved with fussing over dwindling national statistics - in today's world the hot button item is of course the tumbling birth rates - and their goal to see that the status quo be maintained by hitting the usual targets set, so that work life can be coasted through with little trouble or question. It's no surprise that most of the more comical moments come from the WED scenes and their disastrous mass activities for eligible singles (I smell spin off), and I was secretly hoping there would be more coming from these supporting characters, especially on the number of sight gags that never fail to crack me up!

The revelation in Forever undeniably belongs to the lead actress Joanna Dong, who is at perfect ease playing that sweet innocent young thing who truly believes in her shot at true love, and that schemer with a glint in her eye, buried beneath her non-threatening demeanour. Her performance can make you laugh at, and cry for at the same time, eliciting sympathy for her hopelessly romantic plight, yet you hiss at her when you see through her true colours revealed. Really the two-faced chameleon in the film where you'd just about want to slap her for her lack of that feminine backbone, yet take pity on her really clueless behaviour in not knowing when to call it quits, and have to succumb to her compulsions of, check this out, serenading outside a window at the wee hours of the night. Dong proves her versatility as well in lending her vocals for the songs featured in the film.

It's no surprise that you'll probably have plenty of fun from the various little commentaries pointed at our society pop up every now and then, ribbing anything from public sector mentalities, caricatures from the school of office politics whom you'll come across at one point or another in life, and behavioral traits that probably had irked screenwriters Li Lin and Silvia Wong, who also serves as producer, to feature as passing remarks foreigners make about locals being negative influencers.

Wee Li Lin may only be two feature films old, but already some signatures begin to show, such as those inevitable moments where snow (or confetti in this case) has to pepper picturesque lip-locking scenes in a fairy tale landscape, theme of unhealthy obsessions, and a look at the darker side what and how conditioning had damaged the Singapore psyche, of characters being stuck in and trying to break out of an unhappy course in life. This is a thinking chick flick marked by a remarkable lead actress, and it'll be interesting to see how Li Lin continues to expand her filmography from here. Recommended!

[DVD] Scream 3 (2000)

The Replacements

I made it a deliberate attempt to want to watch the Scream Trilogy, and made it to both part one and two until I realize that Scream 3 was not on rental at the Esplanade Library, until recently when their collection extended to films rated NC16 and M18. And watching this was also partly because Wes Craven's Scream 4 is due out later this year, and going by how intricately linked the characters are from one film to the next, this went up on the must watch list lest I enter into the upcoming sequel with a large information gap missing.

Scream 3 brings back the usual, and surviving cast, of the first two films, with Neve Campbell reprising her role as Sidney Prescott, now living the life of a recluse in the woods and doing so anonymously by taking up a job that only requires telephone conversations (which of course is a sign), Courteney Cox's Gale Weathers the dogged reporter now being estranged from beau Dwight Dewey Riley (David Arquette) who has resigned from the force and is now technical adviser to Hollywood's production of the Stab movie franchise, based upon the infamous Woodsbro murders that we've already seen in the first two films. Then Ghostface comes back to life and starts finishing off members of the Stab cast and crew while looking for Sidney Prescott, leaving behind the photos of Sidney's mom each time a murder gets committed, and it's down to our usual suspects to try and unravel the mystery behind the new Ghostface since they're quite sure he's been put down twice before.

In some ways Wes Craven's Scream now is like a typical Scooby Doo cartoon adventure, riddled with plenty of caricatures and red herrings on suspects that will keep you guessing right up until the end, and along the way come opportunities to spook and bump off a few bodies. What's interesting here is the existence of the Stab movie cast, who adds another dimension to the film as the cast members, with recognizable names such as Jenny McCarthy, Emily Mortimer, Parker Posey and even Liev Schreiber lending a short cameo as producer, all providing a parallel to the lives of the characters that we're already acquainted with. Patrick Dempsey also makes an appearance as the requisite investigating cop too.

And what this film never fails in, is the humour aspects both intentional and unintentional, and those usual bag of tricks that seemed a little tired, though no less effective in bringing about some jump scares. It does seem to drag out a little in the beginning for the story to allow us some catch up time on the current situation of all surviving cast members, before introducing us to their fictional Stab screen counterparts, and their one upmanship with each other was the best in terms of Parker Posey and Courteney Cox being the reporter Gale Weathers (or Jennifer Jolie in the Stab knock up). Events in the film start picking up its pace when Sydney Prescott reunites with the rest and things go into overdrive with set action sequences

Ultimately it's still a satisfying horror-comedy romp with quite the logical explanation of how things all ties up together going back to the first movie, and as explained, how the third film in a trilogy tend to be a different ballgame altogether with rules that were meant to be broken, getting thrown out of the window from the get go. While it may not be as classic as the very first Scream movie, this one still had its moments as far as third films go, but I'm now quite skeptical if a fourth is necessary, and what the focus will then be given how this trilogy as of now is quite self-contained. It remains to be seen, so let's hope Wes Craven still has plenty up his sleeve.

The Region 1 DVD by Dimension Home Video presents the film in an anamorphic widescreen format with English and French Dolby Digital audio. Subtitles are in English close captioned and Spanish, and Scene Selection is available over 29 chapters.

The Bonus Material was a bit of a letdown, with unfulfilled promise as listed in the DVD sleeve because of absent material such as the TV Spots, the Cast & Crew Bios, the "Creed" Music Video, and if all those don't really matter, touting a feature film commentary by Wes Craven and Crew that doesn't exist on the disc is almost criminal. And this version is touted as the DImension Collector's Series, so what gives? While most of the material aren't exactly final stuff, having very poor visual reproduction in letterbox format is really bad when you're watching it on a widescreen television / screen.

Outtakes consisted of a blooper reel that's running 6:32, and a Behind the Scenes Montage (6:18) takes material from all three Scream movies. Deleted Scenes (13:30) contain a total of 4 such scenes, with the first two highlighting the different versions for the introduction with Liev Schreiber's confrontation with Ghostface, and the other two are the Guard Scene and one involving talk about the Stab 3 film being shut down. More information gets gleaned from listening to the Commentary by Director Wes Craven, Producer Marianna Maddalena and Editor Patrick Lussier.

The Alternate Ending (10:00) isn't much to begin with since there are no major changes (and no, no changes to who exactly is Ghostface), and what could have been again only got described verbally in the commentary by Director Wes Craven, Producer Marianna Maddalena and Editor Patrick Lussier. Rounding the Bonus Material section are the Theatrical Trailer (1:24) and International Trailer (1:37).

The Adjustment Bureau

Not Letting You Out of Sight

If you've watched science fiction movies such as Blade Runner, Total Recall, Minority Report, Paycheck and A Scanner Darkly, chances are you'll know who the prolific author Philip K. Dick probably is, with Hollywood slowly but surely tapping on his rich repertoire of works for the big screen treatment. Some become hits, some don't, most boast A-listers attached to the project, from directors such as Ridley Scott, Steven Spielberg, Richard Linklater, Paul Verhoeven and John Woo even, and cast from Tom Cruise to Arnold Schwarzenegger, and almost always not every film stays faithful to the source material.

George Nolfi, writer of The Bourne Ultimatum and Ocean's Twelve, adapts from Philip K. Dick's short story Adjustment Team, taking the in-principle concept and crafted quite the romance thriller that explores, like many other films that had gone before it from The Matrix to Vanilla Sky or The Truman Show even, our reality being controlled by a higher order determined to keep chaos manageable and at bay, mocking the notion of free choice, before someone wakes up and realizes that all is not what they seem, and armed with new knowledge, seek to carve a new path out to escape from what's seem to be an unfair reign over one's own life and decision making.

Matt Damon stars as the charismatic congressman David Norris, who's on his way to senatorship if not for some last minute press expose that tanks his campaign. While crafting out a speech in a hotel bathroom, he meets the dancer Elise Sellas (Emily Blunt) and the two fall in love almost instantaneously. However, larger forces are at hand to ensure that the plan for the entire world gets to move according to what they designed, and this love story is clearly to be avoided at all costs. So begin that bewildering cat and mouse game with The Adjustment Bureau operatives adamant in stopping David Norris through all their limited (yes, limited, according to rules that will be explained) abilities of short range telekinesis of sorts, and teleportation powers through the opening of seemingly random doors to portals elsewhere.

The science fiction concept here is interesting. There's always a book showing, in indecipherable terms, how events happening now can open up endless possibilities of how things will shape, and showing the one path that unravels in real time, together with alert points and pitfalls that should be avoided, failing which a ripple effect greater than can be contained will be caused. There's also some deus ex machina moments which allowed for the introduction of Terence Stamp's character as a higher order Mr Fix It, nicknamed The Hammer for sledging his way through difficult and sticky situations, brought in to try and provide enticing reasons for David to give up the chase, when fellow underlings Harry Mitchell (Anthony Mackie) and Richardson (John Slattery) have failed. Then there are those hidden portals which open up to probably anywhere in the world, done to perfection through seamless special effects and editing to slice everything together in one fell swoop.

But the more thought provoking issues will be that of free will and destiny, whether everything unravels according to a set path pre-determined by someone else, that what seem to be choices turn out to be no more than what's already laid out and planned for, giving the simple illusion that one has that level of freedom to choose. Discussions in the film crank up the appeal factor, and of course introduces us to this particular sandbox of reality that all the characters have to live with and abide by. For the romantic then, if you're told to give up someone whom you've just met and who could be that soulmate you're looking for, at what price sacrifice comes the question, whether one would be willing to fight, even if it may seem futile, for that chance that you may just beat the system with odds tremendously stacked up against.

That's when The Adjustment Bureau perhaps required a little adjusting itself. The system isn't perfect, and so neither is the film, since its technology isn't as robust, easy to deploy or efficient such as the flashing penlights of the Men in Black. Being the blue-eyed boy of The Bureau's plan also helped since there are much larger plans for both David and his lady love Elise, and seriously it's quite the hard sell trying to give up all the potential and plans laid out in front of you, where you see the seed starting to grow even, for something quite intangible as love. But a romance this is, so that's the path the film undertook, only for this fight against a higher order not too well fleshed out.

I felt that George Nolfi pulled his punches, having set up so much anticipation when David and Elise will try their best to deviate from their destiny, only for one major running sequence - not even the chase we were quite promised and outlined - which underwhelmed, and I suspect could be left as deleted scenes for the DVD. It's like setting the boxing ring for that extended slug, only for a first round knock out to spoil the party and appreciation for the finale, too bright I think, but that's personal as I prefer my science fiction to be rather bleak, so that's a little bias for you readers out there to note since I felt it could have been a more open film rather than a verbatim one, contrary to its theme against the laying things all out for everyone.

Damon shines with plenty of likability factors put into his politician (which is rare considering the profession of choice!) and seriously this is one candidate I would root for and support as he struggles to find some meaning into the mess he's in. The romance between his character and Emily Blunt was believable as they engage in the type of banter couples do, and situations that will call for heartbreak after heartbreak, with the powers that be standing in their way employing tactics that is what I call emotionally cunning - that is - if you want eternal happiness for someone living her dream, don't get in her way and bog her down in a relationship. Hmm.

Still, the production values are gorgeous, and art direction involving the internals of the Bureau were interesting to gawk at, and deserves a second look, as these men with fedoras move around the world tinkering with small, micro level events that have repercussions at the macro level, going along with the whims of a higher being. There is enough scope here to equate the Bureau with how things are governed here even, with issues kicked up to the higher levels of bureaucracy to solve if it exceeds one's bandwidth, or horrors, pay grade! You don't question, but you conform and comply, and for the mavericks who prove their worth through sacrifice and steely determination, hopefully could one day overcome and emerge winners in some form. Recommended!

And of course, there's always that one defining moment or a sequence that will shout right out at you, and mine involves showing off how fit Damon is running around with this track playing in the background:

The Kids Are All Right

Singapore Says We Cannot Be Normal

So I guess you would have known by now, no matter where in the world you are, of our new rating that's tacitly known as R21-1, which on one hand allows for a film to be released in Singapore, but the censors dictated that only 1 print can be used, effectively elevating it to arthouse proportions accorded by films played in The Picturehouse or Cinema Europa, and of course any publicity is good publicity, a course they had enacted to push curious onlookers to the cinemas to have a look at what the uproar is about. And I can only speculate here for the countless number of postponement to the film's release from last year until now, is because of what's deemed by our nannies and moral police as objectionable.

But seriously, just what is objectionable boiled down to the portrayal of the principle family in the film, which is essentially without a father figure,and having the kids Joni (played by Mia Wasikowska, Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland) and Laser (Josh Hutcherson, grown up from his Bridge to Terabithia role) by lesbian mothers Nic and Jules (with Annette Benning in an Oscar nominated performance, and Julianne Moore who's no acting pushover herself) in a normal family setup. Those who are holier than thou deemed that such portrayals will corrupt the basic moral fabric of society. Frankly, I'm not sure what film they're watching, and I'm purely speculating that only the first 10 minutes of the show was seen, balked at, fast forwarded to the Hollywood ending, balked some more, then came to that conclusion based on narrow-mindedness that this film be given its controversial restriction.

Better than nothing, right? And seriously it's thanks to its Oscar nominations in major categories such as Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor and Best Original Screenplay that even allowed this film to be under contention for screening here, otherwise most who have seen it here would have done so through alternative, and no means legal, sources since the powers that be deem a film noteworthy through the number of awards and Oscar nominations it can garner (we're suckers for rankings, award shows etc). But here's the catch - to anyone who has watched the film in its entirety and thought about it a little deeper (than to stand on the soapbox and condemn it outright), it's not all a rosy picture that's being portrayed, especially with the moral, ethical and of course sexual issues that all get brought to the table for an examination. If you think a typical family will have it easy, a dysfunctional one as this have similar problems faced being amplified, and I suppose for any same sex relationships to want to bring up kids successfully, it hammers home that it's definitely not trivial, as far as the basic issues that form the film's premise goes, and just like any other family, requires plenty of love, patience and truck loads of commitment.

On screen lesbians Nic and Jules' family is constructed as such - they each take sperm that's donated from the same anonymous donor, and impregnate themselves, therefore having their children who can grow up to be half-siblings. Naturally one of them wears the pants in the house - Nic by virtue of being a doctor and raking in big money, while the other the stay home mom though looking to start her own business since the kids are all grown up. All's fine and dandy, though there are numerous problems percolating beneath the surface ready to explode, especially when the kids seek out and make contact with their biological dad Paul (Mark Ruffalo), an easy going guy who naturally appeals since he's out to bond with them, and never applying any parental responsibilities and control over the kid's upbringing. So here comes plenty of comparison, made worse when Paul enters into a physical relationship with Jules, thereby tossing the entire family relationship dynamics right up in the air.

This sudden appearance of a father figure forms the crux of the issues brought up in the film, such as whether a same-sex marriage with children will work, and the moral / ethical issues that come with teenagers growing up, who will one day question their being in this world. Everyones pretty self-conscious about various perceptions being cast upon them, and the usual family issues such as the lack of appreciation, the taking for grantedness, being petty and judgemental about another, all rear their ugly head. But it's not all a bitch fest and no fun. Enough comical moments got fused into the screenplay allowing some laughter to balance up the heavy dramatic moments, though I'm quite sure some may not find certain aspects as funny as I did if they're in the same boat or predicament faced by the characters, such as when the moms here started to suspect if their son had gay tendencies, or narratively co-writer and director Lisa Cholodenko just knew when to inject light-heartedness at the right points through her effective direction of the veteran cast.

The cast becomes the natural highlight, with Annette Bening and Julianne Moore being perfect opposite each other as the same sex married couple who have to deal with what I thought was the contempt from familiarity, and a strain in their marriage having a new man in their lives when none of them was prepared for it, since their kids were the one who did the outreach. It's been quite some time since we last saw Bening on screen, but what a comeback in a multi-faceted role. Moore also earns brownie points for her portrayal of Jules as the more emotional of the two, having to cope with the troubles that come from being too sensitive, being the personification of the saying of how we hurt the most those whom we love the most. Mark Ruffalo is also fast becoming one of my favourite character actors, and I'll be watching how he's going to tackle the Bruce Banner/Hulk role in The Avengers, which should be interesting to see his version of it, having Eric Bana and Edward Norton as his predecessors. Josh Hutcherson probably had the least screen time of the lot, but Mia Wasikowska had enough to show why she's probably the next up and coming actress in Hollywood's fold to keep an eye out for.

The Kids Are All Right boasts fine performances all round living its powerful dramatic screenplay, and seriously limiting it to one screen will dent its box office chances here, and making it a tad inconvenient to those genuinely wanting to see the film for all the right reasons, where moral/social fabric erosion is on the least of their concerns. At least it got shown, so I guess I should thank our lucky stars. Highly recommended!

Never Let Me Go

Blink Blink

It's no secret that I'm a big fan of the science fiction romance Gattaca and enjoyed that guilt trip which is Michael Bay's The Island, dealing with a bunch of innocent people living in utopia until being called to well, enter nirvana. With such elements combined from both films (sans Bayhemic levels of explosions of course), it's relatively easy for me to fall in love with Never Let Me Go, whcih is fast going to be a favourite that I will rattle off in any of my best-of list.

Based on the novel by Kazuo Ishiguro (who also penned The Remains of the Day), this film spells lush on all counts, in its production values and the quality of the cast assembled to take on the three principal roles of Kathy, Tommy and Ruth, with Izzy Meikle-Small, Charlie Rowe and Ella Purnell playing the younger versions in the first third of the film set in the orphanage of Hailsham, before Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield and Keira Knightley taking over as the young adult versions respectively. Things aren't what they seem because it's set in an alternative reality with the introductory titles stating an advancement in medical science and on human longevity, while in the orphanage, technology like access controls and electronic registers, in the 50s no less, make it seem a little odd. But there are good reasons for this, with the film never making its intentions verbatim and explicit, preferring to rely on suggestion so on that same note I'll tread very carefully too.

To compound the oddity, the students aren't made to learn life skills, only being given the fish than to be taught how to fish, as seen through their role plays in class for things as simple as ordering in a cafe, being told to submit art pieces on a regular basis, and being happy recipients of second hand thingamajigs which they have to use tokens, not money, to exchange for. And the title of the film comes from a cassette tape of songs which Tommy gives Kathy, and while you'd half expect them to hitch, in comes Ruth whose earlier disinterest seems to have developed into something more. When they finally graduate, we see Kathy still nursing a broken heart, and together with her friends Tommy and Ruth, they get sent to cottages outside of town in which they mingle with others of the same schooling experience, before Kathy decides to leave on her own and become a care-giver.

Saying anything more with details will spoil the film, but in essence this is one powerful romance that will tug at your heartstrings, not because it follows the typical path of any weepy, sappy romantic films that the Japanese or Koreans can think of, but because of the many ethical and moral issues it raises through its narrative course, being thought-provoking in its theme of what makes us tick, our moral compass, and whether in today's reality, we do see these issues as show stoppers to what technology can finally bring us, and whether we can turn the blind eye to some existentialism issues in the name of self-preservation. But it doesn't do so in a formulaic, dry manner, but skillfully exerts its message through an achingly beautiful romance, that I'd have to admit made me bawl a little within when the end credits rolled by.

And credit goes to the powerful performances by all three leads, each playing uniquely different characters in the same boat, though approaching the inevitable in their lives in varied ways, which leaves one thinking how one would react if passed a sentence or destiny which you know of, but having absolutely zero means to escape from. I haven't been convinced very much by Andrew Garfield, but probably the best scene he had here was this realization of hope being unceremoniously snuffed out - that look on his eyes had something defiant with helplessness all mixed in, that it hammers in great sympathy. Keira Knightley takes a backseat here, being that foil to Carey Mulligan's Kathy and coming in between her and Tommy, but understandably so and you'll probably feel for her reason of fear, of someone putting up false fronts to cover one's own vulnerabilities. And Mulligan is fast becoming one of my favourite actresses with her ability to portray strong roles, having to bookend this period piece. The young actors playing the schoolchildren versions of the characters also did convincingly well since they were the setup, as does Charlotte Rampling and Sally Hawkins, especially in their final scene together.

It's pretty amazing how director Mark Romanek, whose One Hour Photo I had enjoyed and had this sense of creepiness throughout, was able to helm such a romantic film that didn't have to boil it down to melodrama that plagues many Asian ones that utilizes similar plot elements, with Alex Garland, longtime collaborator in many Danny Boyle films, ably translating both human drama and science fiction from book to screenplay, like what he did with Sunshine. And you can lull yourself with the hauntingly beautiful score created by Rachel Portman, as it provides an added dimension to the entire film altogether. There's much to heart about the film, about potentials of lives that cannot be lived or fulfilled, that makes this one of the saddest films I've seen to date. A definite entry into my shortlist of one of the best this year, and into my all time favourites list. Highly recommended!

Saat Khoon Maaf / 7 Khoon Maaf (७ खून माफ़ या सात खून माफ़)

Worshipping the Ground She Treads

Based on the short story Susanna's Seven Husbands by Ruskin Bond, 7 Khoon Maaf is Priyanka Chopra's star vehicle through and through, and showcases just why she's one of Bollywood's A-listers with remarkable acting chops. At first glance from the trailers it may seem that she's portraying a handful of characters, or a character who undergoes a different look at each segment, but that's a gimmick that the actress had already tackled before with Ashutosh Gowariker putting her through the paces in What's Your Raashee? to handle 12 characters according to the astrological signs (13 now, depending on your school of thought).

It's a different story here, and director Vishal Bhardwaj tackles this very much differently so that it won't be that sense of deja vu in putting Chopra through the paces as Susanna, a poor little rich girl who has always yearned for the true affections from the men in her life, looking for that father figure since her dad passed on when she was still young. And it's most unfortunate that the one who truly loves her, is well, too young for her early on in her life, and it is through the eyes of the orphan Arun Kumar (Vivaan Shah) that the story of Susanna's life unfold for the audience.

Granted that the narrative moves in episodic fashion especially before the interval, and the second half throws up a little more surprises and culminates in a moving ending of a tragic figure made all the more sympathetic. But to build on that, credit of course has to go to all her male co-stars, who play characters you love to hate, and probably each highlighting the atypical irresponsible guys who throw romance out of the window once the wedding is accomplished. Every single individual had their primary flaws amplified, such as jealous filled army Major Edwin Rodriques (Neil Nitin Mukesh) who's overly possessive with an ego wounded by his limp, the choir boy turned rock star Jimmy (John Abraham) who can't help but dabble with the sex and drugs that come with rock and roll, the meek poet (Irrfan Khan) who turns out to be a closet pervert with a penchant for bedroom violence, a Russian even - Nicolai Vronsky (Aleksandr Dyachenko) who thinks he can escape with infidelity in different countries, the police inspector Keemat Lal (Annu Kapoor) who has the hots for Susanna ever since being involved in investigating her and seriously breaching work ethics with favours for sex, and the new age spiritual healer Dr. Modhusudhon Tarafdar (Naseeruddin Shah) who turns out to be a man in debt wanting to maximize his returns from a marriage.

The story's made fun with its dose of black comedy, and for a Bollywood film I'd thought it's quite adult in its language (or at least subtitling) and the many scenes of sensuality. Each husband figure gets about a short film treatment in the entire film, and continuity is ensured thanks in part to Susanna's servants who are all accessories to plots in carving an escape route for their mistress when her wedding vows turn out to be shackling her to an unhappy life, and Arun too happens to be part of the gang, indebted in some way to Susanna for the many favours she had bestowed upon him, such as letting the orphan boy stay and grow up in the household, and granted him that opportunity for a Russian medical education when husband number four rolled along. There's always some tension between the two since its quite clear Arun nurses an infatuation (who wouldn't!) and this ongoing subplot across the stories turned out to be something quite powerful and a trump card for 7 Khoon Maaf.

An additional point I'd appreciate from the film, which I thought made it stand out from the crows, is how landmark events in history get mentioned as we moved through the years, with Susanna maturing (Hollywood make up effects at play here to age Priyanka Chopra), and society getting a little bit more complex with the kinds of incidents that you would have heard of, defining an era in time especially contemporary ones that I clearly identify with such as India becoming a nuclear power, and the infamous Mumbai terrorist attacks in Nov 2008. But the top draw of the film still remains Priyanka Chopra's tour de force performance, as she handles plenty of complex emotions across an entire spectrum, that it probably will be one of her most memorable in time to come, if it is not already.

The songs also worked wonders, reigning from the cheesy O' Mama picturized on John Abraham with bad wig, to the ultra catchy, Russian influenced Doosri Darling (based upon the folk song Kalinka) which is signature enough to have made it to the promotional trailers. Vishal Bhardwaj spared no effort here with the tunes given his background, with each having a place in every relationship without the need to jump awkwardly out of and back into the narrative proper.

7 Khoon Maaf is not one of those typical black widow type stories with a predatory female going around knocking off her rich husbands for wealth. Hardly so, as it's really a story about romances gone wrong, and consistently drawing the shortest end of the stick with Fate making it a comedy of errors for allowing one to always fall for the wrong person, and getting exploited before defying the choices laid out by taking them out of the equation in life. Oh and seriously, if you're keeping count on the number of husbands above and thought I need to brush up on my math, the last is supposed to be a surprise, and therefore deliberately omitted. Watch the film to find out who!